Sports Organization Theory Report: Analysis of Australian GP Corp.

This report provides a critical analysis of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, examining it through the framework of sports organization theory. The report begins with an executive summary and table of contents, followed by an introduction outlining the report's objectives. Module 1 explores whether the Australian Grand Prix Corporation is a sports organization, discussing the uniqueness of sports and its impact on the corporation, and differentiating between organizational theory and behavior. Module 2 delves into the corporation's goals, resolving competing objectives, and comparing effectiveness and efficiency. The report further covers data collection, analysis, and quality checks, along with an analysis of the organizational structure's complexity. Module 3 examines the strategies employed, including a discussion of a blue ocean strategic approach and competitive advantage, along with potential strategic allies. Module 4 focuses on change and isomorphism using DiMaggio and Powell's processes, the relationship between change and strategy, and the influence of organizational change on structure, pace, linearity, sequence, and response to institutional pressure, concluding with an overview of the corporation's sustainability and effectiveness.

Running head: SPORTS ORGANIZATION THEORY
Sport organization theory
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1SPORTS ORGANIZATION THEORY
Executive Summary
This report had critically analyzed a sports organization named the Australian Grand prix
Corporation. The report had conducted a situational analysis of the Australian Grand prix
Corporation to identify the organizational theories, structures, goals and effectiveness. The report
had also identified the strategy used by the organization and identify new strategies that should
be developed by the organization to launch new product into the market to gain competitive
advantage which could evaluate the strategic alliance option of the organization. The study had
also evaluated change management strategies in respect to Australian Grand prix Corporation.
The report is a critical analysis of Australian Grand prix Corporation illustrating different aspect
of the organization by linking it with theories and articles. The different aspect of Australian
Grand prix Corporation has been examined which had provide crucial insights. It had been
concluded from the study, that management of sports organizations are highly challenging and it
is different from business organizations due to their nature of complexity. The products offered
by the sport organizations is nothing but memorable experience which is totally dependent on the
quality of the service and the type of event the organization has been able arrange. The structural
complexity of Australian Grand prix Corporation showed that effective and efficient
management is required for dealing with the problems faced and the organization will have to
make changes to their policies on a regular basis either to maintain their sustainability or due to
the pressure they feel from the institutions monitoring and governing these organizations.
Therefore, Australian Grand prix Corporation have established an effective organizational
structure, culture and strategy to maintain their sustainability in the market.

2SPORTS ORGANIZATION THEORY
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Module 1..........................................................................................................................................4
Sports organization or not............................................................................................................4
Uniqueness about sport and its effect on Australian Grand Prix Corporation............................5
Distinction between organizational theory and organizational behaviour..................................6
Critical thinking and Interdisciplinary approaches......................................................................7
Module 2..........................................................................................................................................7
Goals of Australian Grand Prix Corporation and its importance................................................7
Resolving competing goals..........................................................................................................8
Difference in effectiveness and efficiency..................................................................................9
Data collection, analysis and checking the quality......................................................................9
Analysis of the level of complexity in organizational structure................................................10
Module 3........................................................................................................................................11
Strategy used by Australian Grand prix Corporation................................................................11
Blue ocean strategic approach and competitive advantage.......................................................12
Potential strategic allies, considerations and rationale for choice.............................................12
Module 4........................................................................................................................................14
Change and isomorphism using DiMaggio and Powell’s (1983) coercive, normative and
mimetic processes......................................................................................................................14

3SPORTS ORGANIZATION THEORY
Relationship between change and strategy................................................................................15
Influence of organization change on structure...........................................................................16
Influence on pace, linearity and sequence.................................................................................16
Response to institutional pressure.............................................................................................17
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................17
References......................................................................................................................................18

4SPORTS ORGANIZATION THEORY
Introduction
This report will critically analyze a sports organization named the Australian Grand prix
Corporation. The report will conduct a situational analysis of the Australian Grand prix
Corporation to identify the organizational theories, structures, goals and effectiveness. The report
will also identify the strategy used by the organization and identify new strategies that should be
developed by the organization to launch new product into the market to gain competitive
advantage which could evaluate the strategic alliance option of the organization. The study will
also evaluate change management strategies in respect to Australian Grand prix Corporation. The
report is a critical analysis of Australian Grand prix Corporation illustrating different aspect of
the organization by linking it with theories and articles. Australian Grand Prix is one of the
oldest sports events in Australia and as the name suggests the Australian Grand prix Corporation
is responsible for conducting the grand prix each year and they are responsible to the major
events and Tourism minister.
Module 1
Sports organization or not
The Australian Grand prix Corporation is a sports organization as it responsible for
conducting different Grand prix in Australia. Sport organizations are companies dealing with
sports at different levels, be it global or local context (Cunningham, 2013). They are governing
bodies having regulatory functions in all sports activities. Australian Grand prix Corporation is a
similar organization that is responsible for holding events such as Michelin Australian
Motorcycle Grand prix 2016 and 2017 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix. Australian Grand

