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Sport - Culture - Sports Culture

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DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.3637.5120

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 Pályázat címe: A 21. század követelményeinek megfelelő, felsőoktatási
sportot érintő differenciált, komplex felsőoktatási szolgáltatások
fejlesztése a Dél-alföldi Régió felsőoktatásában
Pályázati azonosító: TÁMOP-4.1.2.E-13/1/KONV-2013-0011

László Balogh
The author is a Docent at the Institute of Physical Education and Sports Science,

Gyula Juhász Faculty of Education, University of Szeged.

Sport-Culture-Sports Culture

The influence of organisational psychological factors on the performance

of sports teams and organisations

lector: Dr. Kovács Zoltán, Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem

ISBN 978-963-306-315-6

Kedvezményezett:
Szegedi Tudományegyetem
Cím: 6720 Szeged, Dugonics tér 13.
www.u-szeged.hu
www.palyazat.gov.hu
 Preface
Having been teaching sports science at university level (training sports experts) for several
years and studying the psychological issues of the functioning of sports teams and sports
clubs, the topic I am most interested in, I can consider myself lucky. Furthermore, I also
belong to the lucky few (sports teams these days have an urgent need for the help of TEAMs
composed of experts in various fields such as nutrition, sports science, and sport
psychology) who have the chance to work with professional sports teams; I am employed as
a sport psychologist and organisational consultants by a national but also internationally
recognised handball team in order to enhance the performance of the club and the team.
And above all, as the icing on the cake, I am able to give direct examples from professional
sport in the form of case studies when teaching my university students besides providing
them with ample theoretical knowledge, just as it is required from a professor in a country
with deep university culture. However, knowing how certain Hungarian sports organisations
work, these are not always positive examples, but it is instructive to see them anyway.
During the past years, I have had the opportunity to study our leading national sports
organisations in many different ways. These organisations differ largely on the basis of their
sports scientific background.

Top-ranking sports teams make attempts to exploit the results of sports science research,
especially those of natural scientific nature such as biomedicine. Sport psychology, a branch
of social sciences, is also gaining relevance; however, experts need to fight valiantly in order
to promote their results despite all the success, ranking in the Olympics, or gold medals won
at World Championships. The excellent psychologists working in the aforementioned field
might have had difficulties at the start several years ago – I also experienced the same as a
handball coach – in winning the trust and attention of coaches and club leaders/managers.
Hopefully, this situation is about to change soon.

With the advancement of science, the scope of international research in sports science is
growing, and the application of results is also improving a lot. The present work provides an
insight into the questions of two moderately fresh fields of science, and specific practical
examples are given from the field of professional sport in order to illustrate the theoretical
background.

This book is based on my doctoral dissertation and the articles published and conference
presentations given since the publication thereof. The aforementioned sources constitute the
theoretical framework and the conceptual basis of the present work. Furthermore, working
with top leading athletes recognised at national and international level and sports leaders has
enabled me to experience several situations which are suitable for illustrating the theories I
have relied on. It is needless to say that theory and practice do not always match, but that is
what makes the whole job absolutely exciting.

I hope that the book is of interest to researchers of sports science: sport psychologists,
sports managers, those dealing with organisational and leadership theories, and, most of all,
to students of sports science. Moreover, I would also highly recommend this work to sports
leaders (club leaders, club owners, managers) having practical knowledge. It may make their
tasks easier when assessing certain situations and their options, and they may find it less
difficult to arrive at better decisions. Last but not least, those might also be interested in
reading the present work who simply love sport and read about it every day but have never

2
grabbed any book that would answer their questions related to the topic in a scientific and
exact way.1

1
The following is not the objective of the book: apart from describing the concept of organisations, no insight is
given into the field of management, as it has been comprehensively dealt with by national and international
literature.

3
Chapters
PREFACE ........................................................................................................................................................... 2

CHAPTERS ........................................................................................................................................................ 4

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................ 5

I. ORGANISATIONAL FACTORS AFFECTING PERFORMANCE ......................................................................... 8

II. PERFORMANCE IN SPORTS ORGANISATIONS ......................................................................................... 10

III. TYPES OF SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS ....................................................................................................... 11

III.1 MAIN TYPES OF ORGANISATIONS .................................................................................................................. 13

IV. ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE .............................................................................................................. 20

IV.1 THE CONCEPT OF ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE ................................................................................................. 20

IV.2 ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE IN SPORT............................................................................................................ 22
IV.3 CHARLES HANDY’S MODEL OF ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE ................................................................................ 23
IV.4 THE COMPETING VALUES FRAMEWORK BY QUINN AND ROHRBAUGH ................................................................. 24
IV.5 HOFSTEDE’S DIMENSIONS OF NATIONAL CULTURES .......................................................................................... 25

V. CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN SPORT ......................................................................................................... 30

VI. PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS AFFECTING ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR ............................................. 33

VI.1 PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACT ........................................................................................................................ 33

VI.2 ORGANISATIONAL SOCIALISATION ................................................................................................................ 36
VI.3 LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOUR............................................................................................................................. 38
VI.4 TRUST .................................................................................................................................................... 44
VI.4.1 The development of trust ............................................................................................................ 48
VI.4.2 Trust as a cohesive force within a group ..................................................................................... 51
VI.5 SATISFACTION .......................................................................................................................................... 52
VI.5.1 Some interpretations of satisfaction ........................................................................................... 52
VI.5.2 Personal and organisational factors affecting satisfaction ........................................................ 55
VI.5.3 Possible sources of satisfaction in sports organisations ............................................................. 57
VI.6 JUSTICE................................................................................................................................................... 58
VI.7 COMMITMENT ......................................................................................................................................... 63
VI.7.1 Organisational commitment ....................................................................................................... 63
VI.7.2 The concept of organisational commitment ............................................................................... 64
VI.7.3 Antecedents of organisational commitment and its relation to other factors ........................... 65
VI.7.4 The three-component model of organisational commitment ..................................................... 67
VI.7.5 6. Possibilities of measuring organizational commitment .......................................................... 71
VI.7.6 Relationship between satisfaction and organisational commitment ......................................... 72

VII. ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT AND ITS POSSIBILITIES AT SPORTS ORGANISATIONS, THROUGH THE
PRESENTATION OF AN ORGANISATION DIAGNOSTIC STUDY. ......................................................................... 75

APPENDIX 1. ................................................................................................................................................... 83

CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................................. 90

REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................... 91

4
Introduction
There are two core motivations in sport these days: keeping athletes’ performance at peak
levels and achieving better results. Sport has changed dramatically over time; it is neither
pure competition nor a way of maintaining one’s physical health only. Sport has become a
part of our everyday lives, as it is connected with many ties to society, politics, economy, and
business. There is no doubt that sport has always belonged to the domain of culture, but
today there are multicultural club teams and even multicultural national teams as a result of
the self-strengthening attempts of nations as well as the effect of globalisation. This is a
powerful tool which contributes to the strengthening of national identities. For instance, an
American basketball player can be found in the Hungarian national team, or there are players
of Turkish or Polish origin in the national football team of Germany. Professional sports
teams2 are in an ever-increasing battle for achieving the desired results, which motivates
them to make use of various performance-enhancing options, such as scientific results,
among many other opportunities legally available for them. This is not only about gold
medals or holding the title of Olympic champion; it is more than that. Besides entertaining
spectators and viewers, sport is a billion-dollar industry, a source of income for many.
However, one thing should not be forgotten, the future of culture and sports culture is also at
stake.

In order to enhance the performance of athletes during their training and competitions,
experts rely on the most recent results in sports science research. They primarily make use
of the knowledge accrued in training theory and methodology as well as physiology,
disciplines belonging to the field of biomedicine. With the emergence of sport psychology as
a discipline, the number of personal psychological analyses in the case of athletes and social
psychological analyses in the case of sports teams3 has grown considerably. Several
excellent articles, studies, and books appeared in print discussing the factors contributing to
the optimisation of performance from the perspective of individuals, partners, and teams.

Two independent sport-related branches of science have emerged in the past 30 or 40

years, which have also justified their necessity since that time. On the one hand, various new
scientific results in organisational sciences (mainly in the fields of organisational psychology
and organisational behaviour studies) enable experts to identify several other performance-
enhancing factors. And on the other hand, besides identifying these factors, a detailed
theoretical and practical basis might be developed in order to extend the scope of
performance-enhancing elements, even at organisational levels. As a matter of fact, no
matter whether we take a look at individual or team sports (both categories are going to be
defined later), preparation and competition take place in various organisational structures
(sports club, association, etc.). Figure No. 1 illustrates the areas related to organisational
psychology.

Both organisational theory and psychology have a prominent role in the field of sports
management too. There has been a huge number of studies focusing on organisational

2
The same holds true for recreational sports.
3
Cs. Nagykáldi’s A sport és a testnevelés pszichológiai alapjai, Computer Arts, Budapest, 1998
[Pychological bases of sport and physical education] discusses the scope of research and research
methods in detail.

5
culture and organisational attitudes in the international literature (see Parks, Quterman,
Thibault, 2007) recently.

Figure 1: Organisational psychology-related areas by Klein (2007:369) on the basis of Bass

(1965:5)

That is why it is not advisable to disregard those common problems and issues which
professional sportsmen and sportswomen mention as factors influencing their performance in
general: they complain that their coaches do not have trust in them, or – quite the opposite –
they are thrilled as their trainers trust them completely. Many are satisfied with their positions
in foreign teams while making a fortune; however, there are players who are not happy about
warming the bench almost all the time despite earning loads of money abroad. It can also
happen that a player inspite of taking an oath of loyalty to the club he is playing for is capable
of quitting six months later to join another team, where he kisses the team’s logo on his
uniform without hesitation, claiming that a childhood dream has come true with the transfer. If
not getting into a national team or first team, sportsmen and sportswomen tend to feel
mistreated, or sometimes they even blame club leaders for being unfair. Speaking of club
leaders: guided by their intuition, they often tend to follow the principle „little money – little
football, big money – big football” [as Ferenc Puskás put it, meaning that the amount of
money influences how football is played], being unaware of how much damage they cause.
They create problems that could be felt in the long term, not at the moment; they ruin the
future of the new generation of sportswomen and sportsmen, sports culture, and athletes’
attitudes to sports. All these factors can be seen when studying the organisational culture of
a sports club. What is more, when we take a look at the unwritten agreements, also known
as pyschological contracts, made between employees and employers, influencing their
relationships, we can also understand how these effects actually work.

It has also been widely accepted lately that psychological theories, models and laws are not
present in the same way in each and every culture. What is it like, for instance, for a poor

6
African boy to arrive in Europe at the age of eighteen after having been raised in his country
of origin and having acquired the cultural values and way of thinking characterising the
people of his homeland? How can a boy like this hold his ground in a culture so different from
his own, where nothing could be more important than good performance? Not to mention
many of those 14-year-olds who are sent to sports academies and turned into slaves in these
„factories” instead of becoming successful and mentally healthy athletes. It is also interesting
to see how a traineir being used to an autocratic style of leadership feels when he starts
working in another culture where players have their say in questions concerning them. Thus,
a conflict of roles might arise, and – regardless of the trainer’s competence – the relationship
between him and the players and later their results too will be seriously affected in an
adverse way. Although the question has been raised in other fields before, it might be useful
to consider the same within the field of sports, namely, whether it is worth employing a trainer
coming from abroad in order to have the sports culture of his own nation introduced in
another culture too.

The basics of cultural sport psychology derive from the field of cultural psychology. A key
concept of the former is national culture, defining it within the widest possible conceptual
framework (including languages, geographical locations, religions, lifestyle, families, gender
roles, openness, attitudes towards others, etc.).

7
I. Organisational factors affecting performance
Mainly in organisations where performance plays a key role (and it is rather difficult to identify
its components in an objective way), psychological contracts, defining the relationship
between the organisation and the individual, have great significance. The content of this type
of contract might not be the same as that of the written one (employment or player’s
contract). The latter includes all the rights and obligations of the employee (athlete/player)
and the employer (club, trainer) in a written form, while the former is an unwritten set of
mutual and informal expectations. The concept of psychological contract is defined by
Robinson and Rousseau (1994:246) in the following way: “… the perceived mutual
obligations that characterise the employee’s relationship with his/her employer. The
psychological contract, unlike expectations, entails a belief in what the employer is obliged to
provide, based on perceived promises of reciprocal exchange.” It is basically built on the
existence of trust between the partners and aims to create commitment. The same applies to
teams and sports organisations. Trust, the components of satisfaction, as well as mutual
commitment are seen as requirements on the part of the members (players in the case of
sports teams) of an organisation, and these are included in psychological contracts.

As Rousseau, one of the greatest authorities on psychological contracts, describes in an

interview4, she expects future research to reveal those factors “which give rise to “mutuality”,
the agreement of commitments between employers and employees.”

When joining a new club, athletes are helped to adapt themselves to new conditions, which
is known as organisational socialisation. During this process, experts make attempts to
familiarise newcomers with the values, norms, and the way the sports club works in order to
create a high level of emotional commitment. And such commitment, acting as a mediator,
indirectly contributes to the improvement of performance.

As it has been already mentioned above, trust (professional and emotional) in one another,
in trainers and clubs/organisations also affects successful performance a lot in the case of
interactive teams that require members to cooperate at a high level. Players, trainers and
leaders all depend on each other in order to perform well. According to Deutsch (1973), trust
is especially important in groups requiring a high level of cooperation: it is crucial to see
whether members working together have enough confidence in each other to take the risks
related to cooperation (see Tarnai, 2003). However, one might be interested in finding out
whether placing greater trust in each other would automatically come hand in hand with a
rise in performance. According to Tarnai (2003), it is a widely accepted fact that the more
members trust each other, the better their performance will be, also ensuring smoother group
processes. Moreover, as Sass (2005) puts it, members are rather motivated to make joint
efforts (instead of taking individual actions) in groups with high levels of trust, which might
also enhance performance.

As I see it, factors affecting team atmosphere also determine the quality of performance.
Therefore, I find that satisfaction, a factor among many others, plays a defining role in this
respect. Athletes often complain about the lack of playing opportunities, delays in pay,
conflicts with trainers and team members, poor sports field conditions, and horrible facilities.

4
Rafe Harwood: The psychological contract and remote working:" An interview with Prof. Denise M.
Rousseau (http://www.unfortu.net/~rafe/links/rousseau.htm)

8
These complaints mainly come up on those occasions when players and the team do not
perform as well as expected. Several experts (such as Judge, Thoresen, Bono, Patton,
2001)5 agree that the more satisfied the members of an organisation are, the more efficient
and successful the organisation becomes.

Nádori (1991) considered the relationship between an athlete and its club, association or
team as another important factor affecting sports performance. In addition, special attention
is also frequently given to the concept of organisational commitment when trust and
satisfaction are mentioned. Mowday and his colleagues (1979) define it on the basis of the
following three distinct components: (1) the level of an individual’s identification with the
beliefs and values held by an organisation, (2) the degree of an individual’s intent to maintain
organisational membership, and (3) the degree of an individual’s attempts to make any effort
on behalf of an organisation in order to reach various goals. There are authors (such as
Perry, 2004) who consider trust and satisfaction as the predictors of commitment. However,
there are a number of researchers who claim that a committed member might be able to
make considerable effort to reach mutually set goals, and thus this person may also do better
(Meyer, Allen, 1991).

All the aforementioned variables play a significant role in the workings of organisations.
These components might take various forms in reality, and all belong to the domain of
organisational culture, being comprised of the values, attitudes, norms, assumptions, and
beliefs characterising an organisation (Kovács et al., 2005). It functions as a framework for
the members of an organisation and defines expected behaviour, influences attitudes and
enhances the success of an organisation as a result.

5
Robbins, Judge (2007):Organizational Behavior, Prentice- Hall International, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ., p. 89

9
II. Performance in sports organisations
It also worth watching how the body of an athlete, another important factor influencing
performance, is considered in sports science research. According to Nádori (1991:39),
performance consists of the following components: “features and sets of features
characterising sportsmen/sportswomen that are possibly enhanced by training and
profoundly influence sports performance. Moreover, those activities are also included that
lead to results directly or indirectly.” There are two key components of performance in the
field of sports too. One of them is the (performance) ability of athletes, being comprised of
the physical abilities, such as physical condition (strength, speed, stamina, and flexibility) and
coordination skills (the perception of balance, space and time, as well as dexterity)
necessary for performing a physical activity pursued by a sportsperson, as well as the
technical and tactical knowledge and the intelligence of an athlete. The second component is
an athlete’s performance readiness, “reflecting a sportsperson’s attitudes towards his trainer,
the sport he is doing, his environment, and the regimen he follows” (Nádori, 1991:39).
Therefore, we can see that someone’s willingness to perform creates a motivational basis
which helps a sportsman to put a lot of effort into the achievement of a goal. As Nádori
(1991) puts it, the attitudes of an athlete towards his sports club or association greatly affect
his level of performance. What is more, the same is true the other way around too: clubs and
associations have their own expectations of athletes. Meeting these requirements on both
sides might also contribute to better performance. Either an athlete’s performance ability or
his performance readiness is missing, general sports performance is going to be weaker or
zero (it is like the product of a sum of two elements)6. All these are interrelated factors, and
according to Nádori (1991), the enhancement of the ability to perform belongs to the domain
of education, whereas the enhancement of the readiness to perform belongs the domain of
training/discipline. In order to be able to undertake physically demanding trainings
(development of certain skills), it is necessary for athletes to possess the proper moral
character and strong willpower, as well as a high level of readiness to perform in sports, i.e. a
drive to mobilise efforts to do well. As Nádori (1991:40) summarises it: “one timely goal of
research should be to reveal the aforementioned relations”. Studies in sport have rather
focused on the analysis of performance ability; however, more attention should be paid to the
examination of factors influencing athletes’ performance readiness, especially from the
perspective of organisational psychology.

6
Performance = performance ability X performance readiness. If any of the elements is zero,
performance will equal zero too. Therefore, both elements are required to be over zero to reach
maximum effect in performance.

10
III. Types of sports organizations
First of all, what do we mean by a sports team7? A team may also be considered as an
organisation. One might immediately think of football or handball teams when talking about
sports teams; however, rowing, tennis with two players (doubles) or gymnastics teams are
also listed among teams by the current literature in special cases. What are the key
differences then? Those groups of players that consist of at least two members are generally
called teams in any branch of sport. The literature analyses these branches from several
perspectives. The following section deals with some of these features.

Team cohesion, required for successful sports performance between members who
cooperate in order to achieve a goal, can be interactive (in the case of handball, basketball,
volleyball, football, etc.). As we can see it, a special inner structure characterises these
teams due to the interactions of members, and that is why each and every team-mate has to
find his/her position (not only on the field but also in the locker room, which is very often
forgotten by them). On the other hand, in other groups, also known as additive or summative
team types (kayaking and canoeing, tennis with two players (doubles), gymnastics teams),
the efficacy of members is added together (Baumann, 2006).

According to another model, there are interactive and coactive (not much or no interaction or
cooperation is required in the latter) groups. Interactive sports require individuals to work
directly with each other. Members may only be successful in attack and defence if they
constantly adjust their movements to match others’. Therefore, we could say that the
evergreen proverb seems to be true here, “one swallow does not make a summer”, meaning
that even teams with poor performance abilities might have the chance to be successful with
high levels of cooperation (Baumann, 2006).

Cratty (1983), who studied the relation between group cohesiveness and performance,
divided team sports into the following three main categories on the basis of the level of
cohesion related to the goal (Nagykáldi, 1998:97):

 coactive teams: the frequency of interaction and the level of coordination between
members are rather low (for example, archery, bowling, shooting, wrestling);

 interactive teams: the frequency of interaction and the level of cooperation between
members are both required (for example, handball, football, volleyball);

 mixed teams: display all the features mentioned above (for example, jumping in
athletics, rowing, relay swimming).

The two basic components of cohesion occur differently in the groups listed above. A goal
functions as a stronger cohesive force in the case of coactive teams, while these groups are
characterised by weaker social cohesive forces. The reverse is true of interactive teams,
whereas mixed groups have almost identical levels of goal-oriented and social cohesive
forces.

7
I find it important to briefly discuss the theories related to sports teams because basically these
groups are organisations having their own subcultures, and players are the members of sports
organisations, thus anything told about them characterise every member (including the employees) of
the organisation too.

11
In his work, Baumann (2006), a sport psychologist, cites the thoughts of Steiner (1972), who
studied the key psychological factors of team performance and proved that a team’s level of
performance is always lower than the simple sum of individual performance. The root cause
of this is losses resulting from team processes such as a deficit caused by the lack of trust,
the loss of trust, or dissatisfaction. Therefore, Baumann finds it crucial to further investigate
these variables.

As stated by Rókusfalvy (1992:148): “We might find it unimportant or try not to realise the
significance of the development of a good atmosphere in the association/organisation that
employs players, as well as that of a healthy team spirit, and a strong trainer-player
relationship, but these factors most of all do not only contribute to the good mood of athletes
(which is not secondary at all but is not the most important factor) but also have an objective
influence (resulting in goals, scores, etc.) on general performance, thus shall be enhanced by
sports experts.” As we can see it, players’ attitudes towards their club and team play a crucial
role when developing the abilities to cope with psychological burdens (Rókusfalvy, 1992), all
the expectations coming from inside and outside of their groups, they face all the time.

Sports teams are actually special organisations the members of which work together to reach
common goals by means of coordinated activities, having their own unique inner dynamics,
structures, and hierarchy. In addition to this, group identity is normally strong in sports teams,
by the help of which team members differentiate themselves from the members of other
groups and strengthen their own unity. There are several expectations both on the part of
athletes and clubs which may increase or decrease players’ effort to reach goals, thus
influencing the performance itself, when met or failed to be met, respectively. These mutual
expectations are included in the so-called psychological contract, as described above. We
can also claim that the success of sports organisations has two dimensions. One of them is
the results achieved by a sports team, for example, winning a championship or a cup. And
the other one is of economic nature, for instance, making the biggest possible profit. The two
go hand in hand at best, but there are cases – however, it happens rarely – when a club
does better in terms of sports results than economic gains (for example, the former Mizo-
Pécs women basketball team, which despite having won titles in a row, got financially
overwhelmed, ceased to exist finally due to financial problems). Otherwise, there are
occasions when teams are financially more successful than in terms of results, for example,
due to the organisation of professional championships in North America, teams which do not
qualify for the payoffs but play over 80 matches during a season might make a great deal of
profit after receiving money from tickets sold, TV broadcasting, and merchandising.

Review questions:

1) Which factors may affect the results of a sports team?

2) What is the relation between organisational psychology and factors affecting

performance?

3) What is the relation between sports teams and sports organisations?

12
III.1 Main types of organisations
The word organisation is frequently used both in the literature and everyday language. Our
lives are dominated by organisations such as families, schools, workplaces or sports
organisations, etc. The following expressions are also often used interchangeably: sports
organisation, sports association, sports club, and sports team. Depending on the framework
we apply, such usage might actually be correct in a wide range of cases. However, the
meaning of sports laws, sports associations, sports organisations, and sports
foundations/companies is approached in a different way by legal experts and researchers of
organisational science.

Definitions also differ according to the branches within the latter field, but it is possible to
detect several common features. An organisation is a unit of people, tools, and resources
structured in order to pursue collective goals by means of balanced and coordinated effort
and a functional division of work, having a hierarchical structure and continuously adjusting
to the changing circumstances within and outside of it.

According to Klein (2007), there are 5 distinct strategic elements that fundamentally
determine the workings of organisations. (1) Content, i.e. all the resources together, (2)
structure, i.e. the structure, hierarchy, units, etc. of organisations that can be represented by
using an organogram, (3) communication system, which enables members to receive the
appropriate information in the appropriate time and place, (4)
monitoring/controlling/supervision is also required to be able to find the most suitable place to
carry out goals, and (5) decision-making, which is the key component of all, as the previous
four elements may be present on a higher level, but without making correct decisions, or
making no decisions at all, organisations may not function properly.

We may also take the view of an organisation as a living being, an organism, being
composed of the parts of such unit, which can be human resources, instruments or financial
resources. Darwin’s idea of a successful organism might also apply in the case of
organisations too, more precisely, we could say that only flexible ones can flourish. These
are able to adapt to new circumstances easily and make proper decisions.

Organisations can be characterised in many different ways depending on their goals and
profiles.

As mentioned above, an organisation is established in order to work towards certain goals,

which might be long-term, for example, maintaining a sports club for 100 years, while there
can also be short-term goals such as founding a project organisation for a period of a year.
Setting realistic goals related to the time of functioning, short-, medium- or long-term ones, is
crucial in each and every case. These features appear in the strategies of an organisation,
containing the goals to be achieved. In order to see how well an organisation is functioning,
continuous monitoring/controlling is required, and certain processes should be modified on
the basis of any feedback received. There are general goals that organisations have; these
are included in the “mission statement” of an establishment, detailing why and with what
purpose it was founded. There are operative goals too, describing the concrete steps to be
taken for a certain period of time or related to an event (e.g. a programme or a competition).
Moreover, hidden goals might also exist, which are not manifested but affect the workings of
organisations. To sum up, the main functions of goals can be described as follows: they

13
determine various criteria, help to organise planning and management, have controlling
functions, function as the basis of evaluation/assessment, determine the division of work and
the type of technologies used, make employees committed towards organisations, and
define the company itself.

The mission statement of Arsenal Football Club can be read under the link below, serving as
a perfect example of the way how historic professional sports clubs enhance emotional
commitment towards their organisations by means of these tools too:

http://www.arsenal.com/the-club/the-arsenal-way

Max Weber’s model of bureaucratic organisations is based on control and strong

centralisation. There are certain fields where such type of leadership might be really
successful, for instance, when quantitative indicators are the most important to achieve;
however, where creativity and innovation are required, this style of leadership would lead to
little success. In addition, one could also claim that an overcontrolling leadership style might
also create lower levels of organisational trust (and vice versa), having adverse effects on
the performance of organisations in the long term. Furthermore, F. W. Taylor’s management
theory (also known as scientific management) considered individuals (workers) as if they
were incapable of making decisions on their own and needed to be told what to do. These
employees had to follow all the instructions without thinking or hesitation, as if they were only
“parts of a machine”. These models speak volumes about the underlying assumptions these
thinkers had in connection with an individual in the age when they lived, which were all based
on the notion of the so-called economic-rational human being (homo economicus).

In the following section, Fayol’s 14 principles of management are listed, which have had a
significant influence on French industry, and these points have also become widespread in
other fields later too.

1. The division of labour is part of the natural order, and its importance grows with the
development of social organisations.

14
 2. On the basis of authority and responsibility, the members of the management have
the right to give orders and the power to make others obey them. Provided a
manager is not able to act responsibly, he loses all his virtues as a leader.

3. Discipline involves obedience, diligence, and persistence.

4. The unity of command means that workers shall only receive orders from one
manager (superior) only.

5. The unity of direction ensures organisational activities and efforts to be properly

coordinated.

6. The interests of any individual should never take precedence over the interests of the
organisation as a whole.

7. Remuneration should be given to any individual who serves the organisation.

8. Centralisation is required both in nature and society.

9. In order to have efficient management, the hierarchical system should be well-defined

within an organisation.

10. Organisations are unable to function without order.

11. Equity should be present at every level of management.

12. The stability of personnel is required to maintain the continuous operation of

organisations.

13. Sensible work may not be present without encouraging initiative.

14. Team spirit is what maintains harmony and unity within an organization.

Those interested in this theme can read the articles related to the topic under the links below:

15
 http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Weber

http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Winslow_Taylor

http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Fayol

According to other experts, a charismatic leader is the one who mainly determines the
direction in which an organisation is heading and influences its culture as well. As long as
this person is present, this type of organisation functions well and smoothly; however, when
this individual leaves the organisation for any reason, it may collapse due to strong
centralisation and charismatic leadership. The same takes place in sports clubs and teams

16
too when an association or a team ceases to exist as soon as its excellent leader or trainer,
who was able to integrate team members, quits.

Newer approaches address the question of how centralised or decentralised organisations

are. Organisation may be centralised or decentralised geographically (where certain parts of
an organisation are located), functionally (how many functions are related to one body), and
in terms of decision-making (how much decision-making is kept firmly at the top of the
hierarchy or delegated down the hierarchy). Organisational psychology focuses on the last
issue most of all. Successful organisations normally try to delegate authority to achieve
objectives, that is to say, they are decentralised ones (Klein, 2007).

Also there has been a long tradition of differentiating between formal and informal
organisations since the emergence of organisational theories. A formal organisation is
governed by a set of rules (bylaws, statutes, etc.) written down in order to achieve its
objectives. However, there may be one or more so-called informal bodies within an
organisation. In most cases informal and formal organisations share the same goals, values,
and norms, but there could be “cliques” which make attempts to sabotage the operation of an
organisation. The section on satisfaction will further detail such cases. The video under the
following link gives a short introduction into the advantages and disadvantages of formal and
informal organisations:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAaCG516TVo

As for the structure of organisations, one can talk about flat/horizontal (Figure 2) and tall
(Figure 3) organisational structures. The number of levels and the number of individuals on
certain levels define which category an organisation falls into.

Figure 2: The organogramm of a first-class Spanish football team

In the case of a flat organisation, there are many subordinates under a superior, while a tall
organisation employs fewer subordinates under one manager. Superiors “have no choice”
but delegate some of their managerial tasks, thus the degree of supervision becomes lower
here, which requires higher levels of trust on the other hand. Tall organisations exercise
stricter supervision, as there are fewer subordinates under a manager.

17
 Figure 3: The structure of a tall organisation

Under the link below, one can take a look at the official website of the New York Islanders,
which introduces what kind of departments and units are required to operate the sports club
properly, serving as a good example to illustrate what is described in this section.

http://islanders.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=43475

A system-theoretical approach, more precisely a network-theoretical approach8 in the

present case, should also be applied here in order to see how organisations work. All the
parts of a system are related to each other; these may not only be hierarchically connected
parts but might also be overlapping elements on several occasions. These organic
organisations are characterised by the fast flow of information. Furthermore, one should also
bear in mind that the modification of any element of a system leads to the changing of the
whole system when changes at organisational level are under consideration.

Az intelligens sportszervezet
- a szervezeti magatartástudomány
tükrében -

-avagy hogyan fokozható egy

szervezet eredményessége-
Dr. Balogh László PhD. (c)

Figure 4: The following slideshow includes the notions of organisation and sports
organisation, the main components of the same, as well as the definitions of performance
and success
8
The article under the link below introduces the founder of general system theory:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_von_Bertalanffy

18
Review questions:

1) Give the definition of an organisation.

2) Which strategic elements determine the success of organisations?

3) On the basis of which factors and for how long time are goals set in the case of sports
organisations?

4) What are the advantages and disadvantages of flat and tall organisations?

5) What do we mean by an informal organisation, and in what way it may influence the
operation of a formal organisation?

6) How is an “ideal” sports organisation structured?

19
IV. Organisational culture9
As I see it, to be able to investigate how organisational processes take place, studying the
organisational culture of sports teams might be of vital importance in research. Among many
other attitudes and factors, the framework of organisational culture also includes the
psychological contract, commitment, trust, satisfaction, leadership style, and organisational
socialisation (the term referring to the introduction of newcomers), which can be considered
as the components of organisational culture after all. Based on everyday experience, we can
also see that commitment, trust, and satisfaction are factors that contribute to the
mobilisation of individual and team effort; therefore, they are identified as elements
influencing the quality of the operation of organisations.

IV.1 The concept of organisational culture

“Organisational culture represents they system of values, attitudes, habits,
assumptions, and beliefs within an organisation, including aspects that may be both
directly and indirectly experienced. Organisational culture affects the behaviour and
attitudes of members, as it influences the atmosphere of an organisation, the way an
organisation deals with its members, goals, environment, thus having an effect on its
performance and abilities to adjust to the changing circumstances.” (Kovács et al.,
2005:52)

Organisational culture aims to integrate members, support an organisation’s abilities

to adapt to changes and reduce the uncertainty of members.

Schein’s (1985) model of organisational culture identifies the implicit, submerged and
the visible, observable levels of culture, represented as an iceberg. From a functional
perspective, he claimed that organisational culture aims to enhance the integration of
members and the abilities of an organisation to react to changes in the environment.

According to Kotter and Heskett (1992) (see Bíró, Serfőző, 2003), organisations with
good performance are characterised by the following features:

 strong culture (a well-functioning system of commonly accepted and shared values

and norms),

 flexibility (the ability to adapt to changes),

 the culture of an organization harmonises with its strategies,

 takes into consideration its employees’ and superiors’ interests.

Team and group norms (values) significantly influence the behaviour and attitudes of
members. There are formal (official, mainly written sets of rules regarding professional
conduct) and informal (spontaneous, mainly unwritten sets of rules regarding the behaviour
of members, which also affect the individuals’ way of thinking) norms (Baumann, 2006).

9
The following brief article discusses the concept of organisational culture under the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture

20
Should any team member fail to identify with any of these rules, his/her group membership
might be at risk. New members in this case may have serious problems with adapting
themselves to their new surroundings. Lack of norm-following behaviour in the case of old
team members can turn into a factor diminishing overall performance. In both of the above
cases, members might quit the team, towards which the first step to be made can be the
individual’s demand to terminate the psychological contract, or after that the following step
might also be the termination of the official employment or player’s contract.

There are several authors examining the relationship between group cohesion (e.g.
Fogarasi, 1994) and organisational culture; therefore, the present section also deals with this
issue. In teams with high cohesion and strong organisational culture (as a result of the
former), generally conformity to norms is high too (Nagykáldi, 1998).

To conclude, the higher group cohesion is, the more individuals tend to follow team norms,
which finally makes it possible for a member to find his place in a team and perform at his
best.

Some experts also find strong associations between group cohesion and trust, thus simply
defining it as the trust between the members of a group (Siebold, 2007). Furthermore, group
cohesion, performance, and satisfaction are factors that seem to reverberate through and
influence one another from time to time (Thomas, 1998, see Fig. 5).

Figure 1: The model established by Raymond Thomas (1998)10

According to Denison (1990) (see Bíró, Serfőző, 2003), strong organisational culture may
result in the following characteristics:

 it has positive effects on members’ identification with an organisation’s goals,

10
Raymod Thomas (1988): Psychologie du Sport, PUF, Quesaisje?, Paris

21
  it improves performance and motivates members,

 it uses past experience appropriately, resulting in adequately developed learning

competence,

 shared values enable members to set goals and select the mode of achieving these
goals.

Robbins and Judge (2007) also attribute great significance to the strength of organisational
culture. As they see it, the stronger organisational culture is, the better an organisation
performs, and the members of such organisations also become much more satisfied (Fig. 6).

Figure 6: Robbins and Judge’s (2007) model of the outcomes of strong organisational culture

IV.2 Organisational culture in sport

Organisational culture is present in the everyday operations of sports organisations, either
strengthening or weakening their performance11. Taking this fact into consideration, talented
and well-educated leaders make attempts to exploit all the direct and indirect effects of
strong organisational culture in order to improve the performance of teams. However, as
everyday practice shows, sports leaders unfortunately rarely take advantage of this
opportunity. In spite of this, the following positive examples prove that there are sports
organisations that make use of certain elements of their organisational culture in a
spontaneous way to improve individuals’ commitment and performance.

 Artefacts are the directly observable (tangible, audible, visible) elements of the
culture of an organisation: the name, logo, emblem, crest and uniform of a team, its

11
The analysis of the organisational culture of sports teams has already been conducted by means of
Quinn’s Competing Values Framework and Robbin’s dimensions of organisational culture. Results are
to be discussed in a nutshell in an upcoming section.

22
 history, traditions, establishments (such as a stadium or a sports hall), its famous
players, heroes (such as the Hall of Fame), its rules, organisational structure,
routines, mottos and well-known sayings (such as the song entitled “You’ll never walk
alone!’ – belonging to Liverpool F.C.) all belong to this category.

 The directly not observable elements of the culture of an organisation: the

values, philosophy, norms, and assumptions (such as trust, satisfaction and
commitment) of a team (club)

The following video provides an opportunity to identify almost all the above listed
characteristics and artefacts that are typical of a strong organisational culture – in the present
case those of Liverpool F. C.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lq40rc7HM-M

To see another example, every newcomer at the Los Angeles Lakers, an American
professional basketball team, receives a so-called playbook, which involves a compilation of
basic strategies the team would like to use during games, right before the very first training
takes place (what is more, the book contains several moves named after once famous
players or coaches, which also strengthens a new player’s commitment and his feeling of
“wenees”). In addition to this, the book also contains all the important information on the club
such as its history, structure, hierarchy, traditions, and philosophy. This is an illustrative
example of the existence of sports organisations relying on the effects of strong
organisational culture12.

