QUALITY
Since the last thirty years there is a strong expansion on the sport- and leisure market, with new distribution and communication channels, all reasons for more attention for quality in sport. The sport market was penetrated with a variety of new sports like fitness, aerobics, steps, tae bo, skateboarding, snowboarding etc. All these innovations were initiated and organized by commercial organizations, which used other formulas than the traditional sport associations. They were led by managers, with commercial backgrounds. Different management techniques, like quality management and marketing were introduced in the sport sector. People tend to use the word “quality” a lot, but with different meanings, like with the words “professionalization” and “efficiency”.
Quality is being used generally, which automatically results in a lack of content until it is being related to a performance. And when the relation is there, it will be obvious that the classification of quality is very subjective and related to a certain time. For example: Twenty years ago the pollution of cars were not related to the quality of the car, as the environmental pollution was not on the (political) agenda. Nowadays the pollution of a car is a quality criterion.
Robinson (2004) mentions that different quality gurus have their own definition, approach and standards for quality. But they have argued that the principles of quality management are the way forward to ensure organizational success.
The Olympic Committee of the Netherlands (NOC*NSF; 1999) defines professionalization in sport organizations as a process where three aspects are considered important:
1) paid labor: The honorarium (for a 40 hour workweek) should be at least equivalent to the official minimum wage
2) general acceptance of regulations, education and qualifications. The development of these aspects will result in a standardization of the different functions in sports
3) increase of quality of work/ performance.The increase of the quality of work is of influence on different dimensions within an organization like the product or the process within an organization.
So what is quality in sports?
Lucassen and Van Bottenburg (2004, Chapter 5) define four different quality dimensions:
1. Product orientated (internal)→ this was developed in the industrial sector. The final
products were being analyzed if they complied with product specifications, developed by technicians.
2. Process orientated (internal)→ A next step of the product orientated dimension was to control the whole production process. Deficiencies of the product were caused during the production process. Therefore one should have more attention to the process than just the product. The International Standard Organization (ISO) paid a lot of attention to this. The ISO quality system says more about quality of the company and its employees, than the product itself.
3. User orientated (external)→this dimension focuses on the users, as being decisive whether a product has quality or not. The Service Quality Model (SERVQUAL) prioritizes the user’s expectations of a product. Quality becomes a more subjective aspect.
4. Society orientated (external)→Since the last years of the twentieth century there is more attention for societal responsibility of organizations.
Next to the commercial activities which result in more profit, organizations have activities for people and the environment. This is more and more expected from the society.
Indicator of professionalization: All four dimensions of quality are indicators of professionalization. In the case of sport organizations, the product is their specific sport, which they are statutory obliged to develop (produce) on the continental level. Upgrading of the board and the development of a strategic plan will benefit the control on the “production process”. The users are the members of the sports organizations, like athletes and officials. They will decide if the product is up to par, or not. Sport organizations become more and more society orientated. Cases of corruption and doping have tremendous negative influence on the sport and it’s responsible sport organizations.
So we can speak of “integral quality” if there is attention for all four quality dimensions.
This article is part of the thesis written by Remco Tevreden, as part of the international program MEMOS (Executive Masters in Sports Organisation Management).
