Investigating the feasibility of extension to secondary education ‘The power of sport’

(1)

‘The power of sport’

Investigating the feasibility of extension to secondary education

Master thesis, Msc Business Administration, specialization Small Business & Entrepreneurship University of Groningen, Faculty of Economics and Business

August, 2010 Vivianne Luyckx Studentnumber: 1610392 vivianneluyckx@hotmail.com Mendelssohnstraat 51 8916 EW Leeuwarden 06-20748458

Supervisor University of Groningen Dr. J.F.J. Vos

Second supervisor Dr. C.H.M. Lutz

(2)

1 Preface

This Master thesis is the final step in completing the Master of Business Administration, specialization Small Business & Entrepreneurship, at the University of Groningen.

I am especially thankful to my supervisor Janita Vos for her support and helpful comments during the process of writing this Master thesis. I would furthermore thank the people at Sportstad Heerenveen, especially Rinse Bleeker, for giving me the opportunity to write my thesis at Sportstad and for providing me with the necessary information. Finally, I would like to show my gratitude to my parents for enabling me to study.

(3)

2 Abstract

The aim of this study is to provide insight into the factors that influence the feasibility of the project „the power of sport‟ for secondary education. The research question is: What factors determine the feasibility of the project and in what way?

A pre-analysis has identified several factors that might influence the feasibility of „the power of sport‟. The subsequent literature search has resulted in assumptions about the relationship between these factors and project feasibility. These assumptions were used as a guide in the process of evaluating the feasibility of „the power of sport‟.

It has been supposed that the social orientation of the organization and the degree of stakeholder support have a positive influence on project feasibility. The moderating influence of stakeholder salience on the relationship between stakeholder support and project feasibility is also proposed to be positive. The uniqueness of the project activities has, according to the literature, a negative impact on both the feasibility of the project and the creation of synergies. However, when synergies are created, project feasibility is influenced in a positive way.

In the findings chapter, the examination of these relationships for „the power of sport‟ is presented. The concluding chapter answers the research questions, gives some recommendations, and discusses the study. It can in general be concluded that extension to secondary education seems feasible. The project activities and their potential to create synergies will be beneficial for the feasibility of the project, the social orientation of Sportstad will influence feasibility in moderately positive way, and the support of the definitive stakeholders will have a moderately positive (secondary schools) to positive (municipality) impact on project feasibility.

Title: „The power of sport‟, investigating the feasibility of extension to secondary education. Author: Vivianne Luyckx.

Organization: Sportstad Heerenveen. Date: August, 2010.

(4)

3

4

4.6 Support from the municipality ... 30

4.6.1 Results ... 30

4.6.2 Summary... 31

4.7 Support from secondary education ... 31

4.7.1 Results ... 31

4.7.2 Summary... 34

Chapter 5 – Conclusion, recommendations, discussion ... 35

5.1 Conclusion ... 35

5.2 Constraints and recommendations ... 38

5.3 Discussion ... 38

5.3.1 Points of interest for theory and practice ... 39

5.3.2 Suggestions for future research ... 40

5.3.3 Complicating factors ... 40

5.3.4 Research quality ... 40

References ... 42

Appendices ... 46

Appendix 1 – Contact data Sportstad Heerenveen ... 47

Appendix 2 – Explication results pre-analysis ... 48

Appendix 3 – Identified Stakeholders ... 50

Appendix 4 – Secondary schools in Heerenveen ... 52

Appendix 5 – Overview methods ... 53

Appendix 6 – Interview guide ... 54

Appendix 7 – Interview combination functions ... 58

Appendix 8 – Interview about secondary education ... 60

Appendix 9 – Interviews Bornego college and OSG Sevenwolden ... 63

(6)

5 Chapter 1 – Introduction

In this research, an analysis will be conducted to determine the feasibility of a new project. The focus will be on the factors that influence project feasibility, and the way in which this is expressed. This chapter will start with background information about the theme of the project, which results in the research question. Thereafter, both the organization and the general characteristics of the project itself will be explicated further. Information about these context variables is important to understand the research setting. The chapter will end with a pre-analysis which explains the relevance of this research and sets the focus of the study.

1.1 Background information and research question

The relationship between sports and health becomes increasingly visible. Almost one-sixth of the children are obese, and this number increases with one percent each year (Figures from GGD1_).

Overweight has various negative consequences for public health like high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes type II, joint complaints and physical problems (Sports policy Heerenveen 2006-2009). This indicates that physical inactivity also has a negative impact on the costs of health care. Research has shown that there is an undeniable association between sports participation and child overweight (Hofferth and Curtin, 2005: 15). The Dutch government wants to exploit the power of sports (Policy letter – „The power of sport‟, Ministry of VWS2_{) by improving the supply of}

sports at school and after school time, and by supporting the sports clubs (to improve their social function). The project „the power of sport3‟ serves as a means to translate the initiatives of the government into practical and adequate programs for children in primary and secondary education. The municipality of Heerenveen has also incorporated the connection between sports and education in its policy: “investigate and determine the possibilities and needs with regard to the role of further education in relation to sports in Heerenveen” (Sports policy Heerenveen 2006-2009: 50).

Eime and Payne (2009: 293) have stated that sports programs that are delivered within schools by external agencies are a key strategy to promote participation in sports and physical activity. They reason that schools are a setting for introducing children and youth to sports, establishing motor skills and encouraging participation, which can give them the confidence to explore and join community-based sports clubs. The problem, however, is that the integration between school and community club-based sports is lacking (p. 294f). Sportstad Heerenveen facilitates this connection between sports and education. The organization wants – among other things - to stimulate breadth sports at all ages.

1_{Municipal health service.}

(7)

6

Recently, Sportstad has started the project „the power of sport‟ for primary education. A logical next step would be extension to secondary education. However, it should first be determined whether it is likely that this extension to further education will be successful. Therefore, the objective of this research is to assess the feasibility of the project for secondary education. The main question is:

What factors determine the feasibility of the project and in what way?

