治理網絡:2009年世界運動會個案研究

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(1)National Taiwan Normal University Sports and Leisure Management Master’s Thesis. Network Governance: A Case Study of The World Games 2009. Graduate： Liao, Hsiao-ling Supervisor： Tang, Ming-shin Liu, Hung-yu July, 2008 Taipei Taiwan.

(2) . 治理網絡: 2009 年世界運動會個案研究完成年月：2008 年 7 月研究生：廖曉玲指導教授：湯銘新劉宏裕 . 摘要研究之主要目的在於調查 2009 世界運動會的治理網絡，並嘗試透過觀察治理網絡建構的過程、結構以初步探討其績效。本研究首先討論網路的概念以及治理網絡的發展，其後進一步的討論影響網絡發展的情境。最後討論如何評估非營利治理網絡—特別是專案網絡的效率。透過文獻蒐集以瞭解有哪些機構/個人在 2009 世界運動會治理網絡中扮演利害關係人的角色。第二階段透過半結構式訪談上述的利害關係人。本研究發現此治理網絡有三個階段的發展，這三個階段網絡特色的轉變與高雄組委會的行政角色的變化有關且具有傳統專案網絡的特性。此外，受訪者亦指出此治理網絡的一些缺失。最後，本研究發現此網絡治理型態屬於 NAO，故以 NAO 衡量效率的標準—關係的正式化程度、多重性以及 NAO 進行該網絡效率的評估。本研究推論 2009 世界運動會網絡之組織合作效率仍有待加強之原因包含 1. 各組織缺乏正式性的文件規範各組織的機能、責任與義務分工 2.缺乏強而有力的協調者處理網絡成員間之衝突。上述情形或多或少暗示著網絡的成員多從個別組織的角度進行治理行為而未基於整體網絡效益之考量。關鍵字：2009 世界運動會、高雄組委會、NAO、網絡、治理. . iii.

(3) . Network Governance: A Case Study of the World Games 2009 ABSTRACT Date: July, 2008 Student: Liao, Hsiao-ling Adviser: Tang, Ming-shin Liu, Hung-yu. The focus of this study was to investigate the development, structure, and performance of the governance network established to organise the World Games 2009 to be held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The study sought to identify the process used to establish the governance network, to identify the structure of the governance network, and to make a preliminary assessment of its performance. This study has reviewed the concept of networks and how to use networks as a form of governance, as well as how contingency issues affect the development of networks, and, finally, how to evaluate the effectiveness of networks, especially in non-profit networks and project networks . Two stages of data collection were undertaken: firstly, collection of documents relating to the roles of the various network members involved in the 2009 World Games; and secondly semi-structured interviews with selected representatives of network member organisations. The results of the study illustrated that there was clearly a three stage process that led to the development of the network, that the network exhibited the structural characteristics associated with a project network with the KOC acting as the network administrative organisation, and that interviewees perceived a number of shortcomings in how the network was performing. The study found that the network formed for the World Games 2009 has the characteristic of project network and the form of governance is NAO. This study concluded that the extent of formalisation in relationships, multiplexity and the existence of NAO are three criteria that were suitable to use in the analyse of the effectiveness for the network in this study. The . iv.

(4) effectiveness of the governance network in place for the World Games 2009 is not high due to the lack of formality in defining the function, obligation and rights of each network member organisation. In addition, there is no power coordinator to deal with the conflicts that have emerged between network member organisations. This suggests that network members have not yet grasped the difference between governing the relationships in the network on the basis of network outcomes rather than impacts on outcomes rather than impacts on individual organisation.. Key Words: World Games 2009, KOC, NAO, network, governance . . v.

(5) . CONTENTS 口試委員與所長簽字證書.............................................................................................i 授權書............................................................................................................................ii ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................iii CONTENTS..................................................................................................................vi TABLES .......................................................................................................................ix FIGURES....................................................................................................................... x ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................................xi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.........................................................................................xii. CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION..........................................................1. The history of World Games ...................................................................................... 1 The political context of Taiwan ................................................................................. 3 Need for the study ...................................................................................................... 7 Objectives for the study.............................................................................................. 7. CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW..............................................9. Inter-organisational relationships ............................................................................... 9 Transaction cost economics (TCE)...................................................................... 10 Resource dependence theory................................................................................ 11 Strategic choice.................................................................................................... 11 Stakeholder theory ............................................................................................... 11 Learning theory.................................................................................................... 12 Institutional theory ............................................................................................... 13 Summary .............................................................................................................. 13 Networks .................................................................................................................. 14 Definition of network........................................................................................... 15 . vi.

(6) Governance in networks ...................................................................................... 16 Forms of network governance ............................................................................. 17 Participant-governed networks ............................................................................ 17 Lead organization-governed networks................................................................. 18 Network administrative organization (NAO) ...................................................... 19 Evaluation of the network effectiveness .............................................................. 19 Summary .............................................................................................................. 22. CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY.......................................................23. Data collection procedures ....................................................................................... 23 Stage 1 Document analysis .................................................................................. 23 Stage 2 Semi-structured interviews ..................................................................... 24 Summary .................................................................................................................. 29. CHAPTER 4. RESULTS......................................................................30. Research question 1 : The development of governance network............................. 30 Stage 1 : Prior to bidding for the World Games................................................... 30 Stage 2 : Bidding for the World Games 2009 ...................................................... 32 Stage 3 : Network in the lead up to the World Games 2009 ................................ 34 Research question 2 : The structural characteristics of the governance network..... 41 Research question 3 : The perception held by network members of the performance of the governance network ................................................... 43 Summary .................................................................................................................. 49. CHAPTER 5. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS .......................50. Network structure..................................................................................................... 50 The development of network governance ................................................................ 51 The evaluation of network effectiveness.................................................................. 52 Limitations of the study............................................................................................ 55 Implications for Theory............................................................................................ 55 . vii.

(7) Practical recommendations for the World Games 2009........................................... 57 Future research into global sport networks .............................................................. 57 Concluding statement ............................................................................................... 58. REFERENCES........................................................................................59 APPENDICES .........................................................................................62 Initial interview schedule ......................................................................................... 62 CTOC interview record ( I ) ..................................................................................... 62 CTOC interview record ( II ).................................................................................... 70 SAC interview record............................................................................................... 75 NFs—Underwater Sports Federation interview record............................................ 76 KOC interview record .............................................................................................. 79 KCG interview record .............................................................................................. 93 KCC interview record .............................................................................................. 98 . . viii.

