STRATEGY EVALUATION AND REVISION - Essay Example

REPORT ON STRATEGY EVALUATION AND REVISION Scope of the report The report deals with the analysis of the strategies adapted by Sport England for the development of community sport. The report provides an internal analysis of the strategies on the basis of the 7-S Framework of McKinsey. The external factors are also analysed and discussed as per the PESTEL framework. The report also contains certain recommendations which can benefit Sport England in the long run. Table of Contents Scope of the report 2 Table of Contents 3 List of Diagrams 4 Acknowledgements 5 Summary 6 Introduction 7 Importance of Sport 7 Sport in Present World 8 Methodology 14 Findings & Discussions 18 Conclusions 20 Recommendations 21 References 22 Bibliography 23 Appendices 24 List of Diagrams Fig 1. 7-S Framework Fig 2. PESTEL Acknowledgements Summary Sports have formed an integral part of human existence. Since time immemorial, there have been instances when man used sports and games to take a break from their daily routine. Like all other aspects of life, sport has also been subject to certain modifications time and again. In modern times, sport has been subject to tremendous competition and rivalry. So the essence of strategy has been felt into the game of sport too. Sport England has come up with number of strategies to develop the community sport in England. The prime objective of the Sport England is to have a set of talented professionals by 2012 London Olympics. For this purpose various strategies like tapping young talents, recruiting expert coaches, maximising the number of volunteers, integrating the club framework are being adopted. Sport England has partnership with NGBs, Youth Sport Trust, local authorities. The analysis of the strategies of Sport England reveals that the steps are quite outstanding and has created a general interest among the mass for the development of community sport. Introduction The importance and relevance of sport in human life has long been understood and accepted. The best of the minds and talents, irrespective of their working spheres have acknowledged this fact. As the famous scientist Benjamin Franklin observed, “Games lubricate the body and the mind”, the relevance of sport can be related to the spectrum of daily or day-to-day life. In simple words, sport can be defined as an activity where the participating and competitive forces apply their physical and mental abilities to win over the competitor within a periphery of declared regulations. Though in United Kingdoms, the activity is known as ‘Sport,’ in United States, it is popularly called ‘Sports’. Today, sporting teams and their related activities with highly professional partners make an industry. Generally, we refer it as the sporting industry or fraternity. Like all other industries, sporting industry also has a developed set of strategies to overcome the challenges it faces from time to time. Another important consideration of having wide set of strategies is to promote the sporting interest among the general public. Importance of Sport The natural liking of children for sport is well known. The children, irrespective of their colour or country, prefer to play games all through the day. Such activities often create panic among the parents or the guardian of the children. Even the teachers think alike. Consequently, they often forget the contributions of sport in our daily life. Even if some one does not choose a career in sports, it still has a certain influence in his life. Some of the few contributions of sport can be enumerated as follows: Physical Competence – Most of the sporting activities involve physical activities like running, jumping and moving which helps one to stay physically fit. The excessive movement of body parts in various reflexes helps to keep the physique in shape. Mental Sharpness – Along with the aspect of physical fitness, sport also makes one mentally sharp. In today’s world, games are highly competitive. One cannot expect to be successful only through his physical activities. He also has to use his mind to defeat his competitor. The required agility helps to make his mind sharp. Sense of Belonging – As we know, most of the active sports involve team games, so through a sport a certain degree of team spirit develops within the players. The sportsman does not think just about himself but also about the entire team. It helps to experience a sense of belongingness which is extremely essential during one’s professional career. Moral Development – Sport also contribute towards the development of one’s moral character. It helps one to adhere to certain rules and regulations. Sport plays an essential role in creating sportsman spirit which makes one enjoy the real pleasures of the game. Sport in Present World Over the generations there has been a paradigm shift in the outlook of the mass towards sporting activities. Earlier it was seen just as a leisure time activity, now it is a hot career options. There are a number of sports persons who earn much more than individuals who go in for traditional careers. Consequently, a considerable amount of interest is growing amongst they younger generation regarding this field. This change in approach has led to an overall growth in this field. It is one of the most throbbing industries today. The sporting industry essentially comprises of the sporting personalities, the associations, the rule-makers, the conductors, the manufacturers