MMS716: Critical Analysis of a Sports Organisation - Final Report

This report provides a critical analysis of the Australian Grand Prix Association, examining various aspects of its organizational structure and management practices. The report begins by exploring the sources of individual and organizational power within the association, highlighting the roles of the CEO and the strategic alliances with major car companies. It then delves into the influence of consultants, the political landscape, and instances of conflict, particularly those related to financial constraints and stakeholder interests. The analysis extends to decision-making processes under conditions of risk, certainty, and uncertainty, using examples of individual decision-making during economic downturns. The report further examines the organizational culture, its manifestations, and the impact of leadership styles, particularly the behavioral approach of the CEO, Andrew Westacott. Finally, the report offers recommendations for improving the organization, such as increasing the number of sponsors to enhance revenue and address financial challenges.

Running head: A SPORTS ORGANISATION
Critical Analysis of a Sports Organisation
[The Australian Grand Prix Association]
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1A SPORTS ORGANISATION
Table of Contents
Part 1................................................................................................................................................2
Module 5:.....................................................................................................................................2
13. Sources of individual and organisational power................................................................2
14. The influence of consultant...............................................................................................3
15. The political landscape of the organisation.......................................................................3
16. Cases of conflict in the organisation..................................................................................4
Module 6:.....................................................................................................................................5
17. Decision making................................................................................................................5
18. Organisational culture........................................................................................................5
19. “Peter Drucker once stated ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast.”......................................6
20. Management of organisational culture..............................................................................6
21. A behavioural approach to leadership...............................................................................7
Part 2 Recommendations, Rationale and Implications –.................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................14

2A SPORTS ORGANISATION
Part 1
Module 5:
13. Sources of individual and organisational power
The sources of an individual power can be of many types such as (Brown, Colville & Pye, 2015):
 Legitimate power
 Reward power
 Referent power
 Coercive power
 Expert power
In the context of the Australian Grand Prix Association, the Individual Sources of Power are
legitimate power, reward power and expert power. An individual in this organisation such as the
CEO of the Australian Grand Prix Association uses his authority acquired through the power he
has, in providing an upper hand to all the activities performed in the organisation. In this way,
the CEO uses legitimate power. The CEO is responsible for major corporate decisions and
managing the organisational resources. In this way, the CEO of the Australian Grand Prix
Association uses expert power. Expert power is something, which is generated from one's special
knowledge (Hargrave & Van de Ven, 2017). The CEO also has the control to reward anyone for
his or her performance. In this regard, the reward is the source of individual power (Hargrave &
Van de Ven, 2017).
The Organisational Sources of Power can have various sub-types like centrality,
acquisition and control of resources, etc. There are various sources of power for the Australian
Grand Prix Association; however, acquisition and control of resources is the dominant of all.

3A SPORTS ORGANISATION
This is evidenced in a fact that the company has a strategic alliance with three majorly reputed
car companies Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari. It is to be noted that these car brands are mostly
used for formula 1 racing. The Australian Grand Prix Association with this strategic alliance
ensures highly packed parks during formula 1 racing.
a. Power whether legitimised or delegitimised
The Australian Grand Prix Association is a highly reputed Australian and a globally
popular company. The individual and organisational power structure in this company are
legitimised. This is evidenced in official contracts with three major car companies Mercedes,
Ferrari and McLaren. Moreover, they have the rights to arrange formula 1 racing twice every
year.
14. The influence of consultant
There are various tactics through which political power can be used and applied to a
situation within the organisation setting. One of these tactics is “Controlling Information” that
means suppressing detrimental information while emphasizing only the supportive pieces of
information. The tactic can be used to strengthen an individual position within the organization
(Rigon, 2017). Similarly, the use of outside experts such as a consultant helps to legitimise a
political position. An external consultant is expert in and also has access to various tools, which
the consultant uses to analyse a situation. The findings of the analysis become a source of
information for an individual in the organisation, which he or she uses to strengthen their power
as well as their political capabilities (Hughes & Sasse, 2016).
15. The political landscape of the organisation

