The micro-politics of organisational change in professional youth football: Towards an understanding of “actions, strategies and professional interests”.

Journal article


Gibson, L. and Groom, Ryan 2018. The micro-politics of organisational change in professional youth football: Towards an understanding of “actions, strategies and professional interests”. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching. https://doi.org/10.1177/1747954118766311
AuthorsGibson, L. and Groom, Ryan
Abstract

Employment within professional football is characterised by high levels of staff turnover, uncertainty, vulnerability and insecurity. This paper aims to investigate the experiences of James, Head of Foundation Phase within an English professional youth academy, during a period of organisational change. Data were collected through field notes, informal observations and meetings, formal academy team meetings, co-worker interviews and four semi-structured in-depth participant interviews, which were subjected to an iterative process of inductive and deductive analysis. Theorising regarding the influence of professional self-interests upon the actions and strategies of the social actors was utilised to make sense of James' narrative. The findings highlighted how James strategically managed his relationships with others to further his own professional self-interests. Finally, following the findings of this study, we propose that the ability to develop micro-political literacy and a repertoire of micro-political actions and strategies would benefit coaches working within professional football during such periods of instability and change.

KeywordsCoach education; Football; Organisational change; Sports coaching
Year2018
JournalInternational Journal of Sports Science & Coaching
PublisherSage
ISSN17479541
2048397X
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1177/1747954118766311
Web address (URL)http://hdl.handle.net/10545/622592
hdl:10545/622592
Publication dates09 Apr 2018
Publication process dates
Deposited11 Apr 2018, 15:24
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Archived with thanks to International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching

ContributorsUniversity of Derby, Manchester Metropolitan University, Sport, Outdoor and Exercise Science, University of Derby, Derby, UK and Department of Exercise and Sport Science, Manchester Metropolitan University, Crewe, UK
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