(8) . TABLES 1.1 Number of participating sports, nations and athletes in the World Games ............. 2 1.2 Power struggles and tensions between R.O.C and P.R.C. in the Olympic Movements............................................................................................................... 4 3.1 The interviewees of each organization .................................................................. 25 4.1 The relationships between panels of KOC and Department of KCG .................... 37. . ix.

(9) FIGURES 3.1 Excerpt from interview transcript .......................................................................... 28 3.2 Excerpt from code “trust” ...................................................................................... 28 4.1 Network prior to bidding for the World Games 2009............................................ 32 4.2 Network during the bidding stage for the World Games 2009.............................. 34 4.3 Network in the lead up to the World Games 2009................................................. 40. . x.

(10) . ABBREVIATIONS IFs: International Sports Federations IOC: International Olympic Committee IWGA: International World Games Association KCC: Kaohsiung City Council KCG: Kaohsiung City Government KOC: Kaohsiung Organising Committee KSC: Kaohsiung Sports Committee NAO: network administrative organisation NFs: National Sports Federations ROCSF: Republic of China Sports Federation SAC: Sports Affairs Council. . xi.

(11) . ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is impossible to complete the thesis without the support from a number of people. Foremost of them all, I would like to thank my supervisor on Australia base— Dr. Russell Hoye. He always provided his fully support, no matter in this research or in my daily life in Australia; and he always knew how to encourage me when I felt depressed during the long research journey with his sense of humour. It was one of the best years of my life to have the chance to study with Dr. Hoye. Besides, I also want to thank Dr. Shao-hsi Chang and Dr. Ming-shin Tang, without them, it is impossible for me to have the chance to study in Australia and finish the thesis like this.. I would also like to show my appreciation to all my friends, especially Johnny Peng, Ying-ki Fung, Po-ya Liao, Dr. Ching-li, Derek, Becky, Nina, Anna and Asra. Thanks for them for being my company whether in the good times or bad times.. I would like to thank all the interviewees in the course of this study. The research could not be completed without their unselfish sharing of the valuable experience and information.. Finally, I want to express my appreciation to my mom and my fencing coach Mr. Tsung, for them always support me and give me many wisdom comments whenever I need. I feel very grateful for being educated as an individual by them. I believe this is the best gift I ever have in my life.. I hope this thesis can do at least a little contribution to Taiwan’s sports environment.. . xii.

(12) . 1. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION It is generally accepted that hosting a high profile world class sporting event can bring some economic benefit, such as broadcasting rights, tourism revenue, sponsorship, or urban regeneration or development to a city, region or country. Besides these economic benefits, sport events can also be seen to be a tool for propaganda and diplomacy. For example, South Korea mended their relationship with North Korea through their joint team for Olympic Games in 1988 and their relationship with Japan through co-hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2002. “Major sports events also provide a platform for host locations to benefit from positive place marketing effects, for governing bodies to develop their major event delivery capacity, for volunteers to gain valuable experience and for communities to enjoy a feel good factor”(UK Sport, n.d., para. 7). These impacts are maximised with effective partnerships between central government, governing bodies, and local organising committees. It was a combination of these perceived benefits that led to Taiwan bidding to host the 2009 World Games.. The history of World Games The World Games have been held every four years since 1981. The objective of the event is to provide a global competition arena for non-Olympic sports. While there were only 1000 athletes involved in the 1 st World Games held in 1981 at Santa Clara, the 7 th World Games held in Germany in 2005 attracted more than 3000 athletes from 80 nations. The idea of the event is that it is staged at existing venues, and in appropriately sized facilities (International World Games Association [IWGA], n.d.). The official sports of the World Games are selected according to the infrastructure and venues available from the host city. In addition, the host city has the right to endorse additional sports as invitational sports, which are not governed by the International World Games Association (IWGA, n.d.). However, the sport. .

(13) . 2. federations need to be recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or be full members of General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) to be included in the World Games program (IWGA, 2000). In addition, the sports should not currently be on the programs of the Olympiad. Table 1.1 shows the numbers of participating sports, nations and athletes from 1981 to 2005 in the World Games. Table 1.1 Number of participating sports, nations and athletes in the World Games The World Games Santa Clara London Karlsruhe The Hague Lahti Akita Duisburg. Year. Total Sports. Official Sports. Invitational Sports. Total Nations. Total Athletes. 1981. 18. 18. 0. n/a. 1265. 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005. 23 19 25 30 31 38. 19 19 22 25 26 32. 4 0 3 5 5 6. n/a n/a 69 78 93 89. 1550 1965 2275 2600 3200 3400. Source: IWGA (n.d.). The IWGA was established in 1980, Seoul, Republic of Korea, and is constituted as a legal person in Switzerland. The IWGA is recognized by the IOC and is also a member of the GAISF, being represented on the council of GAISF. According to the constitution of the IWGA (2005, p.3), the objectives of IWGA are: 1. To develop the popularity of the sports or disciplines of International Sports Federations in membership with IWGA. 2. To raise the status and image of the Member Federations in international and national bodies governing sport. 3. To improve the prominence of the sports or disciplines of sports of the Member Federations through excellence in sport.. .

(14) . 3. 4. To strengthen the bond of friendship between Member Federations and to conserve the traditional values of sport.. Compared to other multi sport events, the World Games is younger and of a smaller scale. The event is also staged using existing sport facilities and stadia, so the expenditure for the host city should be less. Nevertheless, for a country lacking experience in hosting international multi sports events, the World Games presents a number of challenges, not least of these being the governance of the event.. The following section reviews the political status of Taiwan in order to understand the incentives for Taiwan to bid for this event and how Taiwan’s special political status affects their sport policy. The final section of this chapter outlines the research questions for this thesis.. The political context of Taiwan In 1949, the Chiang Kai-shek regime fled to Taiwan and continued as the ruling power over the Republic of China (ROC). The regime claimed to IOC about its jurisdiction of Chinese Olympic Committee in Taiwan (Chan, 1985). However, with the rise of Mainland China (known as the People’s Republic of China or PRC), most of the countries turned to recognise PRC as the only China rather than ROC. In 1954, the Olympic Committee of PRC was recognised by IOC. Thus, a “twoChinas” situation was created in Olympic movement (Chan, 1985). However, this situation couldn’t be accepted by PRC, since one China policy is considered a national benefit of PRC. In order to solve the problem, in 1981, an agreement was reached in Lausanne, Switzerland, that the Olympic committee in R.O.C/Taiwan is recognised as the name of “Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee” (CTOC), and the flag and anthem of CTOC needs to be recognised by IOC, which means CTOC cannot use the national flag/anthem, so as to solve the “two-Chinas” situation. In addition, Samaranch, the then president of IOC guaranteed that CTOC would be. .

