Who is the Best? Performance evaluation of countries in International Judo

Leandro Mazzei, Bastos Fc, Veerle De Bosscher, Maria Tereza Ter Bohme

Onderzoeksoutput: Other reportResearch

Samenvatting

Introduction

Judo can be considered a popular sport in the world; about 200 countries are affiliated to the International Judo Federation (IJF). In addition to the competitions in the Summer Olympic Games, this combat sport competes in the Paralympic Games, the Youth Olympic Games, and Continental Games. It also has World Championships, Continental Championships (at adult, sub-20 and sub-17 level), and a range of annual international events held in different countries.

The inclusion of Judo in the Olympics was crucial for the future of this sport. Judo had their first contests in the Olympic program in Tokyo 1964, but was only an official sport in Munich 1972. Despite its Japanese origin, athletes from other countries won podium and medals, contributing to the universalization of Judo as a global combat sport. Over the past 60 years, several changes in the rules of Judo have taken place: the establishment of classes of age and weight categories; the institutionalization of an anti-doping system, the change in color of the uniform for sports competitions, etc. All changes became Judo more dynamic and attractive in sportive terms (Villamón, Brown, Espartero, & Gutiérrez, 2004).

The beginning of the 1990s some facts have marked the international Judo events. In addition to the inclusion of females in the Olympic Games, the end of the Cold War resulted in considerable increase in the number of athletes and in the number of countries participating in major international events of Judo. In the same time, Judo have been target of investment of national sport policies and private organizations seeking success and leading a greater competitiveness to this sport in the international context (Franchini & Del'Vecchio, 2007; Mazzei, Silva Neto, Vieira, & Böhme, 2012).

Sports like Judo are just one example among many others. In general high performance sports represent an international trend - more and more countries are investing and seek success in major world sporting events. Greater capacity among nations can also be identified, different countries have developed the ability to win medals and to obtain good results in the international context (De Bosscher, Bingham, Shibli, Van Bottenburg, & De Knop, 2008; De Bosscher, Heyndels, De Knop, Van Bottenburg, & Shibli, 2008; Shibli, Bingham, & Henry, 2007). And in this competitive environment there is an interest on the part of managers and researchers to explain the reasons for the international sporting success achieved by some, and not by others. Not only in terms of sports policies, but also with respect to the results and specificities of each sport, such as Judo.

Now, a new phase in international Judo is drawn, a phase started in 2008, in which strategic actions in high performance judo became more essential and decisive for success. The main organization of Judo in global terms, the International Judo Federation was implemented in 2009 a ranking system for athletes participating in the Olympic Games. As a result athletes have access to over a period of four years of a series of global events which allows them to win points and obtain a higher ranking and consequently the classification to participate in the Olympic Games.

Currently the international Judo presents itself as a highly competitive sport striding towards professionalism. Many of the events on the world circuit have cash prizes for the medal winners of each category, Judo athletes currently use multidisciplinary teams for technical training and receive considerable support from Governments, National Governing Bodies, Sponsors and others stakeholders to achieve success in the international context (Franchini & Del'Vecchio, 2011). However, there is a lack of research that focuses in critical success factors (CSF) and strategic management in Judo (Correia & Franchini, 2010; Franchini & Del'Vecchio, 2011; Peset et al., 2013).

Therefore, the aim of this research project is to identify and verify the organizational critical success factors for international Judo and analyze how Judo is developed in different countries. Through this knowledge, countries and Judo stakeholders can adopt best practices for planning, or identify gaps in their strategic actions, contributing to an improvement in the management of Judo organizations responsible for promoting this sport in each country.

Theoretical Background

For Maximiano (2006) organizations exist in complex realities composed of interactions between different components in your environment: expectations of different stakeholders, lack of resources, education, technological evolution, environmental integration, competitiveness, among others; which influences the actions of managers. For some authors, because of this complexity, a systemic approach (Systems Theory) has tended to dominate organizational studies (Certo & Peter, 2005; Chelladurai, 2009; Slack & Parent, 2006). A systemic view can provide the utility to describe and analyze a set of relationships between the elements of an organization (inputs, throughputs and outputs) or the interactions of an organization with other organizations, which can bring a better understanding of the key factors for organizational success.

Considering high performance sports as a system and its development as a process of strategic management in a competitive environment, a systemic view of sports organizations will be extremely useful to identify key organizational factors that can influence the performance and success in sport. Indeed, according to Oakley and Green (2001) success in international high performance sport might be the result of strategic investment, which leads to the need to identify the key factors that influence performance in an international context.