Taking into consideration what Kotter, Heskett, and Denison put into writing, we may
conclude that organisational culture functions as a certain framework for an organisation to
be able to reach high performance in a good atmosphere. It also enables new members to
adhere to all the written and unwritten rules of their organisation; however, it is much more
useful in the latter case. Furthermore, it has already been mentioned previously that
organisational culture generally determines the systems of values and norms that the
members are expected to believe in and act on, thus directly facilitating the emergence and
maintenance of organisational trust. Doney et al. highlight that organisational culture contains
all the appropriate beliefs, values, expectations, accepted behaviour, and faith related to trust
(see Sass, 2005). The next section discusses some models that are applicable to the study
of sports organisations.

IV.3 Charles Handy’s model of organisational culture

Handy defines culture as the way individuals live and follow unwritten rules and norms (Klein,
2007). According to him, the culture characterising an organisation is determined, built and
disseminated by the dominant group within the organisation. However, besides (or rather
below) a dominant culture, subcultures may exist, which can either improve or diminish the
performance of an organisation. Handy identified the following four types of organisational
culture. (1) Power culture: power is concentrated among a few people, in the hands of one
leader or a small group of individuals only. This type of culture is based on the work of

12
Feature: Building a Sports Team: www.psychedonline.org/Articles/Vol1Iss2/TeamBuilding.htm

23
individuals; performance and success are significant elements of it. (2) Role culture: power
mainly derives from the personal position; there is strict control, and the bodies and roles
within such organisations are more important than individuals. (3) Task culture: the structure
of such cultures resembles a matrix, where those individuals with expertise gain power rather
than those having favourable positions or strong personalities. These organisations are
flexible and adaptable. (4) Person culture: individuals stand in the core of such organisations,
which basically have no structure as these cultures are made up of non-cooperating
individuals creating a cluster. The size of an organisation is also determined by the certain
types described above. Namely, a power culture is typical of smaller organisations, such as a
sports team, where decisions are rather made by the leader (and other co-workers). Role
cultures are present in larger organisations which normally include more units/bodies, such
as a sports association being constituted by various departments. Mainly different bodies and
the rights delegated to them are what count here. Task and person cultures are irrelevant to
the case of sports organisations; however, if we take the example of a sporting goods
manufacturer being made up of design engineers or a legal counsellor’s sports lawyers,
these two types of culture can also be observable, more or less, within the field of sport.

Those interested might find it useful to read about Handy’s typology of culture in detail under
the following link:

http://sourcepov.com/2010/03/02/cultural-types/

IV.4 The Competing Values Framework by Quinn and Rohrbaugh

According to Quinn, the dominant values of a community can be represented in a
hierarchical order, structured into value dimensions. With the help of such lists or value
maps, one is able to compare and describe the features of different organisational cultures.

The authors created a three-dimensional theoretical framework using multidimensional

scaling for the analysis of organisational effectiveness:

24
 1. The attention of an organisation: inwards, within the organisation and/or outwards,
towards the external environment

2. Control within an organisation: some may prefer stability and control and/or others
may support flexibility and changes

On the basis of such distinction, there are four main types of organisational cultures: the
supportive clan, the innovation-oriented adhocracy, the rule-oriented hierarchy, and the goal-
oriented market. Cameron and Freeman (1991) were the authors who originally distinguished
the four types as clan, adhocracy, hierarchy, and market. The relationship between them is
shown in Fig. 7. below.

Figure 7: The Competing Values Framework by Quinn and Rohrbaugh

IV.5 Hofstede’s dimensions of national cultures

One may wonder whether a nation’s cultural characteristics are present in the cultures of the
country’s (nation’s) organisations too. Hofstede, on the basis of the well-known IBM study13,
developed a new theoretical framework which makes it possible to describe and compare the
characteristics of any national culture by means of 5 fundamental dimensions (see Fig. 8 and
Fig. 9).

Hofstede established the following 5 dimensions (however, the original theory proposed only
four in the beginning, and the fifth one, long-term orientation, was added later):

13
For further details it is recommended to visit the homepage of Geert Hofstede: http://geert-
hofstede.com/

25
1. Power distance: the degree of inequality that is accepted by those having power and
those lacking the same. Low power distance means little inequality, while high power
distance shows more serious inequality.

2. Individualism vs. collectivism: certain national cultures prefer individuals working on

their own, whereas other cultures find working as a member of a group much more
important. Collectivistic societies value loyalty towards one’s groups and
communities, and they also put special emphasis on helping one another.
Individualistic societies, on the other hand, value individuals; the self is more
important than the group, individuals “who can stand on their own feet” are preferred
here.

3. Masculinity vs. femininity: national cultures might also be characterised by means of

the behaviour attributed to genders. The values that masculine cultures promote are
performance, success, competitiveness, perseverance, whereas the values that
characterise feminine cultures are sensitivity, solidarity, support, and human
relationships. In masculine cultures, the differences between gender roles are more
dramatic and distinct than in feminine ones.

4. Uncertainty avoidance: this dimension shows how much certain societies need
situations that are structured and controlled by rules. The latter might be either written
or unwritten. Cultures with high uncertainty avoidance find it hard to cope with anxiety
and are afraid of new situations, while cultures with low degrees of uncertainty
avoidance are more flexible and happy with changes.

5. Long-term orientation vs. short-term orientation: the way of thinking typical of cultures
related to time.

Figure 8: Hofstede’s five-dimensional model of culture

26
 Figure 9: The scores Hungary received in Hofstede’s framework

According to Hofstede, power distance and uncertainty avoidance are those dimensions that
mainly determine what type of organisational structures are preferred in a country. As a
matter of fact, the way people think of organisations mainly depends on what kind of
employer-employee relationship they find acceptable, and how their environment tolerates
uncertainty. On the basis of these characteristics, Hofstede differentiated between 4 types of
organisations (see Fig. 10):

1. Village market: low power distance and weak uncertainty avoidance characterise this
type; Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian countries belong to this category

2. Well-oiled machine: low power distance and strong uncertainty avoidance

characterise this type; mainly German-speaking countries belong to this category

3. Family: high power distance and weak uncertainty avoidance characterise this type;
South-eastern Asian countries belong to this category

4. Pyramid: high power distance and strong uncertainty avoidance characterise this
type; Latin cultures, some of the Far Eastern countries, and Islamic countries belong
to this category

The following free prezi.com presentation summarises Hofstede’s work under the link below.

27
 http://prezi.com/k8i3tuy1ddyw/new-hofstede/

Figure 10: A map of the world for each cultural dimension on the basis of Hofstede’s work
Source: http://www.nkkhoo.com/2012/04/13/repost-marina-mahathirs-article-censored-by-
the-star-malaysia-is-number-one-in-the-power-distance-index/

28
Organisational culture significantly affects how well organisations work; it is responsible for
their success or failure. When establishing a sports organisation, or taking the leadership of
one that has been working for a while, we should bear in mind that the strengthening of its
organisational culture is of primary importance, if required also by means of rules (such as a
code of conduct). These solutions help individuals act according to what is accepted,
improves the club and its identity, differentiates the club from others, and promotes the
achievement of mutually set goals through shared values and norms.

Review questions:

1) What do we mean by organisational culture?

2) Which components is organisational culture made up of?

3) What are the ways of improving the performance of an organisation through the
development of organisational culture?

4) What do we mean by subculture?

5) What kind of relationship is there between organisational and national culture in the
case of sports organisations?

29
V. Cultural differences in sport
As every field of life, sport has also undergone globalisation. In the 19th century at the time of
nation states, the importance of sport grew a lot. Then in the 20th century, certain systems
claimed that the superiority of their nations and systems could be proved by means of sports
competitions, thus sport became a powerful tool of expressing national identities. Moreover,
there have been interesting changes in sport today as well (see Fig.11).

Arsenal F. C., the English professional football club, was the first one not having any English
players at all in its starting lineup. The same occurred when participating in national and
international competitions as well. Although this caused quite a stir, the sporting world
calmed down in the end. What is more, there are players of Turkish, Polish and African origin
in the national football team of Germany, who sing the national anthem about the greatness
of the German “Vaterland”. In addition to this, an American basketball player can also be
found in the Hungarian national team, just like players of foreign origin (Cuban and Serbian)
in the case of our national male handball team. Are these teams able to express our national
identity? Are they able to strengthen the same? What kind of processes may support and
prevent new athletes coming from a culture different than ours from fitting in (or their
organisational socialisation in other words)? Cultural sport psychology was born to answer
such questions.

Such cases are not completely new among organisations. To take an example, one might
remember the conflicts arising at Hankook or Suzuki factories hitting the headlines in
Hungary, during which it turned out that most of the problems occurred due to the differences
between the European and Asian cultures and the ways of thinking.

Figure 11: From the beginning until today

30
What are the foundations of cultural psychology, sport psychology, and organisational
psychology? Nothing indicates better how new these areas are than the article written by
Schinke and Hanrahan (2009) 14 based on the results of the content analysis of the Journal of
Sport and Exercise Psychology (including all of the issues until 1987), according to which
even the most popular journal in sport psychology lacks any article or study that would
approach culture as an independent variable – instead of a multicultural approach, the
authors only discovered monocultural approaches in the works they studied. Not until that
time did scientists and psychologists realise that culture could have been seen both as the
cause and effect of something. Duda and Allison (1990) 15 claimed that the success of sport
psychological support and counselling ultimately depends on the culture experts are working
in as basic concepts, frameworks, the way of thinking, assumptions, values, and norms may
all differ culturally.

Figure 12 below summarises what psychologists need to be aware of when working with
multicultural teams or organisations.

1) Cultural awareness

2) Cultural knowledge

3) Techniques suitable for the examination of various cultures

One should be aware of his own values, beliefs, and
preconceptions, as well as one should realise how these
factors influence his perception of a client, the
understanding of the individual’s problems, and one’s
objectivity

Figure 12: Some points that experts should be aware of when improving organisational
socialisation in international teams

Adopting an open attitude and the willingness to become open to anything new are the most
important in this situation. Additionally, being able to communicate with people is also
significant, so it might be problematic if one does not speak the language of the people he is
working with. One should never be ashamed when asking for help from anyone who knows
the culture they are working in to understand it better. Moreover, a great deal of patience and
empathy is also required even if immediate results are expected. There are actually a lot
more examples, but hopefully this brief summary will raise the awareness of sport experts
and enable them to consider what was mentioned here when working with athletes of foreign
origin.

14
Robert Schinke, Stephanie Hanrahan (2009): Cultural Sport Psychology ISBN-13: 9780736071338,
15
Duda, Allison (1990): Cross-cultural analysis in exercise and sport psychology: a void in the field,
Journal of Sport &Exercise Psychology (JSEP), 12 (2), 114 - 131.

31
Review questions:

1) Which direction is sport heading, and what are the consequences of such changes on
national and international levels?

2) What kind of challenges are there in the case of leading organisations the members
of which are individuals with different cultural background?

3) Which principles shall be observed in order to cooperate in an appropriate way with

others?

4) Which nation’s sports culture resembles Hungary’s sports culture the most? Why?

32
VI. Psychological factors affecting organisational
behaviour

VI.1 Psychological contract

A psychological contract is individual’s personal belief in mutual commitment (Robinson,
1996). The concept was further developed by the scholar Rousseau (2000) 16 in
contemporary research, and it refers to the relationship between employees and the
organisation they are working for. Organisations set up the expectations of their
members/workers in the form of contracts (work descriptions). There are two basic types of
contracts: one of them is the traditional employment or player’s contract (in the case of sports
teams), which is written down, and the other type is the unwritten, informal psychological
contract concluded between the members and the organisation (leader), determining their
relationship (Sass, 2005).

The work of Coyle-Shapiro and Parzefall (2008) gives us an insight into the historical
development of the psychological contract. The excellent article can be read under the
following link in English:

http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/26866/1/Psychological_contracts_(LSERO).pdf

It has been already mentioned in the introductory chapter that the concept of the
psychological contract is defined by Robinson and Rousseau (1994) in the following way: the
perceived mutual obligations that characterize the employee’s relationship with his/her
employer, where the psychological contract contains all the beliefs concerning what the

16
Although the term was first introduced by Argyris and Levinson in the form of psychological work
contract, it was Rousseau who made it widely known in contemporary research dealing with
organisational psychology (Lemir, Saba, 2005).

33
employer and the employee are obliged to provide and what they are entitled to expect from
one another. There are different types of psychological contracts. The following section
describes the frameworks on these types suggested by Rousseau, Shore and Barksdale.

Rousseau (1990, 1995) identified the following four types of psychological contracts on the
basis of the dimensions of time frame and tangibility: a transactional, a transitional, a
balanced and a relational psychological contract.

 A transactional psychological contract comprises specific and detailed rules that are
to be followed by employees, which means that individual decisions may not be made
in situations to which they are applicable. In these cases, neither employers nor
employees find it important to make new members become more committed ones
(Mező, Kovács, 1999).

 A relational psychological contract puts more emphasis on the freedom of members

as individual solutions are important too. This type of contract is characterised by a
great extent of flexibility and the ability to change to suit new situations (Mező,
Kovács, 1999). Members are loyal to each other and mutually take care of one
another, which enables them to put extra effort into their work in order to achieve
goals. Relational contracts help employees internalise certain goals, those of their
organisations, for themselves. This situation enables them to identify with their
organisation and strengthens their commitment too.

 A transitional psychological contract is characterised by insecurity in general, which

means that the future of a member is unpredictable leading to low confidence;
additionally goals are undefined as well. Members have little information about the
organisation and the changes occurring there, which does not help them to consider
their future to be predictable and secure.

 A balanced psychological contract requires members to be able to undertake well-

defined tasks, enabling them to develop their skills (while such organisations also
provide courses and trainings for their employees), which is also advantageous for
the organisation. Individuals are employed for a long period of time, which offers them
future perspective and improves their commitment in this way too.

Table 1: The types of psychological contract identified by Rousseau (1995)

Well-defined goals Undefined goals

Short-term
Transactional Transitional
E.g. completing a project E.g. work in an
organisation
undergoing changes

Long-term
Balanced Relational
E.g. performance-based E.g. emotion-based
work work

34
The second typology of psychological contracts was established by Shore and Barksdale
(1998) (Janssens et. al, 2003). Based on the degree of balance and the level of obligations,
they identified four types of contracts.

1. Mutual high obligations: this is a balanced type of psychological contract, and it is

characterised by high levels of mutual commitment between members, creating the
employees’ affective involvement, which also maintains their intention to stay.

2. Mutual low obligations: although this is a balanced type of psychological contract too,
there are low levels of commitment between parties. Members are not involved
emotionally.

The remaining two types are not balanced:

3. Employee over-obligation: it is an imbalanced state when an employee is much more

committed to an organisation than it is required, making the relationship
asymmetrical. Such organisations do not wish to maintain relationships with
individuals.

4. Employee under-obligation: this is the direct opposite of the previous type. An

employer is more obliged than an employee, who does not want to be a member of
the organisation, making the relationship imbalanced.

As a matter of fact, only the first type creates optimal working conditions, also improving the
performance of organisations (see Janssens, Sels, Van Den Brande, 2003).

There is another widely-discussed topic in the research on psychological contracts, namely

the consequences of the violation of such contracts (Turnley et al, 2003). According to the
scholars dealing with this question, such violations affect the attitude and behaviour of
members in a negative way: these occurrences diminish members’ satisfaction and trust,
increase staff turnover, creating a negative atmosphere within the organisation.

There are other researchers who also studies the effects of psychological contract violations
(Lemire, Saba, 2005). The ones examining the cases of such violations at state-owned and
private organisations concluded that these occurrences might lead to a decrease in mutual
trust and affective commitment, as well as to the fall of organisations. In such cases,
members consider what is going on at the organisation and weigh the current situation in
order to make appropriate decisions after looking at organisational and locational factors
carefully. Behaviour types following such situations are to be described later.

Sharpe (2003) describes the components of psychological contracts from the perspective of
the changes in working conditions. According to Sharpe, a psychological contract consists of
the following key components: the environment, culture, the basics of reward, the
components of motivation, the conditions of promotion, the delegation of tasks, mobility
within the organisation, status, opportunities for personal development, responsibility, trust,
and attachment (commitment).

35
To conclude, we can see that psychological contracts in general aim to develop
organisational commitment, which is mainly based on the existence of trust (between an
organisation and its members) and satisfaction (that of an employee/member).

Review questions:

1) What do we mean by psychological contracts? What is the role of such contracts in

the case of sports organisations?

2) Give a specific example of the violation of psychological contracts in the case of

sports organisations.

3) What might be the consequences of violating a psychological contract?

4) Name the types of contracts and commitment you are familiar with. How do these
types affect the behaviour of members?

VI.2 Organisational socialisation

In lucky cases, the emergence of an individual’s affective commitment to an organisation
precedes his introduction to the organisation. Of course, the whole process is affected by the
way one gets into an organisation. Most studies have found that the harder it is for applicants
to become hired, i.e. through “challenging tests”, the more committed they become. These
new employees value their new positions better than those getting a job by pure chance. It is
not accidental then that applicants are tested in several distinct phases by
headhunters/recruiters or the human resources staff of the organisation where they would
like to work. Applicants are not only tested for professional knowledge or personal abilities,
but they also undergo serious psychological tests, which is basically an early phase of
organisational socialisation.

A similar procedure takes place at sports organisations too, which include trial games and
careful medical check-ups during which – if everything goes well – unaware athletes start
getting to know the new club they are to be hired by. After the transfer of an athlete,
however, the process of organisational socialisation accelerates, and a new member
becomes informed about the club’s organisational structure at once.

As detailed in a previous chapter, both written employment contracts and unwritten

psychological contracts are concluded at the same time when a new player joins an
organisation. It is often mentioned that right before the start of their work, fresh members get
the opportunity to become acquainted with their new employer. For instance, newcomers at
the Los Angeles Lakers receive a so-called playbook, which involves a compilation of basic
strategies the team would like to use during games. What is more, the book also contains all
the important information on the club, such as its history, structure, hierarchy, traditions, and
the way it works. Every club should follow this example and publish a book like this, which
would be of great use to new players who need lots of information on the club and help in the
beginning. In this way, they might also learn whom to ask when they need help to cope with
certain problems. Additionally, if we think it over, there may be several individuals coming

36
from other cultures who would be grateful to receive such publications, not mention the
psychological advantages of the feeling of being taken care of by one’s club.

Figure 13 represents the process of organisational socialisation.

