This article contributes to a thriving line of research that examines issue interpretation and social accounts in order to study the adoption and diffusion of organizational concepts and management practices. It employs the empirical example of the rise of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Austria between 1990 and 2005 to investigate the complex role institutional pressures and social positions of actors play in the local adoption of globally theorized ideas. More specifically, the study reveals distinct patterns in rhetorical CSR adoption that illustrate the initial hesitation and reluctance of an established elite in the Austrian business community towards the Anglo-American notion of 'explicit' CSR, while non-elite actors who were less favourably positioned in the social order readily embraced the concept. It is in such a sense that CSR is nevertheless instrumentalized to challenge, reinterpret, or explicitly evoke the autochthonous idea of institutionalized social solidarity. Conceptually, this research takes into account social structure, actors' positions in the social order, and resulting divergent adoption motivations - i.e. the individual, yet socially derived, relevance systems of actors - and relates them to mechanisms and processes of institutional change. (author's abstract)

Rugby refereeing requires its practitioners to possess certain qualities. MacIntyre (1981) emphasises the importance of moral goods defined with respect to a community of virtuous persons engaged in a social practice. Whereas a virtue ethics account of playing and coaching has evolved (Brown, 1990; McNamee, 1995), little philosophical work exists on the role and status of elite match officials. The significance attached to the outcome of elite sport contests provide principled and instrumental reasons as to why this particular sporting aspect requires attention. Existing sports officiating research deals primarily with psychological (Bar-Eli et al., 1995; Boyko et al., 2007; Nevill et al., 2002; Weinberg et al., 1990) and physiological issues (Castagna et al., 2007; Inácio da Silva et al., 2008; Reilly et al., 2006). This work does little to explain the role and function of elite officiating. This interpretive study aims to enhance role understanding within a MacIntyrean framework, using elite Rugby Union officiating in Wales as its particular context. It examines the extent to which elite Rugby officiating can be considered part of a social practice by investigating the elite referee’s role as an arbitrator of justice and fairness and other responsibilities that may constitute the internal goods and virtues that safeguard the game. This analysis provides principled foundations for identifying those aspects of the referee development structure that represent ‘good practice’ and those that require reform. Key findings suggest (i) that Rugby refereeing is unique within sports officiating, (ii) that officiating is an integral yet imprecisely understood part of the practice; what Morgan (2007) refers to as a social collaboration and (iii) that greater interactivity between playing, coaching and officiating would enhance the growing understanding of Welsh Rugby as a commodified product. Subsequent recommendations include implementing a holistic approach to developing the game through the creation of a Rugby triumvirate and maximising the limited resources in the referee development process through early talent identification.

This thesis explores the process of elite sport policy change in three sports (swimming, athletics and sailing/yachting) in Canada and the United Kingdom (UK). The nature of policy change is a complex and multi-faceted process and a primary aim of the study is to identify and analyse key sources of policy change in four elements of elite sport programming: i) the development of elite level facilities; ii) the emergence of 'full-time' swimmers, athletes and sailors; iii) the adoption of a more professional and scientific approach to coaching, sports science and sports medicine; and iv) competition opportunities and structures at the elite level. The study focuses on the meso-level of analysis, which centres on the structures and patterns of relationships in respect of three Canadian national sporting organisations (NSOs) and three UK national governing bodies of sport (NGBs) - representing the three sports cited above. The macro-level of analysis is also considered, where the primary concern is to analyse relations of power between governmenta nd quasi-governmentasl porting agenciesa nd the respective NSOs/NGBs. A case study approach is adopted, focusing on the six NSOs/NGBs, wherein a qualitative methodology is utilised in order to elicit data in respect of policy change in the four key elements of elite sport programming set out above. Within the case study approach, the advocacy coalition framework has proved useful in drawing attention to the notion of changing values and belief systems as a key source of policy change, as well as highlighting the need to take into account factors external to the policy subsystem under investigation. In Canada, it is evident that the preoccupation with high performance sport over the past 30 years, at federal government level, has perceptibly altered over the past two to three years. In contrast, in the UK, from the mid-1990s onwards, there has been a noticeable shift towards supporting elite sport objectives from both Conservative and Labour administrations. The study concludes that it is only by exploring specific sports through a comparative-analytic framework that a better understanding of policy change, within the complex and multi-layered sport policy process, might be achieved.