of sporting materials and others. As the industry is growing, there have been major strategies in place to bring in and accommodate more and more personas under it. England is a leading player and she possesses a developed set of strategies for the sport industry. Sport in England If strategies of sport in England are to be discussed, especial attention must be laid on the strategies enacted by Sport England. Sport England provides great opportunities to people irrespective of their abilities, age and community (What Sport England does, n.d.). The aim of Sport England is to create a vast pool of sporting talent which will contribute to the creation of successful opportunities for England in various forms of sport, with proper training and development facilities. This mega-project has been undertaken for the period between 2008 and 2011. The major sports event, Olympic will be held in London on 2012, this has motivated Sport England to initiate such a project. By 2012, Sport England expects to produce a huge pool of sporting talents, so that the country’s dominance is established in the games. For this purpose, Sport England has collaborations with National Governing Bodies (NGB), Youth Sport Trust, local authorities, and government among other. The project of Sport England has brought an enormous amount of clarity in the system for the achievement of the desired goal. The Youth Sport Trust has been entrusted with the responsibility to provide the school going kids with proper sporting facilities. National Governing Bodies (NGB) will be roped in to sustain the sporting success. NGBs have much greater autonomy to handle public funds. Local bodies have been made a part of the project so that they can tap the talent pool at the grass root level and benefit them with world class opportunities. The major hindrances that Sport England faced were the lack of public interest, the increasing number of drop-outs among those within the process of sporting development and lack of proper nourishment of talent. From various surveys and studies it has been observed that there has been considerable apathy among the masses while choosing sports as their career option. Several factors contribute to this fact. For this reason one of the major objectives of Sports England was to involve more people in sporting activities. Another major challenge which Sport England identified was the increasing number of drop-outs from the system. When the sportsmen who have been trained for a considerable amount of time, decides to drop-out in the middle they give negative rewards for the entire scheme of things. The increasing number of drop outs induced an increase in the wastage of resources. So, it is Sport England’s responsibility to reduce the number of drop-outs. It has been identified that England has a huge pool of talent of sporting personalities, but for years, the common problem has been to tap the talents correctly and to nourish them with proper care. If the talents are meant to excel and produce world class results, the advantages of infrastructural facilities along with world class training and development measures must be provided to the talents from the very outset. To overcome all these major hindrances in the sporting arena of England, Sport England came up with certain well-defined strategies. The main focus of these strategies is to create a huge pool of talent by 2012 London Olympics so that the nation can provide a spectacular display of sport in front of the home crowd. The major strategies adopted by Sport England are as follows: Talent taping right from the school – The thrust of the entire plan of Sport England lies on taping the right talent at the right point of time. Sport England has linked the activities of all the major institutions like Youth Sport Trust, UK Sport, National Governing Bodies and other channels like local bodies. The sporting activities in school are within the periphery of Youth Sport Trust. The advantage of tapping the talent from school is that the future sportsman can be provided with enough facilities to develop his potential completely. Coaching expertise – The young talents can only be expected to be trained properly if the institution can engage a panel of expert coaches. It seems that Sport England is in no mood for any compromises in this regard. To hire the best of the coaches available has been their agenda right from the commencement of the project. As Andy Burnham (Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport) said, “By investing heavily in coaching and the club structure we can maximise the chances for English sporting success and improve the quality of the sport experience for all” (Coaching Highlighted In Sport England Strategy, No Date). Thus, we can understand the level of commitment in this regard. Maximising volunteers - The popularity of volunteering in community sport of England has been a well established fact. Sport England plans to utilise this aspect of English society for the greater good of the community sport. Sport England also plans to provide exciting incentives to attract more volunteers and also to retain them. A huge volunteer force saves a lot of natural resources. The institution also plans to recruit future coaches from the bunch of volunteers. Volunteering England also has a very positive approach towards the project. On their website they expressed their pleasure about their role in the project and also mentioned that to develop volunteering