All sport organisations in the UK have differences in their mission, structure, or leadership and management styles.
The organisational structure is important for any growing company to provide guidance and clarity on specific human resource issues, such as managerial authority ("Politics.co.uk"). Additionally, the existence of the organisation's leadership who are skilled and experienced provides guidance and direction for all employees to follow (Ingram, 2018). Moreover, leaders are invaluable in formulating and communicating new strategic directions, as well as motivating employees to increase dedication to organizational goals.
The management has significant importance to organisations or companies.
For instance, the management can encourage initiative, which gives satisfaction to employees and success of organisations. Also, management encourages innovation (Ingram, n.d). The innovation creates new ideas, methods, services, etc. These benefits make organisations more competitive and efficient (Riley, 2015).
Examples of sport organisations in the United Kingdom
Examples of sport organisations in the United Kingdom are UK Sport, Sport England, and Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby. These organisations have differences in their organisational structures or leadership and management styles ("Cabinet Office", 2016). UK Sport is a non-departmental public body (NPGB) and disburses government funding (Letsrecycle.com, 2006). Furthermore, the organisation acts as the statutory distributor of national lottery grants, which provides strategic investment to enable Great Britain's Olympic and Paralympic sports and athletes to achieve their full medal-winning potential. The second organisation is Sport England, which is one of the most known sport organisations and a non-departmental public body in the UK (Sport England, 2017). Further, Sport England allows for adaptation of the way of working to support a more flexible matrix style culture. The organisation's view is that everyone in England feels able to take part in sport or activity, regardless of age, background, or ability. As the third organisation in the sports industries, the GBWR (Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby) is a non-profit organisation (NPO) and governing body for wheelchair rugby and a national governing body, which is based in Great Britain ("Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby", 2018). The three organisations are different types of organisations and the difference in types or structure of organisations, leadership and management styles equal to the difference in strength and weaknesses as it is proportional.
Examples of Structures in Sport Organisations
UK Sport
The UK Sport is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. As the structure of UK Sport, departments are classified into five categories that are executive, operating office, performance, commercial and communications and finance, investment and business services (UK Sport, 2018). Their investment and support service cover Performance (investment, evaluation, and solutions), Events (investment, bidding, and support), International (influence, department), Governance, Leadership, Financial Accounting, Science, Medicine and Technology (UK Sport, 2018). The organisation recruits people who are with appropriate diversity, independence, skills, experience. In addition, it requires knowledge to take effective decisions that further the organisation's goals. The skilled and experienced decision-making bodies with independent voice and engage in constructive, open debate enable good decision-making. An appropriate governance structure demonstrates to all stakeholders that the organisation is well managed. It is important to winning the confidence of staff, suppliers, and potential investors and provides a framework for organisational growth and development (UK Sport, 2018).
Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPB)
NDPBs have a role in the process of national government. However, they are not part of a government department. They operate at arm's length from ministers who are responsible to Parliament for the NDPBs. The category also includes NDPBs with advisory functions, and independent monitoring boards (Politics.co.uk). In Executive Agencies, it tends to be required to comply with a standard of service set by the sponsoring department. Executive Agencies also have to meet public service and service delivery agreements set by the Treasury ("Cabinet Office", 2016). They are mostly required to produce an annual report and are reviewed every five years. These reviews consider the future of the agency against proposals for its abolition, privatisation or the contracting-out of its functions. The Politics.co.uk illustrated NDPBs as quasi-autonomous non-NGOs including NHS trusts, learning and skills councils and various advisory bodies that are widely ranged. NDPBs spend funding allocated by departments, have boards that are appointed by Ministers, which is in line with the Code of Practice of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments and requires that amongst other things, they be appointed on merit, and are subject to independent assessment ("Cabinet Office", 2016).
Sport England
The Sport England is also an executive non-departmental public body, which has planned a new organisational structure that was introduced from 2017 to 2021 (Sport England, 2017). The composition has four main categories: Inactivity, mass markets, core market, and children & young people. These are supported by six different sectors that are facilities and planning, insight, workforce, local delivery, corporate services, and CEO's Office. Notably, Sport England workers have worked collaboratively and collectively to achieve the objects of the organisation. However, a new remit and focus require a different structure. The new structure is more focused on their audiences underpinned by areas of specialist expertise and the essential back office service to ensure the organisation operates efficiently and effectively. This will be implemented in phases throughout from 2017 to 2021. Nonetheless, this structure change will not be enough in itself. Thus, it is necessary for Sport England to adopt the way they work to support a more flexible, matrix style culture, which is an important focus for 2017 to 2021 (Sport England, 2017).