Taking the general goals of the project as a starting point, the feasibility analysis should show whether these goals can be translated into a feasible project for further education. To legitimize the execution of a feasibility study, a pre-analysis has been conducted. This analysis concerns an assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of „the power of sport‟ that can be identified at first sight. Besides the fact that the results give an idea about the potential project feasibility (and thus indicate whether it seems sensible to conduct a feasibility study), this analysis has revealed a couple of factors that might influence the feasibility of the project.

The factors that were revealed by this pre-analysis are elaborated in the theory chapter: the uniqueness of project activities and their potential to create synergies, the social orientation of the organization, and the support and the salience of the stakeholders. In the subsequent methods chapter, an outline of the data collection and the data analysis can be found. The presentation of the findings is chapter 4 is followed by the interpretation of these results and the formulation of conclusions in the final chapter. These conclusions and the resulting recommendations can be used to decide whether or not the project should be implemented and how the project design should look like.

1.2 Context variables

(8)

7

The second context variable is the project itself. „The power of sport‟ can be seen as an umbrella name for various projects initiated by Sportstad to stimulate breadth sports. As mentioned before, the project „the power of sport‟ serves as a means to translate the initiatives of the Dutch government into practical and adequate programs for children in primary and secondary education. The project includes different kinds of sports activities for various target groups. Within the project, Sportstad fulfills two important functions. The first one is the coordination of the people within the combination functions („combined jobs‟4_{). These people are very important, as they coordinate the}

projects within the different districts of Heerenveen. Students of the CIOS assist the combination functions in facilitating the sports activities. The second function is the initiation and facilitation of sports stimulation projects. These projects will be offered both within the districts as well as at Sportstad. Within the districts, the combination function is „the spider in the web‟. The other parties involved are the CIOS students, schools, sports clubs, institutions for well-being, and day care centers. The target groups of these projects are the children from primary and secondary education, people with disabilities and the elderly. The policy is determined by a steering-committee, which consists of the main parties involved: Sportstad, the municipality of Heerenveen, and the Friesland College.

1.3 Setting the focus

The pre-analysis (see Appendix 2) has revealed the strengths and weaknesses (internal), and the opportunities and threats (external) that could be identified at first sight.

 Strengths:

The apparent fit with the values of the organization, the availability of a combination function at Sportstad, the availability of well-established- and sophisticated facilities.

 Weaknesses:

The limited budget (availability of subsidies might play an important role), the fact that Sportstad is not able to facilitate the project all by itself (dependent on external parties).  Opportunities:

The increasing awareness of the importance of sports for public health, the availability of subsidies for children in the age group 12-18 (Dutch policy), the availability of combination functions in the districts and CIOS5_{students to assist them, the various advantages the project}

could have for the cooperative parties (new members for sports clubs, trainee posts for CIOS students), the opinions of the management of schools and the students („there is a need for more sports and physical activity both during school and after school time‟).

4_{Function whereby someone employed by one employer works within two or more sectors (i.e. education, sports} and/or culture). These jobs improve the connection/cooperation between sectors, which results in enrichment and better attunement of (after) school supply of education, sports, and culture (www.combinatiefuncties.nl).

(9)

8

Furthermore, Sportstad has the ability to overcome the organizational constraints faced by the management of schools (absence of facilities, absence of people/financial resources).

 Threats:

The schools‟ sports teachers- and facilities, the alternatives to sports.

The strengths and opportunities combined with the possibility to overcome or diminish the threats and weaknesses suggest that conducting a feasibility analysis is indeed legitimate. The following findings from the analysis are used to set the focus of this research:

- „The project has already been initiated for another target group, and the facilities and the people necessary to execute the project are already available‟.

These facts indicate that the activities that should be undertaken to execute the project are not completely new to the organization. Because this degree of uniqueness of project activities might influence the feasibility of the project, this is one of the factors that will be investigated. - „There is an apparent fit between the project and the values of the organization‟.

Because the project has a clear social orientation, the question to what degree the organization is socially oriented might be very relevant.

(10)

9 Chapter 2 – Theoretical framework

2.1 Key notions of the study

Project feasibility

Project management has become one of the main activities performed within organizations. Assessing the project outcome prior to initiation is of extreme importance to all parties involved. Project feasibility can be defined as the degree to which it is likely that a new project will be successfully implemented. The focus on the success potential of a project means that further specification of this concept is required. Previous studies have suggested applying multidimensional frameworks to assess project success. A multidimensional focus is important because there are typically different parties involved in a project.

In this study the (potential) success of a project will be determined on four dimensions (Shenhar, Levy and Dvir, 1997: 11f). The first dimension of success is the efficiency of the project. This reveals whether the project has the potential to be completed in time and within budget. The second one discusses the impact on the customer. The project will be successful on this dimension when it has a high expected level of customer satisfaction and customer participation (including repeated participation in follow-up projects). The expected business success is the third dimension that is of interest in this research. It describes all different ways in which the project is expected to have a positive impact on the organization. The final dimension is the extent to which the project prepares the organization and its infrastructure for the future. This is an extension of the previous dimension because it discusses the positive impact in the long run.

These success-dimensions of a project cover both the different interests within the organization(s) initiating the project (time and budget, contribution to the organization) and its future customers. The relative importance of each of these dimensions is time-dependent. For example, in the short-term (particularly during project execution) the project efficiency dimension is most important. The framework of project success can be used by project managers as a guideline prior to project initiation (Shenhar, Levy and Dvir, 1997: 5). The managers should identify in advance the expected benefits from the project along the different dimensions and then focus themselves and their teams on this pre-specified set of expectations during project execution.

(11)

10

Uniqueness of project activities

A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives. Projects differ from day-to-day routines because within projects different phases can be distinguished: the initiation phase, the development/performance phase, the implementation phase, and the maintenance phase (Achterkamp and Vos, 2007: 8). Project management can be generally described as the discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about successful completion of the specific project goals and objectives.

Belassi and Tukel (1996: 144) point out that project characteristics have long been overlooked in the literature as being critical success factors whereas they constitute one of the essential dimensions of project performance. One of the project characteristics they identify is the uniqueness of the project activities. Activities are not unique when „the organization is familiar with the type of project being undertaken‟. This indicates that project performance is influenced by the degree to which the project activities are unique for the organization. The question that remains, however, is in what way this characteristic of the project activities influences the feasibility of the project.

