University of Cambridge Centre for Business Research
Abstract
This paper investigates the degree to which the British elite sport policy model
might inform a strategy for building international competiveness in UK
industry. The methodology is qualitative, based on in-depth interviews with
key figures in the British elite sport system, including UK Sport’s CEO,
Performance Directors of National Sport Governing Bodies whose athletes
competed in London 2012 and Rio 2016 and Olympic athletes. The analysis
also draws upon detailed case studies of sectors that are currently competing
successfully in international markets – despite decades of ill-informed industrial
policy, if not neglect. Areas standing out as key to the UK elite sport policy
model’s success include: an institutional structure to provide strategic
leadership, identify talent and support the development of internationally
competitive athletes and teams, whilst at the same time insulating them from
interference by short-term political (and sporting) interests; an enabling
competitive environment with access to a reliable source of finance; and an
institutional system that encourages learning, innovation and responsiveness to
opportunities and constraints. Taken together, these – if available to British
businesses, clusters and sectors – would likely facilitate improvement in the
UK’s industrial performance. The significance of the elite sport case is that not
only was it developed and successfully implemented in the British cultural,
institutional and political context, in many respects elite sport can be considered
a high performance industrial sector. It therefore offers a starting point for
evolving strategy for building international competitiveness in comparable
sectors of British industry