This Master Thesis tries to analyze how both, sport and agile, could benefit from methods rooted in the other area respectively and where they have the same roots that could be utilized more efficiently. To analyze the current situation, a systematic literature review was conducted, trying to detect best practices and to receive a glimpse of the status quo.
Sport organizations as well as agile businesses are powered by the same engine: People. As these two areas here definitely have a common ground it would be interesting to see where else they could benefit and improve by orienting on the other area. One factor that needs to receive attention here is the impact of how people are educated, led, organized, and coached.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Method
2.1 Research Questions
2.2 Review scope
2.3 Conceptualization
2.4 Literature search
2.5 Search results
2.6 Comments on the characteristics of this literature review
3. Success and failure
3.1 Potential success factors
3.2 Success factors for Olympic Sports
3.3 Performance factors
4. Organization
4.1 Change and innovation in organizations
4.2 Cooperation & competition in organizations
4.3 Comparison of sport and regular business organizations
4.4 Sport organizations
5. Organizational culture
5.1 Understanding organizational culture
5.2 Cultural identification
6. Resilience
6.1 How to improve resilience
6.2 Why resilience is important
7. Agile Methodology
7.1 The agile mindset
7.2 Key skills for innovation
7.3 Agile Organizations
7.4 Benefits and restrictions of agile
7.5 Implementing agile
8. Leadership
8.1 Leadership delimitations
8.2 Leader prerequisites
8.2.1 Leader’s traits
8.2.2 Leader’s attributes
8.2.3 Leader’s behavior
8.3 Leadership styles
8.3.1 Hierarchical or traditional leadership
8.3.2 Affiliative leadership & charismatic leadership
8.3.3 Commanding leadership, directive leadership and pacesetting leadership
8.3.4 Transactional leadership
8.3.5 Empowering leadership
8.3.6 Transformational leadership and visionary leadership
8.3.7 Coaching leadership
8.3.8 Shared identity leadership
8.3.9 Shared leadership
Leadership roles within shared leadership
Benefits of shared leadership
Selection of leaders in shared leadership
Barriers and disadvantages of shared leadership
8.3.10 Summary of leadership styles
8.3.11 Hybrid leadership
8.3.12 Strength-based leader development
8.3.13 Change implementation in leadership
8.3.14 Leadership development
8.3.15 Creative Leadership Model
8.3.16 Athlete leadership
9. Learning & Development
9.1 Learning methods
9.1.1 Experiential learning & development
9.1.2 Interdisciplinary learning
9.1.3 Collaborative learning
9.1.4 Setting learning goals
9.1.5 Single- and double-loop learning
9.2 Employee Training
9.3 Development
9.3.1 Individual development
9.3.2 Team-based development
10. Teams
10.1 Team processes & teamwork
10.2 Team effectiveness
10.2.1 Team design
10.2.2 Collective intelligence
10.2.3 Decision-making and information sharing
10.2.4 Shared leadership and clear role distribution
10.2.5 Interpersonal conflict and positive organizational behavior
10.2.6 Team learning
10.2.7 Task relevancy and organizational context
10.2.8 Communication
10.2.9 Team cohesion
10.2.10 Team performance models
11. Coaching
Complexity leadership theory
11.1 Functions and responsibilities of a coach
11.2 Coaching competence and knowledge
11.3 Coaching outcomes
11.4 Coaching effectiveness
11.5 Coaching success factors
11.6 Coach – coachee relationship
11.7 Coaching interventions
11.7.1 DLC in Coaching
11.7.2 Reflective practices
11.7.3 Positive psychology
11.7.4 Mindset training
11.7.5 Setting Performance Goals
11.8 Team coaching
11.8.1 Team coaching models
11.8.2 Team coaching interventions
11.8.3 Team coaching outcomes
11.9 Coaching of individuals
11.9.1 Executive / workplace coaching
11.9.2 Systemic coaching
11.9.3 Athlete coaching
11.9.4 Mentoring
Specifications of mentoring
Mentoring success
11.10 Coach development
11.11 How coaches learn to coach
11.11.1 Experiences as a practitioner
11.11.2 Informal and formal coach development
11.11.3 Learning individually
11.11.4 Learning from researchers
11.11.5 General conclusion
11.12 Learning approaches
12. Discussion
12.1 Limitations
12.2 Future research & theoretical implications
12.3 Practical implications
12.4 Conclusion
Research Objective and Focus Areas
This master thesis aims to investigate the intersection between athletic coaching and organizational agility. By conducting a systematic literature review, the study explores how sport businesses and professional teams can leverage agile management concepts, and conversely, how advanced sport coaching methodologies can be used to foster agility, resilience, and performance within modern organizational structures.
- The role of "agile" mindsets and methodologies in business performance.
- Methods for fostering team resilience and adaptive leadership in high-pressure environments.
- Comparison of hierarchical vs. shared leadership structures in sports and corporate settings.
- The impact of systematic coaching on team effectiveness and organizational culture.
- Knowledge transfer mechanisms between professional sports and agile business management.
