Sport Organizational Development

							BI 112: Applied Sports and Industrial Placement                                                          Semester 2: 2008
FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY                                             Lecture 5: Sports Organisational Development



                            Sport Organizational Development
         An organization may undergo many changes which are management-induced and this is
         done to improve the organization
         These changes are incorporated into organisational development and includes various
         principles and methods for undertaking organisational change
         Change in organisations is functional
         Organisations need to change in order to survive.
         Due to various changes, organisations need to be more adaptable and to anticipate
         change

         Changes in organisations include:
         1. the professionalism of sport
         2. the reconceptualisation of elite sport as entertainment rather than physical exercise
         (beneficiary in the spectator and not the athlete)
         3. the commercialisation of sport
         4. the development of sport sponsorship
         5. the competition for participants and audiences
         6. emergence of new sports and alternative leisure activities
         7. changing public knowledge and attitude towards sport
         8. technological developments


Forces of change

         Pressures to change come from the environment (external) and also within (internal).
         External pressures are usually beyond the organisation’s control
         The external variables can create opportunities for the organisation to prosper or threats
         to its existence
         Internal changes may include departure of important staff or players, relegation or
         demotion of the organisation, decreased attendance, declining membership or financial
         issues.
         Dealing with change depends on the internal resources of the organisation to make an
         appropriate change
         Changes are done to achieve various goals, carried under various enthusiasm by the
         members of the organisation, using various structures and resources.
         Changes become effective when external and internal pre-conditions are met
         Effective organisations pay attention to both external and internal environments


Changes

         Changes should include the wider context of social-cultural, market, legislative and other
         changes.
         Changes also depend on the internal review of an organisation, such as club
         membership, revenue, costs, attendances, participation, members compliments and
         complains.
         change also involves people.
         People decide that change is needed, they lead and implement changes
         People may support and also oppose changes




                                                        Ravin Lal                                                       1
                                 School of Biological, Chemical and Environmental Sciences
BI 112: Applied Sports and Industrial Placement                                                          Semester 2: 2008
FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY                                             Lecture 5: Sports Organisational Development


Change Agent
     People who assists and facilitates changes of an organisation
     Hidden change agents are people who have good ideas about the direction and process
     of change
     External change agent brings about specialist knowledge of change processes or acts
     as honest broker or facilitator to taskforces and meetings

Resistance to change

         people resist change for three reasons:
         1. uncertainty: changes substitute unknown for the known
         2. Loss: fear of loss of investments
         3. concern for the organisation: change not in the best interest of the organisation.

         Resistance to change slows down change and reduces the commitment to change
         People supporting change can use various tools to overcome resistance.
         Tools and techniques used to overcome resistance include:
         1. Coercion: using threat to impose one’s will
         2. manipulation and co-optation: involves covert influence and “buying off”
         3. negotiation and agreement: offering benefits
         4. facilitation and support: offering support in training, assistance and counseling.
         5. participation and involvement: people are involved in the decision making
         6. education and communication: maximizing communication so that people can better
            understand.

Reactive and proactive action

         An organisation can be reactive proactive about change

         A reactive organisation reacts to external events and changes in response to them

         A proactive organisation anticipates external changes, plans for it and implements
         changes ahead of time

         Proactive change is better but there could be danger of acting ahead of time

         Therefore organisational development is used to represent a range of theories and
         techniques for inducing organisational change
         Organisational development focuses on people and culture components of the
         organisation
         Organisational development includes various strategies such as long term effort, led and
         supported by top management, on-going collaborative management of organisation
         culture, special emphasis on culture of intact work teams, utilising consultant-facilitator
         role and theory and technology of applied behavioural science and action research




                                                        Ravin Lal                                                       2
                                 School of Biological, Chemical and Environmental Sciences