Improving the Implementation of Sport Governance with an Analysis of Its Determinants: The Case of Sport National Governing Bodies in Switzerland

Abstract

This research investigates new empirical routes to improve the implementation of sport governance by sports organizations. It asks the question: what determinants influence the decision of sport national governing bodies in Switzerland to implement sport governance? It builds on implementation deficits highlighted by benchmark analysis, an exploratory literature review and a description of the non-profit sector. This paper invites a reflection on the challenges and difficulties related to sport governance standards. The method builds on an exploratory, inductive and qualitative research design. The data comprise interviews with 10 decision makers of national sport federations and the national umbrella federation of sport and Olympic committee analyzed by theme-based coding. The analysis highlights five meta-themes associated with determinants: (1) strategic priority, (2) decision makers’ knowledge on the concept of sport governance, (3) sport governance issues, (4) resources, and (5) personal attributes of decision makers. The results and findings indicate that improving the implementation of sport governance is a multidimensional issue that mainly involves organizational and individual elements, and calls for a tiered approach rather than a “one size-fits all” approach.

Keywords:

• Sport governance
• Swiss sport system
• non-profit sport organizations
• determinants
• MAXQDA

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest has to be reported.

Notes

1 For instance with the following: ‘This finding also indicates that knowledge-based barriers might outweigh the attitudinal barriers of transparency’ (Kràl & Cuskelly, 2018, p. 255).

2 As per 01.01.2019. The classification of sports is a management tool used by Swiss Olympic to determine the level of support for sports. Sports are classified on a scale from 1 to 5 depending on whether they fulfil specific criteria (e.g., elite sports promotion concept, successful participation in international competitions, results achieved, or national significance). For instance, level 1 includes the most “performing” sports such as tennis or beach volleyball, and level 5 includes the least “performing” sports such as twirling or American football.

3 Applicable for nine interviews (30 April to 17 July 2019). Because of organisational constraints, one interview took place in October 2019.

4 Fragments interpreted as being off-topic or not providing information on the question asked were not coded. Thus, parts of the text were not included in the analysis.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michaël Mrkonjic

Michaël Mrkonjic (Ph.D., University of Lausanne, Switzerland) is Head of Division Sports Economics and Vice-Rector Services at the Swiss Federal Institute of Sport Magglingen. He completed a PhD degree at the University of Lausanne. He teaches strategic sport management and good governance in sport at postgraduate level. He is currently interested in the sport management labor market and in the implementation of sport governance.

Emmanuel Bayle

Emmanuel Bayle (Ph.D., University of Limoges, France) is Professor of Sport Management and former Director at the Institut des Sciences du Sport de l’Université de Lausanne (ISSUL). He works mainly on issues of governance, management, performance and social responsibility of sports organizations. He is the author or co-author of five books, some thirty research articles and twenty book chapters in sports management.

Milena M. Parent

Milena Parent (Ph.D., University of Alberta, Canada) is a full Professor in sport (event) governance in the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa. She received a Young Researcher Award from the University of Ottawa (2009) and an Early Researcher Award from the Government of Ontario (2010). She was also named a research fellow of the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) in 2009. Prof. Parent focuses on organization theory and strategic management, primarily in the context of major sports events (e.g. Youth Olympic Games and Olympic Games). She is interested in the governance and management of the relationships between organizing committees and their various stakeholders.