5SPORTS ORGANIZATION THEORY
prix Corporation fall in the category of the multi sports event organizations and they are
regulatory bodies and conduct all types of grand prix events in Australia. The organization has
been developed in accordance to the Australian Grand Prix Act 1994 and directly report to the
Minister of tourism and Major events.
Uniqueness about sport and its effect on Australian Grand Prix Corporation
The sport industry is unique in nature and as stated by Smith and Stewart, (2010) there
are ten unique features of sports which is the reason that management of sports activities will
require specific management tools. The most unique feature is the development of irrational
passion among the viewers regarding their respective teams, sports and respective athletes. The
significance of sports is greater when taking activities such as outcomes, success and celebrating
achievements is considered. A sport is an experience which drives other activities that develop
from this basic feeling. There are vast differences in priorities between sports organizations and
other corporate organizations so they performance indicators for the organizations are different.
According to Amis and Slack, (1996), corporate organizations focus on profit maximization as
wealth maximization is the main objective of the stakeholders. On the contrary, sports
organizations take other imperatives into account such as winning premierships, community
services, providing service to the stakeholders. Therefore, sport organizations will have to
effectively balance both the aspects where financial aspect and other aspects are equally
important. Moreover, the sports entities always require other sports organizations to remain in
business as cooperation off the field is necessary for the survival and sustainability of different
sports organizations.
The sport industry is highly dependent on the fans and sports enthusiasts and engaging
them is crucial for the organization. There are other businesses that operate around these events

6SPORTS ORGANIZATION THEORY
and engaging the fans into other activities is essential for sports organizations. Grand prix is a
popular sport and it drives many fans and sports enthusiasts to participate. The sport
organizations have to focus on the social aspect more than on generating revenue. Therefore,
engaging the consumers to take part in various activities will add more value to the consumers in
the market (Kikulis, Slack & Hinings, 1992). The sport organizations operate in three sectors
such as the public sector, non-profits sector and professional sector. Australian Grand prix
Corporation is directed by the ministry of tourism and events so the organization will have to
think about the welfare of the society. Australian Grand prix Corporation is heavily affected by
the authoritative body and sports as they aim to provide highly quality experience to the
consumers and improving the quality of experience is essential for sustainability. Thus, unlike
normal corporate organizations the goals and objectives of the stakeholders are different in sports
organization as social perspective and value is one of the key factors of performance indicators.
Distinction between organizational theory and organizational behaviour
As stated by Doherty, (2013), organizational theory includes the organizational structure
and designs which is used for increasing the productivity and efficiency of the organizational
processes in order to achieve the goals and objectives of the stakeholders. On the other hand,
Slack, (1993) states, organizational behaviour deals with human interaction networks, where
there is interaction among people within a group that is analyzed to identify its cause and effect.
In context to, Australian Grand prix Corporation, the hierarchical structure will include
organizational theory while behaviour of the employees within the team represents in the
organizational behaviour. The organization follows matrix structure where mixture of functional
and divisional structure has been used. This complex structure will facilitate in dealing with the
complex problems within the organization. The working culture of the Australian Grand prix

7SPORTS ORGANIZATION THEORY
Corporation will define the organizational behaviour where the workforce cooperates with each
other to reach their common goals.
Critical thinking and Interdisciplinary approaches
The ability to think clearly and rationally to develop judgements about beliefs and
actions is known as critical thinking. This will enable to understand the logical relationship
between different ideas, evaluate and construct arguments, systematically solve problems and
identifying the significance of different ideas.
Interdisciplinary approach is integration and use of analytical methods from multiple
academic areas for examining an issue, question, topic or theme. The use of Interdisciplinary
approach will provide a thorough understanding of the issues and problems that is being
addressed (Doherty, 2013). Therefore, critical thinking can be enhanced using the
Interdisciplinary approach. Moreover, this will enable to gain insights from different
perspectives which is essential for improving the judgement.
Module 2
Goals of Australian Grand Prix Corporation and its importance
The goals and priorities of Australian Grand prix Corporation are as follows:
 To provide Melbourne and Victoria with motor sport events of highest quality and
international level
 To negotiate and enter into different agreements so that Australian Grand prix
Corporation can conduct Formula One events by abiding with the rules and regulations

