Wendy Frisby

The organizational dynamics of under‐managed partnerships in leisure service departments

The formation of partnerships with the public, non‐profit and commercial sectors is becoming an increasingly common way for leisure service departments in local government to fulfil their mandate under conditions of economic restraint, political pressures and increased demand for services. However, these departments often lack the capacity to successfully manage the number and complexity of partnerships initiated. While under‐managed partnerships have been identified as a significant problem in the literature, little attention has been devoted to understanding the organizational dynamics that underpin them. Interviews with leisure service managers and staff in ten Canadian cities were conducted, revealing a lack of guidelines, insufficient training, poor coordination and a number of other problems contributing to under‐managed partnerships. This warrants further research and attention because it can lead to unsuccessful partnerships and negative consequences for all partners involved.

The `f' word has everything to do with it How feminist theories inform action research

This article considers how feminist theories have and can contribute to action research, while acknowledging some of the tensions that arise when applying and building feminist theories. While feminist theorizing undoubtedly occurs in some action research, whether it is named or not, the gap appears to be in linking local knowledge to existing theoretical frameworks. Feminist theories, even though they are always partial and contested, have acted as an intentional counter to dominant theories about human experiences and strategies for change. They prompt people to ask new questions and to see power dynamics and relationships that may otherwise be missed or misread. As a result, they have an important role to play in any action research with transformative intentions.

The actualities of doing community development to promote the inclusion of low income populations in local sport and recreation

While there is literature to suggest that community development is a promising strategy for involving marginalized citizens in local sport and recreation, little research has been done on the actualities of doing this type of work from the perspectives of those engaged in it. Based on our observations and interviews over three years with members of a community‐based project designed to increase the Involvement of women living below the poverty line in local sport and recreation, we identified six key dimensions of community development. These dimensions were highly inter‐related and included: a shared concern about a social problem requiring action, encouraging the active participation of a marginalized group, forming public sector partnerships to pool resources and build political support, adopting collaborative principles of organizing, collectively developing and implementing action plans, and re‐conceptualizing traditional notions of accountability. In this paper, we analyze each dimension by discussing the benefits and challenges encountered from the perspectives of the women on low income and the public sector partners involved in the project. We conclude that while community development is a complex and challenging strategy, it shows considerable promise for including those who are least likely to be involved in the planning and participation of local sport and recreation programs thereby increasing local governments’ ability to meet their mandates of providing access for all citizens.

Inevitable Tensions: Swiss and Canadian Sport for Development NGO Perspectives on Partnerships with High Performance Sport

ABSTRACT Over 400 sport for development non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have formed in recent years, operating projects in more than 125 countries globally. These NGOs typically focus on sport participation in countries in the Two-Thirds World, and usually have partnerships with their more established national sports organizations in their home country. Drawing on partnership theory, the purpose of this study was to analyse tensions underpinning partnerships with high performance sport from the perspectives of staff in Swiss and Canadian sport for development NGOs. Qualitative research methods were used, including a content analysis of the two NGO websites along with various organizational documents. Key staff from each NGO were also interviewed. The findings reveal three major tensions that both NGOs encounter. The first is competing values and this was tied to different approaches to sport programme delivery and concerns that NGO programmes are seen as a feeder system for their high performance sport partners. The second tension related to gaining legitimacy. While there were benefits in being associated with the established histories of high performance sport partners, the NGOs wanted to move the sport for development agenda forward independently but found it difficult to do so. Resource dependency was a third tension identified by both NGOs that shaped and were shaped by power imbalances between sport partners. The implications of the findings for sport for development NGOs and ideas for future research are discussed.

Finding the ‘action’ in feminist participatory action research:

Although feminist researchers have increasingly called for participatory and action-oriented research, there have been few analyses of the diverse actions that can occur. We theorized the actions considered and implemented in a feminist participatory action research project (FPAR). For three years we collaborated intensively with a group of diverse women on low income who were involved in a FPAR project designed to reduce social isolation and other self-identified health problems. Our data set included tape recordings of 32 one-on-one interviews, 15 research meetings, and extensive fieldnotes. Our findings indicated that actions occurred on both individual and collective levels; some had been enacted prior to the project and were shared to promote ongoing or new actions, while others arose as a consequence of the women’s involvement in the project. Additionally, some actions were implemented and actualized while others, though discussed at length, remained hopes for the future. While the research participants reported the benefits of being involved in such projects, they also spoke of the potential risks. Our findings revealed the complexities of taking action in FPAR and highlight important considerations for others wishing to engage in this type of research.

Interorganizational linkages in the delivery of local leisure services in Canada: responding to economic, political and social pressures.