The literature about new product development provides some important insights with regard to this question. It is reasonable to suggest that the theory related to projects aimed at creating new products is also applicable to projects in general (and thus also to projects aimed at delivering a service). Projects may seem to be unique, but they often display various similarities with previous ones. In this context, Adler, Mandelbaum, Nguyen and Schwerer (1995: 458) suggest that while product development efforts are often viewed as unique configurations of idiosyncratic tasks, in reality different projects within an organization often exhibit substantial similarity in the flow of their constituent activities. Engwall (2003: 793) adds that one project organization cannot be profoundly understood without taking its history into account because a large number of the project assignments are of a repetitive nature, with little deviation in relation to preceding projects within the organization. For the current study, it is interesting to know the consequences of this level of uniqueness for the success of the project. The findings of Engwall (2003: 805) suggest that projects with a repetitive content have a great probability of success, and also Belassi and Tukel (1996: 144) point out that it is very important that the organization is familiar with the type of project being undertaken. They argue that a project with more standard activities is easier to plan, schedule and monitor.

The literature presented above thus suggests that the probability of success of the project is higher when the type of project that should be undertaken and its activities are known to the organization. This is the case when the activities are repetitive and standard, i.e. not unique.

(12)

11

Creation of synergies

Besides the obvious advantages that result when the activities are known to the organization, the non-uniqueness of project activities can bring another – related – advantage: the creation of synergies. Synergy is the ability to leverage or exploit one‟s core competencies, skills and resources, which improves the odds of success (Cooper and Kleinschmidt, 2000: 39). Rozemeijer (2000: 6f) pays attention to synergy in business usage. His definition focuses on business units, but can logically also be applied to projects. Synergy then refers to the ability of two or more projects to generate greater value working together than each of them could by working apart. These synergies usually take one of six forms. Three forms of synergy are relevant for this study: sharing intangible resources (knowledge and information), tangible resources, and coordinated strategies. Firstly, results can be improved when projects exchange and share information, and economies of scale can be achieved and duplicated effort can be avoided when tangible resources are pooled. Furthermore, the alignment of the strategies and goals of the projects can be an important source of synergy.

The creation of synergies is more likely when the activities of a new project are line with the current projects and activities of the organization. Pattikawa, Verwaal and Commandeur (2006: 1190) state that firms with projects that create synergy of resources are more likely to realize high new product project performance.

The foregoing analysis of the literature on synergies reveals that the creation of synergies leads to higher project performance, and thus a higher project feasibility. However, because the creation of synergies is more likely when the new project activities are similar to the current ones, the degree of uniqueness of the new project activities influences the creation of synergies in a negative way.

Assumption 2: The degree of uniqueness of project activities has a negative impact on the creation of synergies. This creation of synergies influences project feasibility in a positive way.

Social orientation of the organization

As indicated before, the type of organization which should initiate the project could also influence the feasibility of the project. The pre-analysis has suggested that the orientation of the organization might be important. This orientation is determined by the values of the organization. Values are important qualities and standards that have a certain weight in the choice of action: those things that are most important to an organization (van der Wal et al, 2008: 468f).

(13)

12

Organizations can thus be characterized by the mission that entrepreneurs select for their businesses (Mort, Weerawardena and Carnegie, 2003). This suggests that the nature of the mission can be used to distinguish between traditional and social entrepreneurs. Social entrepreneurs take the initiative to identify and address important social problems in their communities (Korosec and Berman, 2006: 448). The social orientation of the organization, then, is the degree to which the organization is focused on social concerns (Mort et al, 2003).

The degree to which an organization is socially oriented can be determined by placing it on the SEM, the social entrepreneurship matrix. This matrix combines the social entrepreneurial, mission-orientation continuum with the social business, profit-requirements continuum (Massetti, 2008: 4).

Figure 1 – Social entrepreneurship matrix – SEM (Massetti, 2008:4)

The degree to which the organizational values are socially driven is determined by the degree to which the focus is on accomplishing goals that benefit society as a whole.

Cortada and Woods (1999: 99) discuss factors that influence the success of knowledge management projects. They state that for these projects to be successful, the project should fit with the existing culture. It is reasonable to suggest that this statement also holds for projects in general. Furthermore, there is an obvious overlap between the orientation of the organization and its culture. It can therefore be postulated that the statement also holds for the link between projects in general and the orientation of the organization.

The project in this study has a social orientation. Since a match between the project and the organization will positively influence project feasibility, the organization should be socially oriented to realize this positive impact. It can thus be stated that when the project is socially oriented, the social orientation of the organization influences project feasibility in a positive way.

(14)

13

The profit-requirements continuum determines whether this social mission can be maintained in the long term. When profit is required, profit can be used as an efficiency measure to preserve the business continuity of the organization. Furthermore, when profits are required, the organization can be more independent from the whims of market forces (Massetti, 2008), because „buffer‟ profits can be used to finance the ongoing business activities. The profits requirement thus preserves continuity, which enables the organization to maintain the social mission in the long run.

Assumption 3b: The degree to which profits are required indicates that this positive impact can be maintained in the long run.

Stakeholder support and stakeholder salience

The pre-analysis has indicated that it is likely that stakeholder support for the project is very important. An often used definition of the stakeholder is the description of Freeman and Reed (1983: 91): a stakeholder is any group or individual who can affect the achievement of an organization‟s objectives or who is affected by the achievement of these objectives.

In this study, a distinction will be made between internal and external stakeholders. Ward and Chapmen (2008: 564) define internal stakeholders as: project owners (the organizations, teams or individuals who have overall managerial responsibility and power) and the parties that have a contractual relationship with the project owner. Other stakeholders are „external‟ stakeholders, who may be positive or negative about a project, and who may seek to influence the project through political lobbying, regulation, campaigning or direct action. External stakeholders might include local communities, local government, potential users, regulators, environment groups and the media. In this study, the distinction between internal and external stakeholders is more strict than the segregation made by Ward and Chapmen. Only the project owners are considered internal stakeholders, because otherwise some parties that are external to the project would be considered internal because they have – due to the legal form of the organization (see chapter 1) – a contractual relationship with the organization.

