An Analysis of The Perceived Competencies of Sports Managers in Taiwan

Ling-Mei Ko

Professor Ian Henry

Centre of Olympic Studies & Research

Structure of the Presentation

• Introduction─ The Definition of Competency─ The development of competency-based approach in

sports management─ Research purpose

• Research Methods• Findings and Discussion• Conclusion

Introduction

• The Definition of Competency“Competencies are the combination of knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal traits which are utilized to perform a variety of activities and behaviours effectively.”

• The Development of Competency-Based Approach in Sports Management─ The purpose is to identify the body of required

competencies for a sports manager which could be used for education and training purpose.

Introduction

• Research Purpose

─ To develop a valid and reliable instrument to evaluate the perceptions of sports managers and academics of the importance of competencies of sports managers in Taiwan.

Research Methods

• The Steps of Research

1. Hypothesis Formulation

2. Instrument Development

3. Sample Selection

4. Data Collection

5. Data Analysis

6. Discussions, Implications and Conclusions

• Research Hypothesis─ It is believed that neither

practitioners nor academics, working alone, can shape the field of sports management.

─ Hypothesis: “ There is no significant difference

between sports managers and academics in terms of their perceptions of which competencies are critical to managerial effectiveness. ”

1. Hypothesis Formulation

2. Instrument Development

3. Sample Selection

4. Data Collection

5. Data Analysis

6. Discussions, Implications and Conclusions

Research Methods

• Instrument Development─ Part 1: Competency─ Part 2: Demographic Information

1. Systematic Review

3. Delphi Method2. Taiwan

Sports Management Curricula Analysis

No.

Competency Importance of this competency

1To understand financial statements and prepare financial reports.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1. Hypothesis Formulation

2. Instrument Development

3. Sample Selection

4. Data Collection

5. Data Analysis

6. Discussions, Implications and Conclusions

74 Items70 Items

Research Methods

4 Items

• Sample Selection─ A total size of the sample is 800.

• 150 sports management academics. • 650 sports managers from sports

services industry

• Data Collection─ 800 surveys were sent out during

October, 2006.─ Two follow-ups

• The first one was made 14 days following the initial mail-out.

• The second one was made three weeks after the initial mailing.

─ The data collection was concluded on 31 December, 2006.

1. Hypothesis Formulation

2. Instrument Development

3. Sample Selection

6. Discussions, Implications and Conclusions

Research Methods

5. Data Analysis5. Data Analysis

3. Sample Selection

4. Data Collection4. Data Collection4. Data Collection

Procedure and Purpose

Finding out Group Differences in which Factors

Analysis of Response Rate and Sample Frame

Convergent Validity Analysis of Competencies

Reliability Analysis of Each Factor

Testing of the Hypotheses

Analysis of Importance of Competencies

Applied Methods (tools)

Descriptive Statistics (SPSS 13.0)

Factor Analysis(SPSS 13.0)

Cronbach’s α(SPSS 13.0)

Descriptive Statistics (SPSS 13.0)

One- Way MANOVA Analysis (SPSS 13.0)

One-Way ANOVA Analysis (SPSS 13.0)

Mailed Valid

Response Valid

Response Rate

Academics 150 83 55.3%

Practitioners 650 122 18.8%

Total 800 205 25.6%

Findings and Discussion

• Response Rate

12283

4

38

17

32

31

Academic

Practitioner

Participant sports servicesindustry

Spectator sports servicesindustry

Sports mass mediaindustry

Sports promotion industry

Others

Findings and Discussion

• Agency Setting

Findings and Discussion

• Finding 1─ The perceptions of critical competencies to the

successful conducting of a sports manager's job have been identified.

• An eleven-factor competency model for sports managers which consisted of 54 competencies was proposed from factor analysis.