in sport they would support from National Governing Bodies. Volunteering England has also promised to work together with Sport England for the purpose of developing volunteering in sport in terms of both quality and quantity (Sport England Strategy 2008-2011 – Statement from Volunteering England, No Date). Club framework – The popularity of English (football) clubs has been outstanding and has crossed the barriers of the country, colour and religion. The names like Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool have fan-following even in the most backward areas of Asia and Africa. Therefore, Sport England has identified this club craziness as one of the stepping stones to increase the popularity of the community sport. Sport England has decided to work along with National Governing Bodies to develop sport clubs with all sorts of modern infrastructural facilities. The resultant peer pressure from the inter-club competitions will help Sport England to get more access to the real and worthy talents. Opportunity to all and sundry – The strategies of Sport England essentially emphasises on providing similar opportunities to all especially the younger generation. The special importance is to be laid in the field of disability and women sport. In this regard, National Governing Bodies has an enormous role to play. Sport England has decided that if any particular sport is not laying importance towards the priority sectors, the sponsorship to that sport might be stopped and can be transferred to those games which are taking initiatives. Simple methodology – It has been decided that the working style of Sport England will be kept simple since bureaucracy has always been a major obstacle in these purposes. Sport England itself will act as a commissioner and will oversee the fact that national public interest is created for the community sport and the other partners like National Governing Bodies, UK Sport, local authorities deliver to the optimum. Through this strategy, Sport England supposes itself as the missing link among the other delivery partners so that the entire process can be an integrated one. Measurable outputs – One of the prime considerations for any strategy to be successful is to have a detailed and well-defined set of quantifiable performance tracker. If the successes or failures are not measurable, it is almost impossible to comment whether the policies and strategies formulated are on the right track. For the purpose, Sport England has identified few measures like reducing the number of drop-outs from the sporting system by a certain percentage, bringing in more people with in the system, establishing talent development centers in more sports and most importantly having increased satisfaction (to be measured in quantifiable terms). Wide range of programmes - Sport England has a wide range of applicable programmes for the talents. Having different programmes for different groups has been a master strategy by Sport England since most of the time the needs vary among groups. Few of the strategic programmes are as follows: 1) Sustain programmes – The focal point of sustain programmes is to reduce the percentage of drop-outs from the sporting system. As we have earlier understood, the drop-outs in the middle of a system are a total wastage, so to curb the dropping outs would be a great step ahead. For this purpose, Sport England has decided to create a portfolio of sports to retain the interest towards the community sport with the help of few active sports. 2) Grow programmes – Sport England has adapted various programmes which aim at the growth of sporting communities. It has signed a strategic tie-up with higher education department to identify talents from higher education courses. National Governing Bodies are also driving the increased number of participation. Also the third sector is being utilized for the purpose. 3) Excel programmes – The excel programmes have the objective to identify the right talent for a particular sport. Also, it has the objective to develop the popularity of community sport in case of physically-challenged persons with a vision of creating a talent pool for the upcoming Paralympics. Methodology We have a number of models to evaluate the strategies adopted by different organisations. These models have been prescribed by various leading institutions during different periods of time. Some of the famous models of strategic evaluation are the BCG (Boston Consultancy Group) Matrix, GE (General Electric) Matrix, H.I. Ansoff’s Model, Porter’s Five Factor Model, etc. But most of the models evaluate the strategy on the basis of their competitors’ performance and their relative market share, which does not hold good for our purpose. So, the analysis of the strategies implemented by Sport England will be done on the basis of the model of 7-S framework as described by the leading management consulting and advising firm, McKinsey. Fig 1. 