A Longitudinal Study of Power Relations in a British Olympic Sport Organization

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  • NB Feddersen
  • R Morris
  • LK Storm
  • MA Littlewood
  • DJ Richardson
    Liverpool John Moores University
The purpose was to examine the power relations during a change of culture in an Olympic sports organization in the United Kingdom. The authors conducted a 16-month longitudinal study combining action research and grounded theory. The data collection included ethnography and a focus group discussion (n = 10) with athletes, coaches, parents, and the national governing body. The authors supplemented these with 26 interviews with stakeholders, and we analyzed the data using grounded theory. The core concept found was that power relations were further divided into systemic power and informational power. Systemic power (e.g., formal authority to reward or punish) denotes how the national governing bodies sought to implement change from the top-down and impose new strategies on the organization. The informational power (e.g., tacit feeling of oneness and belonging) represented how individuals and subunits mobilized coalitions to support or obstruct the sports organization?s agenda. Olympic sports organizations should consider the influence of power when undertaking a change of culture.

Keywords

  • 1503 Business and Management, 1504 Commercial Services, 1505 Marketing
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)312-324
JournalJournal of Sport Management
Volume35
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2021
Externally publishedYes
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