Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• Saeid yarmohammadi Monfaared ¹
• Abbas Naghizadeh-Baghi ²
• Mehrdad Moharramzadeh ³
• Nasrin Azizian-Kohan ²

¹ Ph.D Student in Sports Management, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili. Ardabil, Iran

² Associate Professor of Sports Management Department, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili. Ardabil, Iran

³ . Professor of Sports Management Department, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili. Ardabil, Iran

Abstract

Purpose: Undoubtedly, the sustainable and all-round development of organizations depends on the presence of a competent management team at the head of those organizations. The governance of meritocracy in administrative institutions causes many transformations and changes and, as a result, promotes human capital and the development of countries. Establishing a meritocracy system in organizations can lead to ensuring social justice, increasing motivation, dynamism, creativity, innovation, and mobility of managers, reducing administrative and financial corruption, increasing organizational productivity and optimal use of departmental budgets, and developing human capital. The meritocracy approach is one of the most effective and efficient approaches to creating group cohesion in the organization. By using this approach, the organization can take steps as a coherent system to advance its anticipated goals. Also, the meritocracy approach aimed at employing competent forces seeks to ensure that high-level managers of sports organizations have the necessary expertise, ability, and competencies to prevent corruption, various abuses, and waste of resources while increasing productivity in these organizations. Therefore, it is very important to employ people in suitable positions with their abilities, especially in sports organizations that have their conditions in the form of a meritocracy system. Examining the current conditions in the sports field of the country shows that there are many problems and obstacles in the management of sports organizations and the proper management of human resources. The absence of specific rules and framework in the employment of sports managers, political work and game politics in sports, unnecessary administrative bureaucracy, instability in managerial positions with the transfer of governments, lack of performance clarification, lack of meritocracy culture in sports, downplaying the issue of sports, lack of sportsmanship of high-ranking managers of organizations sports, etc. can be considered among the challenges in the path of meritocracy in sports organizations. Therefore, the purpose of the current research was to investigate the effective factors on the optimal management of sports organizations with a meritocracy approach.
Design/ methodology/ approach: The research method is of a qualitative type, which is considered practical in terms of its purpose, and it is an exploratory type of research in which a thematic analysis method is used. The research community was formed by the senior managers of sports organizations and faculty members of the sports management field of the country's universities. A non-probability targeted sampling method was used to select the interviewees. The research sample included 21 senior managers of sports organizations and sports management professors in the country. To collect data, a semi-structured interview with experts was used, which continued until theoretical saturation. MAXQDA20 software was used to analyze the interviews. Also, in the current research, the method of agreement between coders and determination of the Feliss Cappa coefficient were used to calculate reliability. Finally, the Feliss Cappa is 0/70. It was found that there is good agreement between the coders.
Research Findings: Based on the findings of the research, the effective factors on the optimal management of sports organizations with a meritocracy approach, including 132 open codes, were obtained, which were placed in 16 subcategories. From the obtained subcategories, 7 core categories were obtained, which include: individual factors (general competencies, intellectual competencies, belief competencies, political competencies, scientific-specialist competencies, management competencies, communication competencies, economic competencies), political factors, economic factors (economic conditions), legal factors (legislation, rule of law), social factors, cultural factors, and organizational factors.
Limitations & Consequences: Unfortunately, it was observed that part of the research community was not at the head of sports organizations based on meritocracy. Also, the findings of this research were only related to sports organizations and cannot be generalized to other organizations.
Practical Consequences: The findings of this research can practically pave the way for success and achieving goals in these organizations by providing a coherent framework of effective factors on the optimal management of sports organizations with a meritocracy approach. The growth and success of the country's sports organizations will undoubtedly lead to the elevation of the country's sports in all aspects.
Innovation or value of the Article: The subject of the research has not been studied in the country so far, and this research was investigated for the first time in sports organizations.
Paper Type: Original Paper

Keywords

• Optimal management
• meritocracy
• sports organizations
• competenc