7-S Framework Source: McKinsey’s 7-S Framework The top 3 S, i.e. the strategy, the structure and the systems, are known as the hard S’s where as the other 3 S are known as the soft S’s. The 7-S Framework of McKinsey has the following interpretations: Strategy – Strategy is always concerned with the long term objectives of the organisation. It is of utmost importance to the survival of the organization. Structure – Structure is the framework of the organisation. It deals with the responsibility-accountability relationships with in the organisation. Also, the chain of command should have clarity. Systems – It is the procedure within the organisation through which the communication flows. It may involve both formal as well as informal chains. Systems include internal communication of the organisation as well as communication with outside partners. Style – It is the methodology followed by the organisation for its operations. Staff – Staff is the most crucial factor for an organization. They are the only factor with set of emotions, perceptions and prejudices. The staff factor deals with the organisations’ policies towards the training and development of their human capital. Skills – This factor relates to the capabilities of the organisation. It also identifies and states the core-competencies (identifying those, at which they are the best) of the organisation. Shared Values – The shared values are the most important concept among the 7-Ss’. All the other six ‘S’ contribute towards the development of this S. It is acknowledging, believing and sharing of the organisational goals and objectives by all employees with same approach thereby creating shared values. For the purpose of external analysis of Sport England, the appropriate method of analysing would be through PESTEL framework. Fig 2: PESTEL POLITICAL ECONOMICAL SOCIAL TECHNOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENTAL LEGAL 1) Political factor – Political factors relate to those factors which can cause change in the policies of the organisation because of the change in the political scenario of the nation or of the world. 2) Economical Factor – Factors which can influence the organisation because of the certain changes in the economic decision of the nation like change in the bank rate or tax rate. 3) Social factors – Social factors are those which can cause a change in the society which can in turn affect the organisation. 4) Technological factors – It may so happen that because of a certain invention of a new technology, the existing technology of the organisation becomes obsolete. These factors are clubbed under the heading of technological factors. 5) Environmental Factors – Environmental factors are the factors which can cause a certain change in the environment and might compel the organisation to bear the effect. 6) Legal factors – These factors are related to the legal framework of the country. If because of change in law of the land, causes the change of the organisational policies, it is said to be the legal factor of PESTEL. It must be understood that all the factors of PESTEL are beyond of the control of any individual organisations. But it is for the betterment of the organisation that it should take certain preventive measures which can act as damage-control procedures in times of need. Findings & Discussions With the 7-S framework of McKinsey, we can try and evaluate the internal actions and the intentions of Sport England. Strategy – As we have seen, strategy is always concerned with the long term goals, in the case of Sport England it is the objective of developing a talent pool for the games of community sport. It is expected that through this project England can get to a respectable position in 2012 London Olympics in front of the national crowd. Also, the project aims to develop England to the leader in the field of community sport. Structure – The structure of the working of Sport England has been outstanding. It has involved all the players those who can be beneficial for the development. The project involves National Governing Bodies of Sport, the local administration, The Youth Sport Trust, the Volunteers, etc. It has a decent system of working which has taken adequate measures to prevent bureaucracy with in the project. For the purpose, Sport England itself acts as the national commissioner. Systems - The strategies involve tapping of talent right from the school. It also has adequate measures to prevent the increasing number of drop-outs from the sporting system. Sport England also has outstanding methodologies to use the volunteers optimally by increasing their compensations. Style – The style of operations developed by Sport England is no doubt very effective. The strategies enacted by Sport England have no doubt created an array of general interest of the public for the lesser known sports. Staff – The Sport England has involved all the possible channels for the project. Consequently, they have the support of wide range of staffs with them. They have partners like National Governing Bodies of Sport, local administrations and other professional channels like UK Sport. Also, Sport England has the support of the volunteers, the passionate group of English society for the purpose of sport. In addition to this, Sport England on the process of hiring expert coaches who will be highly beneficial for the project. Skills – For the success of any strategy, a well developed skill set is a must. Also, emphasis must be given on the continuous training and development of the skills. Sport England has the required infrastructure as well as the requisite funding. Also the coaches with great expertise are involved with Sport England along with the world-class professionals. Shared Values – As discussed earlier, all the 6-S contribute towards the development of shared values. The strategies adapted and implemented by Sport England have a tremendous clarity towards the goal. All the factors and partners involved are committed towards achieving the desired objective. So, we can say, Sport England has a perfect feasible strategy for their objective as per the 7-S framework of McKinsey. Analysing the strategy of Sport England with in the external framework of the economy on the basis of PESTEL, we can interpret: 1) Political factors – Sport England has the complete backing of the political influencers. Few of the government bodies are its partners. 