Thesis-2006-Bohlke.pdf (8.39 MB)
Benchmarking of elite sport systems
thesis
posted on 2013-04-25, 11:31 authored by Nikolai BohlkeThe organisation of elite sport systems has been the focus of a great variety of
different investigations over the past ten years. In particular, many studies have
compared the structure and organisation of different national elite sport systems on
the macro and meso levels. A result of the existing investigations is a clear
convergence of the service portfolio different elite sport systems offer their athletes
and coaches. Despite this current trend to a homogeneous elite sport system
design, medal tables of major sport events suggest that some nations are still more
successful than others in specific sports. This suggests that more successful sport
systems might have found better ways to implement the otherwise similar and
conventional support portfolio. However, there is a lack of studies that focus on what
practices successful elite sport systems apply in the actual delivery of the support
services to their athletes and coaches; in how far these practices are related to the
,success of the sport systems; if these practices look similar across different
successful sport systems; and if these practices provide useful lessons for other
systems to learn from.
The management tool benchmarking appears to be a useful framework to guide
such comparisons at the operational level. Thus, this thesis evaluated the
applicability of this management concept for furthering understanding of elite sport
system management. In order to conduct this evaluation it was decided to analyse
the operational processes and structures two successful elite sport systems apply
for the delivery of five elements of the elite sport support portfolio. In specific, the
investigation focused on the comparison of the design of the squad system, the
hierarchy of coaches within the squad system, the organisation of the coach
education, as well as the provision of sport science and lifestyle support, which were
the Benchmarking Objects of this study. The Swedish athletics and the Norwegian
cross-country skiing national team, and the general elite sport support institutions
they cooperate with, were chosen as the Benchmarking Subjects, i.e. the
comparison partners, for this investigation. This research was based on a series of
semi-structured interviews which were conducted with about 50 key pOSition holders
such as coaches, athletes, lifestyle support managers, or performance
diagnosticians during two study visits to Norway and Sweden.
This study concluded that benchmarking can lead to insights into the operational
management of successful elite sport systems. It must however also be stressed
that benchmarking is not a universal remedy for the problems managers of elite
sport systems face today. As this research showed, the two Benchmarking Subjects
applied unexpected solutions for the delivery of some of the chosen Benchmarking
Objects - and some of these practices appeared to be heavily linked to the
organisational and cultural context of the investigated sport systems. Thus, it must
be carefully evaluated for each process or structure, which is identified during a
bench marking exercise, if it constitutes a transferable best practice which is
applicable outside the organisational context of the respective Benchmarking
Subject.
History
School
- Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences
Publisher
© Nikolai BohlkePublication date
2006Notes
A Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University.EThOS Persistent ID
uk.bl.ethos.433882Language
- en