(15) . 4. treated just like other NOCs. The result is well known as the “Olympic Formula” giving Taiwan the right to participate in international sports event, even though Taiwan was expelled by United Nations. In the meanwhile, the PRC is attempting to exclude Taiwan from attending and bidding for these international sports events. Hence, the tensions increase and many conflicts happened in international sporting field, especially in Olympic Movement (Liu, 2005). As table 1.2 showed Table 1.2 Power Struggles and Tensions between ROC and PRC in the Olympic Movement Year. Organization/Event. 1959 IOC. 1968 IOC 68th Annual Conference. The IOC was negotiating with the ROC Olympic committee to readjust the title of the National Olympic Committee and finally to end recognition of the ROC Olympic Committee in 1959. IOC re-recognises the ROC Olympic Committee.. 1972 Winter Olympic Games. ROC sends players to the Winter Olympic Games for the first time.. 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. Canadian government announced its unwillingness to grant athletes from the ROC admittance to the country since Canada did not recognize that nation’s existence, even though ROC was a member of the IOC. ROC Olympic Committee accused IOC of not obeying the Olympic Charter. Henry Hsu, IOC Member of the ROC, sought an injunction to prevent the IOC’s decision to reject the ROC Olympic Committee. The Swiss court found in the ROC’s favour late in 1979. Due to restriction concerning the national title, flag and anthem, ROC unwilling to attend the Games. ROC rejoins the summer Olympic Games in Los Angles.. 1979 IOC. 1980 Moscow Olympic Games 1984 IOC 1986 IOC. Source: Liu (2005, p.231). . Actions. ROC attends the Games for the first time with the title of Chinese Taipei with new flag and anthem..

(16) . 5. In 2000, the Democratic Progress Party (DPP) replaced Kuomintang (KMT), the party that had ruled Taiwan for over 50 years. The DPP is known for its ideal to make Taiwan to be independent from mainland China and uses sport as a tool of diplomacy so as to create national identity in the world. The main strategy of the DPP government is to bid for mega events, such as East Asian Games, Asian Games, International University Games, and the World Games. The Executive Yuan (the executive department of central government) assigned Kaohsiung City, the biggest city in southern part of Taiwan, to bid for the World Games for 2009. Kaohsiung City was also the city entitled to bid for the 2002 Asian Games in order to facilitate the development of sport in South Taiwan and balance the sport education between north and south (Liu, 2005). Moreover, comparing to Taipei city, Kaohsiung city seems more representative of the “local regime/voice” for Taiwan for it is also ruled by DPP party. This situation also strengthens the position for Kaohsiung city to get fully support from central government to host the World Games.. In order to host the World Games 2009, the Sport Affair Council (SAC), Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (CTOC), and the Kaohsiung City Government (KCG) organized a lobbying group to convince the board members of IWGA that Kaohsiung city was best placed to host the 8 th World Games. In 2004, the IWGA announced that Kaohsiung city was to be the host city of the 8 th World Games. Because of the special political position of Taiwan, there are some special items in the host city contract, most notably:. Considering the special position of Chinese Taipei vis-à-vis the People’s Republic of China within the international sports community which has been established by the Nagoya Resolution of 1979 and the subsequent agreement between the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee on 23 March, the parties agree on the following additional clause for the agreement for World Games 2009 in Kaohsiung. .

(17) . 6. City. 8.2: Kaohsiung City and higher authorities of the country agrees and accepts to refrain from using the World Games and/or the World Games event in Kaohsiung for the promotion of any political position deviating from the situation vis-à-vis the People’s Republic of China on which the agreement of 23 March 1981is based and not to use the World Games 2009 event as an instrument for political campaigns for such deviation. 8.3: In case the World Games is used for any political purpose mentioned in 8.2. the IWGA has the right to withdraw from the agreement between Kaohsiung City and the IWGA.. According to the host city contract, the Kaohsiung Organizing Committee (KOC) was established by KOG in 2005, and KOC executes all duties of KOG in relation to the World Games. The KOG needs to be responsible towards the IWGA for the fulfilment of the agreement by the KOC. The questions of how the KOC cooperates with IWGA under such a complicated political status of Chinese Taipei in the sports arena and the special ideological features of Kaohsiung city, and the challenges these present for governing the network of organisations responsible for delivering the World Games in 2009 are important research questions.. .

(18) . 7. Need for the study The special political status of Taiwan and the country’s lack of experience in hosting international multi sport events make the 2009 World Games a difficult task, not only for the organising committee, but also other organisations such as central government and local government. The majority of literature on Taiwan’s sports events, however, focuses on commercial aspects such as how sponsorship enhances the image of businesses or brands (e.g. Yang, 2004; Feng, 1998) or how sports event facilitate urban development (e.g. Li, 2006; Zhao, 2005; Tien, 2003). These studies tend to view sports events as tools to create political or economic benefits rather than exploring the governance or management of the events themselves. In addition, most of the discussion in sports governance is in the board of directors of a single and permanently established sports organisation. There have been few attempts to analyse governance in a short-term, policy-driven project context. For this reason, this study focuses on the issue of network governance, specifically the event delivery capacity of the governance network established to deliver a global multi-sport event. In this case, the governance network includes organisations ranging from local to international level, and both government and non-government organisations.. Objectives of the study The focus of this study was to investigate the development, structure, and performance of the governance network established to organise the World Games 2009 to be held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The study sought to identify the process used to establish the governance network, to identify the structure of the governance network, and to make a preliminary assessment of its performance.. Specifically, the objective of the study is to address the following broad questions: 1. How did the governance network responsible for organising the World Games 2009 develop?. .