(15)

14

Stakeholder support ultimately becomes apparent in the degree to which the different stakeholders meet their responsibilities. Only when the stakeholders support the project, they will meet their responsibilities. Because the fulfillment of responsibilities of the different parties involved in the project is an essential condition for success, stakeholder support positively influences project feasibility.

Assumption 4a: The degree of stakeholder support has a positive impact on the project feasibility. A key question therefore is: who are the stakeholders whose support of the project is essential. These specific stakeholders should be identified, prioritized and their interests should be understood. In the literature the importance of identifying stakeholders is also emphasized. Paul (2005: 35) stresses that it is important to identify the key groups that have a stake in a project‟s outcome, and work to balance their interests. Stakeholder identification is important because stakeholders are a major source of uncertainty in projects. Effective management of projects involves understanding these sources of uncertainty and identifying appropriate management strategies.

Stakeholder-related uncertainty encompasses who the relevant stakeholders are, how they can influence a project at different stages of the project life cycle, what their project-related motives are, and the implications of relationships between different stakeholders (Ward and Chapman, 2008: 563). The fact that stakeholder consultation is also important in projects related to sports and physical activity is confirmed by Bull, Bellew and Schöppe (2004: 95f). They state that consultation with key stakeholders during development is one of the criteria for successful physical activity policy- and action plans.

However, not all stakeholders are of similar importance to a project. Voss, Voss and Moorman (2005: 1133) state that, according to instrumental stakeholder theory, competitive advantage accrues to firms that take strategic actions that satisfy influential stakeholders. It is thus important to determine who the influential stakeholders are. Mitchell, Agle and Wood (1997) have developed a classification scheme which can help to find out how managers choose their stakeholders and how they prioritize between competing stakeholder claims. Classes of stakeholders can be identified by their possession of one, two, or all of the following attributes (p. 854):

- The stakeholder's power to influence the firm.

- The legitimacy (socially accepted/expected structures/behaviors) of the relationship with the firm. - The urgency of the stakeholder's claim on the firm.

(16)

15

Table 1 shows the different stakeholder classes and their characteristics.

Latent

Dormant P While holding power, they lack legitimacy/urgency, therefore power is often unused. Discretionary L Holding no power or urgency to influence the organization.

Demanding U Holding urgent claims yet lack the power or legitimacy to influence the organization.

Expectant

Dominant P,L Have legitimate claims and have the ability to act upon these claims by the power they hold.

Dangerous P,U Lack legitimacy yet have the power and urgency to influence the organization. Dependent L,U Lack the power to carry out their urgent legitimate claims and therefore have to rely

on others power to influence the organization.

Definitive P,L,U Holding all attributes: have the ability to influence the organization in the immediate future.

Table 1 – Identification typology salience model (Mitchell et al, 1997: 874-879)

The degree of stakeholder salience will probably also influence the relationship between stakeholder support and the feasibility of the project. This is likely because the support of some stakeholders (i.e. stakeholder with a high degree of salience) will be more important than the support of others. For example, when a stakeholder with a high degree of salience does not support the project, the relationship between support and feasibility will be amplified because this stakeholder has the power to oppose the project.

The literature presented above suggests that the relationship between the support of the stakeholders and the feasibility of the project will be stronger when the stakeholder is very important to the project (i.e. high degree of salience).

Assumption 4b: The degree of stakeholder salience intensifies the relationship between stakeholder support and the feasibility of the project.

(17)

16

2.2 Resulting model and research questions

The assumptions listed in the previous section are visualized in Figure 2. These assumptions are used as a guide in the process of evaluating the project feasibility. The following sub-questions are formulated to investigate the relationships in context of „the power of sport‟:

- What is the impact of the uniqueness of the project activities of „the power of sport‟ on the feasibility of the project?

- How does the uniqueness of the project activities influence the creation of synergies, and how does this impact on the feasibility of „the power of sport‟?

- What is the influence of the social orientation of Sportstad on the feasibility of the project and can this be maintained in the long term?

- How does the degree of support of the relevant stakeholders affect the project feasibility? - How does the salience of these stakeholders influence the relationship between the degree of

stakeholder support and the feasibility of the project?

(18)

17 Chapter 3 – Research methods

3.1 Data collection

Qualitative research has been conducted to gather the data necessary for answering the research questions. The focus of qualitative research is on understanding and interpreting (Cooper and Schindler, 2006: 198). The current study was aimed at understanding how the different factors deduced from the theory impact on project feasibility by means of interpretation of the gathered data. Qualitative research is specifically appropriate for investigating stakeholder support because it enables the researcher to get a deep understanding of the few cases involved in the study. Because the gathered data are very detailed, the opinion of a specific target group and the reason why they have this opinion can be derived. By entering into the motivations, opinions and interests of the target group, in-depth information can be obtained (www.rightmarktonderzoek.nl).

The qualitative research in this study has drawn from a variety of sources, including (groups of) people, organizations/institutions and texts (published documents). Triangulation goes beyond the limitations of a single method by combining several methods (Flick, 2006: 24), and it increases theoretical generalization (138). The data in this study were gathered by means of document analysis, semi-structured interviews and conversations (see Appendix 5 for further specification).

The document analysis was aimed at evaluating contemporary confidential or public records, reports, governmental documents, and opinions. The selection of the documents has been based on their reliability (based on the document source: only policy documents – descriptions and evaluations – and internal documents were assessed) and their relevance for the topic under study. The list of documents can be found in Appendix 5.

The interview is the primary data collection technique for gathering qualitative data. In this study, semi-structured interviews have been used. Beforehand, an interview guide (see Appendix 6) with interview topics was established. The in-depth interviews were structured on the basis of these different topics, and under each topic several open questions were headed. The interviewer was an active participant in the interviews. The conducted interviews can be described in terms of some of the characteristics of qualitative research described by Cooper and Schindler (2006: 198): open-ended questions to small samples and a (more) significant involvement of the researcher/research sponsor.

