Leigh Robinson

Pathways to high performance: a Qualitative Comparative Analysis of sport governing bodies

Nonprofit organizations are facing increasing pressure to become more performance oriented. Most research in this area has focused on the effects of a variety of independent variables on performance with little research focusing on combinations of factors that impact on performance. This article focuses on sport governing bodies from Belgium and measures and assesses their strategic goals and potential determinants of performance. Due to the small N-sample and the causal complexity inherent in this research, a crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA) was carried out which highlighted three pathways associated with high performance. High performance could be delivered by sport governing bodies that develop innovative activities for their members and are proactive in elite sport services; or that develop innovative activities and involve paid staff in decision-making processes; or that involve committed volunteers in decision-making processes and delegate activities they are not able to deliver themselves.

Predicting elite Scottish athletes’ attitudes towards doping: examining the contribution of achievement goals and motivational climate

Abstract Understanding athletes’ attitudes to doping continues to be of interest for its potential to contribute to an international anti-doping system. However, little is known about the relationship between elite athletes’ attitudes to drug use and potential explanatory factors, including achievement goals and the motivational climate. In addition, despite specific World Anti-Doping Agency Code relating to team sport athletes, little is known about whether sport type (team or individual) is a risk or protective factor in relation to doping. Elite athletes from Scotland (N = 177) completed a survey examining attitudes to performance-enhancing drug (PED) use, achievement goal orientations and perceived motivational climate. Athletes were generally against doping for performance enhancement. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that task and ego goals and mastery motivational climate were predictors of attitudes to PED use (F (4, 171) = 15.81, P < .01). Compared with individual athletes, team athletes were significantly lower in attitude to PED use and ego orientation scores and significantly higher in perceptions of a mastery motivational climate (Wilks’ lambda = .76, F = 10.89 (5, 170), P < .01). The study provides insight into how individual and situational factors may act as protective and risk factors in doping in sport.

Taking advantage of the London 2012 Olympic Games: corporate social responsibility through sport partnerships

Abstract This research explores the ways in which corporate organisations leveraged corporate social responsibility (CSR) through a sport initiative that was conceived, implemented and mediated by the British Olympic Association (BOA) preceding the London 2012 Olympic Games. This research aimed to evaluate the initiative in order to understand the benefits, barriers and partnership working and sought to answer the question: how is CSR being leveraged through sport by corporate organisations in the lead up to mega-sporting events? The case-based methodology employed a series of semi-structured interviews that were conducted with senior directors and managers within National Governing Bodies (NGBs) and corporate organisations. Interview data were supplemented by a content analysis of documentation associated with, and about, the initiative. Findings included: corporate leveraging to achieve subtle human resourcing objectives, indirect involvement and market research into the Olympic Games and the increase of corporate capital. This research concludes that CSR relationships in sport can be innovative and creative but require objective alignment, appropriate timing and the management of expectations.

Developing strategic capacity in Olympic sport organisations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to set out research that aimed to understand how the internal capabilities of Olympic sport organisations can be addressed.Design/methodology/approach – The research was carried out by a mixed‐method, multi phase approach, using senior sport administrators in the Pacific region.Findings – The research developed a tool for analysing the “readiness” of sport organisations to deliver programmes and services.Research limitations/implications – This research has developed a framework for the internal diagnosis of organisations.Practical implications – Managers can use the tool to inform their strategic planning.Originality/value – The paper presents a new and unique tool for assessing organisational capacity.