(19) . 8. 2. What are the structural characteristics of the governance network responsible for organising the World Games 2009?, and 3. What are the perceptions held by network members of the performance of the governance network responsible for organising the World Games 2009? The study used governance network theory and theories related to interorganisational relationships as the framework for conceptualising and exploring network development, structure and performance. The study utilised a qualitative research design based on content analysis of documents and semi structured interviews of representatives of network member organisations. The following chapter reviews the literature related to the governance of networks and associated issues of inter-organisational relationships.. .

(20) . 9. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Since the objective of the study is to understand the governance structure and relationships among the stakeholders involved in governing the World Games 2009, it is necessary to focus on two related but distinct areas of literature: interorganisational relationships (IORs) and network theory. When it comes to IORs, some studies analyse them from a “dyadic” perspective while others choose to analyse them by using the concept of networks. Since the basic assumption of the present study is that the inefficiency of the interactions among each organisation may result in the whole network’s failure—that may cause the failure of event delivery capacity, the chapter begins with the introduction of IORs, including why relationships are built between two organisations and how these reasons affect the types of IORs that are developed. The concept of networks is introduced in the second part of this review, specifically the governance of networks and the relationship between different forms of governance and effectiveness.. Inter-organisational relationships Many general discussions of IORs have addressed the issue of control and management of linkages. Van de Ven, Walker, and Liston (Provan, 1983) have tried to analyse these linkages from three levels: individual, cluster relationships and a whole network. IORs can be analysed through in-depth observation about how the linkage is maintained through the compromises among the organisations. Oliver (1990) directly analysed the formation of IORs from the organisational prospective and investigated the purposes that organisations sought to establish linkages with each other. She concluded six determinants –necessity, asymmetry, reciprocity, efficiency, stability and legitimacy may affect the type of IORs that organisations may choose. Most of the time, organisations form the relationship voluntarily in order to solve the problem of asymmetry in power or try to increase their efficiency,. .

(21) . 10. stability or legitimacy through the exchange of resource (Oliver, 1990). Unlike many. literatures. focused. on. voluntary. relationships,. Oliver. mentioned. that ”necessity” is a determinant to differentiate those mandated and voluntary relationships, she thinks that the relationship might not occurred voluntarily unless it is dictated by higher authorities to meet the requirements. It is worth noting that mandated relationships may increase the frequency of interactions between respective organisations, and reduce their perception to environment (cf. Oliver, 1990, p.243). Organisations may need to conform to the dictates of a higher authority so as not to suffer from the loss of resources or be expelled from the field (Oliver, 1990). The determinant (necessity) is more appropriate to explain the interactions. between. governmental. organisations. or. non-. governmental. organisations.. To improve efficiency, acquire resources, avoid crises, increase profit, reduce costs, and increase legitimacy are common goals of profit oriented organisations. Based on these goals, Barringer & Harrison (2000) used six theoretical paradigms— transaction costs economics, resource dependence, strategic choice, stakeholder theory of the firm, organisational learning, and institutional theory to explain the formation of IORs amongst profit seeking firms.. Transaction cost economics (TCE) The purest application of transaction cost economics (TCE) is to decide whether to make or to buy, so as to minimize the production and transaction cost and increase the profit as well. Firms choose different type of IORs for different reason. To a local firm that wants to manage foreign market, it may establish joint ventures to avoid the cost of opportunism, monitoring, management of internalized activity; while to a firm that wants to minimize transaction cost by specializing the essential activities may choose to form a network. Nevertheless, TCE is criticized by some studies for only using an economic perspective to explain the formation of. .

(22) . 11. relationships and neglects other issues such as the possibility of conflicts during the cooperation.. Resource dependence theory Resource dependence theory focuses on the resources that must be obtained from outside to make organisations survive or prosper. Hence, organisations need to interact with the environment to obtain resources (Barringer & Harrison 2000, p.372). The resources could be money, land, time, knowledge, contacts, reputation, and trust (Larson & Wikström, 2001, p.54). Organisations need to acquire the control of critical resource to decrease the dependence on other organisations and increase the dependence of other organisations on them. In order to achieve the goals,. organisations. will. enter. into. partnerships. to. take. advantage. of. complementary asset, and increase the power relative to other organisations. This theory is criticised for it doesn’t mention how to implement the resource to develop the competencies.. Strategic choice Strategic choice basically develops out of economic perspective that firms form alliance for some strategic reasons, such as to increase their market power, which means to reduce cost or to provide attractive services (Barringer & Harrison 2000, p.375). This theory somewhat combines TCE and resource dependence theory to explain how the firms use their strategic plans to seek out the resource and decrease the cost; in the meanwhile, strategic choice theory perceives that political relationship as a tool to increase competiveness, this idea wasn’t mentioned in earlier theories.. Stakeholder theory To a firm, stakeholders can be a group or individuals that affect or be affected by a firm (Barringer & Harrison 2000, p.376). Merrilees, Getz & O’Brien (2005). .

(23) . identifies. 12. three. salient. features. that. stakeholders. have—. interdependency,. affecting/being affected by the organisation and the sense of an interest or right in the organisation. Based on the contracts or informal agreement, these stakeholders form a network. The positions of these stakeholders are decided by how the organisations manage the resources. Thus, the importance of each stakeholder may vary, and sometimes these stakeholders may be competing groups for the multiple interests. An effective stakeholder management is to decide which stakeholder matters most (Barringer & Harrison 2000, p.376). For the importance of stakeholders differs, Clarkson (cf.Getz et al, 2005, p.1064) classified stakeholders to primary and secondary. If the stakeholders are vital for the survival of the organisation, they are primary stakeholders; if they do not, they are secondary stakeholders. From a marketing perspective, the primary stakeholders for a sports event are those who have commercial influence, and the secondary stakeholders may be the sport bodies and government.. Learning theory Proponents of organisational learning suggest that organisations form IORs for the sake of learning. Also, learning is seen as an effective way for a firm to transfer knowledge across firms (Barringer & Harrison, 2000).That explains why two companies may choose to have interlocking directorates to have a channel for exchanging knowledge and information (Barringer & Harrison, 2000, p.378). A firm’s learning ability –called “absorptive ability”, is defined by Cohen and Levinthal (cf. Barringer & Harrison, 2000, p.379) as the ability to “recognize the value of new, external knowledge, assimilate it, and apply it to commercial ends”. The ability is based on a firm’s prior experience, and the quality of the employees, systems, incentives, and organisation culture (Barringer & Harrison, 2000). However, the theory is criticized for it stresses too much on the advantage of learning but neglects the cost during the process such as training the employee or updates the systems.. .