Figure 13: The process of organisational socialisation

When entering an organisation, newcomers start to familiarise themselves with their new
workplace; however, there are cases when this process already begins in the form of pre-
socialisation, which helps new members to fit in. Newly employed individuals get to know the
culture, values, norms, rules of the organisation, as well as the way it works, and who they
can turn to. This process can be speeded up by, for example, taking part in training camps,
club events, etc. Following the completion of the first phase of socialisation, one is ready to
occupy his new role in the organisation and identify with the same. Then, after a while, if
everything goes well, a new member does not only identify with his new workplace but also
becomes a follower who completely accepts and agrees with the organisation’s values,
norms, and goals.

The phases described above are similar in many aspects to Tuckman’s stages of group
development (see Nagykáldi, 1998), which include four phases necessary for a group to turn
into a well-functioning one. During the first phase, also known as forming, new members are
eager to show their best behaviour, making a good impression on others. After a while,
however, conflicts might arise among/between group members, who all “fight for” fulfilling an
important role in the organisational hierarchy. This is the phase of storming. If members
manage to resolve their differences, the stage of norming begins when every individual has
his own place, role, or status within the group. Finally, when arriving at the stage of
performing, the team is ready to function in an appropriate way, making every attempt to
perform at its best. Time is required for teams to go through these stages. One should never

37
expect a newly employed member to put in an excellent performance immediately.
Newcomers need our help with fitting in, and experts should be aware of every detail.

Review questions:

1) What are the phases of organisational socialisation?

2) What are the ways of helping a new player to fin in a sports organisation faster?

3) What are the stages of group development, and what is the role of a sports leader in
this process?

4) Why are the procedures (test, interview, trial period) that applicants need to undergo
before starting their employment are considered crucial?

VI.3 Leadership behaviour

What makes a good leader? In the course of history, there have been a number of excellent
leaders, great generals and statesmen making attempts to “influence”, control and monitor
those being led by or subordinated to them and the way these people carried out the tasks
and goals set for them. And the same is true these days. However, we have taken a long
way to develop such theories like organisational theory or organisational psychology, which
both claim that there is no such thing as a good or bad leader, only leaders acting in an
effective and efficient way exist. Figure 14 below shows us two distinct descriptions of a good
leader, which are quite interesting to study carefully as there are many decades of difference
between the two.

Figure 14: What makes a good leader?

Stuller’s (1980) and Fayol’s (1918) descriptions have a lot in common despite the fact that
the two scholars’ cultural backgrounds and the ages they were born in differ
significantly

38
There have been a number of attempts to define leadership. According to Klein (2007:29),
leadership may be described as a process of “achieving a goal through others’ help”.
Individuals cooperate in order to reach a common goal by exploiting their abilities, energy,
and talents. There is one aspect most scholars have the same opinion about, namely, it is
the fact that it depends on the type of domain/environment/the “space” where leaders and
those being led are present, which might be called an organisation. Figure 15 represents
how the picture of a good leader has changed since the end of the 19th century in
accordance with the ideological changes taking place in certain periods.

Figure 15: The evolution of the main models of leadership with special emphasis on those
which are relevant to our research

Figure 16, furthermore, provides us an interesting summary of leadership theories related to

sports. The author creating the chart below considered leadership styles and characters from
the perspective of sports teams; however, there are lots of common features if we think of
leadership behaviours typical of sports organisations too.

39
 Figure 16: Leadership styles in sports (Murphy, 2005)

It is commonly held that the responsibilities of leaders include the following: leading and
coordinating activities, setting/delegating tasks, and checking/monitoring how these
processes are carried out. One might be interested in asking what makes an ideal leader.
Leaders of sports organisations definitely benefit from pursuing sports themselves, enabling
them to experience at first hand how such organisations work. However, being successful on
the international stage as a professional athlete does not make someone a well-trained
leader. The two professions differ significantly. If we try to list the names of those ex-athletes
who became excellent trainers, we might not be surprised to find few examples only. Turning
into a leader is a process during which one improves partly his professional competencies
(however, these might develop the less, as everyone becoming a leader should have a high
level of professional expertise), and mainly his personal, decision-making, communicational
and other competencies. On top of this, this process takes place in a special cultural
environment (no matter whether we think of organisational cultures or national cultures)
surrounding the organisation. There have been many occasions when really successful
trainers did not manage to do well in another country. And this cannot be explained by one’s
lack of professional skills. Early classical leadership theories failed to focus on individuals’
personalities. Only later did scholars attempt to list the characteristics (including external
features) of a good leader. Figure 17 summarises what is described above.

40
Figure 2: Is it enough for individuals to possess all the general personality traits attributed to
good leaders?

We can see that there was a need for new theories. These newly developed models
typologised leaders on the basis of how they make decisions. Lewin identified the two well-
known but somewhat oversimplified leadership styles: autocratic and democratic (as a matter
of fact, laissez-faire is not a leadership style but an experimental situation) styles. Then there
were more scholars with new typologies, for instance, Likert and Tannenbaum (see Fig. 15),
who further differentiated these styles, and that is how new versions of democratic and
autocratic styles were created based on how much decision-making is shared. However,
scholars did not find this new approach completely applicable. Therefore, Likert et al.
established a new typology of leadership styles. They took into account whether leadership
activities focus around the tasks to be carried out or personal relationships. The former style
is called task-oriented leadership style, while the latter is known as relationship-oriented
leadership style. The same typology was embedded later into the so-called contingency
model. The two theories are based on the assumption that the success of a leader mainly
depends on an appropriate match between a leader’s style and the demands of the situation.
There have been an attempt to developed a taxonomy for describing leadership situations
(the contingency model of Fiedler), the key components of which are the leader-subordinate
relationship, the type of tasks and the formal power of the leader. In this framework, leaders
should find the most appropriate leadership style matching the situation, which might be a
task-oriented or relationship-oriented style. It has been investigated based on a large
empirical database which leadership styles may work in which situations to achieve good
results. The model, in most cases, is also applicable to the study of sports organisations;
however there is a need for some fine-tuning. Furthermore, a new set of theories has also
emerged in sports sciences focusing on coaches’ leadership styles such as the multi-
dimensional model of leadership created by Chelladurai (see Figure 18). Using the
Leadership Scale for Sport, there is an opportunity for coaches to characterise themselves,

41
as well as players can describe their coaches and the ideal coach of them on the basis of
five factors (coaches’ behaviour during trainings, autocratic leadership styles, democratic
leadership styles, positive feedback, social support). Then the results of the three surveys
are compared (after statistical analysis) and contrasted in each category to find similarities
and differences.

Figure 18: The multi-dimensional model of leadership created by Chelladurai

The five leadership styles described by Murphy, see Figure 16, illustrate perfectly well how
early leadership theories and new approaches might be adapted to the study of sports
organisations. However, it should be noted that the impact of certain leadership styles on
teams mainly depends on the type of organisation. Figure 19 represents the main
components of leadership.

42
 Figure 19: The defining components of leadership styles

We have referred to the notion of leadership a number of times so far without explaining what
it means. Leadership is often used interchangeably with “management”. However, leadership
means a lot more than management. As Bakacsi (1996:150) put it: “leadership is the ability
of a leader to motivate the members of an organisation to achieve the goals set for them by
their organisation.” It is also worth studying the figure below (Fig. 20) showing a comparison
between the characteristics of effective and ineffective leadership styles on the basis of
Likert’s description (Klein, 2007). As a matter of fact, it is crucial to differentiate between the
notions of leadership and management. The former, as it has been described above, focuses
on the activities of subordinates, changes, and the motivation of individuals, whereas the
latter is about the coordination of an organisation, focusing on administrative tasks at an
organisational level. Therefore we can deduce that being a leader or a manager differs too in
terms of tasks, requiring different competences as well. Generally leadership is considered to
include any possible abilities of a leader, including leadership psychological knowledge.17 We
might have seen several experts, excellent Olympic champions, or members of national
sports teams who have tried their hands at being trainers or club leaders but failed in their
new positions. Although these individuals are professional athletes, being able to lead a team
is a distinct profession, also known as leadership, which requires completely different skills.

17
Bakacsi’s (1996, 2006) works further delineate the differences between the two concepts.

43
 Figure 20: The comparison of effective and ineffective leaders on the basis of Likert’s work
(Klein, 2007)

Review questions:

1) What do we mean by management and leadership?

2) What is the difference between a leader and a manager?

3) What are the defining components of leadership?

4) Does a good leader exist? If yes, what makes a good leader?

5) What is the difference between an effective and a less effective leader?

VI.4 Trust
The expression trust is commonly used by trainers, players, and club leaders. In situations
when a trainer is made redundant, results are declining or picking up, or a player is playing a
lot or little, or the same athlete is doing badly or better, problems with/the improvement of
trust within the team are often mentioned.18 Trust is a key factor in the lives of organisations,

18
The following sentences related to trust are taken from a Hungarian daily sport paper and are
illustrative of how trust appears in communication in connection with performance: “I feel perfectly well
here, and my trainer trusts me too, so I am planning to sign a contract for another two years.” “I am
happy to be able to repay my trainer’s trust with scoring that goal.” “As my team’s members realised
that their work pays off, they started to put trust in their joint efforts, and they were able to do anything
they wanted.” “Unfortunately, due to continuous bad results, the trainer lost the trust of the managers;
therefore we signed a contract terminating his employment with mutual consent on this day.”

44
including sports teams. The members and leaders as well as the players and trainers of
sports organisations and teams are in interdependent relationships; they need each other to
be able to achieve good results or function in a proper way. According to Deutsch (1973),
trust is an especially important factor in teams that require high levels of cooperation:
members need to know whether they can trust those individuals with whom they have to
work together to be able to take the risks of cooperation (Tarnai, 2003).

Does trust affect performance directly or indirectly? It is a generally accepted fact that an
increase in the levels of trust within groups can improve the efficiency of group processes
and members’ performance (Tarnai, 2003). However, it is not sure whether a higher level of
trust is what makes performance better, or it only indirectly affects performance trough better
group processes (such as changes in cooperation, decision-making, and effort put into work
by employees).

The results of the research conducted by Dirk (1999) proved that a group with a high level of
trust does not perform better than a group with a low level of trust, but members are
motivated to make joint efforts in the former case, which might boost performance too (see
Sass, 2005). In the case of sports organisations, this outcome might be especially important
as group members are able to focus on the accomplishment of other goals than their
personal ones. However, they might also reach their personal goals through the achievement
of the shared goals of their organisations.19 Members of a team should always maintain the
feeling of being able to count on each other if needs be. The healthy functioning of a team
requires mutual trust between players as well as between athletes and their trainers both on
and outside the field. This is based on the assumption and expectation that ensure
individuals that others will not do anything that would adversely affect those having trust in
them (Tarnai, 2003). As a matter of fact, trust functions as an indicator based on previous
experience reassuring members that the organisation will work in a proper way. It is by no
chance that we can hear about conflicts countless times that arise between players20, the
firing of trainers proposed by a team, the loss of trust on the part of players or trainers, or
crisis within the management during which leaders are unable to decide whose side they
should take.

We might state that either the loss of trust or the building of trust can cost organisations dear.
If we consider members’ willingness to cooperate, we can see that with a decrease in the
level of trust, individuals tend to avoid situations in which they might become vulnerable or
being exploited. So members seem to be reluctant to cooperate as it would be required from
them in these cases (Tarnai, 2003). In addition to this, the presence of trust may also make
members put more effort into their work, as they are only willing to make an effort if they feel
that others also take equal part in all activities, which does not undermine their individual

19
An organisation is only able to perform at its best if the personal aims of its members are the same
as the goals of the organisation, or if members are capable of identifying with the goals of the
organisation (Csepeli, 2004).
20
Hans Lenk studied the behaviour of the members of Olympic men’s rowing teams and world
champions and found out an interesting fact, i.e. that conflicts arising during competitions seemed to
be necessary for rowers to perform at their best (Mérei, 2006:316). However, one should also note
that team sports belong to the category of interactive sports where higher levels of cooperation are
required than in the case of summative (additive) or coactive sports.

45
performance. It is an especially important factor in organisations such as sports teams where
only cooperation can lead to success.

The impact of the existence of trust within sports organisations can be summarised in the
following way:

 it improves team members’ willingness and abilities to cooperate, thus improving

cooperation itself

 it improves the exchange of information and communication between individuals,

increases the number of interactions, thus decreasing the cases when conflicts arise
due to inappropriate communication, gossiping, communicational failures, and
misunderstandings

 it facilitates the socialisation of new members and players, the acceptance of them,
the maintenance of tolerance, thus improving organisational socialisation

 it improves group cohesion and identity

 it facilitates the work of trainers and leaders in finding solutions to professional

problems (the delegation of certain tasks to players, etc.)

Does an ideal level of trust exist? Research established that either an extreme degree of
trust or the lack of it might cause problems at interpersonal and organisational levels (Sass,
2005).

Should a leader put too much trust in a player, he might have a really vulnerable position as
a result, not being capable of making decisions in an objective way. As we can see it, an
optimal level of trust or, as Sass (2005) put it, a certain degree of „objective distrust”
undoubtedly fulfils a useful function.

According to Deutsch (1973), if individuals do not believe that other members possess all the
necessary abilities and motivation to work together with them in a successful way, it might
alone hinder their cooperation a lot (Tarnai, 2003). In other words, should any player or
member of a team or organisation have doubts about how well-prepared or committed their
teammates, trainers or club leaders are, they will encounter difficulties in fitting in the team,
even if they possess all the abilities and expertise necessary for perfect performance.

Shamir, Lapidot (2003) and Sass (2005) established four distinct levels of trust within
organisations. (1) A general expectation of trust originates from individuals dispositional
tendency to trust, while (2) interpersonal trust exists in equal and hierarchical relationships,
while (3) category-based trust is typical of groups and teams, and finally (4) system trust
refers to the type of trust existing related to the organisation as a whole and the impersonal
structures thereof (based on roles and rules).

General trust is built on individuals’ general expectations of trust based on the patterns of
their early relationships (Stack, 1983), enabling them to understand complex social situations
in impersonal relationships. It refers to our trust concerning other people being on equal
terms with us and the reliability of institutions and their members (Sass, 2005).

46
Interpersonal trust changes a lot with the passing of time spent in various relationships or
with individuals’ knowledge about others in these relationships. Present conditions and future
expectations related to their relationships are weighed and assessed by members on the
basis of past experience.

If the emergence of interpersonal trust is limited, category-based trust will develop instead.
This makes it possible for trust within a group to be established at once and speeds up the
development of trust.

Finally, systemic trust refers to individuals’ belief in the reliability of an organisation or a

system being comprised of various parts, which is based on the assumption that everyone
fulfils the role most suitable for him within the system, as well as individuals also hold that
such systems observe all the rules required for their operation.

McAllister (1985) differentiated between cognition- and affect-based trust when studying
interpersonal relationships between members of organisations (Sass, 2005).

 Cognition-based trust: refers to the reliability of others, or it might also originate from
the fact that individuals consider others to be competent and reliable.

 Affect-based trust: is developed during interactions with others, after placing more
emotional investment into organisational relationships. Individuals might also express
care and concern for the well-being of their partners, or they might contribute to the
operation of an organisation by undertaking tasks voluntarily. Such results highlighted
that employee relationships can be important in terms of how they impact
performance (Sass, 2005).

Cognition-based trust and affect-based trust cannot be so strictly differentiated from one
another in real life as the former is required for the development of the latter. In other words,
in order to exhibit helpful and cooperative behaviour based on emotions in interpersonal
relationships, one needs to have relationships characterised by a certain degree of trust
based on expertise. This is especially important in the case of player-trainer relationships. It
almost goes without saying that players decide to put their trust in their trainer when they find
out about the individual’s professional preparedness (for instance, a trainer works out
winning tactics for a team, or holds high-quality trainings during which players are able to feel
their own development, etc.). This is something that club leaders should also bear in mind.

In hierarchical relationships, the development of interpersonal trust is affected by the fact that
subordinates have limited opportunities to control the actions of their superiors, therefore
when putting trust in other individuals, we might risk that they will take advantage of the
situation. Placing trust in a superior depends on the person’s integrity, care, and goodwill.
The feeling of risk-taking might be reduced by the perception of commitment, which is
included in the psychological contract. Beccera and Huemer (2000) investigated the
characteristics of trust shown by employees towards their employers. Based on their study,
they concluded that the higher levels of interpersonal trust encourages more open
communication with fewer emotional conflicts, and it also leads to higher risk-taking as well
as faster decision-making. The main conclusion to be drawn is that trust facilitates the
development of better work relationships at all levels, which might also improve performance
in general.

47
Whitener et al. (1998) studied the risks taken by superiors when putting their trust in
subordinates in hierarchical relationships (see Sass, 2005). They established that the person
who puts his trust in anyone first also runs the risk that it may not be reciprocated. The
competences required to fulfil their roles and the cooperation of subordinates affect the risk-
taking behaviour in a positive way, whereas the possible costs incurred by someone’s taking
advantage of an individual’s willingness to trust him affects the same negatively.

According to Sass (2005), “there are two key factors affecting the way interpersonal trust
changes: the cognitive and emotional components of trust and the social embeddedness of
relationships and systems. As a result, through obtaining information and gaining experience,
the levels of trust may rise or fall.” As we can see it, trust in relationships and the levels of
trust are also dynamically changing factors in the lives of organisations and their parts, which
should be strengthened again and again.

Figure 21 represents the stages of the development of trust.

Figure 21: The dynamic process of the development of trust

VI.4.1 The development of trust

“The building of trust is a slow and continuous process, whereas the consequences of taking
advantage of one’s trust might be fast and dramatic. Trust is difficult to be restored, and the
willingness and conviction of both parties are needed to do so.” (Mező, 2000:30)

Trust normally becomes an issue when a new player or trainer joins a team. According to the
theories on the emergence of trust, we can say that the process itself is made up of more
stages, including certain presuppositions and calculative elements, being formed by several
interacting factors affecting trust. We might expect that the levels of trust in newly formed
interpersonal or individual-organisational relationships are rather low in most cases.
However, research has proven the contrary (Tarnai, 2003): fresh relationships are

48
characterised by higher levels of trust (or we can also see it as an attitude of “suspended
distrust”21), which can increase or „disappear” with time. According to McKnight et al. (1996),
certain elements related to organisational factors and cognitive processes may also influence
the levels of trust in the beginning. The levels of trust in the beginning can be increased in
the case of sports teams when individuals believe that their team is controlled appropriately
and situations are dealt with similarly (which means that members assume that everything
will work smoothly in their new team). A similar rise occurs in trust levels when a new
member puts himself in the same category as his teammates, which means that they share
the same goals and values. Zucker (1986) put special emphasis on the importance of
similarities (age, qualifications, sports, club, etc.) and the feeling of mutuality (through a
process or experience) in the development of trust (see Tarnai, 2003).