Drawing upon a series of interviews with politicians, sports administrators, coaches, journalists and academics and with analysis based on the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), this thesis examines elite sports development policy in Taiwan within a political context. It investigates the issues of whether or not sports development and policy-making reflect institutional features, and how sports policy has changed over time in Taiwan. It further explores the development systems of baseball, taekwondo and tennis, with a particular focus on similarities and differences between them at the elite level. Empirical data gathered from semi-structured interviews and documentary materials is analysed using an institutional approach together the ACF. The main findings suggest that, in essence, sports development and policy-making in Taiwan comply with institutional features and, during different periods from 1949 to the present day, have consistently been influenced by the political needs of the time. The analysis of the development systems of the three selected sports identified some major similarities. The government promotes them using a top-down approach and each sport relies heavily on the public funding. There sports have no national level facilities. Talent identification and development mainly occur in schools and are conducted through the competition systems. There is government financial support for elite athletes to participate in international events or for the governing bodies to host international events. The development systems for coaches share the same mechanisms. Finally, national athletes in each sport can enjoy sports science support from the government during squad training and international events. However, the case studies also reveal considerable differences. The governing bodies of taekwondo and tennis play a more dominant in elite development than that of baseball. Parents play a more significant role in the identification and development of tennis players than for the other sports. Only taekwondo national competitors train relatively frequently at the national training centre. The facilities for elite baseball players are more adequate than for the other sports. Elite baseball players enjoy the most international competition opportunities and taekwondo competitors the least. The existence of a professional baseball league and a highly professionalised international competition system for tennis serve to highlight the difference between the three sports in terms of the emergence of full-time athletes. In sum, this demonstrates quite clearly that there exists in Taiwan a single spine of sports development in general, but with variations.

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No description available.

Det finns olika definitioner av vad en ledare är, vad som är bra ledarskap och det finns en mängd olika ledarskapstyper. En ledare för ett lag är någon som oftast i huvudsak har ansvar att planera träningen. Idag ställs det högre krav på tränare och det krävs mer planering för att nå goda resultat på hög nivå. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka elittränares syn på att bli och vara elittränare. Metoden var en kvalitativ metod där åtta stycken intervjuer har genomförts. Resultatet visar att de flesta tränarna har liknande egenskaper och tankesätt. Dessutom har samtliga tränare utbildningar kopplade till idrotten och några har även läst på universitet. De viktigaste egenskaperna hos en tränare enligt respondenterna är att elittränare ska vara bra på att kommunicera, ha positiv inställning och vara tydliga. De ska även vara omtänksamma, ha en bra kompetens och vara målinriktade. / There are different definitions of what a leader is, what is good leadership and there are a variety of leadership types. A leader of a team is someone who usally primarily responsible to plan the training. Today is it a higher burden on the coach and it requires more planning in order to achieve good results at high level. The purpose of this study is to investigate the elite coach´s vision of becoming and being elite coaches. The method was a qualitative method where eight interviews have been conducted. The results show that most of the coaches have similar characteristics and way of thinking. In addition, all the coaches have training linked to sport and a few have also studied at university. The main characteristics of a coach according to respondents is that elite coaches should be good at communicating, have a positive attitude and be clear. They should also be considerate, to have good skills and targets.