4A SPORTS ORGANISATION
For a business to be successful it is important that the management team is capable of
understanding the various factors which influence it. Moreover, the management team should
also know how to make these factors as favourable factors. For an organisation as such the
Australian Grand Prix Association, it is critically important to get the support of political leaders.
Hence, the company should have an efficient network of political leaders. Indeed, the Australian
Grand Prix Association was able to form a network of political leaders into their favour. For
example, they were able to get the consent of the Minister to be able to negotiate an agreement
needed to get the holding of, and manage, conduct and promote the formula 1 race event
(Grandprix.com.au, 2019). To broaden their political landscape the company also takes Advisors
from one of the country’s biggest consultancies, KPMG (Grandprix.com.au, 2019).
16. Cases of conflict in the organisation
Conflict happens when there is a difference in the interest level of different people in the
group. Conflict can be both functional and dysfunctional. Functional conflict is something that
involves an honest disagreement on a fact. Functional conflict can be a good sign of progress
(Kim et al., 2017). Sources of conflict as understood from Pondy’s Five-Stage Model of Conflict
are latent conflict, felt conflict, perceived conflict, conflict aftermath and manifest conflict
(Goddard & Nexon, 2015). The possible cases of conflicts that the Australian Grand Prix
Association has faced were to sustain promoting the Formula 1 race. It was due to the financial
incapability of the host Nation to keep supporting such events. Hence, possible conflicts got
developed between the host Government and the stakeholders of the Australian Grand Prix
Association (Academia.edu, 2019). The company was able to overcome the conflict by
enhancing its capability to generate more funds. They did it by identifying their target market
and reaching to them in an effective manner. For example, they were able to identify that the

5A SPORTS ORGANISATION
youth population is the potential customers. The company approached them and offered tickets at
an affordable rate.
Module 6:
17. Decision making
There are various conditions under which diseases are made. These conditions are risk,
certainty and uncertainty. In the Australian Grand Prix Association, all three factors influence
decision making.
a. An example of individual decision-making
For example, their business is highly dependent on students pursuing graduate degrees in
universities. They are offered tickets at affordable rates. In case such as under economic
downturn, the disposable income of people will also decrease. Hence, there is a risk that an
anticipated amount of students have not turned up to the event (Graaf, Hengeveld-Bidmon,
Carnochan, Radu & Austin, 2016). This situation will influence decision making in the company.
They will try to adopt strategies to mitigate the risk. They can do it by either offering tickets at
cheaper rates or giving some additional benefits. Despite the fact that Sporting Event Company
makes decisions to mitigate the risk of losing their potential customers due to the economic
downturn they are never sure of getting everything under their control. Hence, an individual
decision maker in the Australian Grand Prix Association adopts bounded rationality instead of a
rational model to make the decision (Gatta, Marcucci & Le Pira, 2017).
18. Organisational culture

6A SPORTS ORGANISATION
According to Corfield & Paton (2016), culture manifests itself through various ways such
as from the beliefs of the people. From its beginning in 1996 in Melbourne F1 race has been able
to maintain a high standard. It is noteworthy that what motivates the company to be able to
maintain a position even superior to many other motor race held in and across the globe. The
intent to perform better than many other motorsports in the world has been one of its key success
factors. For example, the Grand Prix benchmark against other motorsport events that happen in
various parts of the world (Thebusinessofevents.com.au, 2019). By doing this the company is
constantly chasing the targets and expectations set by these international events. Organisational
culture is revealed in efforts that people in Grand Prix put to various event-related activities like
tickets selling, events’ advertisement, contacting the drivers from across the globe, identifying
business partners to finance the events, interacting the media partners and buying the media
rights. The culture is to remain energetic and dynamic throughout the entire motor race event
(Valmohammadi & Roshanzamir, 2015).
19. “Peter Drucker once stated ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast.”
The learner agrees to the fact as stated by Peter Drucker that ‘culture eats strategy for
breakfast’ (Forbes.com, 2019). This means organisational culture acts as a barrier to any new
strategy, which is being planned to bring some change across a department or so. For example,
there is constant pressure rising for Grand Prix for various reasons. Prize money distributed to
winners is even higher than many other sporting events. Additionally, car companies such as
Mercedes and McLaren those who participate in the event are not environment-friendly. This
means Grand Prix faces challenges with respect to their financial and environmental stability
(Shnayder, Van Rijnsoever & Hekkert, 2015). Despite all these being the facts Grand Prix
continues to organise event twice every year. They have so far no stoppage to these events

