Amateurism to Professionalism: Modelling Organisational Change in Sporting Organisations

Abstract

The growth of professionalism in sport in Australia has had a significant impact on players and administrators in many sporting organisations. This changing environment has caused sporting organisations to review their organisational goals and objectives. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether Laughlin's (1991) model of organisational change can illuminate our understanding of the differing impacts of environmental disturbances on sporting organisations. This is achieved by examining the organisational change processes that have occurred within the Queensland Rugby Union (QRU) during its recent history. Participant observation and semi-structured interviews with individuals at differing functional levels within the QRU were used to examine change and its impacts on the QRU. These data were analysed using Laughlin's model of organisational change. Although Laughlin's model succinctly describes historical changes in the QRU, its capacity to explain fully the current change process is limited. The shortcomings of Laughlin's model are considered from the standpoints of critical theory and postmodern approaches to the study of organisations. It is concluded that organisational change is a complex phenomenon that filters through the organisation with differing ramifications at different levels. It is demonstrated that Laughlin's model can be modified to reflect more fully and adequately the complexity of changes across differing levels of the QRU. It is suggested that similar modifications will prove useful for the description of change in other sport organisations.