C H A P T E R
4
Management Concepts
and Practice in Sport
Organizations
Lucie Thibault, Brock University
Jerome Quarterman, Howard University
Chapter 4
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
(continued)
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?
(continued)
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?