(24) . 13. Institutional theory Finally, institutional theory assumes that external pressures motivate firms to get legitimacy. To a firm, legitimacy is “a key to the doors to gain access to critical resource and expertise (Barringer & Harrison, 2000).” Hence, a small firm may try to declare the alliance with other well-known firms or mimicries the mode of successful firms to enhance a firm’s reputation or demonstrate social worthiness (Oliver, 1991).. From the six paradigms listed above we can find that firms form IORs with other organisations may out of either economic or political reasons, or, both. These different reasons combined together forming different contingencies for individual firm that also affect the types of IORs for firms choose to build.. Summary Since the contingencies that firms face are complex and expanding, the contingencies and needs for different firms also vary. Some may want to increase efficiency and more profit by avoiding crisis when others by increasing the legitimacy and getting more resources. The studies on IORs have, however, focussed almost exclusively on dyadic analyses between for-profit firms and thus may not fully explain the nature of IORs between not-for-profit organisations.. From. a. theoretical. perspective,. a. non-profit. organisation,. especially. the. organisation established for the implementation of policy, the economic motivation for organisations to form relationships could be less important. That means organisations may not need to form a relationship just because they want to decrease transaction cost or because they want to learn some knowledge with each other; also, they do not need to make strategic choice to find a partner, since the relationships may be formed for policy reasons, rather than economic reasons. In other words, these kinds of relationships could be formed because they are. .

(25) . 14. mandatory rather than through the choice of two organisations. However, how the resources are distributed in different organisations is an important issue in the formation of IORs, which is not mentioned in resource dependence theory but it does mention that organisations need to build the ties for reasons. In addition, how resources are distributed depends on which organisation has the leading position also matters to the effectiveness. Hence, resource dependence theory and stakeholder theory are still important when it comes to the IORs in non-profit organisations.. Networks In the issue of IORs, some scholars focus on the motivation of for-profit organisations to form the ties with others from economic views, while other scholars concern about the “collectives of IORs” in non-profit organisations. Take Provan, for example, he concerns about the effectiveness of the cooperation, especially in medical organisations.. In 1983, Provan made three distinct levels of analysis in IORs, the first level focuses on individual dyads so as to gain an in-depth understanding of linkage evolution and maintenance. The second is on cluster of dyadic relations maintained by a focal organisation so as to explain why or when organisations form linkages in terms of its structure and activities. And the last level is on entire network of linkage organisations and the behaviour and activities of an entire group of connected organisations as well as those specific IORs that compromise the network is examined. The network level seems to be a new perspective to analyse IOR besides dyadic relationship. However, no matter in what level of analysis, effectiveness is still a critical concept, and the different level of analysis just tries to answer the key question of “effectiveness for whom” (Provan & Kenis, 2007). In the following section, the definition of networks, the form of networks, and the concept of network governance are reviewed.. .

(26) . 15. Definition of network Some studies define a network as “a set of nodes and the set of ties representing some relationship, or lack of relationship, between the nodes” (cf. Provan, K. G.., Fish, A., & Sydow, J., 2007, p.481), and think network as “multilateral collectivities, networks can become extremely complex entities that require explanations that go well beyond the dyadic approaches that have been traditionally discussed in the organisation theory and strategic management literature”(Provan & Kenis, 2007, p.231).. While Podolny & Page (1998, p.59) further defines network as “Any collection of actors (N≥2) that pursue repeated, enduring exchange relations with one another and , at the same time, lack a legitimate organisational authority to arbitrate and resolve disputes that may arise during the exchange.” Provan & Kenis (2007, p.231) view networks as “groups of three or more legally autonomous organisations that work together to achieve not only their own goals but also a collective goal. Such networks may be self-initiated, by network members themselves, or may be mandated or contracted”.. Through the definition listed above, we can find that at the beginning, the definition of network more or less base on traditional organisation theory, that is, they believe that organisations form the ties for getting resources through exchanges, and the reward of the exchange is to reach the individual goal. The idea of “network” is perceived nothing but the collectives of nodes and ties. However, in Podolny & Page’s definition, the idea of “authority” was mentioned, that means the “governance of the whole network” became an issue. Moreover, the idea of “collective goal” is also mentioned in network theory. Traditional organisational theories tend to focus on individual goal, and collective goal may be achieved if individual organisations can act effectively with other organisations. But Provan & Milward (1995, p.2) took the network formed with mental health organisations for. .

(27) . 16. example, and said that: If the overall well-being of clients is a goal, then effectiveness must be assessed at the network level, since client well-being depends on the integrated and coordinated actions of many different agencies separately providing shelter, transportation, food, and health , mental health, legal, vocational, recreational, family, and income support services.. As a result, what matters in the idea of a “network” could be viewing network as a unit to analyse and concern about the governance issue, if the goal of the network matters.. In addition, different definitions of network between traditional and new perspectives have led to two different schools of thought being established on how to analyse networks. Some studies made a distinction between micro-level and macro-level network focus, while others refer to the distinction the egocentric network versus whole network. Two basic approaches are developed hereafter: the “network analytical” approach and the “network as a form of governance” approach (Provan & Kenis, 2007, p.4).. Governance in networks The governance of organisations has been mentioned in many IORs literature for the issue is highly related to effectiveness. The concept of governance is often pertinent to the idea of direction, control and regulation. In sports field, governance could mean to establish a direction or strategy to guide the sports organisation and to control its activities so as to attain the outcomes effectively (Hoye & Cuskelly, 2007, p.10). Most of the studies in governance concern about how the board of individual organisation guide and monitor the participants to attain its goal. It suggests that the theme of governance is in delivering the outcome effectively for. .

