Canadian national sport organisations’ use of the web for relationship marketing in promoting sport participation

Sport participation development requires a systematic process which involves knowledge creation, dissemination and interactions between National Sport Organisations, participants, clubs and associations as well as other agencies. Using a relationship marketing approach (Grönroos, 1997, Gummesson, 2002, Olkkonen, 1999), this paper addressed the question ‘How do Canadian NSOs use the Web, in terms of functionality and services offered, to create and maintain relationships with sport participants and their sport delivery partners?’ Ten Canadian NSOs’ websites were examined: functionality was analysed using Burgess and Cooper’s (2000) eMICA model, while NSOs’ utilisation of the Internet to establish and maintain relationships with sport participants was analysed using Wang, Head and Archer’s (2000) relationship-building process model for the Web. It was found that Canadian NSOs were receptive to the use of the Web, but their information-gathering and dissemination activities, which make-up the relationship-building process, appear sparse, and in some cases are lagging behind the voluntary sector in the country

The political process of constructing a sustainable London Olympics sports development legacy

This study attempts to develop a research agenda for understanding the process of constructing a sustainable Olympic sports development legacy. The research uses a social constructivist perspective to examine the link between the 2012 London Olympic Games and sustainable sports development. The first part of the paper provides justification for the study of sport policy processes using a constructivist lens. This is followed by a section which critically unpacks sustainable sports development drawing on Mosse’s (1998) ideas of process-oriented research and Searle’s conceptualisation of the construction of social reality. Searle’s (1995) concepts of the assignment of function, collective intentionality, collective rules, and human capacity to cope with the environment are considered in relation to the events and discourses emerging from the legacy vision(s) associated with the 2012 London Olympic Games. The paper concludes by proposing a framework for engaging in process oriented research and highlights key elements, research questions, and methodological issues. The proposed constructivist approach can be used to inform policy, practice, and research on sustainable Olympic sports development legacy

Bulgarian sport policy 1945-1989: A strategic relation perspective

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games have stimulated discussions about the success of different sport systems and the Chinese model in particular. Revisiting explanations of sport in the former communist countries of Eastern Europe during the Cold War seems timely, as the current Chinese model of sport was largely designed after the Soviet example established in this period. This paper examines Bulgarian sport policy between 1945 and 1989. It employs a Strategic Relation approach (Jessop, 1990) to analyse sport policy making as a strategic relation closely linked to the dominant state project of building a new stateness. It goes beyond ideological interpretations and argues that the state represents a strategic terrain where these relations have to be established in struggles, the outcomes of which are always uncertain. Furthermore, past and present struggles and their outcomes create various socio-political environments that presuppose the forms of state selectivity and intervention in sport. The process of constructing sport policy was influenced by two main categories of strategic relations: intra-state, including political, organisational and personal relations between the Party, state apparatus and various sport and non-sport organisations and their managers, and transnational, concerning ideological, political, economic and organisational relations with both communist and western countries and international sport organisations

Cultural Orientations of sport managers

Various interpretations of sport management are cultural constructs underpinned by core assumptions and values held by members of professional communities. Sport managers world wide share common problems, but differ in how they resolve them. These universal differences emerge from the relationships they form with other people, and their attitude to time, activities and the natural environment. This paper examines the role of sport managers’ cultural orientations in the interpretation and practice of sport management. Using a multiple dimension model (Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars, 2000) it sketches the cultural profiles of fifteen sport managers from seven countries. A combination of methods was employed including questionnaires, interviews and participant observation. It is contended that the culture of sport management concerns a social process by which managers get involved in reconciling seven fundamental cultural dilemmas in order to perform tasks and achieve certain ends. Thus, a knowledge of the cultural meaning of sport management in a particular country would equip sport managers with a valuable tool in managing both the cultural diversity of their own work forces and in developing appropriate cross-cultural skills needed for running international events, marketing campaigns, sponsorship deals and joint ventures

What do they do? Competency and managing in Brazilian Olympic Sport Federations

This study explores the link between management competencies of 15 presidents of Brazilian Olympic Sport Federations (OSF) from the state of Minas Gerais and how they actually manage. Overemphasizing the conceptual importance of managers’ competencies at the expense of what they actually do can lead to the creation of an illusory image of the model manager whereas in reality such a person hardly exists. A mixed research sequential transformative design was employed where two theoretical frameworks guided the study and the initial quantitative phase of the research was followed by a qualitative phase of observations and interviews. Qualitative and quantitative data were analysed with QSR NVivo 10 and SPSS. Presidents of OSFs perceived themselves as facilitators, visionary leaders and innovators, who are expected to develop the organization into a more professional entity. They have been working mainly on the people and information plane of management and were less concerned with conceptual issues, instant results and specific deadlines. OSF presidents’ competencies were intended to deliver greater organizational effectiveness but this was difficult to achieve due to the lack of strategic skills and resources. Presidents’ competencies were also not necessarily doing the right things and were only partly delivering the desired results. Understanding sport managers’ competencies and how they relate to their daily activities is important not just for the purposes of staff selection and appraisal and for development and learning, but also for the constant realignment of management as a science, intuition and practical activity.This work was supported by the CAPES, scholarship (13262/13-0); and the State Department of Tourism and Sport through the State Act of Incentive to Sports

The Social Legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games

This resource guide examines the nature and policy of social legacy as a central part of the Olympic movement and presents it as a relatively modern concept. The bibliography contains a number of sources that have not necessarily appeared in other publications and lists them in three categories: academic texts; reports; and web-based resources

Ilgalaikis sporto palikimas: olimpiniai siekiai

Straipsnyje atskleidžiama socialinės įtakos svarba sporto palikimui. Autorius aiškina palikimo sąvokos raidą, toliau tirdamas pastovumo prasmę ir jo ryšį su olimpinių žaidynių palikimu. Ilgalaikis sporto palikimas aptariamas 2012 m. Londono olimpinių ir parolimpinių žaidynių kontekste. Sporto palikimo užuominų yra ankstyvuosiuose Pjero de Kuberteno (Pierre de Coubertin) raštuose ir įvairiuose olimpinio sąjūdžio renginiuose, tačiau Londono olimpinėse žaidynėse šie praeities fragmentai buvo sujungti į nuoseklią sampratą. [...

Governance of the Olympic Games

This resource guide examines the increasing importance of Olympic governance and argues that it is reflected in its visions, structures and operations as well as its relations with global political issues. In spite of this, it suggests that it is still an under-researched area. The bibliography contains a number of sources not necessarily listed in other governance related publications and presents them in three categories: academic texts; reports; and web-based resources