The (un)importance of existing: community sport organizations’ environmental negotiation

Abstract

Through a dual-case study approach, the paper delves into the environmental negotiation of two American Community Sport Organizations (CSOs) who offer youth programmes to examine the ability of the CSOs under study to secure resources from their environment and the tactics used to do so. Through review of key organizational documents and in depth semi-structured interviews, the study presents evidence that the CSOs under study did not value their own organizational existence, but instead strongly favoured their organizational outcomes. The unimportance of existence is demonstrated to have allowed for greater access to key organizational resources for the CSOs under study. Implications for the further development of resource dependence theory and for the management of CSOs, especially those offering youth programmes are explored further.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.