Looking to the past to understand the present: organizational change in varsity sport
Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management
ISSN: 1746-5648
Article publication date: 13 November 2009
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how varsity football athletes and coaches negotiate meanings when faced with the unmet expectations of a new head coach brought into lead a turnaround process. It also aims to pay particular attention to the role of history in this meaning making process.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws on semi‐structured interviews with players and coaches at two points in time. To preserve the richness of their experiences and illuminate the historical aspects of change, it focuses on the stories of three players and one supporting coach.
Findings
Numerous symbols of change emerge that have multiple and contradictory meanings. The meanings around success and failure are renegotiated over time as individuals struggle with the unmet expectations of change. Moreover, individuals are unable to shed the failures of the past and move forward.
Practical implications
Change is a complex and messy process of managing multiple meanings. Understanding change entails more than a snapshot picture of an organization. New leaders have no control over the past, yet they need to be aware of how individuals experienced the past in order to increase the likelihood of success in the present.
Originality/value
Success and failure are experienced as an ongoing process as athletes and coaches experience, reflect on and interact with others. In illuminating the role of history in how change is experienced in the present, the paper demonstrates that the past can serve as both an immobilizing force, as well as a comparative point enabling individuals to rationalize their emotions.
Keywords
Citation
Parker, D. and Grandy, G. (2009), "Looking to the past to understand the present: organizational change in varsity sport", Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management, Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 231-254. https://doi.org/10.1108/17465640911002527
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited