Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Exploring the Utility of Collaborative Governance in a National Sport Organization

2014; Human Kinetics; Volume: 29; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1123/jsm.2014-0139

1543-270X

David Shilbury, Lesley Ferkins,

Sport and Mega-Event Impacts

This paper presents the outcomes of an 18-month developmental action research study to enhance the governance capability of a national sport organization. Bowls Australia, the national governing body for lawn bowls in Australia, includes nine independent state and territory member-associations. An intervention was designed and implemented with the Bowls Australia Board. The purpose of the intervention was to enact collaborative governance to overcome a perceived cultural malaise in the governance of the sport. This study is one of the first to examine collaborative governance in a federal sport structure. Results demonstrate the utility of collaborative governance to overcome adversarial national, member-state relations for the purpose of establishing a common and unifying vision for bowls, while also enhancing governance capability. This study identified the importance of collective board leadership in governance decision-making throughout the sport. It also highlights future research directions in relation to collective board leadership in federal governance structures.