Report on Managing People in Sport Organizations: Sportec Case Study

This report provides a critical analysis of the Sportec case study, focusing on organizational behavior within a sports apparel company. It examines the company's history, challenges related to high employee turnover, and the application of relevant theories such as organizational commitment, occupational stress, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and Job Characteristics Theory. The report delves into the problems faced by Sportec, including employee dissatisfaction, improper working conditions, and conflicts. The report also reviews the literature on organizational behavior, exploring employee attitudes, behavior, and the impact of management practices. The report applies these theories to the case study, analyzing the issues and offering recommendations for improving employee satisfaction, reducing turnover, and fostering a positive work environment. The report highlights the importance of understanding employee needs, providing motivation, and implementing effective management strategies to enhance organizational performance.

Managing People in Sport Organizations
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Contents
About Case study.........................................................................................................................................2
Literature review.........................................................................................................................................3
Organizational Commitment...................................................................................................................4
Occupational Stress.................................................................................................................................4
MASLOW Theory of Motivation............................................................................................................5
Job Characteristics Theory......................................................................................................................6
Application of the theories on the Case study..............................................................................................9
Recommendations.....................................................................................................................................11
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................12
References.................................................................................................................................................14
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About Case study
This report is based on the critical analysis of the case study of Sportec covering the concept of
organizational behavior. Sportec is the company that manufactures the performance apparels for
the sports teams and athletes. In year 1984, the Sportec Company was established in the south of
the England And it was founded by Steve Jobson (Team, 2017). The company was popular for
the production of the performance vests and company also make use of the latest GPS
technology in their products which was the USP of the Sportec company. The Sportec company
is the family owned business and in year 2002, Steve worked as the retailer to retailer salesman
to become familiar with the products and proceedings of the business. At the age of 16, Phil was
used to accompany his father in the business trips. Phil Jobson was at the age of 26, when Steve
handed over their business to his son. Presently, Phil is the chairman of the Sportec company.
Steve Jobson put great efforts to make the Sportec a global brand and now that the company is
earning sales more than US$250 million. Moreover, the Company set up its 85 distribution
centers in all over the world and its subsidiaries in the UK, USA, Canada, France, Africa and
Germany. In the year of 2013, Steve was awarded by the Angelina university as the Honorary
degree of the doctor of business administration(Morrow, 2010).
In this case study, the problem found was related to the labor turnover and the behavior of the
employees of the organization. Employee Resignation is increasing day by day because of the
improper working environment, conflicts and politics. Improper working environment refers to
the unusual working conditions for the working women like employee-employer conflicts, late
hours of work, less time for rest and lunch etc. Phil Jobson appointed Rosemary, a management
consultant, for the recruitment of the new employees. However, Sportec, is facing the difficulties
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of the high turnover rate and hiring new employees. The employees are leaving the organization
because of the negative organizational behavior of the team in-charge as well as the chairman of
Sportec. The Sportec Company employs 5000 workers every year and the rate of employee
turnover is high. This report outlines the theories related to the organizational behavior and also
some of the recommendations given in this report(Delta, 2006).
Literature review
The literature review of the report is the one of the best way to explain the theoretical concepts of
the organizational behavior and the situations of the organizations. The review of the literature
basically includes the different viewpoints of the scholars and researchers. A well structured
literature is characterized by the number of ideas and the relevant research done by the
researchers and the research gap in the related topic(Randolph, et al., 1981).
In this report, the review of the literature is done under the categories, namely, organizational
commitment, occupational stress, and the role of motivation and the behavior and culture.
According to the Mcshane and Travaglione(2003), the organizational behavior is the concept of
the attitudes and behavior of the employees within the organization and it is a study of the
activities that people are doing in the working environment. It is very important to review the
management and organization relationship just to know the point of view of the employees. The
positive and good behavior of employees in the organization will help to manage the conflicts
also. This will help to improve the relationships and performance of the employees(Lawler,
2013).
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In this literature review, the main focus is given on the people’s behavior in an organization and
reasons for adopting these behaviors. It is also significant to analyze the how to shae t5he
negative behavior of the employees. In the organization behavior concept, the commitments and
the organizational stress are the important aspects to change the behavior of the employees.