Research conducted by Johnson-George and Swap (1982) on the significant other and by
Rempel et al. (1985) on domestic relationships also identified the same key factors
mentioned above that facilitate the emergence of trust (Sass, 2005). Trust starts to develop
when individuals interact for the first time on the basis of the consistency of the behaviour
(predictability) exhibited by the partner. If no inconsistent information is received concerning
someone’s reliability, trust continues to deepen. And as long as individuals’ experience
harmonizes with their expectations, the emotional component of trust becomes of central
importance, while the presence of the cognitive component may be suspended. Finally, once
the relationship is set up, we have “faith in the other person”, which is manifested in the way
we take care of others or return care and so on.

The degree of existing trust can also increase if one’s previous assumptions are confirmed.

Trust can also become unstable if the level of risk is high in the beginning, and expectations
are not met. According to Siegel, Brockner and Tyler (1995) (see Mező, 2000), trust
functions as an attributional framework that has an impact on the interpretation of anything
that happens in an organisation. Trust at the same time is especially fragile, which means
that if anyone takes advantage of it, one feels to be betrayed. In such cases, trust is
destroyed, and distrust will take its place in the attributional framework. For that matter,
transactional contracts are used to prevent such problems trough setting rules concerning
anything that could be amiss so as to have an organisation which operates in a fair way. 22

It might be interesting to see how organisations differ in terms of how much freedom certain
employees can enjoy: there are cases when trust is lost easily, and there are cases when
trust is maintained for a really long time.

It is also worth examining how players earn the trust of their trainers and how long trust
exists between them. Whitener et al. (1998) studied the way leaders put their trust in
employees and described how trust develops on the part of leaders in their theoretical
framework known as Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory23. According to them, there is

21
It is also worth comparing this point with the theory developed by Jones and George (1998): when
relationships are fresh, the “suspension of distrust” is at work, which is followed by the stage known as
conditional trust when experiencing that others have the same thoughts and feeling as we do. This
generates positive feelings in individuals, who would like to maintain the relationship. Provided this
condition remains, and it is not threatened by anything, unconditional trust might emerge (Sass, 2005).
22
See also Mező (2000): A szervezeti élet igazságossága [The fairness of organisational life], PhD
dissertation, Debrecen.
23
Leader Member Exchange, in Robbins, Judge (2007): Organizational Behavior, Prentice Hall, p. 414.

49
an inner circle of employees with whom a leader has a closer relationship. Leaders share
more administrative duties with these individuals. Furthermore, they take part in decision-
making; and due to their positions, higher levels of responsibility is also given to them. At the
same time, there is an outer circle of employees, who have weaker relationships with
trainers, and these individuals can be considered the ones who simply perform their tasks.
Much lower levels of trust characterise them then those in the previous group. Those
belonging to the in-group might be more satisfied with their positions and tend to remain
members of the organisation for a long time. They are also capable of performing better (with
greater effort). However, leaders might risk to be exploited in the beginning in these
relationships, and chances are that their trust will not be reciprocated. This model can be
applied to the study of sports teams where we can find in-groups, the members of which are
closer to their trainers. These individuals are typically older and more experienced players (“a
council of players”), who have already earned the trust of their trainers having proved their
talent. And the rest of the team members are mainly responsible for performing tasks only.

According to Sass (2015:15), systemic trust refers to “the belief shared by the members of an
organisation, which is based on the interpretation of any experience that individuals have had
or perceived since joining the organisation, including the positive expectations of individuals
related to the reliability of the organisation that is made up of various parts as well as several
cognitive and emotional elements.”

Systemic trust can be categorised in the following way on the basis of its object which might
be related to three distinct aspects in the case of organisations, including sports teams too:
the operation of an organisation (department, club, or team), the direct leader (trainer), and
the group of employees (a group of players, a team). Trust related to the operation of an
organisation is not really relevant in the case of sports organisations. Even though a sports
team “uses” the emblem or the name of a club, its operation is not tightly related to that of the
club; the latter might be seen as an independent department or business entity. Therefore
what we should mean by an organisation in this case is a department or a team.

When examining the development of trust in sport, we should rather focus on the existence
of interpersonal trust (1) between players within a team or the presence of trust between
players and their trainers. What is more, I also find it important to take a look at the trust
existing between players, trainers and their club (department), or, in other words, the trust
related to an organisation (systemic trust) too (2). What I claim here has also been proven by
the research I have conducted so far, focusing on the patterns of systemic trust in the case of
sports teams.

Figure 22 shows the consequences of the development of trust and distrust.

50
 Figure 22: The consequences of the development of trust and distrust in organisations

VI.4.2 Trust as a cohesive force within a group

A strong basis of team cohesion is really important in sports teams, especially in the case of
those groups where high levels of cooperation are required (see the section describing
interactive sports teams). There are basically two interrelated factors that mainly influence
group cohesion (Nagykáldi, 1998). One of them is known as social cohesion (meaning that
teammates belong to the group because they enjoy themselves as members of the same
company). The other one is called task cohesion (members are committed to reach a goal
together). Both should exist ideally. If we only focused on the development of social
cohesion, the accomplishment of tasks would be of second importance, which would affect
the performance of the team adversely even if members enjoyed themselves together.
However, due to their poor results, the emotional background of such teams would also be
affected with time, which could lead to the weakening of relationships at the same time.

If task cohesion were stronger within a team, there would not be any reason for members to
stay together after achieving their goals. In addition to this, positive emotional ties might also
encourage members to survive failures.

Review questions:

1) What do we mean by trust?

2) What kind of levels of trust are there within an organisation?

3) How does organisational trust develop?

4) How are interpersonal and affect-based trust related?

51
 5) How do the changes in the levels of trust affect the operation of a sports
organisation?

6) How could trust be restored?

7) What kind of factors might lead to the strengthening of trust?

VI.5 Satisfaction
A number of studies on trust (Feinstein, n.d., Moynihan, Boswell, Boudreau, 2000) indicated
that it is closely related to satisfaction.24 This is also proven by everyday experience related
to sports: players frequently claim that how they feel in a team mainly depends on their
satisfaction with certain situations, conditions, etc. However, researchers propose that there
are many other factors affecting satisfaction such as players’ opportunities to play, “working
conditions” (training fields, locker rooms, equipment, teammates, pay, etc.), or the
appropriateness of the role players fulfil in their team, that is all their well-functioning
interpersonal relationships, etc. One might also be interested whether club leaders are aware
of these factors when they bring their players to book for their poor performance. Which of
the elements described above are the most important? First of all, it is also worth devoting a
little attention to the notion of employee/job satisfaction and some theories related to the
same, which might help us understand the development of satisfaction within sports
organisations.

VI.5.1 Some interpretations of satisfaction

According to Csepeli (2003), the basis of an individual’s ability to identify with an organisation
is job satisfaction, which should be underpinned by ethical elements mainly. Csepeli
mentions the following consequences of the existence of such satisfaction: increased levels
of general satisfaction, identification with the organisation and commitment. Being
dissatisfied, on the other hand, may lead to the occurrences of absenteeism, inaccuracy,
high staff turnover, and deviant behaviour. Klein (2007) believes that job satisfaction is such
a general attitude that is the root of specific attitudes originating from three distinct areas
(specific work factors, personal characteristics and group relationships outside of work).

Locke (1979) defined job satisfaction as a joyful emotional state that derives from the fact
that employees believe that their responsibilities at their workplace are characterised by
those work values which they find really important, and these values are the same as the
needs of individuals (see Kiss B., 2003).

Early studies by Taylor (1911) established that the higher salaries employees receive, the
harder they will be willing to work; however, he did not pay any attention to the significance of
other factors present at the workplace (such as working conditions, etc.). Later Elton Mayo’s
Hawthorne Studies (conducted from 1924 to 1933) proved that employees are able to
perform better if they are asked about questions concerning their lives, or if superiors are
interested in their opinions. Researches claimed that the reasons for employees’ satisfaction

24
These are also known as attitudes towards organisations; and Staw (1977) was the first to realise
that these are distinct elements, and their effects should be assessed and evaluated separately
(János, 2005).

52
could lie in their own life stories and their relationships with their colleagues. According to the
Hoppock Study (1935), those workers are happier who are higher on the career ladder
(which has also been confirmed by many so far) (Kiss B., 2003). Furthermore, Schaffer
(1953), who studied the internal factors affecting job satisfaction instead of external ones,
argued that if certain needs of individuals are not met, tension arises within them, which
hinders the emergence of satisfaction.

That is why many believe that the characteristics of motivation and the way certain needs
appear and are satisfied speak volumes about how satisfied individuals are. There are two
main types of motivation: drives and incentives. Drives (such as hunger or thirst) stem from
the inner need-states of the human body. An incentive (such as a reward) is also related to
need-states, but it is an external goal affecting individuals’ performance. Although work
motivational theories differ in several aspects, they agree about one point: they do not
approach work as sheer drudgery but rather as an activity containing positive incentives too
(Kovács, 1996).

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory that is widely used in psychology as well as well-
known by the general public. According to Maslow (1954, 1970), motivation derives from
various needs. These needs are arranged in a hierarchy with the physiological needs at the
bottom, which are followed by the so-called safety ones. These are called basic needs. The
third level of needs is known as social needs, which are followed by the needs for esteem
(self-esteem), and the much-debated need for self-actualisation can be found at the top of
Maslow’s “pyramid”. These are categorised as higher levels needs by the psychologist, who
made the following three significant statements concerning the needs described in this
section:

1) Needs that are not met affect how individuals behave.

2) Individuals systematically satisfy their needs; when basic needs are satisfied, higher
ones take precedence.

3) The satisfaction of basic needs always come before the satisfaction of higher ones.

This theory has been modified to be applicable to the study of employment a number of
times so far. Provided that an employee receives low pay and feels insecure at his
workplace, that individual will only focus on the fulfilment of his basic needs and will not be
able to perform his tasks as required. However, if these conditions improve, the importance
of relationships with one’s colleagues and leaders grows significantly. Finally, an employee
might reach a state in which he is able to focus on his performance or his own actualisation.
Through the satisfaction of needs, job satisfaction can also improve (Kovács, 1996).

Addressing the deficiencies of Maslow’s model, Alderfer (1969, 1972) later established the
so-called ERG motivation theory and condensed the five human needs into the following
three categories: existence needs (all the material and physiological desires to survive),
relatedness needs (all the relationships of individuals), and growth needs (all the desires
related to the self-actualisation and the development of one’s skills). Unlike the hierarchical
arrangement of needs in Maslow’s model, these needs are arranged along a continuum.
Consequently, any type of need can take priority over the others. According Maslow, the less
our needs, for example, one’s social needs, are satisfied, the more we long for their

53
fulfilment. Alderfer claimed that the less an individual’s needs, for instance, relatedness
needs, are fulfilled, the more such a person wishes to have his existence needs satisfied.

While work motivation only indirectly encourages people to carry out their tasks, achievement
motivation directly improves the results of one’s work in terms of quantity and quality (Klein,
2007). “McClelland and his associates proposed that achievement motivation improves one’s
performance in activities in which the individual is likely to succeed or fail, or it enables the
person to perform much better in such situations” (Klein, 2007:299).

According to Deci’s self-determination theory (1975) (Kovács, 1996), an individual’s

motivation to make an effort when carrying out certain activities stems from distinct intrinsic
and extrinsic motives. People are extrinsically motivated when being rewarded for the
accomplishment of tasks (e.g. receiving a sum). And individuals are intrinsically motivated if
they do an activity that they enjoy at the same time. Deci held the accomplishment of tasks
that is intrinsically motivated to be really successful, and employees are more willing to
perform their tasks in this way. The researcher also claimed that intrinsic motivation declines
as soon as one’s achievement is rewarded externally (Kovács, 1996).

These results can also be detected in the case of young athletes starting their careers. As
long as players are young and pursue sports for pure enjoyment (for instance, they like
playing football), they do not mind doing what is required from them. However, as soon as
they receive any external feedback or reward (such as money) for doing well or scoring a
goal, they will not necessary play sports for its beauty, but they will be motivated to make
more money. After a while, it may also become questionable in such cases whether these
athletes still like the sport they are doing or consider this activity as a source of income only.

Herzberg (1959) was the first to further develop Maslow’s theory to study job satisfaction and
constructed a two-dimensional paradigm of factors affecting the same. This is one of the
most well-known models today, but there has been much debate on the theory at the same
time. It is a two-factor theory proposing that satisfaction and dissatisfaction are not on a
continuum (which means that they are not direct opposites of one another) but exist on
separate scales.

Therefore, we can talk about a satisfaction scale with the two end points: satisfaction and
lack of satisfaction, while the other scale is about dissatisfaction, the end points of which are
dissatisfaction and lack of dissatisfaction. Satisfaction is based on the presence of the so-
called motivators, which are similar to Maslow’s human-specific needs (e.g. promotion,
recognition, fame, etc.). And dissatisfaction results from the absence of the so-called hygiene
factors, which are similar to the non-human-specific needs (e.g. pay, physical working
conditions, social environment, employer-employee relationship, etc.) on the basis of the
Maslowian typology. If motivators are present, individuals are satisfied with their jobs.
However, if motivators are missing, satisfaction will be missing too. Job satisfaction depends
on the presence of hygiene factors; positive ones lead to lack of dissatisfaction but do not
generate satisfaction. Motivators, on the other hand, improve employees’ performance, while
hygiene factors can only eliminate dissatisfaction without creating satisfaction or any
improvement in the way one works, see Figure 23.

54
 Figure 23: Herzberg’s two-factor theory
Source: http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/bookhub/reader/7?e=collins-ch07_s03

Both need and motivation theories build on the assumption that human beings are
encouraged to act by intrinsic motives, the satisfaction of their own needs, or the sheer
enjoyment of what they are doing.

The Goal Setting Theory, established by Locke (1986), approaches the same issue from a
different aspect. This theory argues that the harder it is to accomplish a task, the better
performance may become. “Locke believed that the degree of commitment towards a goal is
proportionate to the difficulty of the accomplishment, that is to say tasks that are not easy to
fulfil require higher levels of commitment” (Kovács, 1996:105). On the basis of this theory,
individuals are not motivated by the satisfaction of their needs or the gaining of enjoyment,
but human beings are rather motivated by setting realistic goals and making an effort to
reach them (Kovács, 1996).

VI.5.2 Personal and organisational factors affecting satisfaction

A number of factors affecting job satisfaction have been identified by researchers so far. It is
worth highlighting those features that are present in almost each and every model. Apart
from external factors, there are personal characteristics influencing employee satisfaction
(Klein, 2007). Such factors are the following: the characteristics of the job: the more varied
tasks are, the higher satisfaction becomes. The type of management/leadership: leaders that
consider the opinions of employees, and those who delegate administrative tasks to workers
generate higher levels of satisfaction too. Pay and chances of promotion: both are
associated with satisfaction, affecting it predominantly but not exclusively. Colleagues: being
a member of a good community is able to counterbalance the adverse effects of several
negative factors.

55
Researchers in the beginning only put emphasis on the study of the work itself, i.e. the tasks
of employees. Only later did they realise that employees themselves are also significant
“variables”. It is important because the same job may generate satisfaction in certain
individuals and dissatisfaction in others.

The following three personal factors are highlighted by most research (Klein, 2007):

1) Age: there is a positive link between age and job satisfaction until the age of
retirement, where strong decline can be experienced.

2) Educational level: there is a negative/inverse relationship between educational level

and job satisfaction, especially in terms of payment.

3) Gender: women are generally more satisfied compared with men when gender is the
only variable in the research; however, results have not proved this statement
obviously.

According to Farrell (1983)25, satisfaction and dissatisfaction might have unique behavioural
consequences too. The following types of employees are distinguished by him: outward-
looking, opinion leader, loyal, and negligent workers. I find the discussion of this topic
relevant here because the characteristics of these types show themselves in the degree of
individuals’ commitment, and such features can also describe the consequences of the
breach of a psychological contract. These types of behaviours can be arranged along two
dimensions: constructive-destructive and active-passive.

An outward-looking employee: tends to leave the organisation as soon as possible as he

prefers looking for new opportunities all the time. Typical behaviour: quitting (which is
generally the last step following the breach of the psychological contract).

An opinion leader: is an active and constructive employee. Such a worker takes part in the
discussion of problems and makes suggestions concerning the improvement of working
conditions and innovations at the workplace. Typical behaviour: initiative; through the framing
of “the violation of a contract”, trust might be restored and possible losses can also be
decreased. There are constant changes in the relationship between such members and the
organisation, which makes it sustainable.

A loyal employee: is a passive but optimistic individual who expects working conditions to
improve and trusts the leadership of the organisation. The relationship between such
members and the organisation as well as the psychological contract with them are
sustainable but not without conflicts.

A negligent employee: does not mind if things go wrong at the workplace. They are not
interested in the future of the organisation. Such employees tend to make a lot of mistakes
when they are in. They are notorious late-comers and slackers. This behaviour occurs when
members do not have the opportunity to report the breach of the psychological contract and
conflicts become deep-rooted.

25
Robbins, Judge (2007): Organizational Behavior, Prentice Hall, p. 89

56
Many have investigated whether satisfaction leads to better performance. According to the
findings of the studies conducted by Judge, Thoresen, Bono, and Patton (2001)26, it can be
claimed that there is a strong positive correlation between the two factors, which means that
organisations with a lot of satisfied employees are much more efficient and successful than
those having a number of dissatisfied workers.

The presence of satisfaction, trust and commitment are crucial in every organisation from the
viewpoint of employees to be able to put more effort into their work and identify with the
goals and values of their organisation. Individuals who are satisfied with their job and work in
a really trustful atmosphere might also become more committed to the organisation (János,
2005).

VI.5.3 Possible sources of satisfaction in sports organisations

Job satisfaction has become an extremely popular research topic in the field of work and
organisational psychology. Although job satisfaction used to be considered as a
consequence of certain factors in the beginning, several studies have been published –
mainly abroad – these days that approach the same as an independent variable, examining
job satisfaction separately (Klein, 2007). However, Hungarian research on professional sport
has only seldom analysed satisfaction as a factor enhancing performance. There are
managers (in rare cases) and specialists focusing on this issue (often team psychologists are
responsible for such examinations too) hired for this purpose in foreign teams. 27

Based on this brief literature review and practical experience, it might be claimed that
players’ satisfaction in their club and team depends on a number of inter-related factors.

It also goes without saying that the meeting of needs is as important in sport as the
undertaking of tasks that match the abilities of athletes.

