Olympic social responsibility: a challenge for the future

Abstract

Social responsibility, especially in the fields of education, society and peace, is one of the cornerstones of the olympic ideal and strategic vision (contribute to building a better world through sport). The article reviews the literature on organizational social responsibility (OSR) and the relationship between sport/olympism and OSR in order to examine the conditions governing the implementation and success of the International Olympic Committee’s strategic vision. Several ways in which the IOC could promote a more ambitious and better-integrated social strategy: revise its performance model, notably evaluate and present in a social responsibility report; promote the adoption of OSR initiatives and strategies within the Olympic System from the bottom-up, rather than from the top-down; share best practices in the different countries for promoting and developing “sport for all”; create a World Agency for Development through Sport, or partnering and funding the international platform on sport and development; creating a World Agency for the International Governance of Sport. Two possible scenarios for the future of Olympic responsibility are finally discussed: strategy of “small steps” and a more ambitious local and global social strategy through sport and olympism.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Olympic_Museum/Education/DPHOPE/DP_Hope_FR_web.pdf (‘When sport can change the world – Olympic Museum educational kit’).

2. In economics, the bottom of the pyramid is the largest, but poorest socio-economic group, consisting of the three billion people who live on less than US$2.50 per day.

3. http://www.sportaccord.com/upload/ResignationletterFR.pdf.

4. ‘Standardized data for 126 environmental, sociocultural and economic indicators are to be collected. The IOC’s Technical Manual on OGI describes the purpose and scope of each indicator as well as its recommended calculation methods and measurement procedures. These 126 sustainability indicators comprise 80 indicators that assess the context within which the Games are being held, and 46 indicators geared to provide assessment of the Olympic event itself. Depending on the indicators’ characteristics, data are requested for different geographic scales, ranging from the municipal level to the national level. The OGI study covers a period of twelve years and involves a series of four reports. The first is a Baseline Report which provides contextual data to serve as a baseline for the subsequent reports, and it is focused on the indicators data for the reference year (i.e. two years prior to the host city election; 2001 for VANOC, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games). The Baseline Report is followed by a Pre-Games Report, which analyzes updated contextual data. Next, a Games-Time Report (to examine Olympic-event data) and a Post-Games Report (to assess updated data, summarize findings from previous reports, and provide final conclusion about the impact of the Olympic Games) conclude the OGI Study’. http://css.ubc.ca/projects/olympic-games-impact-study/about-ogi/

5. https://www.designedtomove.org/.

6. Value chain: sequence of activities or actors which supply products or services to an organization (supply chain) viewed in terms of its real impact on cost and quality, and which gives an organization a competitive advantage.