Inter-organisational Relationships between Governmental Stakeholders in South African elite sport: Resource dependency and inter-organisational theoretical perspectives

Inter-organizational relationships between governmental stakeholders are critically important in the implementation of elite sport policies. However, these relationships are confounded by varying challenges which causes a stagnation in the progress of elite sport policies and its subsequent systems. An example of challenges influencing inter-organizational relationships is regarding asymmetrical dyadic interactions, which are normally due to the influence of resources, and as a consequence introduces issues of power. Very few studies have evaluated inter-organizational relationships in elite sport, and even less so the influence of governmental stakeholders in these partnerships. This study endeavors to evaluate the perceptions of inter-organizational relationships between provincial and national governmental sport stakeholders in South Africa. Data were collected by juxtaposing the theoretical elements of two frameworks namely; the Resource Dependency theory and the Inter-organizational theory in a qualitative study. Sport stakeholders in the Western Cape provincial department and the national department participated in this study. Data were analyzed by means of thematic analysis to apply inductive and deductive reasoning. The major results depicted a lack of clarity regarding the roles and responsibilities between stakeholders; too many entities were involved in sport; and a lack of funding was identified, which led to interdependencies between stakeholders and power dynamics. These findings illustrated that variances in elite sport programs and the dysfunction of inter-organizational relationships affected the elite sporting system. These results can be considered and applied by policymakers when elite sport policies are reviewed.