BOUCHER, R.
University of Windsor
GIRGINOV, V., Brunel University
TAKS, M., HOLMAN, M., MARTYN, S., DIXON, J., University of Windsor
SRG 2006
Français
The Canadian Sport Policy (2002) has the intent to produce a cultural change in the delivery of and participation in sport. It challenges the organizational cultures of NSOs because it involves the creation of shared systems of meaning that are accepted, internalized, and acted upon at every level of an organisation and across the entire sport system. This original research examines the relationship between the cultures of Canadian NSOs and participation in sport by incorporating a new theoretical approach that combines studies on organizational culture with those of sport participation. The overall goal is to better understand and ultimately improve the effectiveness of policies aimed at promoting sport participation. A sample of 9 NSOs with different histories and Sport Participation Development Program (SPDP) funded projects provide the focus of this research. The study is occurring in two phases: (i) determining the organizational cultures of NSOs and studying the processes of participation; and (ii) establishing how organizational cultures promote sport participation. Preliminary results from our review of related literature, analysis of NSOs’ use of the World Wide Web for promoting sport participation (previously presented at the 2008 European Association for Sport Management (EASM) conference and published in the International Journal of Sport Communication), site visits and semi-structured interviews with NSO representatives, and a web-based questionnaire (recently presented at 2009 EASM conference) suggest that this project has both theoretical and practical implications for sport managers and policy makers. First, NSOs will gain a better understanding of the specific cultures of their organizations. Second, they will benefit from the analysis of the relationship between organizational culture and participation in sport. Lastly, the findings will help NSOs devise policies and practical activities to increase sport participation.
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