Using a dual-sited organizational ethnography to examine change within and between community sport organizations

ABSTRACT

An increasingly diverse range of theories have been used to examine organizational change in sport. The methodological techniques used have revealed much, but are increasingly routine. Here, a novel use of organizational ethnography is used to examine change, both within and between two partners within an inter-organizational partnership. A longitudinal, dual-sited, organizational ethnography was performed between 2008 and 2012. This internal perspective gathered data on the structures, practices and relationships impacted by a common external stimulus (national sport initiative). One organization's values moderated their responses to the implantation of quality control systems and their attitudes to program expansion. This resistance created tensions between the partners, resulting in the deterioration of organizational relationships. This paper provides both a case of organizational change in sport management, while demonstrating some opportunities and challenges for using this dual approach. Both theoretical and methodological implications for practice are discussed and further research opportunities presented.

KEYWORDS:

• Organizational ethnography
• organizational change
• community sport
• qualitative methodology
• inter-organizational partnership

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank P. David Howe for his general guidance on ethnography and the various anonymous reviewers for their comments on this and earlier versions of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

P. J. Kitchin http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7219-5167