Matrix Structure
The matrix structure is a type of organizational structure in which individuals are grouped simultaneously by two different operational perspectives (Riley, 2015). It is inherently complex and versatile to make organisational structures in the sports industries more appropriate than large companies operating across a variety of industries or geographic regions. Nevertheless, one advantage of the matrix structure is its ability to help break down the traditional department barriers to improve communication across the entire organisation. Additionally, it can allow individuals to use particular skills within a variety of contexts. It also avoids the need for several departments to meet regularly. Therefore, it is essential in costs reduction and improvement of coordination.
The matrix structure is also a beneficial way of sharing resources across departments that can make a project more effective in cost. However, it poses a challenge in their coordination and takes time for matrix team members to get used to working in this kind of structure. Moreover, members of a particular project team can have divided loyalties as they report to two-line managers. Equally, this scenario has the possibility to put project team members under heavy pressure of work. Also, the matrix structure as an increased complexity in the chain of command. Thus, it can lead to a higher manager-to-worker ratio and contribute to conflicting loyalties among employees (Riley, 2015).
Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby (GBWR)
The GBWR is a non-profit organisation and a national governing body for wheelchair rugby in England, Scotland and Wales ("Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby", 2018). The GBWR has many partners, for example, UK Sport, Sport England and Rugby Football Union (RFU). The GBWR is governing with six areas, which are board of trustees, governance and field committee, board of management, domestic management group, performance management group and international management group (gbwr.org.uk, 2018). The board of trustees is accountable for ensuring that GBWR meets its charitable objects and for the performance of the company. Furthermore, it ensures that the awards granted by Sport England investment are controlled effectively to meet the objectives of the respective agreements. In addition, the board of trustees is responsible for the appointment and performance management of the Chief Executive who leads the organisation, tasks to deliver the strategy and manage operational delivery, as well as financial performance and risk assessments. On the other hand, the Domestic Management Group (DMG) comprises the National Development Director, the Regional Development Officers, the Corporate and Membership Secretary and a representative from each Club. DMG shapes policy and the domestic programme and ensures that the Executive is made aware of the views of the Membership.
Non-Profit Organisation (NPO)
The reason for existence between non-profit and for-profit organisations is fundamentally different (Ingram, 2009). According to Ingram, profit organisations are founded to generate income for entrepreneurs and their employees while non-profits organisations serve a humanitarian or environmental need. As a result, NPO is a type of organisation that is not driven by profit. Thus, NPOs are often used for trusts, cooperatives, advocacy, charity, environmental, and religious groups. One of the advantages of NPO is the federal exemption from payment of corporate income tax of the organisations that qualify as public charities. NPOs are also usually exempted from similar state and local taxes. Furthermore, an individual's or organisation's charitable contributions to this entity are tax-deductible if an organisation has obtained tax-exempt status (Whatis.com, 2015).
In addition, an NPO exists as a legal entity in its own right and separately from its founder (Ingram, 2009). Incorporation puts the NPO's mission and structure above the personal interests of individuals associated with it. Under the law, creditors and courts are limited to the assets of the non-profit organization. The founders, directors, members, and employees are not personally liable for the NPO's debts (Whatis.com, 2015). However, exceptions such as limiting a person to use the corporation to shield illegal or irresponsible acts on the part exist. Additionally, creating an NPO takes time, effort, and money because of the NPO's legal entity under federal, state, and local laws. Therefore, the use of an attorney, accountant, or other professional may well prove necessary. Although the people who create an NPO like to shape and control their creations, personal control is limited. An NPO is subject to laws and regulations, including its own articles of incorporation and bylaws. Also, it is dedicated to the public interest with its finances being open to public inspection. As a result, the public may obtain copies of an NPO's state and federal filings to learn about salaries and other expenditures.
Examples of Leaders in sport industries
Jennie Price
Jennie Price is the chief executive of grassroots funding body Sport England and in charge of more than £1 billion of public money and is the corporate face of the organisation's game-changing 'This Girl Can' campaign (Telegraph.co.uk/sport, 2017). Jennie has provided the strategic leadership and vision to put Waste & Resources Action Programme's resource efficiency work on the national environmental agenda (Letsrecylce.com, 2006). The programme works to fulfil the requirements of a wide range of stakeholders and employs strategic management. This management style involves setting objectives, analysing the competitive environment, analysing the internal organization, evaluating strategies, and ensuring that management rolls out the strategies across the organisation.
One of the merits of strategic management is that it enables the board and senior administration to take a step back from the day-to-day business to think about the future of the organisation (Robinson, 2005). The cumulative effect of these decisions can have a significant impact on the success of the organization. By providing a framework within which the executive director and staff can make these decisions, it helps them to focus their efforts better on those things that best support the organisation's success. The strategic management process forces an organisation to set objectives and measures of success. However, one of the major criticisms of strategic management requires the organisation to anticipate the future environment in order to develop plans, which is not an easy undertaking. Nevertheless, flexibility can be impeded through a well-executed alignment and integration of the strategy within the organization. An organisation that is well aligned with its strategy is one that has addressed its structure, board, staffing and performance, and reward systems. This alignment ensures that the whole organisation is pulling in the right direction. Despite that, it can inhibit the organisation's adaptability.