7A SPORTS ORGANISATION
neither they have implemented any strategy to counter the rising threats. It shows that the culture
in Grand Prix is eating their strategy to act as the barrier to attaining business sustainability
(Beardsmore & McSherry, 2017).
20. Management of organisational culture
Organisational culture is practiced and managed by aligning job practices with
organisational goals and objectives. For example, during an induction process newly hired
employees are introduced to the culture followed in the organisation. During their association
with the organisation, they are constantly encouraged by team leads, human resources managers
and others to abide by the organisational culture. However, the culture should not be very static
rather be very flexible. It should be able to adjust to any environment (Nazarian, Atkinson &
Foroudi, 2017). For example, a company with declining sales in the past few months requires a
revamp to its sales strategy. However, the newly devised sales strategy does not go live easily,
rather faces many barriers from its employees and other people. People do not support the newly
devised strategy either because they lack the expertise needed to take the new roles or have no
desire to go for a change (Rahimi, 2017).
21. A behavioural approach to leadership
One of the keys to behavioural leadership is goal emphasis. Andrew Westacott, the CEO
of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, possess that behavioural leadership quality. Andrew
ensures that GP does not lose its attraction for the viewers around this globe. This is to be noted
that GP is broadcast in and around 185 different countries. It gives GP a massive global appeal
(Thebusinessofevents.com.au, 2019).
a. Leadership whether facilitating or hinder the organization

8A SPORTS ORGANISATION
Andrew gives high importance to work ethics and culture. Teamwork is one of the
organisational cultures that the CEO ensures to deliver every single year. The CEO has ensured
that the organisational culture continues to deliver. This is also evidenced in a fact that Grand
Prix is now globally popular. The goal emphasis attitude in Andrew kept him compelling to look
for more global markets. Moreover, Andrew started seeing Asian region as the potential market
for the F1 race. Andrew was smarter enough to use his leadership skills and was able to identify
the best way to promote GP in the Asian region. Andrew used WeChat, a popular Chinese app to
promote GP in the Asian subcontinent (Thebusinessofevents.com.au, 2019).
Part 2 Recommendations, Rationale and Implications –
1. The first point of recommendations is to increase the number of sponsors. By increasing
the number of sponsors there will be increased revenues generated.
Rationale:
The Australian Grand Prix Association has challenges pouring from various corners. One
of the challenges is maintaining adequate funds to keep organising the F1 race event. The
Australian Grand Prix receives fund from the Australian government. This fund is utilised to
organise the event. The cost of organising the GP event is rising by 5% annually (Forbes.com,
2019). This means that the government funding is not alone sufficient to keep organising F1
race. The Australian Grand Prix Association uses the revenue from ticket selling to fill the gaps
created from having inadequate government funding. However, this may not be helpful for GP in
the long-term because the cost of hosting the event is constantly rising every single year. The
Australian Grand Prix has plans to transform its business model into a new one that will offer a