(19)

(20)

19

Table 2 presents the variables and their indicators, the different dimensions used to measure the variables, and the items used during the data collection. The complete description of the variables can be found in Appendix 6.

3.3 Data analysis

The data analysis in this study concerns analyzing data from three different sources: interviews, conversations, and documents.

The data from the interviews and conversations were analyzed in three steps. The notes made during the interviews and the conversations were elaborated to a text which contains all the gathered information. During the first step, this worked-out interview or conversation was read carefully. The second step concerns the ordering of the information. This was necessary because the gathering of data has not always strictly followed the order of categories (relationships) that was established beforehand, since the interviews were semi-structured. During the final step of the analysis, the data were interpreted. For this purpose, the ordered information was assessed and relevant passages were marked. This marking has been done on the basis of a list of codes that correspond to the research topics. The relevant text was thereafter interpreted and the items that correspond to the different variables (see table 2) were assessed as high, medium, or low. The values of the different items (per variable) together have led to answers to the research questions. The judgment of the values of the various items has been somewhat subjective, because it was not based on hard figures.

The analysis of the documents has been very similar. First, the content of the document was scanned quickly. The next step concerns careful reading of the relevant sections. Finally, the relevant information was analyzed in the light of the research questions and interpreted.

3.4 Respondents

The respondents of this study are both internal and external stakeholders. A stakeholder identification- and selection procedure has been executed to identify both of these stakeholder groups, and to select the relevant external stakeholders.

3.4.1 Procedure

(21)

20

Answering the „who-inside‟ and „who-outside‟ questions has led to the identification of the stakeholders inside and outside the organization. The two stakeholders that were clear from the outset have created the initial stakeholder list. This was done by means of an individual brainstorm in which they have mentioned individually all possible internal and external persons and parties who can, or ought to be involved in the project. An individual brainstorm by other internal stakeholders has completed this list. The broad set of stakeholders was further specified by answering the „what‟ question, which has made clear what information the stakeholders should provide to enable the conduction of a proper feasibility analysis. The information need was articulated based on the project goals. The „when‟ question indicates for which project phase the answers to the other questions apply. The second step of the stakeholder identification- and selection procedure is the differentiation of the relevant stakeholders on the basis of their salience. Not all stakeholders on the list that has resulted from the identification procedure were part of the feasibility analysis. Theoretical sampling was used to arrive at the list of respondents, because the stakeholders were selected on the basis of their relevance for the research question.

As indicated in the previous chapter, stakeholder salience is the degree to which managers give priority to competing stakeholder claims (Mitchell et al, 1997: 854). The degree of salience of the identified stakeholders has been assessed by judging their power, legitimacy and urgency. This degree of salience points to the importance of the different stakeholders. Salience was used as a selection criterion, because only the highest salience stakeholders (definitive stakeholders) became part of the feasibility analysis.

After the selection of the stakeholders, salience can be used to determine the relative importance of the selected stakeholders. For this purpose, these stakeholders have been rang-ordered based on their salience. It is interesting to know the relative importance of the selected stakeholders because support from the stakeholder with the highest salience is most important with regard to project feasibility.

3.4.2 Identified stakeholders

(22)

21

The identified external stakeholders are briefly described below: - Municipality

Heerenveen is situated in the Northern part of the Netherlands and has 43,391 residents of which approximately 29,000 are living in the capital city Heerenveen (CBS, 2010). Over the past couple of years strong growth has taken place, both regarding the number of jobs and the number of residents. The municipality can be characterized as dynamic, entrepreneurial, and as a positive business environment. Furthermore, Heerenveen is known as the „sports city of the North‟, effected by the ice skating (Thialf Stadium) and soccer (Abe Lenstra Stadium). Thousands of people are active in the area of sports each week. One of the prerequisites to stay „city of sports‟ is a modern and coherent municipal sports policy, which has been established by the municipality of Heerenveen.

- Friesland College

The Friesland College is a regional education center for intermediate vocational training (MBO) and adult education. CIOS is one of the various education types that is offered. It is focused at educating people to become active in different areas of sports.

- Sports clubs

A lot of different sports organizations are located in Heerenveen. Although there are no doubts about the involvement of these sports clubs in the project, further information regarding the project has revealed that these parties are stakeholders only in a later phase. Therefore, the sports clubs are not analyzed in this study.

- Secondary education

There are three different secondary schools located in Heerenveen. The two largest ones, which have several locations, have over 4000 students.

The project phase for which these stakeholders are identified is the initiation stage of the project. Although „the power of sport‟ has been described in a general sense and is specified and partly implemented for primary education, the project for further education can be considered as a new project. The main reason is the fact that the project has a different target group. Consequently, this project starts at the first project phase which focuses on generating ideas and defining the specific goal of the project. This reasoning is further confirmed by Dingle (1985: 94), who states that the conceptual stage of a project involves feasibility studies.

3.4.3 Further specification secondary education

(23)

22

Because the secondary education is the target group of the project, and therefore the most important stakeholder for this project, there was a need to study the support of this group in more detail. For this reason, interviews were conducted with the secondary schools in Heerenveen. From the three different secondary schools (Appendix 4) the smallest one, the AOC, already offers its gymnastics classes at Sportstad. This school is therefore excluded from the research. The other ones, the „Bornego college‟ and „OSG Sevenwolden‟, have over 4000 students spread over several locations. An orientating interview with the former director of a location of one of these schools has resulted in the advise to approach the teachers in physical education for the interviews. The underlying motive is the fact that the gymnastics department composes the teaching plans all by themselves.

3.5 Two scenarios

The analysis of the variable stakeholder support has been complicated by the fact that there are two possible scenarios regarding the financing of the project.

The Dutch government has provided several municipalities with a NASB subsidy6_{. With this}

subsidy, the government wants to give an impulse to the realization of physical exercise interventions, which should become part of the municipal plans for local health policy (www.nasb.nl). Heerenveen has acquired such a subsidy. Currently, Sportstad and the municipality are negotiating about this money, because Sportstad wants the municipality to give them the disposal over the money. The municipality should then set the prerequisites with regard to the goals and the target groups, and Sportstad will take care of the execution of the activities. Sportstad is able to realize a coherent set of projects on a large scale.

