Modifying Tradition: Understanding Organizational Change in Chinese Elite Sport Training at the Grassroots Level

Abstract

This research examines the organizational change in Chinese elite sport training at the grassroots level, which is perceived as foundational to and crucial for the development of sustainable competitive advantage at the Olympics. Predicted on an in-depth single case study design linked to qualitative research, this study pursued a “thick description” of the process of change in Shanghai elite sport training by identifying the impetus for change and factors moderating the change process. All qualitative data were sourced from semi-structured interviews and official and semi-official documents. Participants included current sport leaders; officials/administrators; senior, including head and non-head, coaches; and renowned Chinese social science scholars who either specialize in or are familiar with the elite sport training scene in general and the landscape at the grassroots level. The key findings, on the basis of organizational change theory, were that the internal and external political pressures are strongly linked to the growing concern about athlete performance management, the alignment of elite sport training with the sport service industry, and limited financial resources; the functional pressures emerge from the broadening of the talent pool of money-consuming sports and newly added Olympic sports; and other fields’ successful practices, the unlimited registration rule, and a virtuous cycle of training contribute to organizational change.

Understanding the complexity of provincial-level elite sport policy change: The case of Shanghai municipality

“…In line with Zheng et al (2019) , Chinese sport policy embraces the contrast between a politically led approach as a relic of the planned economy and a market-led approach. Notably, the shortage of financial resources is more obvious in money-consuming disciplines (e.g., equestrianism and golf) and newly added Olympic disciplines (e.g., rock climbing and breakdancing; Ma and Kurscheidt, 2021 ) than in other disciplines. In addition, in relation to the effectiveness of existing policies, the lack of emphasis on nurturing world-famous sport stars has been noted and firmly criticized.…”

Revisión bibliométrica sistemática de la gestión del entrenamiento deportivo

“…La gestión del proceso de entrenamiento de atletas altamente calificados de tipos de combate, puede llevarse a cabo directamente a través de la corrección de los parámetros del ejercicio con un seguimiento continuo del atleta (Epov et al, 2022), estableciendo un principio formador del nuevo sistema de entrenamiento deportivo a través de fundamentos teóricos y prácticos (Kostyunina et al, 2022). La modificación de modelos de entrenamiento deportivos tradicionales dificultan la comprensión del cambio organizativo en el entrenamiento deportivo de élite (Ma & Kurscheidt, 2021).…”

(Un)Sustainable Human Resource Management in Brazilian Football? Empirical Evidence on Coaching Recruitment and Dismissal

“…Notwithstanding, given that frequent changes of leadership personnel lead to organizational instability [5][6][7], football clubs may endanger their performance improvement due to constant within-season turnover decisions. Consequently, the social [8,9], organizational [10], and economic [11] sustainability of football clubs tend to be compromised depending on how managerial decisions are taken, such as when employers opt for consecutive personnel replacements based on superficial analyses.…”

“…Examining these practices allows capturing how head coaches are selected, employed, and dismissed. Moreover, it may reveal if the decision-makers who are responsible for changing coaches actually work in favor of their football clubs' organizational sustainability [10,12]. After all, if an immediate personnel change occurs, the situation may indicate a setback originating from the recruitment process previously carried out by the decision-makers themselves [13,14].…”