An athlete’s relationship with his trainer, as well as the professional (a trainer’s well-
preparedness enables players to perform better) and emotional (how understanding, tolerant,
etc. a trainer is, which does not require him to have an endearing attitude towards players)
aspects of such a relationship are determining factors in the way satisfaction emerges.
There are examples of pros and cons concerning the emotional significance of finances:
there are players who find money the most important thing, while others do not mind earning
less but would not be able to quit their team.

Satisfaction may also stem from having good relationships with teammates, which does not
only have emotional but also professional aspects, as a player can only be successful if other
members of his team have appropriate skills. Of course, the chances of moving up the career
ladder might also motivate certain players (healthy competitors most of all), mainly in
personal respects, which can also improve the position of a team a whole.

26
Robbins, Judge (2007): Organizational Behavior, Prentice Hall, p. 89
27
Such experts are able to facilitate the socialisation of new players. They can also give them advice
on the way they should handle certain situations within their club or might mediate between players
and leaders/trainers; or they could prevent certain conflicts within the team, etc.

57
Review questions:

1) What does satisfaction mean, and what kind of factors might affect it in sports
organisation?

2) What kind of organisational behaviour might be generated by an individual’s

satisfaction or dissatisfaction?

3) What other organisational factors is satisfaction related to?

4) How does leadership style influence individuals’ satisfaction?

5) How do finances (payments or bonuses) influence the satisfaction and motivation of a

member of an organisation?

6) How does satisfaction affect an individual’s commitment towards an organisation?

VI.6 Justice28
„Sport is an abstract notion most of all. A sports team is the miniature picture of society, and
a contest is the symbol of the grand struggle for life. Here, during the contest, sport teaches
the most important civil virtues within a short time: cooperation, self-sacrifice, the
subordination of individual needs, endurance, the readiness to act, the way quick decisions
are made, personal judgement, absolute respectability, and, above all, the rules of fair play,
i.e., the rules of the grand game.”(Albert Szent-Györgyi, 1930)29

International experience shows that although Hungarian sports teams still have leading
positions in certain sports and internationally recognised results in some sports (such as
water polo or handball), there is an urgent need for the application of new and exact findings
of the studies in sports science in order to maintain such positions and catch up with other
sports teams (for example, in basketball, football, or volleyball). Furthermore, one should
also bear in mind that there have been several alternative techniques these days, thus sports
experts should weigh in each case which one is the most suitable for practical use.

The aim of this chapter is to discuss players’ perception of ethical (or unethical/unfair)
decisions within an organisation that is not frequently manifest but rather latent. To this end,
the results of questionnaires partly validated by others and some validated by us have been
used as a new method.

The notion of fairness does not only appear in ethics, law, or politics, but it is also present in
the case of sport. Justice/fairness provides a normative description for individuals to be able
to decide whether certain situations concerning them and their actions are considered
“ethical” or “unethical” according to certain rules and values.

28
On the basis of the work written by László Balogh and Andrea Rédli (2010)
29
The complete speech can be downloaded from the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTtOEUwjjEs

58
George C. Homans (1961) described to notion of justice in his book entitled Social Behavior:
Its Elementary Forms. He studied the perceived fairness of how rewards and costs are
shared by groups and group members. He was the first to introduce the rules of distributive
justice, and illustrated the application of the same in various social contexts (Deutsch, 1982).

Homans also stated the following concerning distributive justice:

 The distribution of rewards is unjust if one individual receives a bigger share than
expected compared with the share received by another.

 It might be expected by employees to have such shares of rewards and costs that are
proportionate to the ratio of their gains and losses.

 Individuals who feel to be treated in an unjust way and are filled with anger and try to
express their feelings to make those who are responsible know about it.

 Those who are unfair to others tend to feel guilty and normally make attempts to
compensate for one’s loss.

 We tend to compare ourselves to the people around us when trying to decide about
the fairness of the distribution of rewards.

J. Stacy Adams (1965) used the notions of inputs and outcomes in his theory, which is built
on Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance Theory. According to this model, individuals tend to
compare themselves to others around them all the time. Unjust treatment occurs if one’s
input/outcome ratio is less/more than that of another individual’s, i.e., there is inequality
between one’s own and another person’s input/output ratios.

Adams also suggested that it is not only the absolute amount of rewards that counts, but it is
the relative amount that is critical when equity is estimated. This approach is based on the
assumption that people are motivated to maintain meaningful relationships with others (in
which they feel to be treated justly), and they make attempts to change any relationship that
lacks such qualities (in which they feel to be treated in an unjust way).

There are three main types of justice:

1) Distributive justice

2) Procedural justice

3) Interactional justice (interpersonal and informational)

1) Distributive justice: outcomes and the results of distribution are of key significance (for
instance, pay, bonus, money paid after matches)

Are resources distributed equally according to the principles shared by all the members of a
group? Do members receive the amounts they expect? There are several principles and
factors that might influence decision-making in such cases.

Principles of distribution:

I. Proportionate to performance: the more one performs, the more he will receive.

59
 II. Equality of distribution: everyone receives an equal share of rewards, regardless of
how much input they have in the accomplishment of a goal.

III. Distribution according to needs: those members may obtain bigger shares of
resources who are in greatest needs, regardless of how much input they have in the
accomplishment of a goal.

According to Deutsch (1982), the principles of distribution are generally applied on the basis
of the relationships between parties: the distribution of rewards is proportionate to
performance/inputs in competitive relationships, whereas rewards are distributed equally in
cooperative relationships. In addition to this, relationships based on emotions are
characterised by the distribution according to the needs of individuals. There are
disadvantages of each type of distribution too. Distribution proportionate to performance
generates too much competition, envy and enmity in sports or in individuals’ private lives.
Equal distribution creates the possibility of stowaway behaviour, which means that certain
individuals might invest a smaller amount of input into the accomplishment of a task, and it is
impossible to differentiate between their performance and that of others. The last principle,
i.e., the distribution according to the needs of employees might offend one’s sense of justice.

The fairness of distribution might be classified into the following 4 categories on the basis of
whom it concerns (Eckel-Grossman, 1997, see Faragó, 2003):

1. Fairness to oneself: one weighs whether rewards and costs are allocated fairly, which
includes the comparison of one's own outcomes to others' outcomes. (Adams, 1965)

2. Fairness to others (altruism): an individual also focuses on others when the allocation
of rewards and costs takes place at his expense (giving something away).

3. Fairness to ourselves: parties expect others to return their kindness.

4. Fairness to everyone: at the expense of individuals, everyone receives equal

amounts of shares when rewards and costs are distributed according to social norms
(or those of the team).

Fairness usually comes under scrutiny when any unfavourable situation takes place. Parties
who are concerned might be influenced by egocentric bias, and they tend to favour
circumstances that are beneficial to themselves and consider unfavourable ones to be
unjust. The occurrence of such biases might give rise to a number of conflicts. If an individual
is treated in an unjust way, he will react to that somehow (Sass, Bodnár, 2008).

How do we normally respond when treated unfairly?

 We tend to modify our inputs.

 We tend to convince others to punish those who work less or invest a smaller amount
of input.

 We tend to lower performance.

 We tend to encourage others to invest a larger amount of input.

60
  We tend to decrease the amount of shares that others receive from the total amount
of rewards.

 We tend to join another group, leaving the problems behind.

 We tend to look for more suitable employees/colleagues.

2) Procedural justice: refers to the fairness of the processes by which decisions are made
(for instance, how certain tasks are allocated, or on the basis of what players are chosen for
a starting lineup, whom are called upon to play as substitutes during a game, etc.).

Trust, the development of which has been described in a previous section, mainly appears in
the case of the evaluation of this type of justice. The fairness of a leader or a trainer is judged
on the basis of how honest and believable the intentions of such individuals seem to be.
Apart from trust, decision-making based on integrity and objectivity is of key importance.
Procedural justice might apply to the following:

 Values – what kind of values determine how decisions are made (abilities, effort)

 Rules – the construction of rules according to a group’s shared principles (the number
of references to other cases or their importance when evaluating a situation)

 The observation of rules – how much rules are followed by members

 The unfairness of decision-making processes – although individuals or players agree

with the principles and rules and the observation of the same, they think they are
responsible for the creation of all the rules and principles

The perception of the fairness of certain procedures also depends on the so-called structural
factors, for example:

 the publicity and traceability of judgement/evaluation

 the impartiality of those who evaluate (unbiased individuals) it

 democratic decision-making processes

 unbiased (based on precise information)

 ethical (the maintenance of moral norms)

 the chances of correction (possibility of modification)

 consistency (no conflicting features, reliability)

 attention is paid to the interests of every concerned party (Lenethal, 1976, in Mező,
Kovács, 1999)

Other important aspects:

 reasons are given, choices are justified

 correct treatment

61
  regular feedback (Folger-Bies 1989, see Mező, Kovács, 1999)

People find it especially important to be treated in an appropriate way when issues that
concern their lives are discussed, and they also expect others to respect human rights and
dignity at the same time. These social-interactional elements are related to relationships.
Procedural justice is one of the primary conditions for the emergence of trust towards an
organisation, club or management. According to the findings of a study (Mező-Zala, 2000),
procedural justice has proven to be more important for individuals than distributive justice.

3) Interactional justice:

It refers to the quality of communication experienced by individuals (team members, trainers,

club leaders).

Interpersonal justice reflects the degree to which people are treated with respect during any
procedure. The clarity of communication: individuals avoid the use of inappropriate language
and remarks.

Informational justice ensures honest and open communication while reasons and justification
are given and players receive adequate information when listening to explanations (for
example, trainers pay attention to any suggestion of a player).

Appropriate explanations should be given prior to and during any procedure too.

Annex 1 summarises the results of a study conducted among national sports teams. This
research was carried out in two phases. First of all, attempts were made to identify and
categorise those unjust situations that the most frequently occur in sports organisations
having interactive sports teams. Then a questionnaire was compiled on the basis of the
received answers. The theoretical background of the Questionnaire on Organisational
Justice enables us to analyse this key component of psychological contracts.

It is advisable for sports leaders and trainers to study the factors listed in the questionnaire
carefully in order to see a number of hidden components which are present in the daily
workings of organisations affecting organisational behaviour.

Justice and organisational fairness are two factors that should receive much more attention;
however, research into these issues has only been conducted for some decades now in
Hungary, which also proves how relevant our findings are.

Review questions:

1) When do individual feel to be treated in an unjust or unfair way?

2) What precedes and follows such treatment?

3) What are the main types of such treatment, and how do they appear in the case of
sports organisations?

4) What can sports leaders learn from the findings of the research mentioned above?

62
VI.7 Commitment

VI.7.1 Organisational commitment30

What kind of principles and factors determine one’s commitment to an organisation? How
does such commitment emerge? What consequences are there? Is it possible to develop or
strengthen an individual’s organisational commitment? There are questions of such kind
which researchers have been interested to answer.

It is also worth watching the video under the link below which shows how the new player
Gareth Bale, the most expensive transfer for the club, was presented to Real Madrid
supporters. The way he was introduced to his fans also included several gestures, elements,
movements reflecting how the club supports him, which strengthened the new footballer’s
emotional commitment to his new club too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mMKxU98fWA

Forgas (1994) proposed a strong correlation between group cohesion and commitment: the
members of a group neither have the same interests in the team nor they are equally
committed to the same. The degree of group cohesion depends on how committed members
are towards the norms and goals shared by a team, and what kind of positive feelings they
have towards each other and the community. Such positive feelings have a strong impact on
the performance of a group according to Forgas (1994).

Research conducted by Aronson and Mills (1981) demonstrated that mental effort is also an
important factor in the emergence of commitment: the more challenging it is for individuals to
become members of a group, the more committed they become. Forgas illustrated the same
effect in the following way: “interestingly, we really respect as well as are committed to those
groups which we manage to join by making sacrifices or special effort.” (Forgas, 1994:325)
Strict training and the shared experience of combat bind members of military groups
together, and these individuals are more satisfied with and attracted to these groups than to
other groups in their private lives. The players of sports teams might feel similarly: they have
to face physically demanding trainings and fight trough matches again and again just like
soldiers do. On the basis of this, it can be assumed that the members of sports teams are
attracted to their group much more than to other groups in their private lives.

Kiestler (1971) and Kanter (1972) had the same conclusions in their studies (see János,
2005) which focused on the commitment of the members of distinct sects. They established
that the often painful and demanding secret initiation rituals for new members generate
extremely strong commitment in people (which, in certain cases, might lead to mass suicide).
Members seem to be motivated to become committed in order to reduce their cognitive
dissonance (which means that they make stronger attempts to like something they suffered a

30
There are some words with similar meanings in Hungarian, referring to certain types of commitment.
These are “elkötelezettség”, “elköteleződés”, and “kötődés”; however, the word „elkötelezettség”
should be used in this context. Similar differences can be found in the meaning of the words
„commitment”, „engagement”, and „attachment” in English, but it is “commitment” which should be
used here too. (Nevertheless, it is also interesting that the French use the word “engagement” for the
same phenomenon.)

63
lot for). Initiation rituals are not unknown to athletes, who have to undertake a wide variety of
tasks when joining a new team.

The studies conducted by Stouffer et al. (1949) on the battlefield showed that soldier do not
fight and risk their lives because they believe in their final success, but they do so as they are
committed to the unit they fight in and identify with it (Forgas, 1994). Being a member of a
group helps an individual to survive life-threatening situations by ensuring emotional security
and strengthening one’s commitment.

Siebold (2007) also studied how military forces work and found that commitment within such
units is based on social factors such as trust and cooperation.

VI.7.2 The concept of organisational commitment

Organisational commitment has been defined in several distinct ways over the last couple of
years (e.g. Meyer & Allen, 1991; J. P. Meyer, D. J. Stanley, L. Herscovitch, L. Topolnytsky,
2002, I. R. Gellatly, J. P. Meyer, A. A. Luchak, 2006, Mowday et al., 1979). Although a
number of researchers have turned their attention to the examination of commitment, several
contradictory findings are present even today. Different approaches, therefore, assume the
significance of lots of different factors concerning the emergence of commitment, and the
correlations between commitment and behaviour at the workplace are also described in
many different ways.

According to March and Simon (1958), the main predictors of organisational commitment are
individuals’ active participation and good performance (see János, 2005). They put special
emphasis on the significance of the following two dimensions of commitment: continuance
commitment (which refers to an individual’s demands regarding the maintenance of his
membership) and value-based commitment, which refers to one’s identification with the
values held by an organisation, encouraging an employee to exert considerable effort into
the accomplishment of certain goals on behalf of an organisation.

Other researchers prefer one-dimensional approaches to two-dimensional views when

studying organisational commitment. The definitions advanced by Mowday, Steers, & Porter
(1979) are to be introduced here, as these are generally accepted by the scientific
community.

In their perspective, organisational commitment refers to two things: the individual’s

identification with the organisation and the degree of employee involvement. Organisational
commitment is thus made up of the following three components: 1) one’s strong belief in and
acceptance of the organisation’s goals and values, 2) one’s willingness to make considerable
effort on behalf of the organisation, 3) one’s strong desire to maintain membership in the
organisation.

The same components are mentioned by other experts too under different names. Table 2
summarises the components of commitment identified by other researchers. The main three
dimensions are included in other models too, sometimes together as interrelated factors (for
instance, Mowday et al.) and sometimes independently (for instance, Meyer, Allen).

64
Table 2: The types (and components) of organisational commitment identified by researchers
on the basis of Meyer and Herscovitch (2001)

Becker Mowday et Angle, Perry O’Reilly, Penley, Meyer, Allen Mayer, Jaros et al. Meyer,
(1960) al. (1979) (1981) Chatman Gould (1991) Schoorman (1993) Herscovitch
(1986) (1988) (1992) (2001)
Side-bet “Global Value Identification Moral Emotional Value Emotional Commitmen
theory commitment Commitment Compliance Calculative Continuance Continuance t profile
” to stay
Internalisatio Normative Continuance Moral
n
Alienating

VI.7.3 Antecedents of organisational commitment and its relation to other

factors
Factors affecting the emergence of organisational commitment have also been widely
studied.

The following factors were identified by Meyer et al. (1997) related to the development of
organisational commitment31:

 the matching of one’s scope of work and interests (1),

 the harmony of values held by employees and leaders (2),

 the consistency between employees’ presuppositions related to organisational culture

and the actual characteristics of organisational culture (3),

 the fulfilment of expectations concerning one’s workplace (4),

 positive work experience (5),

 the effect of attribution: the causes of the fulfilment of one’s expectations and positive
experience are attributed to the organisation itself (6),

 The perception of the commitment of the organisation: fair treatment of employees

might indicate that an organisation is also committed to its workers (7).

 Individuals’ freedom of choice: those who are able to decide which workplace to
choose, seem to be much more committed (8), reduction of dissonance.

Folger and Konovsky (1989) did research into the relationship between organisational justice
and commitment. They wanted to see how a pay rise modifies commitment (see Mező,
2000). In fact, they studied the effects of procedural justice. Finally, they found no correlation
between the amount of pay rise and the degree of commitment. They rather concluded that
respect towards workers and recognition matter more to employees. If employees’ goals
31
For further details see Mező (2000): A szervezeti élet igazságossága [The fairness of organisational
life], PhD dissertation, Debrecen.

65
harmonise with those of an organisation, individuals become much more committed and are
able to identify better with the organisation. An organisation will be more committed to its
employees for a longer period of time in return.

Mueller and others (1992) concluded that the degree of commitment mainly depends on
one’s career, work, relationships with colleagues, working conditions, and the organisation
employing the individual (Perry, 2004).

Perry (2004) carried out research into how the trust between line managers and employees
influence commitment. His findings suggested that the amount of time spent at one’s
workplace, the amount of time spent with one’s manager, leadership justice, the fairness of
superiors, the perceived fairness of cases when dismissal and reorganisation take place all
affect the emergence of commitment. Interestingly, a number of researchers have identified
similar variables when examining the development of commitment and trust (Perry, 2004).
The following table gives a short summary of the results of the studies mentioned in the
present section (see Table 3).

