Sport federations' organizational innovativeness: an empirical comparison of characteristics and attitudes

Abstract

PurposeBeing innovative is important for non-profit sport organizations in order to meet the ever-changing and increasing societal needs. Understanding why and to what extent organizational innovativeness differs between non-profit sport organizations is, therefore, important to assess and increase their chances of survival. The purpose of this study is to compare the structural characteristics and attitudes of innovation attributes between three groups of sport federations (SFs).Design/methodology/approachAn online self-assessment survey was sent to all recognized regional Belgian SFs (N = 156). Simultaneously, an observational desk research (i.e. media analysis) was carried out. Results from both data collection methods were combined to develop a composite organizational innovativeness-index, based on which the federations were then clustered in three distinct adopter groups.FindingsComparative statistics show that structural background characteristics generally are poor indicators for adopter categorization. In contrast, the attitudes about compatibility (i.e. the consistency of innovations with existing values) and complexity (i.e. the extent to which innovations are difficult to apprehend) seem the most important distinctive determinants for the different groups of SFs.Originality/valueThe study's contribution is twofold. First, it offers a methodological contribution with the development of an index, which enables the categorization of non-profit sport organizations according to their organizational innovativeness; thus, it provides a critical counter-argument to the importance of organizational structural background characteristics from previous studies. Second, the study's results may support non-profit sport organizations in improving their innovativeness, for instance by improving the perception of compatibility with innovation or by guiding policymakers in creating a more supportive environment for these organizations to do so.

Legitimating innovation through category positioning: a case study of The Hundred cricket competition

“…Equally, the hierarchical governance of sport and longstanding traditions associated with many sports can create barriers to change (Winand and Hoeber, 2017). Evidence indicates that SGBs are generally open to innovation (Winand et al, 2016) and non-profit sport federations actively engage in social and commercial technical product innovation, like creating competitions or identifying new formats (Corthouts et al, 2022). Examining variations in innovation, smaller SGBs tend to be more innovative due to financial pressures (Crespo et al, 2023) but larger organisations may have greater financial security to manage the associated costs and risks (Winand et al, 2013).…”

“…transparency), appropriate staff capabilities and perceived compatibility between innovation and organisational values (i.e. the ability to move away from traditions and routines) can foster innovation (Best et al, 2021;Corthouts et al, 2022;Lefebvre et al, 2023). The outcome is that innovative capabilities of SGBs has tangible impacts on their ability to implement commercial strategies, such as corporate social responsibility (Zeimers et al, 2021).…”

“…Evidence indicates that SGBs are generally open to innovation (Winand et al. , 2016) and non-profit sport federations actively engage in social and commercial technical product innovation, like creating competitions or identifying new formats (Corthouts et al. , 2022).…”

“…the ability to move away from traditions and routines) can foster innovation (Best et al. , 2021; Corthouts et al. , 2022; Lefebvre et al.…”