9A SPORTS ORGANISATION
reduced money prize value to its winners. Earlier, approximately 68% of the entire revenue used
to be distributed to winners (Forbes.com, 2019). This will now reduce to just 40% if the new
business model gets implemented (Forbes.com, 2019). However, the change already looks to be
in trouble as the biggest car brand members of the F1 race, Mercedes and Ferrari, have
threatened to quit F1 race if the new model gets implemented (Forbes.com, 2019).
Discussions made as above just show that a changed business model could not be a
handful in ensuring a sustained business in coming years. On the other hand, if GP sticks around
the basics and increases the number of their sponsors, this could be helpful. This will generate
more money. The cash-inflow will grow and with it, the ability to spend on various activities will
also grow.
Implications:
By increasing the number of sponsors, the Australian Grand Prix Association will be able
to generate more money to be spent over organising the formula 1 event. There will be no need
to change the business model and reduce the amount of prize money distributed among the
winners. GP can still continue with this very same model and will be able to retain their major
car brand partners such as Ferrari and Mercedes.
However, these newly contracted sponsors should be retained and their number increased
on a regular basis to ensure a healthy cash in-flow in the Australian Grand Prix Association.
Retaining the newly contracted sponsors would depend very much on how the Australian Grand
Prix Association performs in context to the triple bottom line approach. An investigation on their
approach to TBL has already begun. Jim Kranger, the CEO of the Victorian Major Events
Corporation, has been appointed to assess the value of major sporting events held in Victoria in

10A SPORTS ORGANISATION
respect to TBL (Academia.edu, 2019). If GP does not improve their TBL scorecard this will
create a negative impact on the sponsors. Hence, there is no guarantee whether both newly
contracted and existing sponsors continue their association with the Australian Grand Prix
Association.
2. The second point of recommendation will be to make a different strategy for ticket sales.
This means strategising whether to offer similar ticket rates to the audience of all age and
income groups.
Rationale:
There should be different ticket price for customers of different age and income groups.
The Australian Grand Prix Association has already been offering tickets at low rates to students
pursuing graduates and masters courses in universities across the country. These students make
up a bigger portion of the entire spectators’ population who turn out to see the formula 1 racing.
The company can continue with its low ticket rates for students. However, they should also have
premium ticket pricing for their premium customers (Zhao, Wang, Peng, Liu & Ahlstrom, 2017).
This move, which is to offer tickets at premium pricing to VIP customers will ensure a surplus in
the overall revenue generated from the ticket sales. The surplus amount could be used to outdo
the budget shortage and organise formula 1 racing every single year. Selling tickets at higher
prices to VIP customers will be a justified move considering that they will be treated differently
as compared to others (Cacciolatti & Lee, 2016). They will be provided with comfortable sitting
arrangements. Moreover, they will be provided with something that cannot be offered to
customers spending relatively a lesser amount on tickets. The move is also in fit with the triple

11A SPORTS ORGANISATION
bottom line approach. According to the triple bottom line approach, the business has all rights to
ensure making profits constantly each year while not affecting its people and environment with
their approach (Anderson et al., 2015).
Implications:
A changed ticket pricing strategy will fetch significant benefits to the Australian Grand
Prix Association. To make it a successful strategy the organisation should consider a few
changes along with the infrastructure of the racing ground. They will do it to accommodate
additional offerings for their VIP customers. Their VIP customers should also have a feeling that
they have paid more to avail enhanced service features. Overall, the changed pricing strategy
should fetch more benefits (Wu, Deng & Jiang, 2018). This will boost the revenue generated
from ticket sales. Increased revenue will enhance GP's capability to organise formula 1 race
every single year despite a fact that it receives lesser than actually required support from the
government. GP will be able to add more attractions to the event and make it more attractive for
formula 1 lovers. An increased revue from selling tickets could also be utilised in widening the
promotional activities. This will help in boosting the numbers for television viewers and so, the
revenue generated from selling TV rights.
However, increased ticket price, especially for VIP customers, should not come as a
surprise to these customers. Indeed, there is a greater risk of negative perceptions to be built up
among the premium customers. It is the responsibility of the Australian Grand Prix Association
to ensure that the business is benefitting to its people. It is in-line with the triple bottom line
approach, which suggests a business should be benefitting to its people also (Rambaud &
Richard, 2015).