Table 3: Other factors affecting organisational commitment identified by experts on the basis
of Mező (2000) and Perry (2004)
Researchers Factors preceding the emergence of commitment and other factors
correlating with the same
Mathieués 1. employee-employer relationship +
Zajac, 1990 2. features of one’s job +
Meyer, 1997 1. matching of personal features and the scope of activities +
2. fulfilment of one’s expectations of the workplace +/-
3. causal attribution few results and +
4. organisational justice and support +
5. retrospective rationalisation +
Folger and 1. perception of procedural justice +
Konovsky, 1989
Perry, 2004 1. time spent with work +
2. time spent with one’s superior +
3. perception of leadership justice and fairness +
4. perception of dismissal and reorganisation -
Mueller et al., 1. career +
1992 2. work +
3. personal relationships with co-workers +
4. working conditions +
5. organisation one is hired by +
Nyhan, 1998 1. trust in one’s superior +
Bashaw, Grant, 1. delegation of (administrative) tasks +
1994 2. participation in decision-making +
Lee and 3. feedback from superiors +
Olshofski, 2002

66
Katz and Kahn (1960)32 studied the relationship between group performance and the
behaviour of leaders. Their findings can be summarised as follows: (a) a better leader tends
to delegate a larger degree of authority, (b) subordinates of a better leader are under less
strict supervision, (c) the leaders of groups that perform better are able to generate more
cohesion at the group level, and (d) the leaders of successful groups are able to meet a
number of responsibilities. The comparison of these findings to the results of the studies
focusing on the processes during which commitment and trust emerge might also shed light
on some interesting facts. We might draw a parallel between statement “a” and the
importance of the delegation of tasks and employees’ participation in decision-making.
Statement “b” may prove the significance of the existence of control and trust, i.e. low levels
of control/supervision generate higher levels of trust and vice versa. Finally, there is a
parallel between statement “c” and the fact that higher levels of group cohesion lead to
higher levels of organisational commitment, which can also influence performance in a
positive way.

VI.7.4 The three-component model of organisational commitment

Meyer and Allen (1981) analysed a number of one-dimensional models of organisational
commitment in order to detect different factors related to the emergence of this phenomenon
in distinct theories. The following three types of commitment appeared in most of the studies
they looked at: commitment based on emotions, commitment based on the calculation of
costs, and commitment based on obligations.

According to Meyer and Allen, these three types are present at the same time when
organisational commitment develops; however, each component is based on different
experience and does not affect behaviour in the same way.

The three dimensions are defined in the following way:

1. Affective commitment: refers to the employee's positive emotional attachment to the

organisation. Such an individual also strongly identifies with the goals of the
organisation and desires to maintain his membership. Individuals are committed to an
organisation because they “want to”. This dimension is based on Mowday et al.’s
(1979) theory of commitment.

2. Continuance commitment: refers to an employee’s commitment to an

organisation due to the fact that he calculates how high the costs of losing one’s
organisational membership are. Such considerations might include economic costs
(for instance, pension accruals) and social costs (relationships/friendships with
colleagues might cease to exist) too. Individuals feel that they “have to” commit to the
organisation.

3. Normative commitment: refers to an individual’s commitment an organisation because

of feelings of obligation. Such feelings might derive from the fact, for example, that
the organisation invested a certain amount of resources when employing the
person (trainings, courses, etc.), which makes the employee feeling obliged to put
considerable effort into the job and stay with the organisation until “repaying the
debt”. Furthermore, such feelings can also stem from personal reasons, triggered by
32
Cartwright, Zander (1968): A vezetés és a csoportfunkciók ellátása, in Csoportlélektan, ed. F.
Pataki, Gondolat, 1980.

67
 some socialisation processes, or one wishes to remain loyal to his family or any other
person. Therefore, the employee stays with the organisation because he "ought to"
do so. These feelings arise out of a sense of duty or obligation. This particular
component is affected largely by one’s personal experience, cultural background, and
socialisation. There are cultures, for example, that of the Japanese, which are
characterised by normative commitment, whereas affective commitment is typical of
the Americans (János, 2005).

Figure 24 represents different types of commitment in various models and the concept of the
same.

Figure 24: A summary of how organisational commitment is defined by different scholars

Meyer and Allen (1991) also studied how distinct commitment types affect employees’
behaviour at the workplace and the well-being of workers.

The effects of affective commitment:

 It correlates negatively with employees’ intention to quit

 It correlates positively with work attendance, performance, organisational citizenship

behaviour (OCB)33, and the health and well-being of employees

33
Organizational Citizenship Behaviour: can be defined as a certain type of behaviour that goes
beyond the basic requirements of the job. The concept includes all the behaviours that are not
explicitly recognized by the formal reward system of the organisation, but depend on the judgement of
the individual and promote the effective and successful functioning of the organisation. Behaviours
such as altruism, conscientiousness, courtesy, fair-mindedness, etc. all belong to this category. For
further details, see Dennis Organ (1988) or the article under the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_citizenship_behavior.

68
The effects of continuance commitment:

 It correlates negatively with employees’ intention to quit

 It correlates negatively or neutrally with attendance, performance, organisational

citizenship behaviour (OCB), and the health and well-being of employees

The effects of normative commitment:

 It correlates negatively with employees’ intention to quit

 It correlates positively with attendance, performance, organisational citizenship

behaviour (OCB), and the health and well-being of employees

Factors leading to/generating organisational commitment and the possible consequences of

the same are represented by Figure 25 below.

Figure 25: The three-component model of organisational commitment on the basis of Meyer
and Allen’s (1991, 1997) work

Meyer and Allen (1991) assumed that the affective, continuance and normative commitment
are clearly distinguishable components of commitment (see also Field, 2000). Later results of
factor analysis mostly supported it (Dunham, Grube, Castenada 1994, Hackett Bycio,
Hausdorf 1994, Meyer, Allen, Gellatly, 1990) 34. Further research has found that the
correlation between affective and normative commitment is so strong that some people have

34
In Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch, Topolniytsky (2002): Affective, Continuance, and Normative
Commitment to the Organization: A Meta-analysis of Antecedents, Correlates, and Consequences,
Journal of Vocational Behavior 61., 20-52.

69
raised the question whether there is a need for a separate measure to evaluate the
normative commitment.

Meyer et al (2002) have tested the validity of the three-dimensional model on broad empirical
database. A questionnaire developed by Meyer and Allen (1991) was applied in this study,
which allows the identification of the three previously mentioned components of commitment.
The data obtained from the questionnaire was compared to the Organizational Commitment
Questionnaire (referred to as OCQ). In doing so, the components and factors of commitment
were compared on the basis of previous publications, by doing a meta-analysis. Those
results are going to be highlighted below which are relevant to this book.

OCQ35 highly correlated with the affective commitment (.88), showed medium correlation with
normative commitment (.50) and negatively correlated with continuity (.-02). This confirms
that the OCQ is actually closest to measuring affective commitment and high OCQ score can
mean high affective and low continuance commitment. Researchers examined how job
satisfaction and satisfaction with supervisors are related to the previously mentioned three
components of commitment.

Taking job satisfaction into consideration: it shows significant correlation with affective
commitment (.65), moderate correlation with normative commitment (.31), and negative
correlation with continuance (-.07). The relationship between satisfaction with supervisors
and the three components can be interesting: it shows moderate correlation with affective
component (.42), insignificant correlation with normative component (.13), and negative
correlation with continuance (-.04). As it was also expected, job performance is positively, but
not significantly correlated with affective (.16) and normative (.06) components, while it is
negatively related to the continuance component (-.07).

The above mentioned relationships can be seen in Table 436.

Table 4. The relationship between the three components and other variables, based on
Meyer et al (2001)

OCQ Job satisfaction Satisfaction with

supervisors

Affective component .88 .65 .42

Continuance component .-02 .-07 .-04

Normative component .50 .31 .13

35
Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, measuring organizational commitment, which captures
the affective factor of the three components (Allen, Meyer, 1991).
36
Dunham, Gruber, Castaneda (1994) found that affective commitment can be the predictor of
attitudes towards the organization by 72%, such as career-satisfaction, while normative commitment
explains 36% and the continuance commitment explains 7% of the variance (In Robbins, Judge,
2007).

70
Meyer and Herscovitch’s (2001) results make it possible to outline the commitment profile of
the subjects. According to it, each employee at any time can be characterised by different
values and levels of these three components which affect their workplace behaviour (work
performance, truancy, absenteeism, resignation, terminating or leaving job).

Consequently, it is possible to distinguish for example pure emotional (high AC37, low CC,
low NC), clear continuance (low AC, high CC, low NC), and pure normative (low C, low CC,
high NC) "commitment profiles" and their various combinations as well.

VI.7.5 6. Possibilities of measuring organizational commitment38

Below in the form of a non-exhaustive list I would like to introduce some questionnaires
measuring the levels and types of commitment. As I described in the theoretical review,
some researchers study so-called global commitment (also separating several areas of it),
while others differentiate several dimensions. The different dimensions are very similar to the
areas of the global commitment questionnaires.

1. OCQ (Mowday, Steers, Porter, 1979)

The questionnaire consists of 15 items and measures global commitment based on how an
individual identifies with the values and norms of the organization, whether (s)he is ready for
the big effort to achieve the goals, and how strong is his/her desire to maintain membership
in the organization.

With regard to validity, commitment is positively correlated with satisfaction, perception of

fairness in the workplace, and with LMX (leader-member exchange) 39. A shorter version of
this questionnaire with 9 items is also known.

2. Measuring affective, normative and continuance commitment (Allen, Meyer, 1990)

The questionnaire helps to measure the three-dimensional model created by the authors. In
the original questionnaire, each component consists of eight items, while in the modified
version (1997), there are only six items per component.

3. Measuring psychological attachment

O'Reilly and Chatman’s (1986) 12 item questionnaire, which measures the above mentioned
3 dimensions (interest, identification, internalization). There are eight items in the
identification-internalization dimension and four items in the interest dimension.

4. Organizational commitment

Cook & Wall’s (1980) 9 item questionnaire measures a total amount of commitment through
3 dimensions: identification, involvement and loyalty, each dimensions consists of three-three
items.

5. Organizational commitment scale (OCS)

37
AC: affective commitment, CC: continuance commitment, NC: normative commitment.
38
Fields, D.L. (2002): Taking the meausure of work, Sage Publication, INC, 130-149.
39
For further details: http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/leader_member_exchange.htm

71
Balfour and Wechsler’s (1996) questionnaire consists of nine items, measuring three
dimensions of commitment (identification, belonging and switching).

The emergence and importance of organizational commitment in sports organisations

As we referred to at the beginning of this chapter, players (and also coaches) often mention
commitment when their performance is being evaluated. For example, when Ivan Helguera
left his club, Real Madrid thanked in a message his excellent performance for many years,
highlighting "the players' high level of commitment to the club". However, at the same time,
their great opponent F.C. Barcelona (which lost the championship at the last minute against
Real Madrid in the 2006/2007 season) issued that one reason behind their failure is that
some players were not sufficiently committed to their club. That is why a council of coaches
and five players is planned to be operated to avoid similar cases in the future. It is also often
heard that commitment towards the goals (leauge championship, international cups) is
important for players when selecting a new team (maybe the best example for this is the
French Thierry Henry, the biggest star of the international football transfers in 200740). This
term is used very often, but what is behind it?

It can be certainly said: a club or team which wanted to achieve good results with purchased
stars could rarely be successful. If they do not take time to introduce the club, the customs,
its history, traditions and objectives41 etc. to the player before contracting (as this is actually
an essential part of the organisational socialization), or they do not make an effort on
developing affective commitment to his club and team then they will start with a drawback in
the race which characterize professional sports.

To develop commitment is not only important for the new and senior team members, but also
for the junior ones. There are some clubs where it is considered important when selecting
kids as well.

Here is a story which tells the recruitment of Liverpool F.C. 10-12-year-olds were playing
against each other, both teams wore the club's official football kit (red and white). The whites
were defeated 5-1 and one boy (otherwise not awkward player) began to cry. The coach
walked to boy and asked why he was crying so much. The child wiped his eyes and said it
was because he disgraced his uniform. The coach took the child and said: "We need you."
Additionally to this story, the child was Steven Gerrard, Liverpool idol today, Champions
League winner, a captain, and despite being persistently asked by many other clubs (offering
a lot of money to him), he stayed in his club.

VI.7.6 Relationship between satisfaction and organisational commitment

Several research took a number of hypotheses so far to demonstrate the relationship
between satisfaction and commitment (Vandenberg, 1992).

(1.) Satisfaction causes commitment.

(2.) Commitment causes satisfaction.

(3.) Satisfaction and commitment interact each other, they are in reciprocity.

40
Another point is that the player is no longer at this club.
41
Basically, the organisational culture of the club.

72
 (4.) There is no relationship between these two organisational attitudes.

For hypothesis (1) it was found that satisfaction is a very important component, and also
antecedent of commitment. Because satisfaction can trigger immediate emotional reactions,
therefore it can play a central role in the development of commitment. However, many other
factors can influence the effect of satisfaction, such as organisational goals, values,
performance expectations, and organisational attitudes towards the individual (Vandenberg,
1992). Consequently, it appears that satisfaction shapes and stabilizes organisational
commitment, and it is one of the important components of commitment.

Others (e.g. Bateman, Strasser, 1984) say that commitment can be a trigger of satisfaction –
see hypothesis 2. (Vandenberg, 1992). This is based on the assumption that stronger
commitment could lead to a positive emotional state, which can increase member
satisfaction. Another explanation is when the individual thinks he is already committed to the
organisation, it is probably or even certainly suitable for him, therefore his satisfaction will be
higher. It can be interpreted as kind of cognitive dissonance reduction. All in all, it can be said
that organisational commitment is the basis of any other organisational attitudes, therefore it
can cause satisfaction as well.

Examining the 3rd hypothesis, some results emerged which show interaction between the
two factors (e.g. . Farkas, Tetrick, 1989, Lance, 1991). However, there are only a few studies
which can confirm it, and their methodology is often questionable (see Vandenberg, 1992).

Testing the 4th hypothesis (e.g. Lance, 1991, Brief et al., 1988), it was found that
commitment and satisfaction are almost identical attitudes with different names and can be
influenced by several factors, therefore the analysis of their relationship is incomprehensible
(see Vandenberg, 1992).

Vandenberg (1992) examined each of the four hypotheses, and in the case of the first
hypothesis he found some evidence, according to which satisfaction can cause commitment.

Moynihan, Boswell and Boudreau (2000) have found similar results. They were trying to
answer the question of the impact of job satisfaction and organisational commitment on the
members’ desire of leaving work, searching for new jobs and their performance. In addition,
they were also curious about the relationship between satisfaction and commitment. Table 5.
below shows the main results of their examination.

Table 5. Correlations between variables in the study of Moynihan et al. (2000)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1. Satisfaction 1.00

2.Affective commitment .61 1.00

3.Normative .11 .19 1.00

commitment

4.Continuance .08 .24 -.00 1.00

commitment

73
5.Intent of abandonment -.70 -.56 -.11 -.18 1.00

6.Looking for a job -.39 -.35 -.07 -.05 .45 1.00

7.Performance .20 .16 .06 -.07 -.11 -.10 1.00

8.Leadership .12 .08 .08 -.12 .00 -.03 .62 1.00

Review questions:

1. Define the concept of commitment.

2. How do we conceive about the one- or multi-dimensional commitment theory?

3. What are the antecedents and reasons of commitment?

4. What are the consequences of low and high commitment?

5. Which type of commitment do you consider the most important in case of the
members of a sports organisation?

6. How to form, develop and maintain high affective commitment in sports

organisations?

7. What reasons are behind the aspiration of leaving the organisation?

8. What is the relationship between leadership and organisational commitment?

9. How could you describe and measure commitment of the members of your sport
organisation? How often would you do that?

74
VII. Organisation development and its possibilities
at sports organisations, through the presentation
of an organisation diagnostic study.
The operation of professional sports clubs in Hungary often contains incongruent elements.
There are some pros and cons whether there were systemic changes in sport, apart from
these it is clear that clubs are willing to operate by themselves (independently from the
government), and they are emphasizing their autonomy. If they cannot achieve their
"privacy", they often expect help from the government – in the absence of capital intensive
sponsors who are willing to support sports. Taking Western European and North American
examples into consideration, this situation cannot be maintained for long. It becomes
necessary for clubs to redefine themselves and use applied sciences, such as organisational
commitment research which is based on organisation psychology and management, if they
want to improve their results or to survive.

There are the same critical-sensitive periods in organisational life as in human life. However,
the necessary changes raise several questions. For example, when they should be started?
In order to answer this question, Handy (2008) applies a well-known "geometric shape", the
sigmoid (S) curve: he says there are ups and downs in organisational life. However, it is too
late if we start thinking about changes when the organisational performance is decreasing; it
is a must to negotiate changes when the organisation is operating well. An excellent example
to understand it if we think about Formula 1, where a team can only be successful in a year if
there are major improvements during the whole season. See Fig. 26.

We can also think of those great and successful clubs (eg. MU, FC Barcelona) which win
championships or trophies, but they make a lot of changes by the next year (they even
change their strategy). It should be mentioned here that there are two types of organisational
changes: circumstances are changing over time (for example political, economic), and these
changes almost automatically induce the development of the organisation (1), while in the
other case there is intentional intervene in the organisation's life in order to improve its
effectiveness. The latter is considered to be the classical sense of organisation development
(Kovács, 2005).

75
Figure 26. The organisational intervention is too late in the downturn phase. It is essential to
think about renewal when the organisation is operating well.

In addition to changing, besides time factor the other central problem is resistance towards
change. There are those who get into trouble after the changes (or they believe that). First,
the organisational members, then certain organisational units can be interested in
maintaining the status quo.

Organisation development is practically as old as the history of organisational psychology, as

it is based on organisational psychology research. The starting point is marked by Kurt
Lewin's work, his group research opened a new direction for management and behavioural
researchers (Kovács, 2005).

The following assumptions support the strengthening of organization development (OD):

 In an effective organisation both the individual and the organisation can grow and
develop, that is called a healthy organisation

 OD is the key to achieve high quality

 OD needs responsible, careful and reliable man not only as a resource

 The aim of OD is a healthy organisation, supporting, encouraging and open

atmosphere, trust, reliability, clear and transparent power structure

 Open and honest communication which helps to reveal and solve problems

 Taking into account the individual needs, creating high level of commitment to the
organisation (Kovács, 2005)

Based on Beckhard (1969, see Kovács 2005) organisation development is led and supported
by the senior management (1), it is a long-term effort for developing the employees’

76
capability of goal achievement, adaptation and renewal (2), it is for the development of
organisational culture (3), which is an advisory and facilitation activity (4), using behavioral
science knowledge (4). According to Bennis (see Kovács, 2005), the organisation
development is an educational strategy. According to Harvey and Brown (1996), it is a long-
term developmental intervention which aims at increasing the organisation’s problem-solving,
adaptation and renewal abilities, by reshaping the organisational culture. The diagnostic
activity is primarily – as it can be clearly seen from the above mentioned definitions – focuses
on the analysis of the organisational culture.