(28) . 17. the organisation. However, the object of governance moves from organisation to network itself. Just as Provan & Kenis (2007, p.229) mentions that “the study of effectiveness has been problematic at both organizational level and network levels, especially regarding the key question, ‘effectiveness for whom’ ”?. Since the network effectiveness is defined as “the attainment of positive networklevel outcomes that could not normally be achieved by individual organisational participants acting independently” (Provan & Kenis, 2007, p.230), it is necessary to discuss in a broader level so as to include all the organisations. The focus of network governance is in how different extent of centrality affects the range of governance in the whole network and purely discusses the number, size and type of the cliques in the network. The properties of analysis help to analyse the form of governance in organisations and networks (Provan et al., 2007).. Forms of network governance Based on two dimensions—the extent of centralisation and the governance of network is from external or internal, Provan & Kenis (2007) identify three forms of network governance— participant-governed networks, lead organisation-governed networks and network administrative organisation (NAO). In addition, for the form of governance is determined by decision makers rather than simply emerge randomly, to understand the key factors that are perceived could affect the effectiveness of form of governance is important. Provan & Kenis further propose the four predictors – trust, number of participants, goal consensus, and need for network-level competencies can be used to explain why decision makers choose one form over another when the contingency changes. Three forms of network governance and the indicators in each form are introduced in sequence.. Participant-governed networks Namely, the form of participant-governed networks is governed by the members in. .

(29) . 18. the network. If the network is highly decentralized, then the members have relatively equal basis in governance, and no single entity can represent the whole network. This form often may use in smaller network, so the governance can be shared by all the participants in the network. The number of participants should be few so as to keep the frequency communication and strengthen trust and goal consensus. However, whilst more new-coming members enter the network, the density of trust ties and consensus in goal may decrease, such form of governance may become less effective, and the decision may tend to adopt other forms of governance. In addition, if interdependent task requirements are high, or there is strong pressure outside the network, demanding the whole network to enhance in some way, then the effectiveness of this governance will be less because individual organisation doesn’t have enough competency to fulfil the task by itself; however, for lead organisation-governed network and network-governed administrative organisation are more effective in dealing with high interdependency tasks and external pressure (Provan & Kenis, 2007).. Lead organisation-governed networks When the network is centralized to extreme, some lead organisation-governed networks may control the process of governance since they relatively have more resource or legitimacy than other members in the network or is simply mandated by external funding entity, hence, the extent of goal consensus is moderately low. The function of the lead organisation. may “underwrite the cost of network. administration on its own, receive resource contributions from network members, or seek and control access to external funding through grants or government funding” (Provan & Kenis, 2007, p.236). Except the specific function, the lead organisation still provides services as other members do. Compared with the participant-governed network, this network has very low density in trust ties and lower goal consensus for the network has moderate number of participants and the governance is highly centralised.. .

(30) . 19. Network administrative organisation (NAO) The third form, network administrative organisation (NAO), has an independent administrative entity outside the whole network, and the entity plays a key role in coordinating and sustaining the network (Provan & Kenis, 2007). NAO can be seen as an agent that “acquire for and then distributes resources to the network” and is designated to “guide, coordinate, and legitimise network activities or to monitor service provision” as well (Provan & Milward, 2001, p.419). It can be either a formal organisation with its staff, executive directors and board members –these members may include all or a subset of network members, or runs by an individual (cf. Kenis & Provan, 2007, p.236). Just like lead organisations, sometimes an NAO can be run by government through funding and/or network facilitation in the beginning (cf. Provan & Kenis, 2007, p.236). Still, unlike lead organisations, NAO does not have to provide services as other members in the networks. Compared with the other two forms of governance, the density of trust in this form of governance is moderate, and the goal consensus is moderately high since the NAO is also monitored by members in the network at the same time. Take the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAFIS) for example, the organisation was created to “ unite, support and promote its member International Sports Federations (IFs) and Organisations for the co-ordination and protection of their common aims and interests, communication and co-operation, while at the same time conserving and respecting their autonomy”(AGFIS, n.d). There are 104 members in the network, so it is necessary to have a centralised network so as to guarantee the effectiveness of the network. Meanwhile, the boards of directors are selected by its members, so members have a channel to monitor AGFIS.. Evaluation of the network effectiveness Different networks have different features, and these features may affect the criteria to evaluate its effectiveness. For example, to evaluate the effectiveness of a public-sector organisational network could be more difficult than evaluating the. .

(31) . 20. effectiveness of a for-profit network, since the reduced resource or increased dependence are “less likely to be seen as a threat to survival” (Provan & Milward, 2001, p.415). Moreover, the stakeholders can not be identified purely from an economic perspective, but need to be identified in terms of their legitimacy in relation to the network based on a hierarchy of their contribution to and power within the network. Hence, Provan & Milward (2001, p.416) categorised the constituents of public-sector organisational networks as: principals, agents and clients. Principals are in charge of monitoring and funding the network and its activities; while agents serve as administrators and service-level professionals in the network. Last, clients are those who actually receive the services provided by the network. To evaluate the effectiveness of network, the first step is to identify the stakeholders which, in this case, are principals and agents, including primary funders and regulators, the NAO and other member organisations. Then, the second step is to analyse a network in five dimensions, namely: network membership, the extent of service that provided by the network, strength of relationships, multiplexity and administrative structure (Provan & Milward, 2001, p.418). These are now discussed in turn.. The focus in network membership should be on “the ebb and flow agencies to or from networks” (Provan & Milward, 2001, p.418), especially the numbers of core agencies that provide critical services, so the cost of coordination could be controlled. Secondly, the extent of service that is provided by the network is evaluated by how much the needed service can be provided by the network. In a highly broker network, NAO should be evaluated, for it is in charge of all the network participants and the resource distribution. The third dimension is to assess the strength of relationships. Generally speaking, those relationships that are more formally established, such as on the basis of a contract, are stronger than those formed solely on the basis of trust and commitment built on a history of interactions (cf. Provan & Milward, 2001, p.419). The fourth dimension,. .