12A SPORTS ORGANISATION
3. The third point of recommendation is to put ads on the event website. If the Australian
Grand Prix has been doing it already they should ensure putting more ads on the website.
Rationale:
Increasing the number of ads on the event website will boost the revenue generated from
the website rights. In a situation when a sporting event receives slightly less than the required
funding support from the government it is important to have more revenue streams to fill the
gaps. By increasing the number of ads on the event website the Australian Grand Prix
Association will actually be boosting their revenues. The company is now left with no more
option than to further its revenue streams to be able to generate sufficient cash and to organise
the event constantly every single year. The recommendation will also help the company to
improve its performance a bit in terms of profit. Profit is one of the essential elements of the
triple bottom line. The TBL says that a business should be able to sustain its profit margin
(Hammer & Pivo, 2017). Increased revenue will help the Australian Grand Prix Association to
pass the assessment as conducted by Jim Kranger (Academia.edu, 2019). It is to be noted that
sporting events in Victoria will be tested for their TBL approach.
Implications:
An increased ad posting on the event website will produce increased revenues from
website channels. An increased revenue this way will strengthen the revenue streams for the
Australian Grand Prix Association. Moreover, this should come as a handful to the company
considering the rising challenges for cash in-flow. This will also create reasons to avoid going
for a transformation into a new business model. Moreover, a transformation into a new model

13A SPORTS ORGANISATION
will cause the Australian Grand Prix to lose its major car companies Mercedes and Ferrari
(Forbes.com, 2019). To be able to constantly organise formula 1 race every single year GP needs
healthy funding as well as needs to improve its TBL approach. A healthy flow of revenue along
with sustainable practices will ensure that f1 race achieves more landmark and also become
popular in other parts of the world such as the Asian region.
An increased website ad posting will require more experts observing website traffic for
the Australian Grand Prix Association. GP will need people to serve at this level. In case they do
not have an adequate number of people to constantly observe traffic on its event website they
will need external support. The support can be supplied form recruiting professionals who have
expertise in website management work. The recruitment will consume time as well as require
spending to be made over the recruitment process. Moreover, there is no guarantee whether an
expert will be hired within a shorter span of time. Despite all these being the barriers the number
of ads posted on the website should be increased to generate more revenue and strengthen the
revenue stream for the company.

14A SPORTS ORGANISATION
References
Academia.edu. (2019). Retrieved from
https://www.academia.edu/23306929/The_Formula_One_Australian_Grand_Prix_Explor
ing_the_triple_bottom_line
Anderson, J. L., Anderson, C. M., Chu, J., Meredith, J., Asche, F., Sylvia, G., ... & McCluney, J.
K. (2015). The fishery performance indicators: A management tool for triple bottom line
outcomes. PLoS One, 10(5), e0122809. [DOI:  10.1371/journal.pone.0122809]
Beardsmore, E., & McSherry, R. (2017). Healthcare workers’ perceptions of organisational
culture and the impact on the delivery of compassionate quality care. Journal of
Research in Nursing, 22(1-2), 42-56. [DOI: 10.1177/1744987116685594]
Brown, A. D., Colville, I., & Pye, A. (2015). Making sense of sensemaking in organization
studies. Organization Studies, 36(2), 265-277. [DOI: 10.1177/0170840614559259]
Cacciolatti, L., & Lee, S. H. (2016). Revisiting the relationship between marketing capabilities
and firm performance: The moderating role of market orientation, marketing strategy and
organisational power. Journal of Business Research, 69(12), 5597-5610. [DOI:
10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.03.067]
Corfield, A., & Paton, R. (2016). Investigating knowledge management: can KM really change
organisational culture?. Journal of Knowledge Management, 20(1), 88-103. [DOI:
10.1108/JKM-12-2014-0502]