Counter productive behaviours of the employees is a form of the protest by the way of which
employees express their feelings and dissatisfaction about the work and tries top resolve the
unethical practices In the company(Ragins, 2011).
Organizational Commitment
This phenomenon is the most widely studied in the review of literature on the organizational
behavior. This concept is related to the promises and the psychology of the employees. Meyer
and Allen (1991) have the viewpoint that organizational commitment is a multidimensional
construct. It is referred to the state of the mind that follows the relationship of the employees
with the company and facing some problems in taking decisions to continue to be a part of the
organization. If the employees are refusing the other job opportunities, even if the new job is of
higher position, salary and better in comparison to the present, then this decision is said to be the
result of the organizational commitment. According to Kanter (1967), it is defined as the process
with the help of which the organizational goals become integrated. Also, Sheldon (1990) said
that the commitment is an attitude of the employees towards organizations, that relates the
identity of the employee with the company(Bobbitt & Behling, 1981). An organizational
commitment can be from both sides either from employee or employer.
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Organizational conflict management
Etty Liberman and Pertz Segal (2009)conducted a study on the management of the conflicts in
the organization. The study revealed that an internal conflict management system is important for
the promotion of the positive working environment. The conflict management system in the
organization is the best way to improve the interpersonal relationships and positive workplace
with positive behavior of the employees. There are many situations such as ,informal work
practices, less time for lunch breaks, increasing working hours, etc, leads to organizational
conflict. Therefore, the personal relations in the organization depends on four forms-
 Power and dependency
 Negotiating
 Instrumental
 Socio- emotional aspects
MASLOW Theory of Motivation
In the organization, it is very important to understand the needs of the employees as it is the best
way to motivate the employees by fulfilling their needs. The theory given Maslow(1954)
revealed the hierarchy of needs which includes – physiological, safety, psychological needs, self
esteem and self actualization needs. All these are related to the basic needs, luxurious needs,
mental or psychological needs of the human beings. Every employee work for the money and
appreciation. In the case study, all the employees at the achievement of the sales targets expected
to receive the bonus as a reward. At the end of the day, employees of Sportec company get de-
motivated as their needs are not fulfilled(Warrilow, 2009). However, Maslow Believed in the
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fact that all the needs must be fulfilled to satisfy the employees at the work. The behavior and
attitude of the employees will be positive if all these needs met in a certain order.
(Hartzell, 2017)
Job Characteristics Theory
This theory is introduced by the Hackman and Oldham’s(1990) that focuses on the
characteristics of the job and the satisfaction of the employee’s job. There are five important
factors that keep the employees more satisfied. These factors are related to the
 Skill variety,
 Task identification,
 Significance of the work,
 Feedback and autonomy.
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These all factors are the key to motivation of the employees. Therefore, the amalgam of these
factors is important in order to increase the performance of the employees(Ali, et al., 2014).
There are four models that explain the concept of the organizational behaviors. These four
models are – Autocratic, supportive, custodial and collegial. All these models explains the
importance to have a strong link between the individual, team and organizational objectives for
the productivity of the organization. It is essential that there is a clear communication between
the employees and its managers with regard to the long term objectives of the Organization. The
role of motivation is also very important to shape the behavior of the employees(SIM, 2012).
The performance appraisal theory is the evaluation and assessment of the performance of the
progress towards the goals and objectives of the company. Performance appraisal is also an
important part of the management of the human resources. According to the Bowles and
Coates(2001), “the performance review should also be arranged by the managers which is
important to maintain the loyalty and commitment than to manage the performance directly”.
The feedback is must for resolving the issues as well as to motivate the employees. Moreover,
the 360- degree appraisal feedback is the useful tool used by the management team of the
Sportec company to get the feedback from its customers as well as from the colleagues to
improve their performance accordingly to meet the objectives of the team as well as
organizational objectives. According to Hurley(2003), “ the communication, efficiency and the
productivity of the team is increased with the use of the 360 degree feedback systems”.