Because the large subsidy from the municipality has not yet been granted, there are two different scenarios with regard to the financing of the project:

- Scenario I: there is a subsidy available to (partially) finance the project „the power of sport‟ for secondary education.

- Scenario II: the project should be financed without any subsidy.

Which scenario becomes reality will have a great influence on the project feasibility because it impacts on stakeholder support. Therefore the financial component has also been taken into account during the data collection. The interviews with the secondary schools have paid attention to the available budget for financing sports activities, and to the degree to which it is possible to let the parents finance the sports activities.

(24)

23 Chapter 4 – Findings

4.1 Internal interests

Before the uniqueness of the project activities, their potential to create synergies, and the support of the definitive stakeholders can be determined, the reference point should be known. Therefore, it is necessary to specify the internal interests with regard to the project. This description has been based on the conversations with the internal stakeholders, and leads to a further specification of the project. The sports policy of Sportstad comprises the following core points („the power of sport‟- execution, 2008): facilitate top- and breadth sports in an optimal way, support the sports organizations, support practice oriented education, and exploit Sportstads‟ sports accommodations and facilities in a profitable way. The internal interests will be described on two different levels that together cover the sports policy of Sportstad: on the level of the project activities and their organization, and on the level of the exploitation of the facilities of Sportstad.

Project: activities and organization With the project „the power of sport‟ for secondary education,

Sportstad aims to stimulate breadth sports for children in the age group 12-18. Children should become more enthusiastic about sports and they should participate more in sports activities. The sports stimulation activities (which will take place both during- and after school-time) will be coordinated by the combination functions and be executed by CIOS students.

To successfully realize the goals of the project, it is very important that there is a clear link between the (obligatory) activities during school time and those offered after school. One possible way to guarantee the link between the activities during- and after school-time is by participating in the formulation of the year program for the different grades. Local initiatives to stimulate sports and physical activity are, for example, improved gymnastics classes, organization of activities after school-time, and clinics given by local sports organizations. These local initiatives will be supplemented by district transcending activities, whereby an important role will be fulfilled by Sportstad. Examples in this context are: integral organization of „SOK‟7_{(sport oriëntatie- en keuze: sports orientation- and}

choice), and the organization of municipal- or school sports tournaments.

Exploitation of the facilities of Sportstad The district transcending activities provide, alongside the

advantage of well-established and sophisticated facilities for the participants of the project, also a huge advantage for Sportstad. For business continuity of the organization, the utilization factor of its accommodations is very important.

(25)

24

4.2 Uniqueness of project activities

This section describes to what degree the project activities are unique to Sportstad. As indicated in Table 2, this uniqueness – the degree to which the activities are known to the organization – has been measured by the repetitiveness of equivalent activities and the standardization of the activities.

Internal conversations have pointed to two projects, „BOS8_{‟ and „the power of sport‟ for}

primary education („sport4kids‟), as projects with activities related to those of the project under study. By comparing the activities of the three projects, it was possible to determine to what degree the activities of „the power of sport‟ for secondary education are unique to Sportstad.

4.2.1 Results

The results of the comparison have revealed that the two projects mentioned above resemble „the power of sport‟ for secondary education a lot. BOS-projects are initiated on the basis of a so-called „BOS-impulse‟, a temporary stimulation measure of the ministry of VWS to help municipalities decrease the sport and physical exercise arrears of youth in specific districts (BOS-policy, 2004). The goals of the BOS-project thus largely correspond to „the power of sport‟. Sport4kids has – in general – the same goals as the secondary school-variant. Furthermore, there is an overlap between the specific activities that are performed within the projects, because in all cases the sports activities are the major part of the project („the power of sport‟- execution, 2008).

The intended structure of „the power of sport‟ is also comparable to the structures of both the BOS-project and „sport4kids‟ in the sense that all projects make use of the combination function and CIOS students. The interviews with the combination functions have revealed that within the BOS-project in Heerenveen, neighborhood-, education- and sports organizations work together under supervision of the municipality to realize activities within the districts. These activities are implemented by CIOS students under supervision of the combination function. The internal conversations with regard to the sports stimulation for primary education have shown that this is also the case for the sport4kids-activities. The students are supervised by the combination function located at Sportstad.

An interesting difference is related to the target group of the activities. All current sports stimulation activities that have been performed in Heerenveen were aimed at children at primary education (age 4-12). The focus on „the power of sport‟ for secondary education, however, is on children in the age group 12-18.

(26)

25

4.2.2 Summary

The general aims, the structure, and the specific activities of the various projects are very similar, but the target group of „the power of sport‟ for secondary education is new. This indicates that the degree of repetitiveness of equivalent activities is high, because the type of activities that are part of „the power of sport‟ are also executed in previous projects. The degree of standardization of activities can be characterized as medium. Although the activities are equivalent, they cannot be copied exactly, because they should be adjusted to the new target group

4.3 Synergies

The degree to which the project activities result in synergies has been measured by the extent to which these activities leverage core competencies, skills, and resources (Table 2). To determine whether synergies can be created, the intended project activities of „the power of sport‟ for secondary education were compared with both the current resources of Sportstad, and the way in which these resources are used during the current or previous activities that were revealed in the preceding section.

4.3.1 Results

The comparison has revealed that the well-established and sophisticated facilities of Sportstad can be used by the participants in the new project. This points to an opportunity to leverage9_{the physical}

resources of Sportstad. Extended use also means that the utilization rate of the facilities can be significantly improved, which presents a financial advantage. An additional advantage of an increased use of these facilities can be a positive stimulation of the reputation of Sportstad, which means that one of its intangible resources will be leveraged. Furthermore, because the facilities form a major part of the core competencies of Sportstad, this core competence will also be strengthened.

Both the human resources (i.e. the people at Sportstad, the combination functions in the districts, and the CIOS students) and their skills will be leveraged after implementation of the project. This is the case because these people are already available and are working on similar and related activities. The contacts and experience of these people can be used by the introduction of the project, and at the same time their knowledge will be extended when „the power of sport‟ will be implemented for secondary education.