(32) . 21. multiplexity, refers to the nature of relationships between two organisations being stronger if they have a relationship built on more than one exchange. In other words, if two organisations have multiple ties between each other, then, even if for some reason one of the ties break, they can still sustain their relationship through other ties. In other words, it guarantees the availability of continuing service for clients. The presence of an NAO indicates the network is a more viable form than other network types and that resources have been committed to developing the network. The networks without an NAO require a high level of commitment to achieve network goals and to foster interorganisational cooperation by member agencies; these two conditions are perceived to be more difficult to sustain; hence, the NAO network is perceived to be more effective (Provan & Milward, 2001, p.419).. However, not all networks exist permanently. For instance, a network may simply be established for a specific project, such as those associated with an organising committee for a major sport event. This type of network dissolves with the expiration of the project and thus can be considered to be a project network with different features. Thus the criteria to evaluate this special type of governance network also need to be discussed. Larson & Wikström (2001) applied stakeholder theory to discuss the IORs among the stakeholders in a (temporary) project network. A project network is temporally limited, dynamically changing, and is open in the sense that there are no definite criteria by which the boundary of the network may be identified and controlled. Moreover, it does not have any legitimate authority for the network as a whole (cf. Larson & Wikström, 2001, p.53). Just like other networks, stakeholders in projects also have different objectives and power. The stakeholder who has relatively more resources and higher authority has more power. Unlike Provan, Larson & Wikström (2001) are more concerned about informal relationships, which mean the relationships forming on the basis of trust and commitment rather than more formal, contract-based relationships. They propose that the higher the level of consensus among network stakeholders, the less chance. .

(33) . 22. for conflicts to emerge (Larson & Wikström, 2001, p.54). The idea of consensus includes the concept of commitment and trust which takes time to develop within a network. However, for organisations in project networks, the time for developing trust is limited, and the incentives for building trust may be diminished as network member recognise that the cooperative relationships disappear after the project is completed. Hence, “trust” in project networks is perceived to be lower, and this may result in ineffectiveness for the whole network (cf. Larson & Wikström, 2001, p.54).. Summary The research on IORs is primarily concerned about the impact of dyadic or network ties on a firm’s performance; which types of links are the most or least beneficial to individual network members; which network positions might be most or least influential and how the position of organisations in a network might shift over time in response to changes within and outside network (Provan et al., 2007). In network theory, the unit of analysis moves from dyadic ties to the whole network. This section has reviewed the concept of networks and how to use networks as a form of governance, as well as how contingency issues affect the development of networks, and, finally, how to evaluate the effectiveness of networks, especially in non-profit networks and project networks. The next chapter explains the procedures used to explore the research questions outlined in chapter 1, specifically the sampling frame and selection of subjects, instrumentation, data collection procedures, and treatment of the data for each stage of the study.. .

(34) . 23. CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY The purpose of this chapter is to explain the procedures used to explore the research questions for the study. The focus of this study was to investigate the development, structure, and performance of the governance network established to organise the World Games 2009 to be held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Specifically, this study addressed the following questions: 1. How did the governance network responsible for organising the World Games 2009 develop? 2. What are the structural characteristics of the governance network responsible for organising the World Games 2009?, and 3. What are the perceptions held by network members of the performance of the governance network responsible for organising the World Games 2009?. DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES Two stages of data collection were undertaken: firstly, collection of documents relating to the roles of the various network members involved in the 2009 World Games; and secondly semi-structured interviews with selected representatives of network member organisations. The chapter discusses the sampling frame and selection of subjects, instrumentation, data collection procedures, and treatment of the data for each stage of the study.. Stage 1 Document analysis The network member organisations were identified through an iterative process starting with organisations such as the KOC and national sport organisations. The organisations ranged from local to international level. At the local level, the organisations included KOC, KCG, KCC and Kaohsiung City Sports Committee (KSC), which was added after the interviews from other organisations. At the. .

(35) . 24. national level, the organisations were the CTOC, SAC, and NFs. Lastly, international level organisations included IFs, IWGA and IOC. As each organisation was identified as being a member of the network through information on their website or through informal discussions with representatives from other network organisation members, various documents were identified and collected. These included formal constitutions, annual reports, webs pages describing the role and purpose of organisations, and publicly available contracts and agreements related to the delivery of the 2009 World Games. Altogether, thirteen documents consisting of ten constitutions, one annual report, and two other related documents were collected from the organisations. In all cases, the documents provided to the researcher were copies that were already publicly available or were made available by representatives of each organisation. The researcher did not seek access to any other files or other records of the organisations. The contents of the documents were used to verify the role of the organisation in the governance network created for the 2009 World Games.. Stage 2 Semi-structured interviews Representatives of selected organisations from the governance network were used for the semi-structured interviews in Stage 2 of the data collection process. The purpose of the semi-structured interviews was to collect data on the role of the organisation in the network, perceptions of how the network developed and perceptions of how well the network operated. Organisations were asked to nominate the most appropriate person who was able to answer questions related to their respective organisation’s role in the network. A semi-structured interview schedule was developed that sought to gather qualitative data on each of these areas of inquiry. The interview schedule consisted of a series of general questions with prompts to remind the researcher to probe further on particular topics (see Appendix 1). All the interview questions are designed based on the key factors, proposed by the IORs or network scholars, which may affect the effectiveness of. .

(36) . 25. organisational cooperation, such as the perspective of each interviewee about the function of other organisations, the distribution of resources, the number of participants, goal consensus and trust.. Each potential interviewee was contacted by telephone to explain the purpose and nature of the interview in relation to the study and to seek consent to be interviewed. All potential interviewees agreed to be interviewed. Interviews were conducted either via telephone or email and took approximately 30 to 45 minutes to complete. The interview schedule was provided to the subjects in advance to facilitate timely and accurate collection of data. The telephone interviews were digitally recorded. Responses to each of the items on the interview schedule were recorded directly onto the interview schedule. A total of seven interviews were conducted during March and April 2008. The interviewees and their organisation are shown in Table 3.1. Table 3.1 The interviewees of each organisation. Organisation SAC CTOC Underwater Sports Federation. . Interviewee Officer in International Sports Affairs 1.Secretary of General 2.Officer in Department of International Sports Affairs Secretary of General. KCC. Interviewee was selected on the basis of parliament record to find out which legislator is concerned about the 2009 World Games. KOC. Secretary Officer, in charge of public relationships. KCG. Director in Department of Sports.

