Drivers of change in sport organisations
This page is about:
- What drives sport organisations to grow and develop
- Typical strategies that help sport organisations to develop
- The benefit for stakeholders of organisation development
Typical aspirations of sport organisations
Organisations, profit and non-profit, are driven to develop for a variety of reasons. In the case of non-profit sport organisations the desired "development" is usually:
- Larger membership and increased participation
- Improved facilities for playing sport and social interaction
- Better results of players/athletes in competition
- Capacity to earn greater revenue
- Greater reputation
In the case of the for-profit organisation, the desired "development" is usually:
- Greater market share
- Greater revenue and profit
- Improvement of business premises
- More highly skilled workforce
- And may also include the acquisition of intellectual property and technology assets
Despite the fact that organisational development takes considerable resources, it is a human disposition to believe that there will be a reward for the effort. There usually is, but the time scale is often frustratingly slow and not likely to happen unless there is an excellent strategic plan in place.
Key drivers of change
It is often the case that a major effort in organisational development occurs as a result of something that happens which become a catalyst for change. Typical situations that cause change are:
- The organisation is threatened by competition
- There is a significant movement of clients/members away from the organisation
- The organisation loses a major funding source
- There is new leadership of the organisation
- If it is a sport club, and it is demoted into a lower division or is aiming to win promotion to a higher division
- The organisation suffers a near bankruptcy experience
The
following are three examples of how organisations might develop in regard to an ongoing stimulus for change:
Stimulus Example 1: Expectancy of higher service delivery
Explanation
Participants
expect higher and higher standards of sport and recreation delivery. This increased expectancy may be due competition from other sports/organisations in the sport and recreation industry and because sport is increasingly commercialised. The media continues to have a great impact on the sport industry. Sport is not just sport anymore, it is big business.
Organisation development strategies
- Provision
of training and education programs to increase skills of
organisation volunteers and professionals
- Employment
of professionals to administrate programs and events
- Restructuring
the pricing of sport and recreation programs to provide
a higher level of delivery in line with participant expectations
- Develop
policies, procedures and standards for the maintenance of
facilities and equipment
- Increase
revenues earned from facilities by designing them for multi-purpose
use and ploughing revenues back into service delivery
Benefits for Stakeholders
- Government
sponsors will see an increasing quality of service provision
for the community
- Commercial
sponsors will be more certain about promotion and publicity
benefits
- Participants
will enjoy better sport and recreation experiences
- The
community will be enriched through improved sport and recreation
opportunities
Stimulus Example 2: Critical need for funding
Explanation
A critical need for funding might arise as a result of:
- Facility improvement projects caused by an inability of the organisation to provide adequate space and equipment to meet the needs of participants
- Financial stress caused by ambitious business strategies that do not turn out as expected
- A need to move to a new business premise
- Financial stress caused by inadequate financial control (see more about financial control strategies)
Organisation development strategies
- Bid
for major events including national and international championships
and tournaments if there is a possibility of generating revenue through hosting the event
- Promote and organise holiday coaching clinics that bring in revenue from the participants directly and indirectly through the canteen.
- Recruit a confident sales person from within the membership and incentivise them to obtain sponsors
- Organise regular social events
- Improve clubhouse operations to raise more revenue through food preparation, bar sales, dinner and dance events, bingo and other fundraising events
- Rent out facilities to other organisations
Benefits for Stakeholders
- Possibly the main benefit is that increased income prevents the business from becoming insolvent and bankrupt.
- Additional funds prevent programs and services being cut either through termination of staff or the inability to cover basic costs
- The organisation learns to develop new income streams which it can use in years after the initial critical financial problem is over
Stimulus Example 3: Competition among sport and recreation organisations
Explanation
The
marketplace for sport and recreation is increasing in competitiveness.
Recruiting new members and participants is becoming increasingly
harder and/or more expensive.
Organisation development strategies
- Employ
full-time or part-time development officers to work directly
in schools to generate new membership.
- Create
resources that enable people to more easily access and participate
in your organisation's programs and events.
- Development
and promote a web site to provide information for all levels
of interest.
Benefits for Stakeholders
- The
community will benefit through children being constructively
engaged in sport and recreation programs.
- The
government will benefit through reduced expenditure on health
services as more people are active in sport.
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