15A SPORTS ORGANISATION
Forbes.com. (2019). Culture Eats Strategy For Breakfast. So What's For Lunch?. Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewcave/2017/11/09/culture-eats-strategy-for-breakfast-
so-whats-for-lunch/#195226ab7e0f
Forbes.com. (2019). The Real Reason F1's Top Teams Are Threatening To Quit. Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/csylt/2018/06/06/the-real-reason-f1s-top-teams-are-
threatening-to-quit/#7debc2586355
Gatta, V., Marcucci, E., & Le Pira, M. (2017). Smart urban freight planning process: integrating
desk, living lab and modelling approaches in decision-making. European Transport
Research Review, 9(3), 32. [DOI: 10.1007/s12544-017-0245-9]
Goddard, S. E., & Nexon, D. H. (2015). The dynamics of global power politics: A framework for
analysis. Journal of Global Security Studies, 1(1), 4-18. [DOI: 10.1093/jogss/ogv007]
Graaf, G., Hengeveld-Bidmon, E., Carnochan, S., Radu, P., & Austin, M. J. (2016). The impact
of the great recession on county human-service organizations: A cross-case analysis.
Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Governance, 40(2), 152-169.
[DOI: 10.1080/23303131.2015.1124820]
Grandprix.com.au. (2019). Retrieved from
https://www.grandprix.com.au/sites/default/files/pdf/AGP18725-2018-AGPC-Annual-
Report-Text-A4-FA-6-Combined-LR.pdf
Hammer, J., & Pivo, G. (2017). The triple bottom line and sustainable economic development
theory and practice. Economic Development Quarterly, 31(1), 25-36. [DOI:
10.1177/0891242416674808]

16A SPORTS ORGANISATION
Hargrave, T. J., & Van de Ven, A. H. (2017). Integrating dialectical and paradox perspectives on
managing contradictions in organizations. Organization Studies, 38(3-4), 319-339. [DOI:
10.1177/0170840616640843]
Hughes, J., & Sasse, G. (2016). Power ideas and conflict: ideology, linkage and leverage in
Crimea and Chechnya. East European Politics, 32(3), 314-334. [DOI:
10.1080/21599165.2015.1124091]
Kim, S., Bochatay, N., Relyea-Chew, A., Buttrick, E., Amdahl, C., Kim, L., ... & Lee, Y. M.
(2017). Individual, interpersonal, and organisational factors of healthcare conflict: a
scoping review. Journal of interprofessional care, 31(3), 282-290. [DOI:
10.1080/13561820.2016.1272558]
Nazarian, A., Atkinson, P., & Foroudi, P. (2017). Influence of national culture and balanced
organizational culture on the hotel industry’s performance. International Journal of
Hospitality Management, 63, 22-32. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2017.01.003]
Rahimi, R. (2017). Customer relationship management (people, process and technology) and
organisational culture in hotels: Which traits matter?. International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management, 29(5), 1380-1402. [DOI: 10.1108/IJCHM-10-
2015-0617]
Rambaud, A., & Richard, J. (2015). The “Triple Depreciation Line” instead of the “Triple
Bottom Line”: towards a genuine integrated reporting. Critical Perspectives on
Accounting, 33, 92-116. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2015.01.012]
Rigon, A. (2017). Intra-settlement politics and conflict in enumerations. Environment and
urbanization, 29(2), 581-596. [DOI: 10.1177/0956247817700339]

17A SPORTS ORGANISATION
Shnayder, L., Van Rijnsoever, F. J., & Hekkert, M. P. (2015). Putting your money where your
mouth is: Why sustainability reporting based on the triple bottom line can be misleading.
PloS one, 10(3), e0119036. [DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0119036]
Thebusinessofevents.com.au. (2019). How the Melbourne Grand Prix became more than a race.
Retrieved from https://www.thebusinessofevents.com.au/how-the-melbourne-grand-prix-
became-more-than-a-race/
Valmohammadi, C., & Roshanzamir, S. (2015). The guidelines of improvement: Relations
among organizational culture, TQM and performance. International Journal of
Production Economics, 164, 167-178. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2014.12.028]
Wu, L., Deng, S., & Jiang, X. (2018). Sampling and pricing strategy under competition. Omega,
80, 192-208. [DOI: 10.1016/j.omega.2018.01.002]
Zhao, L., Wang, C., Peng, X., Liu, B., & Ahlstrom, D. (2017). The Pricing Strategy of
Oligopolistic Competition Food Firms with the Asymmetric Information and Scientific
Uncertainty. Journal of Food Quality, 2017. [DOI: 10.1155/2017/4628905]