In a system perspective, there are some studies that sought to find factors that determine international sporting success at the national sporting system level (national sport policies) (De Bosscher, De Knop, Van Bottenburg, & Shibli, 2006; De Bosscher, De Knop, Van Bottenburg, Shibli, & Bingham, 2009; Digel, 2005; Green & Oakley, 2001; Houlihan & Green, 2008). In this approach, an example to be mentioned is the study of De Bosscher et al. (2006). The authors developed a model denominated SPLISS (Sports Sport Policies Leading to Success), that cluster critical factors of international sporting success in 9 pillars divided into a systemic model (inputs, throughputs and outputs).

The model proposed by De Bosscher et al. (2006) seems to be currently the most suitable with regard to critical factors for success in high performance sport. However, the SPLISS model does not address two points that can be further explored. The first is related to the specificity of each sport. The second, despite the authors indicate the investment in national sports organizations as one of the determinants for international sporting success, the model does not explore the these organizations and strategic relationships that can perform to a better development of one sport in the environment in which they operate

Regarding the first point; each sport has a specific culture and a particular factors and to achieving international success. Judo for example, is a Japanese sport; Japanese athletes are always favorites in main international judo events. On the other hand, each year, Japan loses ground in international results of this sport, which suggests that not only the tradition and technical excellence can be crucial to success in international Judo.

Regarding the second point, a striking feature in international high performance sport is the existence of national sporting organizations responsible for development of each sport in the country. These organizations, National Governing Bodies (NGBs), perform a decisive role in international high performance sport since they are responsible for the coordination, organization and management of a particular sport in a country. (Bayle & Madella, 2002; Chappelet & Kübler-Mabbott, 2008; Hums & MacLean, 2008; Madella, Bayle, & Tome, 2005; Winand, Zintz, Bayle, & Robinson, 2010).

However, considering organizations as open systems it is natural the influence of the environment where each NGB is inserted. This is another lack in studies that sought to find factors that determine international sporting success. They didn't consider in a consistent way the influences of a task environment, which can also be crucial to develop one sport in a country and, in this case, for Judo NGB that control this sport in different countries around the world.

According to Slack and Parent (2006), despite the studies on sports organizations often implicitly recognize the influence of the environment, there are few studies specifically focused on the relationships existing within the environment. Alliances between organizations involved with the same sport in a task environment can be strategic, leading to a harmonious systemic development for one sport in a country (Amara, Henry, Liang, & Uchiumi, 2005; Freeman, 2010; Henry, 2005; Shilbury, 2000; Sotiriadu & Shilbury, 2009).

Judo is controlled in a country by one NGB. In fact, this sport is organized worldwide by an international federation, supported by continental federations which in turn are supported by NGB located in each country. To have access to the major international events of high performance judo, athletes need to be affiliated at the NGBs recognized by this international system. Considering a systemic view, the NGBs are the most important organizations for the development of Judo in each country, and are influenced by the general environment and by stakeholders existing in the environment task.

This research project has as its main objective the identification of critical success factors in international high performance Judo. In systemic terms, the model of De Bosscher et al. (2006) presented consistent results related to success in international sport and may possibly be verified in the specificity of competitive Judo and in the internal system of its NGB. This research project will also consider the interrelationships which exist in the task environment, in this case in the open system of Judo NGBs are allocated. Interrelations with other organizations (such as: Judo Clubs, National Olympic Committee, Government, Sponsor) can be strategic to the development of Judo in a country and in its the international performance.

Actually, the studies of Bayle and Robinson (2007) and Madella et al. (2005) had already pointed out the organizational interrelationships as a critical factor for international sporting success to one sport or to the NGB that control one sport.

As main contributions, this research project can contribute to an improvement in the management quality of Judo and consequently, can improve the development of this sport in different countries.

Methodological Procedures

This research project is an exploratory study from the perspective of Li, Pitts, and Quarterman (2008) and Vergara (2010) because its involves preliminary activity for answers or refinement of problems and research issues related to Judo . The methods in this study are the mixed methods research, according to the concepts of Creswell and Clark (2011).

For this research project will be used Exploratory Sequential Design. This design involves an initial phase of collection and analyzing qualitative data, followed by a second phase related with a build of an instrument and a third phase related of collection and analysis of quantitative data.
Originele taal-2English
Plaats van productieRio de Janeiro
UitgeverijInternational Judo Federation
Aantal pagina's1
Volume1
UitgaveIn: VIII International Judo Research Symposium, 2013, Rio de Ja
StatusPublished - 2013

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