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Organizations have different kinds of employees and it is very important to retain the employees
for as long as it is possible. Recruiting new employees in an organization involves a huge
amount of expenditure and time as well. So, it is important to keep the employees happy and
satisfied so that they can work for an organization for quite a long time. It promotes the brand
image of an organization and helps in building the goodwill of the organization as well. Every
individual is different and so are his needs. Some needs monetary incentives for motivation;
some needs non-monetary incentives some needs both. The motivational programs should be
conducted after regular intervals to keep the employees on track(Mukul, et al., 2013). The
leaders and supervisors should be friendly and should help the employees in achieving their
goals. The individual’s needs are dynamic and keeps on changing from time to time, so it is
recommended to analyze their demands. The biggest strength of providing rewards to employees
in any organization is that they feel motivated and work keeping in mind the benchmarks and
that they will be awarded with rewards. It definitely enhances employee retention in the
organization. The weakness, however, is that it involves a huge amount of expenditure and
activities such as learning activities or employee recognition programs etc. involves a great effort
as well as time. This adds to the cost of the company and thereby adding to the cost of the
product in return.
“Reward Management and Organizational Performance: An Empirical Study of Private
Universities In Uganda”, the authors clearly mention the monetary and non-monetary incentives
and what is the difference between these two incentives and how these incentives differ in their
own ways and impact of such incentives on performance of employees(Musenze, et al., 2013).
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Application of the theories on the Case study
In the case study, there are two situations has been observed one is related to the dissatisfaction
of the employees and second one is the organizational commitment. In this case study, the
concept of the organizational commitment and organizational stress is applied.
The problem faced by the Sportec is related to the high turnover rate and the rosemary is the
management consultant who conduct an interview session with employees of the Sportec to
know their behavior and then gave advice to the Phil according to their judgement. Rosemary
found that the change in the culture of the organization is the main reason of the dissatisfaction
of the employees, especially the women working at the labor site in UK(Hartzell, 2017). The
management is the main reason of the high turnover. Pamela and Sharon are the newly appointed
women and they are slow at work, but instead of motivating those employees, organization put a
pressure on these employees and also Dawn who is the supervisor were unsuccessful. Then, Phil
decided that Robert will handle the activities in the future. This strategy used by the Phil will
change the working environment and the culture of the organization that leads to create a
problem. This is related to the organizational stress among the employees, which creates the
problem and increases the turnover rates. In the company all these interpersonal conflicts and
negative relations are the main reason of the depression and stress, which results into the ill
health and low productivity of the employees and higher the rate of absentieeism in the
organization. This is the first reason that employees are leaving the organization.
Moving further, the other reason of the dissatisfaction of the employees is because of the lack of
appreciation to the employees and this concept is related to the reward theory of motivation. As
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the employees and women are expecting that the Phil Jobson will give the bonus to the
employees after achieving the sales targets in the year of the 2015. The Sportec failed to give
monetary rewards to the employees as the management distribute the t shirts but that is not the
need of the employees. The Sportec company is failed to understand the needs of the company as
the employees in the greed of bonuses at the end of the month and not the appreciation. The
employees are not satisfied because the company does not fulfill its commitments to provide
bonuses and breaks that organizational promises. All these concepts of the organizational
behavior explained the reasons of the resignation given by the employees(Mukul, et al., 2013).
However the theory of job characteristics is introduced by the Hackman and Oldham’s that
focuses on the characteristics of the job and the satisfaction of the employee’s job. There are five
important factors that keep the employees more satisfied. These factors are related to the skill
variety, Task identification, significance of the work, feedback and autonomy. This theory is also
applicable in this study as it is very important to satisfy the employees to increase the
productivity as well as to meet the sales targets.
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Recommendations
The recommendations for these problems faced by the Phil Jobsen are given below in the form of
some points: -
 This is the first advice for the Phil is that, he should understand the needs of the
employees for their job satisfaction and higher productivity. The company should
conduct a survey so that the motivational rewards will offer to them accordingly.
 The organization culture should develop in a such a way that it should be acceptable by
the employees in the organizations
 The company should conduct a personal interview session with the Sharon and Pamela to
know the reason of their resignation and then take a corrective action accordingly.