When we talk about sports organisations and their organisational culture, it should be noted
that the more fragmented and more diverse the sports club is, the more complex the
organisational culture diagnostics are. Ideally, the club itself has a dominant culture, but each
division (other organisational units, e.g. PR, marketing, finance) is characterised by a so-
called specific subculture. Furthermore, in an ideal situation, these are the same and
everyone shares the values, norms and expectations of the club. In this study, we searched
for those sport organisations which practically have only one division, in which a first-class
sport team compete.

Previous studies on sport teams and organisations were conducted due to a common goal:
to learn how they operate and optimize their operation in order to achieve the best possible
performance42.

Performance in sport can be described in a sequence:

Performance = ability to perform (the presence of the necessary physical and motor skills,
technical and tactical knowledge, and the application of sport-specific knowledge for a certain
task) X performing skills (the presence of the necessary psychological skills, especially
motivation and willingness for the implementation of a task).

If either is incomplete or missing, the performance is falling, getting worse or it is zero.

Parallel to Hersey and Blanchard’s (1982) theory, which is about the prefered forms of
leadership, they define leadership whether the members have the essential skills
(performance) and the right motivation and willingness (performing skills) for that task. They
defined it by the concept of maturity (and distinguished four types of it), and if both conditions
are fulfilled by the employees then they talk about a weak task- and relation-oriented, so-
called delegating leadership.

Here we should also mention the previously referred so-called Steiner model (1972), which
shows the level of the actual team productivity. It originates from the potential, totally
detectable productivity, for which the team would be able to. However, this performance is
undermined by those losses which are caused by the incorrect group dynamics, for example
the lack of trust or deficit from the loss of confidence.

During our research, we followed the undermentioned methodological methods:

42
Whether it is about leisure (recreational) or competitive sports (quality), the aim is to achieve better
performance. However, it can be game-specific and can be varied by each sports team. The aim can
be the championship, winning the cup, staying in or training and installing young players into the
senior team, or producing as much profit as possible for the club in the season. From this varied
definition of its aims, the graph of the organisational culture and the trust can differ sharply by sports
teams.

77
The following methods draw up the organisational culture and organisational trust patterns of
sports teams on the basis of published studies by Kovács, Perjés, Sass (2005) and Sass
(2005). Since these questionnaires were not primarily designed for the field of sport, there
was a preliminary overview first, when we tried to reconstruct the items to be easily
interpreted for athletes (supplemented by sport terminology and examples), but of course,
obtaining their original meaning at the same time.

The questionnaires, which seemed to be suitable for sports organizations were the following:

I. Quinn's organisation-diagnostic questionnaire,

II. Kovács’s organisational culture questionnaire

The preliminary assumption is based on the fact that sports teams as performance-oriented,
professional sports organisations are mainly characterised by:

 Performance-orientation. It is important to achieve the goals, whether it is about

championship or expressed differently (e.g. the development of indiviudal skills).

 As it is a joint activity, therefore team spirit is important, also the atmosphere,

furthermore, the ability to work in a team (team-working) and willingness to cooperate.

 Good team climate mostly supposes good personal realtionships, even if successes
sometimes overwrite these (this feature and the previous one have been actually
examined by sociometry from a different perspective – measuring social
relationships).

 In order to maintain the right level, it is needed to move on and to apply new training
methods and new scientific results. From this point of view, an entrepreneurial and
innovative spirit is also needed (I believe there is a "happy medium", a right balance,
when good practices should not be changed).

 Since there is one (maybe more, but typically not more than two) leader, the coach,
his role is crucial and not only from sport professional point of view, but it is exremely
important what kind of support he gets from the senior executives. In the absence of
their support he will not be successful.

 Depending on the team, his role can be a father, a mentor, a coordinator, although I
believe it is also essential to bear with supportive and helping features (even in hard-
core professional sports) which does not exclude strong and performance-oriented
features of leadership.

 Not only performance can be a cohesive factor, but also mutual trust or confidence,
and the strength of relationships between the players, that is social cohesion.

 Sports teams are bound to clubs, so it is essential to have a sense of group identity,
strong ties to the club on one hand, and on the other hand, they should also be loyal
to the team (nowadays, loyalty to the club is weakening, because financial
considerations overwrite it).

78
All in all, on the basis of Quinn’s competing values model, sports teams can be described as
dominant supportive clans or cultures, which can be ad hoc or hierarchical – partly
characterised by performance-orientation and the need to adapt to the external changes,
furthermore, they can be described by quality of the coach-player (moreover, the other roles
within the team) and the leader-employee relationship.

For the organisational values we expected specific changes in the following dimensions of
the 11 values:

 The coach is rather task-oriented (in order to achieve the specified performance,
certain tasks need to be done), but his good relationship with the team members is
also important.

 I rather expect strong control in the sense of the level of regulation of the players.

 Reward is primarily attached to performance. Then certain behaviour and action done
for the team can also be aspects for rewarding.

 If the leader has a good conflict management strategy and he is willing to cooperate
with the members in order to achieve higher performance, then sports teams are
more likely to tolerate conflicts.

 As the teams are not operating ad hoc, they are rather characterised by long-term
time orientation, therefore the basis of their sport performance is the conscious,
carefully and methodically structured work.

Quinn and Rohrbaugh (1983) 43 competing values model was also used for the diagnostics of
the organisation.

According to Quinn, the values of a community can be arranged in a hierarchy and can be
displayed in major value dimensions. Each organisation culture can be described and
compared by these lists or value maps. The authors have described a three-dimensional
theoretical framework of the effective organisation based on a multidimensional scaling
method:

1. The focus of the organisation is internal, person-oriented and / or external,

organisation-oriented.

2. The organisational structure can be: stability prefered by control and / or supporting
flexibility and change.

3. Regarding the organisational goals: it can focus on the process of reaching the goals
or the tools and / or it can be result and goal-oriented.

Based on this classification, four major types of cultures can be distinguished: the supportive,
innovation-oriented, rules-oriented, and the goal-oriented. Cameron and Freeman (1991)
described the typical organisational characteristics of the certain types, such as: clan,
adhocracy, hierarchy, market.

43
Read more details in the chapter of the organisational culture.

79
The method of the organisational culture analysis based on the value dimensions was the
following:

It was primarily based on the member’s feelings towards the organisation and we also
applied Robbins’s (1993) and Bakacsi’s complementary 11 value dimensions. The
questionnaire for examining organisational culture of schools was compiled by Kovács
(2002). This questionnaire has also been slightly modified after a pilot study, especially the
terminology of it, in order to be better understood by the athletes, although we have paid
attention to ensure that each dimension has the original interpretation.

1. identification with the position or with the organisation

Identification with the club, with the division, with the team or with his position in the team.

2. individual or team orientation

The management supports individual initiatives and independence in the team or focuses on
goals of the team.

3. relationship or task orientation

The coach emphasizes the help and support of the players or the priority of the tasks.

4. internal dependence or independence

Support for team unity or autonomy.

5. strong-weak control

Level of regulations and the control of the players.

6. taking or avoiding risks

How the team tolerates uncertainty, undertake or avoid risks (searcher, innovative, etc.).

7. performance-orientation

Rewards are tied to performance criteria or not, whether they depend on performance or not,
but something else, such as loyalty or the help of teammates.

8. tolerating or avoiding conflicts

How the coach and the team tolerate conflicts, whether they support or prohibit them (such
as professional conflicts: the player interfere the tactics).

9. goal or instrument orientation

The leadership (coach) is characterized by enhancing the process of reaching the goals or
emphasizing the team’s results (such as junior team training).

10. open or closed system

The team's willingness to react to changes (new training methods, new transfers, trainings,
etc.).

80
 11. short-term or long-term time orientation

Whether the team has a future perspective.

The above mentioned dimensions are closely related to the various operating mechanisms of
sports organisations, so they can be easily described by them.

After a brief summary of the results we can conclude that these models of operation can be
easily identified and described in the case of sports organisations. This provides reason for
further investigations. Furthermore, particularly Kovács’s (2002) model provides the
possibility of a detailed analysis, and as a result of it the major directions of organisational
changes can be outlined.

It was found during the examination that the analyzed first- and second-class sports teams
(six out of ten) can be described by the features of the clan culture according to the Quinn’s
model, while one of them is hierarchical and three of them can be described as market
culture. In the case of the hierarchical team we cannot draw up an accurate picture due to
the small sample size. This definitely requires similar tests in the future.

The clan types:

 In the case of the head of the unit the players can detect typical aspects of cultural
leadership (direct, performance-oriented), but the perceived leadership is also
supportive and facilitating. It is in line with the characteristics of the Robbins culture,
where the leader is rather task-oriented. It can also be difficult for the team leader: he
has to be successful, while creating a friendly, supportive atmosphere.

o About trust: trust in the leader involves high reliability, fair leadership and this
leader also focuses on individual goals.

 Hierarchical and adhocratic characteristics often describe the organisational climate,

however this does not exclude the overall familiar atmosphere either.

o It is also indicated by the value of the organisational integrity and task control,
and means high level of organisational trust in these teams.

 As a criteria of success specific patterns of hierarchical culture is often observed by

the members (reliability for the system itself, or the players trust each other and the
coach, and the team as well, also trust to keep their promises, and this can be the
basis of their common success).

 The cohesive force in the organisation is described by the loyalty to the team and the
traditions, but achieving or not the pursued performance can affect the team
atmosphere in positive and negative ways too.

o The existence of mutual trust (both in relationships and organisational levels),

and the monitoring of teammates also appears as "I can be successful with
the team, if my teammates also carry out their duties."

 Identification with the organisation or the team is more typical, and it correlates with
the cohesion within the organisation.

81
  Each sports team has long-term plans, which confirms the existence of well-built
planning and the continuity of work in sport organisations as well.

o All in all, there is a high level of organisational integrity, which shows a trustful
atmosphere. There is also a high level of predictability (especially in the case
of hierarchical sports teams, although we found only one of them), and
somehow in contradiction to these, the need of controling teammates also
appear (this should not necessarily be interpreted as a low level of trust, but
rather as a form of social motivation to achieve the common goals).

The organisational change takes time. It assumes a carefully designed strategy, as

opposition towards change should be dissolved primarily. The members of the organisation –
as people by nature – prefer the average, normal state. It provides the sense of security and
peace, even if it is not so good, but at least it is sure. The new organisational model can
bring new roles.

Some will lose their positions, but there are those who get new tasks and become much
more motivated and do more effort. Kotter (1995) defined 8 steps as elements of a
successful organisational change44.

1. Develop the need for organisational change, be sensitive for the change and
development.

2. Develop strong allies within the organisation who can argue convincingly for the
development.

3. After the initial brainstorming and careful organisational diagnostics, define a clear,
easily understandable and clear future perspective.

4. This future perspective should be clearly communicated to everyone at each levels of

the organisation.

5. Carry out an analysis and remove obstacles standing in the way of development.
Examine the organisational structure, the units and human resources.

6. Achieve small successes and victories with the new organisation. These can be very
strong motivations to maintain the organisation's development. Everyone can see that
the new direction is good.

7. Small successes do not mean reaching the goal. Results and processes need to be
consolidated.

8. Finally, changes should be integrated into the organisational culture.

By the end of the organisational development process, a more effective, better functional and
more flexible organisational culture can be achieved.

The sport organisation as an example, can only be successful if it is flexible and able to react
in time to the internal and external changes.

44
For those who are interested in this topic, I also recommend the following link:
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_94.htm

82
Appendix 1.
Examination of interactive sports teams’ organisational justice and the results of the
research.

Research questions and hypotheses

Research question 1: What kind of unfair situations can be identified by the perception of the
players, and to who are these situations linked?

Hypothesis 1: Players self-proclaimed (free recall method) that they experience unfair
situations in connection with their teammates, their coach, their managers and during a
match, e. g. possibilities to play, distribution of the salary, evaluation of their performance
and communication with each other and the coach.

1. These unfair situations in case of the interactive sports teams can primarily be related
to the coach.

2. Interpersonal injustices occur in the greatest number in the responses of the subjects.

Research question 2: Who or what causes injustice?

Hypothesis 2: The coach is the main cause of injustice.

Research question 3: If they set up an order, which unfair situations are put in the first place?

Hypothesis 3: Getting into the initial team will be mentioned in the first place most of the time.

The following sport players were interviewed: handball, basketball, football and volleyball, as
an interactive sport. For the respondents, we tried to collect almost professional players, if
they are not completely professional, who take sports seriously as a part of their life. This
allowed us to work with a bigger sample size, so the number of participants were over 200.

223 people (N = 223) participated in our study.

The sex ratio is not known exactly, since the questionnaire was filled out anonymously and it
was not our intention to examine the difference between the sexes. For the age groups,
young adults (especially 21-27 years) made up a significant part of the respondents, the
subjects were adult players.

In the pilot study, we applied a free recall method in which we asked the players to recall
some unfair, inequitable situations which they have encountered so far during their career.
After arranging their answers, we created a questionnaire, which generates more tasks for
the respondents.

Some situations should be placed on a 5-point Likert scale, where 1 means that the player
has never or rarely encountered with the situations, and 5 means that (s)he has often
experienced that situation during his/her career. In addition, we also asked them to create an
order of the given situations on the basis of which they feel the most unfair situation.

83
 45
Results

The grouping of the unfair situations from the point of the perpetrators of the injustice is
shown in Table 6.

Table 1. The grouping of the unfair situations from the point of the perpetrators of the
injustice.

Players, teammates:

 Favoritism with a teammate

 Intimidation and suppression of talented young players by the older players

 Achieving to dismiss a player because of an argument/row

 Causeless conspiracies

 The excessive dominance of the captain

 Selfishness against a teammate

 Style of communication and reactions

Coach:

 Favoritism

 Arranging substitutions

 Arranging the initial team

 Distribution of bonuses and extra money after a match

 Style of communication

 Not enough play time (no chance to prove)

 Unequal consideration of the players

 Chasing off a player

Club:

 The extent of punishment

 Non-compliance to the contract

 Delayed payment or non-payment

45
The individual’s perceived injustice towards his club is highlighted in red.

84
  Problem with the contracts (non-personalized)

 Promises and flattery

Parent:

 Putting a children into the team (eg. with financial support, developing a good
relationship with the coach)

 Dissatisfaction with the child’ s performance

Referee:

 Promoting teams impressively (impartiality)

 Influence matches

 Selecting a player randomly

- The players often mentioned the forms of treatment and communication as problems or
sources of conflicts. If communication is not appropriate it can also create the feeling of
injustice.

- Apart from coaches, referees and judicial decisions were also mentioned by many of them,
and what is more interesting is that the role of parents have occured in different forms.

- The management of the club was also mentioned in connection with contracts, salaries,
and possible penalties.

So each of the three types of justice has occurred in the answers of the respondents. The
grouping of the types of justice is shown in Table 7.

Table 2. The grouping of the three types of justice

Distributive Procedural Interactive

 Distribution of salary,  Arranging  Style of

bonuses and extra substitutions communication
money after a match
 Arranging the initial (especially of the
 Imposing penalties team coach)

 Favoritism  The relationship of

85
  Not enough play time the players

 Unequal  Decisions without

consideration of the explanations
players

The unfair situations in connection with the club was the 3rd most common answer. It must
be an interesting remark for the leaders of the clubs. See Fig. 27

Figure 3. The distribution of the members of unfair situations.

We also analysed the types of injustice which gave the following results, see. Figure 28. It is
clear that unfair situations of the procedures and their relating processes were the most
common. This draws attention to the regulations of various procedures in organisations to
avoid confusion!

86
 Figure 4. The distribution of the three types of justice.

5 situations can be linked to the coach, 3 to the teammates and other 6 to the club. Athletes
classified unfair situations on a Likert scale. The mean and standard deviation of the three
groups were calculated and plotted separately, see Figure 29.

Figure 5. The mean and standard deviation of the three groups (n=102, µ+SD)

The classification of the statements of one part from the questionnaire also confirms that the
coach's actions can affect the players most negatively. When comparing the means of these
situations, four situations stand out. Interestingly, they are all realted to the coach. The
situations are the following, See Figure 30.

87
 Figure 6. The means of the four outstanding situations.

The average score of these situations were between 3.25 and 2.67 on a scale of five, while
the average of the other situations were between 2.57 and 1.6.

This hypothesis is therefore confirmed because:

Result 2: The personality, behavior, decisions and actions of the coach trigger the most
unfair situations.

Research question 3: If they set up an order, which unfair situations are put in the first place?

Hypothesis 3: Getting into the initial team will be mentioned in the first place most of the time.

In that part of the questionnaire, where we asked the respondents to create a sequence of
certain situations on the basis of which are the most unfair situations, we examined the top
three cases, See Figure 31.

88
 Figure 7. The most commonly mentioned situations

It is obvious that those answers which have outstanding values (19, 9, 9) show the
unfairness of decision-making within the team, and the human and teammate relationships.

This illustrates that the interpersonal and procedural injustices precede the third type of
examined injustice, that is the distributive injustice.

When hierarchical roles within the team scramble (eg. there is an excessive dominance of
the captain), it brings dissatisfaction and the players perceive it as unjustice. In most cases,
the often mentioned "favoritism" also belongs to the group of procedural injustices.

However, if we look back at the previous results, it also confirms that the coach generates
most of the injustices, because favoritism can only be induced by the leader.

89
Conclusion
This book gives a brief insight to the hidden factors of organisational performance for those
who work in the field of sport. The clubs, associations, the division, and even the team itself
as different forms of organisations have great impact on the outcome. None of the sports
organisations can be successful which does not have a strong organisational culture, in
particular rules, norms, values, and examples to follow, history. Where these are missing, the
primary task is to create them. This is the basis of everything. Then the members of the
organisation must be chosen carefully, and it is important to help their integration with
applying consciously the fundamental principles of organisational psychology. It should not
be ignored that in addition to the written contract an unwritten is also created, that is the
psychological contract. It influences unconsciously, but "more effectively" the individual’s
satisfaction with the club. The latter one, as mentioned, can be the antecedent or the
consequence of the commitment to the organisation, which as a kind of a mediator can help
the achievement of a better organisational performance, whether it is on the field or in the
club's office. The team will be a real team, that is a cooperating group, when everyone is at
his right place, and doing a task which fits his capabilities. The globalization of sport can
sometimes lead to a situation where individuals from different cultures work together.
Openness, inclusion and supporting integration, sometimes with the help of a professional,
are required for effective cooperation.

Organisational psychology and organisational behavior science have a number of valuable

and applicable theories and practices. It is also available for sports science for a few
decades. It would be a shame not to use it.

90
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