Liz Nicholl
Liz Nicholl is the current UK Sport's Chief Executive. Nicholl has overseen the most successful period in British Olympic and Paralympic history (UK Sport, 2017). The former netball international was recently forced to defend the organisation's 'No Compromise' policy in the wake of the athlete welfare scandal. Nonetheless, Liz's leadership responsibilities focus on accountability for the National Lottery and Exchequer investment of around £125m per annum, which supports UK Sport's key objectives of world-class success and major event bidding and hosting. UK sport has increased focus on strengthening case management of excellent programmes with the purpose of ensuring full and effective accountability for good governance, leadership, and culture, as well as athletic performance (UK Sport, 2018).
Case management is a collaborative process of assessment, planning, facilitation, care coordination, evaluation, and advocacy for options and services to meet an individual's and family's comprehensive health needs through communication, available resources to promote quality and cost-effective outcomes ("Case Management Society of America", 2017). Several aspects of a well-designed case management system allow for significant improvement on internal processes. At any level, the customizable dashboards provide real-time insight into the current state of active processes. By having all of the information available within a single case file, information is readily available without the need for searching in a repository or locating a paper document. Moreover, case management solutions can access and archive any type of document that has been programmed into the system, forms, allowing for interviews, collections of customer communication, images, reports and supporting documentation, and notes by staff members to all be managed in a way that allows for the information contained within each document to be extracted and used effectively. These improved processes and gained insight into workflow automation allow significant efficiency to be easily achieved, allowing for better decision making at both the individual and group level (Acotney, 2015).
David Pond
David Pond is an experienced senior executive who has operated at Board level as a Chief Executive and in a variety of executive and non-executive roles. He has a strong record of accomplishment of working with the public, private and voluntary sector to deliver transformational change. As the CEO for Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby Pond has employed strategic management to achieve the set priorities for the organisation. GBWR has used this management style to facilitate the provision of an enjoyable, accessible, fulfilling, inclusive, Wheelchair Rugby experience ("Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby", 2018). Additionally, strategic management is useful in meeting any organisation's priorities.
Strategic management has assisted Pond to work in the public sector in different roles. As a result, benefits such as job stability are often referenced as a major perquisite in this sector. The public sector is also relatively stable and has the stability of government-backed as opposed to profit based that employ different management styles (Davies, 2017). The flexible working hours are common and usually based around a core time of hours or on a 'shift work' basis. The part-time jobs and job sharing can also be found in the public sector. However, one of the disadvantages of the public sector is difficulty in managing and controlling (Chand, n.d). Chand argues that large sizes of the organisations mean that time has to be spent on meetings and communicating with staff, which slows down decision-making. Also, they may become inefficient, produce low-quality products, and charge relatively high prices, due to a lack of competition and the knowledge that they cannot go bankrupt.
Strategic management has also been used in the private sectors. Sharples (2017) stipulates that benefits of working in the private sector depending on the size of the commercial organisation, there is likely to be scope to progress the career in a number of ways including promotion, sideways, and retraining opportunities. Thus, commercial organisations tend to invest strategically in the learning and development of employees who show potential. Even so, private sectors face obstacles such as restrains in issuing shares to the public. It means that they are not able to raise large amounts of capital through issuing shares. In addition, the risk of loss is high for a financial institution funding a privately held company. This is due to the existence of these companies is dependent on the life and wealth of its shareholders.
The third sector organisations are the range of organisations that employ strategic management are neither public sector nor private sector. The third sector includes voluntary and community organisations, social enterprises, mutual and cooperatives (Robert, 2006). Therefore, strategic management used consistently for the operations of the privately held organisations helps in laying out strategies in the third sector organisation that can be beneficial for commissioners. These gains include understanding the needs of service users, community closeness to the people, ability to deliver outcomes, innovation, and performance. However, the sector can lack accountability in some voluntary sectors of the organisations. Moreover, the voluntary organisations are not closely regulated as compared to services within the statutory sector. It means that service users may be at greater risk of being abused because of accessing voluntary sector organisations ("HM Government", 2010).
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is no doubt that the mentioned organisations as examples have different structures, styles, and leaders, which make them more efficient and competitive. The diversity also brings organisations closer to their own goals. Besides, it is obvious that when organisations' structures or types are the same, it does not make the organisations similar. An example of this is the differences stipulated between sports organisations like Sport England and UK Sport. Moreover, organisations are more dependent on their leaders, managers, and importantly, the reason for the existence of their organisations or companies. Nevertheless, any kind of structures or styles create strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, it is important for organisations to consider the efficiency of their structures and styles to create the best path that leads to their goals.
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