Strategy development and deployment in higher education sport management programs

Introduction

Total Quality Management has become an important tool for academic programs which want to produce benefits for their stakeholders (students, professors, employers, society, suppliers, etc.). Quality should not be limited to the academic standards of courses, the levels of students achievement, the qualifications of staff (professors, adbministrative staff, technical staff), facilities planning and management, customer satisfaction (students, employers and society) and personnel satisfaction but it should also be implemented in the critical area of strategy development and deployment which aims to adjust the higher education institution to external environmental changes and international challenges. The purpose of this study is to stimulate thinking about strategy development and deployment in Higher Education sport Management Programs, in the light of the internationally known Quality Awards criteria (The European Quality Award EQA- criteria and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award -MBNQA- criteria).

Method

The author conducted a qualitative study interviewing five experienced academics in the field of sport management. The interview questions were based on the most recent developments in Total Quality Management principles and practices found in the EQA and MBNQA criteria. They were asked to answer the following questions: (a) What is the sport management higher education program’s strategic planning process? (b) What are the relevant data and information needed to develop the sport management program’s strategic plan? (c) Who participate in the formulation of the strategic plan? (d) How does the program’s management communicate the strategic plan to all stakeholders? (e) How does the program’s management develop its short-term and action plans?

Results

The findings of this study are the following: (a) The steps in the strategic planning process used by the sport management program’s administration were presented (development of the vision statement, values, policies, mission statement, long-term objectives and strategies, short-term objectives and action plans); (b) The relevant data and information needed to develop the sport management program’s strategic plan were identified (External Environment Analysis was conducted with the aim to identify the opportunities and threats of the external environment as well as Internal Enavironment Analysis was conducted with the aim to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the sport management program); (c) Academics, administrative and technical staff participated in the formulation of the strategic plan; (d) Several methods were used by the program’s management in order to communicate the strategic plan to all stakeholders (meetings with the sport management program’s personnel, presentations to suppliers and employers, marketing the program’s strategy through internet to prospective students, etc.); (e) The method by which the sport management programs develop their short-term objectives and their action plans was, finally, identified (formulation of short-term objectives, development of action plans with concrete timetables, budgets, processes and procedures, and project managers for each one of the objectives).

Coclusions

Answering the above mentioned questions, the higher education sport management program will be able to: (a) implement its vision, mission, and objectives via a strategy based on the present and future needs of all program’s stakeholders and supported by relevant policies, plans, processes and procedures, and (b) achieve sustainable excellence and competitive advantage.

References

[1]. Ansoff, H. I. (1984). Implanting strategic management. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
[2]. Bryson, J. M. (1988). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
[3]. Κriemadis, A. (1999). Continuous quality improvement for the sport organizations based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the European Quality Award criteria. Proceedings of the North American Society for Sport Management Conference. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.