Abstract Background: Golf is a sport with a growing focus on the physical aspect of the game and its relationship to performance. Studies have determined a correlation between club head speed and performance in golf. Rotational power has proven to be an important factor for the club head speed. By examining the relationship between club head speed and rotational power, researchers has found that rotation power on the golfers dominant side have a moderate to high correlation with club head speed. Previous research has mostly investigated the peak rotational power on the dominant side. Furthermore, additional research is needed to examine the bilateral strength and its relationship to club head speed. Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the correlation between peak trunk rotational power and club head speed in elite golfers, and also to study the impact of bilateral rotational strength on club head speed. Methods: The study included 27 elite golf players (21 males, 6 females) age 19±2 years. The subjects attended two sessions where the first session included a club head speed test and the second session a rotation power test in the Quantum machine. The rotational peak power ratio (dominant/non-dominant side) were ranged from 1-27 (the closer to 1, the higher order) to study a linier relationship with club head speed. Spearman’s nonparametric rank correlations coefficient (rs) was used since the data was not normally distributed. Results: There was a moderate correlation between peak trunk rotational power on the dominant side and club head speed ( rs=0.58, p=0.01). The correlation between the peak trunk rotational powers on the dominant and non- dominant side was high, rs=0.82 (p=0.01). There were no significant correlation found between the ranged rotational peak power ratio and club head speed (rs=0.30, p=0.1). Conclusion: The current study found a slightly lower correlation between peak trunk rotational power and club head speed than found in earlier studies. The golfers in this study had symmetric strength in the trunk, other studies have shown that the rotational strength in golfer´s dominant side were higher than of the non- dominant side. The result of this study indicates that balance between the sides not necessarily has a relationship with how high the golfer’s club head speed is. Future research is needed to analyze the quadratic correlation between ratio and club head speed on a more advanced level. The results of this study can, if validated, be used for further researching and understanding of club head speed and golf performance.

Huvudsyftet med studien var att undersöka elitfotbollsspelares uppfattningar kring vilka hinder och möjligheter som finns för att idrottspsykologiska rådgivare ska ges inträde i en fotbollsförening. Ett ytterligare syfte var att undersöka vad som karaktäriserar en framgångsrik idrottspsykologisk rådgivare vid samarbete med elitfotbollsspelare. Populationen utgjordes av åtta svenska elitfotbollsspelare. Kriterierna för att inkluderas i studien var att deltagarna skulle tillhört en a-lagstrupp i en elitfotbollsförening (Allsvenskan och Superettan) säsongen 2015. Insamlingen av data utgick från kvalitativ ansats, genom intervjuer och analyserades utifrån kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultatet visade att idrottarna påpekade fler hinder än möjligheter för att den idrottspsykologiska rådgivaren ska ges inträde i en förening, där skepticism mot idrottspsykologi nämndes som ett exempel. Gällande karaktärsdrag visade resultatet att idrottarna hade en större samsyn i förhållande till de hinder och möjligheter som framkom. Slutligen diskuterar författarna förslag på framtida forskning, metodkritik och implikationer. / The main purpose of the study was to examine elite soccer players perceptions of which barriers and possibilities exists in order to give sport psychology consultants entry in a soccer organization. Another purpose was to examine what characterizes a successful sport psychology consultant in their cooperation with elite soccer players. The population was eight swedish elite soccer players. The criteria to be included in the study, was that the athletes had pertained a first team squad in an elite soccer organization (Allsvenskan and Superettan) in the season of 2015. Data collection was done through qualitative approach, through interviews and was analyzed by qualitative content analysis. The results showed the athletes pointed out more barriers than possibilities to give the sport psychology consultant entry in an organization, where skepticism towards sport psychology was mentioned as an example. Regarding characteristics the results showed that the athletes had more consensuses in relation to the barriers and possibilities that appeared. Finally the authors discuss suggestions in terms of future research, methodology reflections and implications.

Thesis (PhD (Sports Science))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / There is general consensus that athletes, striving to compete and perform at the highest level, should optimally balance training and competition stress with adequate regeneration. Although a well-planned training programme is of utmost importance, the time between training sessions and competitions is critical for the modern-day athlete. It is suggested that athletes should apply a variety of recovery methods to enhance the regeneration process. Although team sport is a popular entity throughout the world, there is limited published research on the regeneration process in team athletes and recovery methods to enhance the regeneration process. The aim of this study was to develop a model that could serve as a guideline for the regeneration of team athletes within the South African context. Two phases were involved in the process of developing a model. Phase one involved a research of literature in order to assess which strategies can be implemented for athletic regeneration, and what information team athletes are given for regeneration. The second phase involved an investigation into the recovery strategies that are currently used for regeneration by elite South African team players during the competitive phase of the year. Research questions focused on the recovery methods used by players, the perceived importance of various recovery methods to the players, and the relationship between sport and level of participation in the use of recovery strategies. This study did not attempt to assess the knowledge of the players on recovery methods.