In general, it can be stated that the fact that current resources can be used for the new project leads to an financial advantage, and thus a leverage of the financial resources.

(27)

26

4.3.2 Summary

With regard to the potential to create synergies, it can be summarized that each of the items can be characterized as high. The obvious fit between the project and the core competencies, resources, and skills available within the organization means that the project has a high ability to leverage them.

4.4 Social orientation of the organization

The degree to which the organizational values are socially driven has been determined by assessing the extent to which the focus of the organization is on accomplishing goals that benefit society as a whole. The question whether this social orientation can be maintained in the long run can be answered by assessing the degree to which profit is used as an efficiency measure, and the degree of independence from the whims of market forces (Table 2). The analysis of the annual plan of Sportstad and conversations with several employees have revealed its mission and conduct of business (Appendix 5).

4.4.1 Results

The annual plan (2010: 10) of Sportstad contains the following mission:

“Visitors of Sportstad Heerenveen will gain a new or renewed appreciation of the importance of health in their lives and they will be inspired to apply a healthy life style. Sports – of course – plays an important role here. The world of sports is a world for everyone. The essence of sports is not only in winning or losing, but it is about the continuous challenge to get your body to a higher level. In the vision of Sportstad, all people who improve themselves are champions. The ultimate goal is a healthy life”

It is pretty obvious that this mission is socially orientated. From the mission it can be concluded that the organization mainly seeks to accomplish goals that benefit society as a whole (rather than focus on any marketplace demand that provides profits regardless of its societal impact). But the conversations with people working at Sportstad have revealed that the organization is in reality more market-driven than this mission suggests. In one of these conversations, Sportstad has been described as a commercial organization with a social function. However, the overall orientation of the organization can best be characterized as socially-driven.

(28)

27

4.4.2 Summary

The data presented above suggest that the mission of Sportstad is highly focused on goals that benefit society as a whole, which indicates that this item can be characterized as high. This finding also means that the mission of the organization matches the social aim of the „the power of sport‟.

The results also indicate that this mission can be maintained in the long run because the organization is profit-required. Sportstad makes uses profit as an efficiency measure for ensuring that its resources are not wasted. However, because profit generation is not the main focus of the organization, the functioning of profits as an efficiency measure will not be optimal. Therefore, this item can be assessed as medium to high. The generated profits also enable the organization to stay relatively independent from the whims of market forces. However, the type of organization and the way in which its operations are financed bring along that it is impossible to become very independent from trends in the market. Therefore, this item can be assessed as medium

4.5 Stakeholder salience

The various stakeholders can be classified on the basis of their salience. For this purpose, their power, legitimacy and urgency have been assessed (Table 2). On the basis of their attributes, the stakeholders are assigned to one of the different stakeholder classes presented in Table 1. Stakeholder salience functions as a selection criteria to identify the most important stakeholders: only the support of these most important (i.e. definitive) stakeholders will be determined.

4.5.1 Results

The assessment of the three attributes that together indicate the degree of stakeholder salience is described in Table 3 and explicated further in text below. The sources that have been consulted to assess the salience of the different stakeholders can be found in Appendix 5.

Power to influence firm

a. Power to enforce claims b. Access to, influence on, ability to impact focal firm

Legitimacy of relationship with firm

a. Claims viewed as proper or appropriate by focal firm

Urgency of claim on firm

a. Active in pursuing claims

b. Actively searching attention of focal firm c. Urgently communicating claims to focal firm

M High High High

F Medium-High High Low-Medium

S Low Medium Medium

E (very) High High a High, b Low, c High

Table 3 – Assessment of the attributes that together indicate the degree of stakeholder salience

(29)

28

Municipality All attributes of this stakeholder can be assessed as high. The municipality has a high

level of power to influence Sportstad because Heerenveen is a fifty percent shareholder of Sportstad. Furthermore, the municipality also distributes both the municipal- and the greater part of the governmental subsidies. This also gives this stakeholder the power to influence Sportstad and enforce its claims. The position of the municipality also implies that the legitimacy of its relationship with Sportstad is high as well. The claims of this stakeholder are viewed as appropriate, because the municipality is very important for the existence and business continuity of Sportstad. The final attribute, the stakeholders‟ urgency, can also be assessed as high. There is permanent reciprocal communication between the two parties, and the municipality communicates its claims and prerequisites in a pressing and forcing way.

Friesland College The power of the CIOS to influence Sportstad can be assessed as medium to high.

The CIOS has some power because the cooperation between the two parties is also very important for Sportstad: CIOS provides the students that assist in executing of the project activities. However, this level of power to influence the characteristics of the project loses strength because of their dependence on Sportstad. CIOS is focused at educating people to become active in different areas of sports. One important element of the education is practice oriented learning, for which trainee posts are essential. Most CIOS students are located at Sportstad, and many BOS-profile students are located within the different districts. This indicates that Sportstad is very important for the Friesland College. The legitimacy of the relationship can be characterized as high. Because the continuity of the cooperation is important for both parties, the claims of the CIOS will be taken into account. Finally, the urgency of the claim can be assessed as low to medium because next to the regular meetings in which the CIOS has the opportunity to communicate its wishes, this stakeholder does not actively declares its claims.

Sports clubs Within this project, the sports clubs have a low level of power. Although it is expected

that they are going to play a meaningful role within the project, the sports clubs do not have the power to decide on how the project will going to look like. They are dependent on the municipality, or on Sportstad itself for the power necessary to carry out their will. The legitimacy of the relationship can be characterized as medium. Sportstad will not assess all claims as proper or appropriate, however they take the claims into account because they want to maintain a good relationship with the sports clubs. This is important because of their anticipated role within the project. Also the final attribute, urgency, can be assessed as medium, because when they have the opportunity, the clubs will search the attention of Sportstad and communicate their claims.

Secondary education The power of the secondary schools is very high. The reason is that the project

(30)

29

The importance of this stakeholder for the project also means that the legitimacy of the requests of the secondary schools is viewed as high. The urgency of these claims can in general also be assessed as high. However, the schools are not actively searching the attention of „the focal firm‟ because it is Sportstad who initiates the project, and the project will only be realized when the secondary schools decide to participate.