Excerpt from the Thesis
1 Introduction
The purpose of this study is to compare agile methods of coaching with methods used in sport coaching to understand important synergy effects and learn from each other with the purpose to create new knowledge that would eventually improve both areas. As a prerequisite for this study to find any knowledge, we need to understand people as the core element of innovation and not only “as a mere extension of production machines or an expendable commodity” (Owusu, 1999, p. 108). Further Owusu (1999) lays down that people need to be respected mostly due to their ability of thinking as the foundation for innovation and improvement of an organization’s performance.
As we understand people as the center of this comparison, we now may consider both related areas, the one of sport businesses on one side and the term ‘agile’ an all its connections on the other side. The earlier one is important as personally interesting for the author of this study, but moreover it is relevant for a larger investigation as “sport is like life, simplified”, as Day, Gordon & Fink (2012; p. 426) describe it. To further understand the underlying mechanisms might be considered essential for advancing research in this field to eventually come up with appropriate strategies for changing and innovating the status quo (Morgan, Fletcher, & Sarkar, 2013), especially as Day et al., (2012) present that sport is a mirror for the working environment on this planet.
The other area concerns agile, a construct that has gained attention in the recent years and becomes growingly important for organizations (Eilers, Peters, & Leimeister, 2022). Agility or agile can be described as “the ability to create and respond to change” and “a way of dealing with, and ultimately succeeding in, an uncertain and turbulent environment” (both citations: Agile Alliance (2020)) or more precise as ‘responsiveness to change’ (Gren & Lenberg, 2020). While Denning (2016) sees agile as an umbrella term for management practices like Scrum, Kanban, Lean, etc., agile as a concept mostly refers to organizational responsiveness and adaptability in growingly changing competitive environments (Madsen, 2020).
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: Defines the scope of the study, linking agile methodology and sports psychology through the core element of people-driven innovation.
2 Method: Outlines the systematic literature review process, detailing the research questions and conceptual framework utilized to connect agile and sport coaching.
3 Success and failure: Examines how teams define and achieve success, emphasizing the role of failure as a learning mechanism and identifying key performance factors.
4 Organization: Compares traditional and agile organizational structures, discussing change, innovation, and the dynamics of cooperation versus competition.
5 Organizational culture: Explores organizational culture as a foundation for effectiveness, focusing on vision, identity, and shared social norms.
6 Resilience: Analyzes the crucial nature of team resilience in VUCA environments and provides strategies to improve it through leadership and training.
7 Agile Methodology: Details the agile mindset in the context of VUCA environments and discusses benefits and implementation strategies in various organizational settings.
8 Leadership: Explores diverse leadership styles, focusing on shared, transformational, and athletic leadership models to foster effective team performance.
9 Learning & Development: Outlines various learning methods (experiential, interdisciplinary) and training approaches that underpin coaching and individual/team development.
10 Teams: Investigates the mechanics of teamwork, team effectiveness, and processes, specifically focusing on collective intelligence and shared identity.
11 Coaching: Synthesizes the core of the thesis by defining coaching processes, competencies, interventions (such as DLC or mindfulness), and the coach-coachee relationship.
12 Discussion: Reviews the findings, addresses limitations, and suggests future research directions, concluding on the necessity of context-aware coaching individualization.
Keywords
Agile, Sport Coaching, Leadership, Team Effectiveness, Organizational Culture, Resilience, VUCA, Shared Leadership, Mentoring, Coaching Intervention, Knowledge Transfer, Performance Management, Team Identity, Organizational Agility, Employee Training.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The research explores the potential transferability of methodologies between sport coaching and agile business management, specifically how both fields can learn from each other to improve human performance and organizational agility.
What are the primary thematic fields addressed?
The main themes include leadership styles (shared vs. traditional), organizational culture, team resilience, agile methodologies, and effective coaching interventions in both sports and corporate environments.
What is the central research question?
The research asks what sport businesses can learn from agile concepts and how sport coaching methods can effectively influence organizational agility.
Which methodology was used for this study?
The author conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) covering peer-reviewed articles from 2014 to 2022 across databases such as EBSCO, Emerald, and Science Direct.
What does the main body of the work cover?
The core chapters span foundational concepts like success/failure and organizational structure, specific leadership approaches like shared identity leadership, systemic coaching techniques, and practical applications in learning and development.
What are the key descriptive characteristics of this work?
The work is characterized by interdisciplinary research, linking sport science with business management, aiming to provide a broad conceptual overview rather than a narrow technical manual.
What role does the "agile coach" play according to this study?
The study views the agile coach as an enabler who provides structure, facilitating team transparency and self-organization rather than simply applying fixed methodologies like Scrum.
How does the study link athletic performance to business performance?
It identifies commonalities such as the importance of a "shared vision," the necessity of "collective intelligence," and the impact of the coach-athlete/leader-employee relationship on overall team outcomes.
What concept is suggested for bridging coaching and organizational change?
The thesis highlights "Shared Leadership" and "Systemic Coaching" as critical frameworks for integrating agility into organizations while maintaining high-performance standards.
- Citar trabajo
- Kersten Thiele (Autor), 2022, Agile Concepts in Sport Businesses and Influence of Sport Coaching Methods in Organizations, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1337155