8SPORTS ORGANIZATION THEORY
 To facilitate in improving the popularity of motorcycle and Formula One events by
undertaking actions in the field of management and promotion
 To develop a motor racing circuit in the Albert park which will support the activities of
the Formula One events
 To take necessary actions for different aspects of management such as financial,
commercial and conduct aspects for all the Formula One events hosted by the Australian
Grand prix Corporation
 Take consent from the minister for hosting and entering into events of different motor
sports in order to promote motor sports into the society
 Complying to all the rules and regulations under the AGP Act
These goals are essential for the sustainability and profitability of the organization. The goals
set by the organization are developed to contribute to the society and increase the popularity of
particular sports. The hosting of these international events results in the growth of the economy.
Australian Grand prix Corporation will be able to generate more popularity about motor sports
and events among the consumers by implementing the above goals. Moreover, the tourism and
event minister want the popularity to go up so that sports enthusiasts from different countries
participate in the events and increase the organizational profitability.
Resolving competing goals
The competing goals defines the conflicting goals within the organization where the goals
set by one of the team is countered the goals set by another team. When there is scarcity of
resources the organization should do not develop goals that are contradictory. The contradiction
between the team will lead to a bad outcome so therefore in emergency situations segmentations
of teams will have to be avoided in order to avoid the risk of uncoordinated plan.

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Difference in effectiveness and efficiency
Australian Grand prix Corporation has been effective in hosting motor sports events for a
long time and the effectiveness of the activities of the organization had enabled them to host
these events for 83 times starting from the year of 1928 (Grandprix.com.au., 2017). Therefore,
effectiveness is the developing right plans for the organization. Australian Grand prix
Corporation has been effective in developing their strategies which is the reason that they have
been able to make sustain for such a long period (Shilbury & Moore, 2006). The processes and
the strategies have efficiently executed which has led to generation of profits for the
organization. Therefore, efficiency is the act of executing strategies in the most effective way
without any wastage.
Data collection, analysis and checking the quality
The project phase will determine the data collection method where the conceptual phase,
production phase, design phase and maintenance phase will have different methods of collecting
data. The data would consist of the human error and equipment failures, data will be collected
from similar phases for the conceptual phase, design phase will collect test data for the particular
product, the production phase will collect data that is historical in nature which is often collected
from the design phase. Actual failure data is used in the maintenance stage of the project where
failure analysis techniques. Therefore, it is crucial to include all failures of the project ranging
from the development to the acceptance phase. The data is generally collected manually or
automatically where the data is collected manually on customized forms and the data collected in
stored on database. There are instances where data is collected using automatic devices that is
send to the database directly.

10SPORTS ORGANIZATION THEORY
The analysis of the data will be conducted using various software packages depending
upon the need of the analysis. This will consist of maintaining the reliability and validity of the
data that has been collected. The reliability and validity will ensure that the data collected is
accurate and precise. The reliability and validity of the collected data should be measured in
order to check the quality of the data collected. This will consist of defining the quality metrics
and the benchmarks which will be acting as the baseline for measurement. This will facilitate in
identifying the failures, reporting them and rectifying them to increase the efficiency and
effectiveness of the operational processes.
Analysis of the level of complexity in organizational structure
The organizational structure of the sports organization is more complex than the normal
corporate organization due to the involvement of volunteers and other groups actively working
along with the sport organization. In order to manage the level of complexity within the
organization, the managers will use ambidextrous capabilities where they look for expansion
opportunity along with the smooth running of the daily organizational activities. This will consist
of forming partnerships in order to develop cross business projects, running multiple projects at
the same time and assisting people to connect to each other from diverse areas. This can be
achieved by developing effective training programs that are required for identifying complex
organizational roles.
The options described in the above projects will consist of developing an effective
workforce and collaborating with other companies from different business segments. The initial
cost of mergers is high but increases the resource capability by more than two times. This
enables the organization to work in a much better way and simplify the complexity of the
processes. The organization by providing training to the employees will increase their skill level

11SPORTS ORGANIZATION THEORY
and the initial cost of training can be easily covered from the level of complexity reduction the
organization can achieved with the help of these employees.
The organization is a matrix structure organization which is a hybrid of divisional and
functional organization types. The organization follows the hierarchy where the departments are
divided according to divisions in some instances and some cases in terms of the functions.
Module 3
Strategy used by Australian Grand prix Corporation
Australian Grand prix Corporation has been cutting their expenditure on their additional
costs to generate more revenue. The construction of the temporary track on the lakeside in Albert
park have been stopped. The organization are using the save and spend approach which is
essential for limiting the increasing cost of hosting the events (Alstyne, Parker & Choudary,
2016). This also consist of renegotiations with the suppliers and giving contracts to new
suppliers that are offering cheaper prices for their services. This is due to the large deficit from
the conducting the events in the previous year which shows deficit of $61.7 million (Fogarty,
2016). The organization has focused on improving the quality of service and experience to the
consumers by improving the corporate entertainments suites with better food and lavish fittings.
This shows that the organization wants to achieve economies of scale in their processes by
enhancing the level of experience of the customers. Australian Grand prix Corporation has
selected this approach to reduce their cost significantly and coverup for the record losses they
incur in the last year’s races.