Based on their attributes, the stakeholders can be assigned to a stakeholder class (see Table 1). This segmentation is presented in the Table 4. It can be seen that there are two definitive stakeholders.

Stakeholder Stakeholder class Characteristics

Municipality Definitive (P,L,U) Holds all three attributes: has the ability to influence the organization in the immediate future.

Friesland College Dominant (P,L) Has legitimate claims and has the ability to act upon these claims by the power it holds.

Sports clubs Dependent (L,U) Lacks the power to carry out its urgent legitimate claims and therefore has to rely on others power to influence the organization. Secondary education Definitive (P,L,U) Holds all three attributes: has the ability to influence the

organization in the immediate future.

Table 4 – Stakeholder segmentation

4.5.2 Summary

The municipality and the secondary education are both definitive stakeholders. They have a high degree of salience, which means that they have legitimate claims, and that they have the ability to act upon these claims by the power they hold. When these two definitive stakeholders are compared, it can be concluded that the secondary schools have relatively more power to impact on the project feasibility because the project would not come into existence without their support.

The other two identified external stakeholders, the Friesland College and the sports clubs, are relatively less important because they only possess two of the attributes of stakeholder salience. The claims of the Friesland College lack urgency. The reason is that Sportstad is very important for the CIOS in terms of providing trainee posts. This stakeholder will therefore initially support all initiatives that yield more places for positioning their students. The sports clubs lack the power to influence Sportstad, which makes them dependent on other parties for the power necessary to carry out their will. However, participation in the project is important for these sports clubs because in this way they can promote themselves and recruit new members.

(31)

30

4.6 Support from the municipality

The support from the municipality has been determined by identification of this stakeholders‟ degree of commitment to the goals of the project, and the degree to which the municipality is in agreement with the focal firm on its responsibilities (i.e. role in the project, Table 2). The commitment of the municipality can be described on the basis of the content of official documents where the municipality announces its vision (Appendix 5). However, because „words are only words‟, it has also been investigated whether previous actions of the municipality are in line with this vision.

4.6.1 Results

Analysis of the sports policy of Heerenveen has identified the commitment of the municipality. Heerenveen wants to use sports to promote the municipality. On its website (www.heerenveen.nl), the municipality states that it subsidizes different (one-off) sports activities and activities in the area of youth sports. The municipal social- and sports policy determines which activities allow for subsidies. The sports policy of Heerenveen contains the following mission (Sports policy Heerenveen 2006-2009: 11):

„The municipality of Heerenveen stimulates a healthy lifestyle and general consent of her residents, both young and old. Sports and physical exercise are very important to realize this. We therefore create preconditions that make it possible for residents and visitors of Heerenveen to optimally enjoy active and passive sports experience of both breadth- and top sports. We pay attention to groups in the community that need additional effort or support because of their age or the specific situation they are in‟.

The municipality wants to realize this mission by active stimulation of participation in sports- and physical exercise, the creation of a good balance and mutual enrichment of breadth- and top sports, the creation of preconditions for solid and financially healthy sports clubs, and by taking care of a varied offer of qualitatively good and safe sports facilities and optimizing their load and use (p.11).

These ways to realize the mission of the municipality obviously match the characteristics of „the power of sport‟. To begin with, Heerenveen has put forward that it wants to stimulate sports participation of youth by paying attention to breadth sports. Youth is a focus group because sports and physical exercise are very important for children in this age group, but their participation is declining (p. 19). The municipality wants to put this in practice by stimulating and supporting the organization of sports- activities and events, and by informing and providing up-to-date information to residents about sports and physical exercise opportunities (p.15).

(32)

31

This makes clear that there are no doubts about the types of projects that are eligible for a subsidy. It is rather interesting to know what the municipality requires from a project before a subsidy will be granted. Heerenveen states that „successful sports stimulation is possible only when clear choices are made, transparent goals are formulated and means are utilized in a specific direction‟ (p.15). This announced commitment of the municipality has also become apparent by its previous actions. Recent examples are the facts that Heerenveen has partially financed the BOS-project and that the municipality has co-financed the construction of the Cruyff court in Heerenveen.

The analysis of the sports policy has also identified the role that this stakeholder fulfills within the project: the municipality will be responsible for providing a portion of the financial resources.

4.6.2 Summary

There are no doubts about the types of projects that are eligible for a municipal subsidy. The mission of Heerenveen and the ways to realize it obviously match the characteristics of „the power of sport‟. This announced commitment of the municipality has also become apparent by its previous actions, which improves the credibility of the mission. The commitment can thus be characterized as high. However, an important remark here is that this commitment might be impacted by a likely cut down of the subsidies due to the economic crisis. With regard to the role of the municipality, it can be stated that Heerenveen will be responsible for subsidizing the sports activities (high role agreement).

4.7 Support from secondary education

The support of the schools has also been determined by their commitment to the project goals and the degree of agreement on the schools‟ role. However, because the salience analysis has shown that the secondary schools are the most powerful stakeholder, more solid and specific evidence of their support was needed. Therefore, instead of analyzing the previous actions of this stakeholder, interviews with members of the gymnastics departments of both schools have been conducted and analyzed (Table 2).

4.7.1 Results

The analysis of the sports policy of Heerenveen has demonstrated the commitment of the schools. The secondary schools in Heerenveen have stated that they see sports and physical exercise as an important theme within society and education (Sports policy Heerenveen 2006-2009: 19). This commitment to sports activities corresponds to the national vision: from the schools that have participated in the National student monitor 2007, 85.3 percent does (partially) agree with the intention of the Dutch government to realize daily sports and physical exercise at 90% of the schools in 2010 (p. 52)10_{. These}

data suggest that the schools are willing to support additional sports activities.

Investigating the feasibility of extension to secondary education ‘The power of sport’

‘The power of sport’

Investigating the feasibility of extension to secondary education

1

Preface

2

Abstract

3

Table of contents

4

5

Chapter 1 – Introduction

6

7

8

9

Chapter 2 – Theoretical framework

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

Chapter 3 – Research methods

19

20

21

22

23

Chapter 4 – Findings

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31