2) Economical factors – Till date, economical factors are with full support with the Sport England. They have proper sources of funding and there is no immediate threat to the project. Though the recent global meltdown might be a negative influence for a while. 3) Social factors – General public of England are very enthusiastic about the project. We can say that Sport England has received complete social acceptance. 4) Technological factors – Sport England has imbibed the best available technologies in its project. So there is no threat whatsoever, to the project. Even if new technology gets in place, Sport England with its handsome funding can definitely afford it. 5) Environmental factors – Sport England should be cautious enough so that the environment does not dictate terms over it. 6) Legal factors – Till date, Sport England has complete support of the law of the land as the prime objective of the project is to deliver world class performance during London games. So, we can say that though Sport England at present enjoys a favourable position. Inspite of this situation, it should have proper mechanism in place since these factors are not with in the periphery of the organisation. Conclusions As we have analysed and interpreted the strategies of sport industry in England, we found Sport England has been taking outstanding initiatives. The thrust of the strategies of Sport England is to have a talent pool comprising people from all age-groups irrespective of their community. Sport England also gives special emphasis on the sport of disabled and under-previleged. Also it has partnership with National Governing Bodies of Sport, local administrations, higher education department, Youth Sport Trust and others. Sport England has decided to catch the talents at their young age so that the talents get proper nourishment to develop their potentialities. The project of Sport England has been accepted socially and they also have huge support from the passionate volunteers. The funding has also not been a hindrance for the project. So, analysing the situation, we can expect that Sport England will deliver outstanding professionals by 2011, who will make England proud in 2012 London Olympics. Recommendations As it has been studied, the strategies of Sport England are doing a spectacular piece of work to meet their objectives. Still, some of the areas are to be taken care of. Sport England must make proper provisions for the PESTEL factors. As these factors are not under the control of the organisation, they should have adequate resources to face any abrupt change. It is also recommended that Sport England should participate in foreign sporting events at a regular interval so that the talents get proper international and competitive exposures and can hone their skills. Sport England also should look into the matter of sponsorship so that the project is continued with all its vigour. In addition to this, Sport England should not be complacent about the ongoing scheme of things and should review the process regularly. They should focus on taping the talents and infrastructural developments on continuous basis. References Coaching Highlighted In Sport England Strategy, No Date, Sports Coach UK, [Online], Available: http://www.sportscoachuk.org/News+and+Links/Latest+News/NewsArchive/Coaching+Highlighted+in+Sport+England+Strategy.htm, [May 8, 2009] Sport England Strategy 2008-2011 – Statement from Volunteering England, No Date, Volunteering England, [Online], Available: http://www.volunteering.org.uk/WhatWeDo/Policy/whatwearesaying/Sport+England+Strategy+Statement.htm, [May 8, 2009] What Sport England does, No Date, Sport England, [Online], Available: http://www.sportengland.org/index/about_sport_england/about_who.htm, [May 8, 2009] Bibliography Councils responds to new Sport England strategy, No Date, Improvement and Development Strategy, [Online], Available: http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=8425037, [May 8, 2009] Hedstrom R. and Gould D., January 11th 2004, Research in Youth Sports : Critical Issues Status, Institute for Study in Youth Sports, [Online], Available: http://www.educ.msu.edu/ysi/articles/CTSAWhitePapers.pdf, [May 8, 2009] How is sport being delivered? No Date, South East Cultural Observatory, [Online], Available: http://www.seco.org.uk/Sport_key_policies-and_strategies.html, [May 8, 2009] McKinsey’s 7-S Framework, No Date, Faculty Websites, California State University – Fullerton, [Online], Available: faculty.fullerton.edu/pchan/590/591lecturenotes.ppt, [May 8, 2009] Sport England Strategy 2008-11, No Date, NAVCA, [Online], Available: http://www.navca.org.uk/localvs/sport/strategy/, [May 8, 2009] Appendices 1) For the purpose of internal analysis of the strategies of Sport England has been analysed on the basis of 7-S Framework of McKinsey. Pg – 15. 2) For the purpose of external analysis of the strategies of Sport England has been analysed on the basis of the PESTEL framework. Pg – 17. 3) The PDF file of Sport England Strategy 2008-2011 has been consulted to analyse the strategies of Sport England. Read More