Findings and Discussion

Factor VariablesNo. ofItems

% of Variance

Cumulative %

Cronbach’s α

F 1 Management Techniques 14 31.665 31.67 0.92

F 2 Sports-Related Theory and Foundations 9 7.215 38.88 0.89

F 3 Service Provision and Development 5 4.070 42.95 0.84

F 4 Foreign Language and Learning Ability 4 3.911 46.86 0.76

F 5 Leadership 4 3.057 49.92 0.73

F 6 Finance, Economics and Analytic Abilities 4 2.716 52.63 0.73

F 7 Communication 3 2.486 55.12 0.69

F 8 Political Awareness 4 2.463 57.58 0.80

F 9 Accounting and Risk Management 2 2.413 60.00 0.62

F 10 Information Technology 2 2.121 62.12 0.73

F 11 Management Theory and Knowledge Management 3 1.990 64.11 0.69

Rank Factor VariablesMeanValue

SD

1 F 1 Management Techniques 6.08 0.57

2 F 5 Leadership 6.02 0.68

3 F 4 Foreign Language and Learning Ability 5.95 0.66

4 F 7 Communication 5.80 0.65

5 F 11 Management Theory and Knowledge Management 5.68 0.71

6 F 3 Service Provision and Development 5.56 0.71

7 F 10 Information Technology 5.50 0.78

8 F 9 Accounting and Risk Management 5.35 0.78

9 F 6 Finance, Economics and Analytic Abilities 5.28 0.74

10 F 2 Sports-Related Theory and Foundations 5.14 0.71

11 F 8 Political Awareness 5.01 0.90

7-point Likert Scale: 1 (not important at all) – 7 (extremely important)

Findings and Discussion

• Finding 2 ─ The perceptional difference between sports managers

and academics on the importance of which competencies are critical to managerial effectiveness has been found.

• The perceptional difference has been found in the test of One-Way Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and One-Way ANOVA.

Findings and Discussion

EffectWilks’

LambdaF

statisticsSignificant

Academic and Practitioner Groups

0.612 1.764 0.004**

Findings and Discussion

• One-Way MANOVA for the Overall Difference between Academics and Practitioners

**P < 0.01

One-way ANOVA for the Differences between Groups in Each Factor

Factor VariablesAcademics Practitioners

Sig.Rank Mean SD Rank Mean SD

F1 Management Techniques 3 6.11 0.59 1 6.05 0.55 0.458n.s.

F2 Sports Related Theory and Foundations 10-11 5.23 0.72 10 5.07 0.70 0.118n.s.

F3 Service Provision and Development 6 5.71 0.68 6 5.46 0.72 0.013*

F4 Foreign Language and Learning Ability 1 6.17 0.64 3 5.80 0.63 0.000***

F5 Leadership 2 6.13 0.63 2 5.94 0.70 0.056n.s.

F6 Finance, Economics and Analytic Abilities 9 5.30 0.79 8 5.28 0.72 0.862n.s.

F7 Communication 4 5.87 0.61 4 5.75 0.68 0.224n.s.

F8 Political Awareness 10-11 5.23 0.97 11 4.86 0.81 0.004**

F9 Accounting and Risk Management 8 5.51 0.78 9 5.24 0.76 0.014*

F10 Information Technology 7 5.58 0.85 7 5.44 0.73 0.204n.s.

F11 Management Theory and Knowledge Management 5 5.82 0.69 5 5.58 0.71 0.021*

7-point Likert Scale: 1 (not important at all) – 7 (extremely important)***P < 0.001; **P < 0.01; *P < 0.05; n.s.= non significant

4.54.75

55.255.5

5.756

6.256.5

F1 F5 F4 F7 F11 F3 F10 F9 F6 F2 F8

Ranking of Factors

Mean

Academic Practitioner Total

• Finding 3─ Although the perceptional difference between 2 groups on

the important competencies has been found, the difference is slight. The results only reported different degrees of agreement of the importance for all competencies.

Findings and Discussion

Conclusion

• The main contribution of this paper lies in the identification of perceptions of critical competencies of a successful sports manager.

• The findings of this study have several significant implications for both academics and practitioners.─ Academics

• To design curriculum or to modify the existing curricula in a more integrated and competency-based educational programme.

─ Practitioners• As a guideline in recruiting competent sports managers,

evaluating performance of employees, and training.

Thank you!