Chapter 4

4

Management Concepts and Practice in Sport

Organizations

 Lucie Thibault, Brock University

Jerome Quarterman, Howard University

C H A P T E R

Organization

• Definition

• Sport example (figure 4.1: Organizational chart of a professional baseball team) 

 

(continued)

Organization (continued)

• By working in a collective, organizations can achieve these:

– Economies of scale

– Economies of scope

• Process by which sport organizations achieve goals:

inputs → transformation → outputs

Types of Sport Organizations

• Public organizations

• Nonprofit organizations

• Commercial organizations

Organizational Environment

• Sport organizations must deal with their environments; involves organizations’ devising strategies, using technology, exerting power

• Role of people in addressing an organization’s environment

• Two organizational environment categories: general and specific (or task)

General Environment Elements

• The economy

• Technology

• Politics

• Social and cultural forces

• Demography

Elements of the Specific Environment

• Includes stakeholders external to the organizations

• Questions to ask about elements of the specific environment:

– Who are the consumers and what are their preferences?

– Who are the suppliers?

(continued)

Elements of the Specific Environment (continued)

• Questions to ask about elements of the specific environment:

– Who is the competition?

– What role does the government play in the environment?

Organizational Effectiveness

• Effectiveness: The extent to which it achieves its goals

• Efficiency: The achievement of goals using minimum resources

• Evaluating organizational effectiveness: Traditional and contemporary approaches

• Effectiveness in sport organizations

 Organizational Structure

• Formal organizations

• Organizational chart

• See figure 4.3 for formal and informal groups within a sport organization

Dimensions of Organizational Structure

• Specialization: vertical, horizontal, and spatial complexity

• Standardization and centralization

• Factors affecting centralized or decentralized decisions

• Relationships among the dimensions of organizational structure

Organizational Design

• Structural configurations used by sport organization leaders

• Mintzberg’s extensive work involving organizational design

Mintzberg’s Design Configurations

• Based on interplay of five organizational parts:

– Top management

– Middle management

– Technical core

– Administrative support staff

– Technical support staff

Mintzberg’s Proposed Designs

• Simple structure

• Machine bureaucracy

• Professional bureaucracy

• Entrepreneurial

• Innovative

• Missionary

• Political

Structure and Design of Sport Organizations

• Examined by several sport management scholars

– Slack & Parent, 2006

– Theodoraki, 2001

Strategy

• Plans to cope with environment

• Steps in the development of plans

• Organizational processes involved in developing a strategy to gain competitive advantage

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Strategy (continued)

• Strategy and the development of partnerships and alliances

• Motives for the creation of organizational partnerships

• Several studies have examined strategies, and in particular alliances, in sport organizations

Organizational Culture

• Manifestations of culture

– Stories, myths, symbols, language, ceremonies, rites, physical setting, artifacts

• Numerous studies have investigated culture (e.g., subcultures, values) in sport organizations

Organizational Change

• Two frameworks for studying organizational change

– Organizational life cycle

– Contextualist approach

Organizational Life Cycle

• Also called the model of organizational growth

• Stages of growth:

– Entrepreneurial

– Collectivity

– Formalization

– Elaboration

Contextualist Approach

• Change does not take place in isolation or in a brief period

• Change is accomplished over time by considering three elements:

– Content

– Context

– Process

(continued)

Contextualist Approach (continued)

• Sport management studies have applied this contextual approach

Practical Application

• Critical thinking in sport organizations

• Ethics and the sport organization

 

Three Review Questions

1. How would you define the term organization? What are three different types of sport organizations?

2. Select one sport organization. How would you describe its structure using the three structural dimensions featured in this chapter?

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Three Review Questions (continued)

3. In what ways can some organizational cultures be positive for an organization, and in what ways can other cultures be negative for an organization?