Understanding the competitive advantage of National Olympic Committees

The competitive advantage of an organisation arises from the resources and capabilities that are in place within the organisation. Competitive advantage leads to strategic success and a lack of it leads to a lack of success. Using the resource-based view of developing competitive advantage, this paper aims to investigate why many National Olympic Committees (NOCs) do not appear to be successful at the Olympic Games. It does this by investigating the resources and capabilities of the national federations (NFs) that are responsible for developing the athletes that are the main resource of the NOCs. The underlying premise of this research is that the competitive advantage of an NOC is reliant on the ability of their NFs to produce athletes who can be competitive on a world stage. The NFs within three Pacific countries were audited using the Readiness Assessment Tool developed to assess their resources, structures and capabilities. The research shows that the NFs under investigation were not sufficiently developed to create competitive advantage due to poor resources and low levels of capability. Therefore, there is a need for these NFs to develop further as organisations through ‘knowledge transfer’, the leveraging of resources and capacity-building through alliances with other organisations or countries that are better placed to produce elite athletes.

Precipitating or prohibiting factor: Coaches’ perceptions of their role and actions in anti-doping

Coaches are frequently cited as potentially precipitating or preventing athletes’ engagement in doping. However, little is known about coaches’ perspectives. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine coaches’ perceptions of their role and actions in athletes’ anti-doping behaviour. Twenty-three coaches (Mu2009=u200917, Fu2009=u20096) working with performance athletes in Scotland participated in semi-structured interviews where topics related to doping and anti-doping were discussed. Thematic analysis, guided by Schön’s role frame and reflective conversation concepts, was used to develop themes. Analysis led to the development of four internal role frame themes: clean sport value, approach to preparation and performance, responsibility to athletes and knowledge; and five boundary role frame themes: Scottish/British sporting culture, potential for benefit, prevalence of doping and testing, clarity of responsibilities and consequences, and beyond coaches’ control. The coaches’ role frame supported an anti-doping stance, but, it also presented a risk and was insufficient to ensure action. Analysis of coaches’ reflective conversations revealed the issues set by the coaches differed and influenced subsequent actions and evaluations.

Understanding the Olympics

Understanding the Olympics makes a significant contribution to the burgeoning field of Olympic-related literature by providing a diverse and wide ranging discussion of the Olympics from various perspectives. The book covers issues ranging from the practical in its setting out the bidding process for London 2012 to the more conceptual by considering the Olympics within the framework of festival, spectacle carnival and consumption. John Horne is Professor of Sport and Sociology at the University of Central Lancaster and has published widely on the topic of megaevents; Garry Whannel is professor of Media Cultures at the University of Bedfordshire and is a leading expert on the cultural analysis of media sport. The book is divided into three parts. Part one: The Olympics and London, which contains three chapters; Part two: From out of the past made up of two chapters and Part three: The spectacle of modernity: towards a postmodern world, which is the most substantive part of the book containing five chapters and a Conclusion. At this point it is worth noting that the ‘Part’ headings do not necessarily give the best idea as to what each contains the chapter headings do a much better job of signposting content. The first chapter London, the Olympics and the road to 2012 provides a wellresearched presentation of the process leading up to the staging of the Games. It is particularly well detailed on the pre-award process, although the chapter appears slightly dated as the authors were not able to deal with recent events, such as the poor administration of ticketing that will remain in many readers’ minds. The second chapter The IOC and the bidding process provides a swift (and largely uncritical) overview of the Olympic Movement. This chapter is, arguably, a missed opportunity to provide a more critical appraisal of the IOC and although there is a section addressing some of the critiques and challenges of the IOC, these lack real discussion. The third chapter Television and the commercialism of the Olympics provides a thorough and detailed overview of the impact of media on the Games. The discussion of sponsorship is a somewhat unusual inclusion within this chapter, although it is difficult to see where else it could have gone. Part two begins with Chapter 4 Reviving the Olympics, which is an interesting and informative chapter on developments leading up to the modern Games. The chapter pulls together a number of factors that facilitated Coubertin’s desire for the modern games. Chapter 5 From world fairs to mega-events places the modern Olympics within the context of similar developments of the time. It is, however, sometimes difficult to the direct relevance of this chapter to the book. This chapter is less to do with understanding the Olympics and more to do with using the Olympics as an illustration. European Sport Management Quarterly Vol. 12, No. 2, April 2012, 203 204