 The employee satisfaction is must for the higher productivity,so there should be stress
buster programs for the employees(Morrow, 2010).
 The company should improve its feedback system as this system helps in planning for the
future period of time and to solve the current situations.
 The stress and the conflicts in the organization is the serious issue, it should be dealt with
the help of senior people of the organization.
 The Sportec should provide the training programs on the regular intervals as this is very
important to manage the human resource department.
 The involvement of the employees in the decision making process is also very important
to make them feel that they are the special part of the company.
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 The company and the Phil Jobson should focus on building a strong relationship with the
employees so that employee feels comfortable to share their complaints and
problems(Delta, 2006).
 In Sportec, whether employers or employees all need to have a reasonable exposure to
organizational behaviors to achieve the planned objectives of their organization.
 The behaviors of the employees are based on their perceptions, hence, it is important that
the management of an organization understands these perceptions by discussions,
listening and communications.
 The communication system between the top management and the lower level
management should be strong to resolve the problem of the high turnover rates.
Conclusion
In this report, all the problems related to the organizational behavior and the employee
satisfaction are discussed as these results in low productivity of the company.However, the
problem found was related to the labor turnover and the behavior of the employees of the
organization. The resignation is given by the employees are increasing day by day because of the
improper working environment, conflicts and politics. The whole case study revolves around the
employee dissatisfaction because of the stress and burden of the job as well as of the unexpected
rewards to the employees. The recommendation for the problem also outlined that the
understanding of the employee’s need and the positive working environment is very important.
The Sportec company is very famous company for manufacturing the performance vests and
apparels. The company growth will rise if the employees of the organization will satisfied and
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they feel comfortable to work with the company. The organizational culture and change in that
culture also affects the performance of the employees as it takes to make adjustments in the new
environment. The mailbox of the Phil Jobson was filled with the e-mails of the resignation just
because of the organizational stress and the dissatisfaction of the employees of the company. The
company should focus on the employees and should develop a friendly environment for higher
productivity and should communicate with the employees to know the actual problem. The
company may face problems in the future also in recruiting and retaining the new employees if it
is not resolved in time. However, it is very important to shape the behavior of the employees by
making them feel that they are the integral part and their thoughts, ideas and views matter to the
company. The decision making and the leadership strategies can be used or implement in the
company to satisfy the employees at work. Therefore, the organizational behavior and attitudes
of the employees has a great impact on the performance of the companies.
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References
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Journal of Higher Education, 52(1), pp. 29-44.
Delta, 2006. Understanding And Managing Organizational Behavior: Delta Publishing
Company, Available at: http://www.apexcpe.com/Publications/471001.pdf
Hartzell, S., 2017. The Needs Theory: Motivating Employees with Maslow's Hierarchy of
Needs, Available at: http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-needs-theory-motivating-employees-
with-maslows-hierarchy-of-needs.html
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is chaos, Available at: http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/51001/9/09_chapter
%203.pdf
Morrow, J., 2010. Organizational Behavior and How it Relates to Sports, Available at:
https://joshsmorrow.wordpress.com/2010/08/05/organizational-behavior-and-how-it-relates-to-
sports/
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Sciences, 10 August, 1(4), pp. 1-8.
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Musenze, I., Thomas, M., Stella, B. & Muhammadi, L., 2013. Reward Management And
Organisational Performance: An Empirical Study Of Private Universities In Uganda. IJIRD
journal, August.2(8).
Ragins, B., 2011. Research In Organizational Behavior: Doctoral Seminar, Available at:
http://positiveorgs.bus.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/Ragins-OB-996-Syllabus-2011.pdf
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SIM, 2012. Using the Job Characteristics Theory to Motivate Employees, Available at:
http://m360.sim.edu.sg/article/Pages/Job-Characteristics-Theory-to-Motivate-Employees.aspx
Team, S., 2017. Schoolwear, Teamwear Kit, Workwear, Corporate Clothing. [Online]
Available at: http://www.sportec.co.uk/about-us
Warrilow, S., 2009. Maslow Theory of Motivation, Available at: http://www.strategies-for-
managing-change.com/maslow-theory-of-motivation.html
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