Due to the complex and dynamic economic, political, and social pressures in their environment, local governments are having to change the way they do business. According to a number of organizational theorists, organizations are increasingly developing linkages with other organizations in order to deal with environmental pressures. The purpose of this research is to examine how senior managers of local government leisure services interpret economic, political, and social pressures in their environment and how these pressures are leading to the development of interorganizational linkages with other public, nonprofit, and commercial organizations. Interviews with key individuals working in three leisure services departments of local governments located in a large metropolitan area in Canada were conducted and relevant documents (i.e. local government reports, newspaper clippings) were analysed. The results revealed that environmental pressures (economic, political, social) are forcing local governments to d...

Gender equity for athletes: Rewriting the narrative for this organizational value

It is commonly believed that managers have shared understandings of espoused organizational values. However, some researchers have argued that organizational members, including managers, have multiple, conflicting, or ambiguous interpretations of organizational values that may complicate the process of translating values into practices (Martin, 1992; Meyerson, 1991a; Young, 1989). The purpose of this study was to examine the meanings sport managers associate with the organizational value of gender equity for athletes using an analytic framework developed by Martin (1992, 2001). Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with five administrators in one university athletic department. A document analysis of policies and budgets and observations were additional data sources. The findings revealed that administrators offered multiple meanings of gender equity and that those meanings were underpinned by confusion, contradictions, and silences, supporting the differentiation and fragmentation perspectives proposed by Martin (1992, 2001). By relying on dominant narratives, managers sometimes fail to notice other ways of matching organizational practices with espoused organizational values.

Promising Physical Activity Inclusion Practices for Chinese Immigrant Women in Vancouver, Canada

Even though the number of immigrants coming to Canada continues to rise (Statistics Canada, 2010) and there is some evidence to suggest that participation in community sport and recreation can ease the stress associated with settlement (Stodolska & Alexandris 2004), our previous research has shown there is little or no information sharing about promising inclusion practices between local, provincial, and federal sport and recreation policy makers in Canada (Thibault, Frisby, & Taylor, 2009). To begin to fill this void, interviews were conducted with 50 Chinese immigrant women, who represent the largest immigrant group in British Columbia, 11 staff from the City of Vancouver, and 5 staff from an immigration service agency called S.U.C.C.E.S.S. A Multiculturalism, Sport, and Physical Activity Workshop was subsequently held so study participants could come together to discuss promising physical activity inclusion practices for newcomers. The practices discussed here include: citizen engagement to promote mutual learning and policy/program development; working from a broader social ecological framework; improving the citys leisure access policy; and enhancing community partnerships to facilitate cross-cultural connections.

Cultivating the power of partnerships in feminist participatory action research in women’s health

Feminist participatory action research integrates feminist theories and participatory action research methods, often with the explicit intention of building community-academic partnerships to create new forms of knowledge to inform womens health. Despite the current pro-partnership agenda in health research and policy settings, a lack of attention has been paid to how to cultivate effective partnerships given limited resources, competing agendas, and inherent power differences. Based on our 10+ years individually and collectively conducting womens health and feminist participatory action research, we suggest that it is imperative to intentionally develop power-with strategies in order to avoid replicating the power imbalances that such projects seek to redress. By drawing on examples from three of our recent feminist participatory action projects we reflect on some of the tensions and complexities of attempting to cultivate power-with research partnerships. We then offer skills and resources needed by academic researchers to effectively harness the collective resources, agendas, and knowledge that each partner brings to the table. We suggest that investing in the process of cultivating power-with research partnerships ultimately improves our collective ability to understand and address womens health issues.

Navigating neoliberal networks: Transnational Internet platforms in sport for development and peace

Internet platforms are increasingly becoming strategic tools for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in international development to collaborate, share information, and gain legitimacy. Drawing on the literature on neoliberalism, sport for development, globalization and networking through communication technologies, this article examines the interpretations of staff working in Canadian and Swiss sport for development and peace (SDP) NGOs on the role of the Platform, while also exploring the challenges and benefits of the Platform for each NGO. Qualitative research methods were utilized, including a content analysis of documents on the Platform and the two NGO websites, along with interviews with staff from both NGOs. The findings revealed, on one hand, that staff for both NGOs were concerned about the Platform’s potential to support collaboration amongst organizations that: a) are frequently in competition with one another – a feature of NGO culture in a neoliberal political environment; and b) commonly adopt divergent approaches to SDP work. On the other hand, both NGOs acknowledged that the Platform and the UN-endorsed International Year of Sport and Physical Education were at times useful for disseminating and legitimizing SDP globally, although the potential of new media technologies has not been realized because of inequalities within and around the NGO community. Implications of the findings along with ideas for future research are discussed.