(37) . 26. The recursive model of interviewing was employed, where open-ended questions were asked to encourage a broad range of information from the respondent, and more specific questions subsequently asked as the interview progressed. For example, an interview would start with the question “What is the role of your organisation in relation to the 2009 World Games?” Subsequent questions would follow up the interviewee’s answer by seeking clarification if required, exploring issues about the role, or asking the interviewee to expand on an issue raised in their answer. This approach was supported by Eisenhardt (1989) who maintained that the aim of the researcher is to understand the case study in as much detail as possible.. Each interview was transcribed and coded before conducting the next interview as recommended by Miles and Huberman (1994). In this way the emergent themes assisted in the development and refinement of the interview questions. The data from the interviews were either digitally recorded and transcribed, or simply transferred to MS word documents from the email communication with those interviewees with whom it was not possible to interview by telephone. All transcripts were sent back to the interviewees to confirm the content. These files were then manually coded to facilitate the analysis of the data. Codes were established prior to data collection based on the conceptual framework, research questions and key variables of the study. As the interviews were undertaken, data transcribed and subsequently coded, additional codes were established that aided in the initial description of the data. It should be noted that the codes changed and developed as the collection and analysis of data progressed. Some codes accumulated too much data, which was a signal to break down the code into sub codes, aiding the interpretation of the data. Other codes did not attract data, in which case they were omitted as they did not assist the analysis. Codes that emerged during the analysis process assisted the researcher in adapting the provisional descriptive codes to fit the data rather than attempting to force the data into a rigid set of codes.. .

(38) . 27. Consistent with the data treatment procedures recommended by Strauss (1987), the coding and analysis of the interview data by the researcher was undertaken in the following manner. Coding is the process where codes are assigned to the data – words, phrases, sentences or paragraphs – connected or unconnected to a specific setting, in order to dissect them meaningfully, while keeping the relations between the parts intact (Miles & Huberman, 1994). The focus of the coding process is not the words themselves but their meaning. As such, the context in which the words are stated is crucial to the analysis. The codes are used to retrieve and organise the various words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs into a system where they are clustered relating to a particular research question, construct or theme (Miles & Huberman, 1994).. For this study, each transcript was first read to gain a familiarity with the contents, and dominant concepts, themes and issues relating to the research questions noted. Paragraphs and sentences within each transcript were coded according to the provisional descriptive coding scheme, with additional codes being added if the data did not appear to fit the original codes.. Creating the codes to enable the data to be described and eventually explained can be undertaken in a number of ways. Codes can be ‘discovered’ as the data are collected through an inductive approach espoused by Strauss and Corbin (1990). Alternatively, codes can also be established prior to fieldwork based on the conceptual framework, research questions and key variables of the study. Such an approach was adopted by this study. An example of the coding process used in the study appears in Figure 3.1.. .

(39) . Speaker JL Intervie wee. 28. Transcript Text What is the function of these other organisations? Some of the NFs have some problems, but we have no idea. I learned a lesson from them before….that is why I seek for some help from KSC… Each federation has different ability…some federations don’t have enough abilities”.. Code . Trust. Figure 3.1 Excerpt from interview transcript. During the initial stage of coding, the informant’s response was coded as “trust” - a provisional descriptive code that described comments relating to trust. At the completion of all the interviews, the second stage of coding took place. This stage involved the examination of all the text within provisional codes and applying more explanatory coding categories to the data. In this way, the code “trust” was broken into sub codes that allowed more detailed analysis to occur. The code “trust” was broken into three emergent sub codes: (1) trust-NFs, (2) trust-CTOC, and (3) trustKOC. An example of the coding used in the second stage appears in Figure 3.2.. Segments of individual transcripts that have been coded to ‘trust’ KOC seems to replace the “experienced” staff in NFs with the staff in local school. It is understandable for KOC to use existing resources, however, they still need to as for the help of NFs in organising process rather than do it by itself, for the staff in NFs have experience no matter in participating the game or hosting the games.. Coding applied in second stage Trust - NFs. Trust - CTOC We are very concerned about Olympic formula, because CTOC signed the contract with IOC and we need to obey the contract. Now this formula has been implemented in other sports event.. but the host organisation.. now we are worried about how to make them understand this formula... this is the only task for CTOC in this event.. if there is something wrong, we have the obligation to take the responsibility , but we don’t have right to supervise KOC.. . Trust - KOC.

(40) . 29. NFs are recognised by IFs, so IFs will directly communicate with them. KSC doesn’t have experience or abilities as the NFs do. Most of the TDs from IFs also demand the cooperation with NFs, so the communication still should through NFs...In other words, KOC should strengthen the ties with NFs and let NFs know how could they cooperate with KOC for the success of World Games 2009. Figure 3.2 Excerpt from code “trust”. As suggested by Strauss (1987), the coding and recoding process was halted when no further codes were created and all the data had been sufficiently categorised. The final stage of qualitative analysis involved analysing statements associated with each code by the position of the informant and their respective organisation in the governing network.. Summary This chapter has explained the procedures that were used to explore the research questions. The chapter discussed and justified the sampling frame and selection of subjects, instrumentation, data collection procedures, and treatment of the data. The following chapters present and discuss the results obtained, draw conclusions, and explain implications for network governance theory and operation and future research.. .

(41) . 30. CHAPTER 4 RESULTS The purpose of this chapter is to present the results of the data analysis procedures used to address the three research questions investigated in this study: 1. How did the governance network responsible for organising the World Games 2009 develop? 2. What are the structural characteristics of the governance network responsible for organising the World Games 2009?, and 3. What are the perceptions held by network members of the performance of the governance network responsible for organising the World Games 2009?. Research question 1 – How did the governance network responsible for organising the World Games 2009 develop? In this section, the relationships between all the organisations relevant to the World Games 2009 are presented based on the analysis of documents and the data collected. from. the. semi-structure. interviews.. An. important. element. in. understanding the governance network in place for the World Games 2009 is the stages through which the network has evolved as the relationships between network member organisations and the organisations involved changed at each stage. The development of the network can be separated into three distinct stages: (1) the network and inter-organisational relationships that existed prior to bidding for the World Games 2009; (2) the network and inter-organisational relationships created during the bidding stage; and (3) and the network and inter-organisational relationships in place in the lead up to the actual event being held in 2009.. Stage 1: Prior to bidding for the World Games According to the Olympic Charter, the IOC, IFs and National Olympic Committees (NOCs) are the three main constituents of the Olympic Movement (International. .

(42) . 31. Olympic Committee [IOC], 2007). IOC may recognise IFs and NOCs and “the activities of which are linked to its mission and role” and these organisations “must comply with the Olympic Charter” (IOC, 2007, p.16). At the same time, IFs may recognise National Sports Federations (NFs) and keep contact with NOCs so as to facilitate the promotion of sports at the national level.. The Sports Affairs Council (SAC), founded in 1997, operates as a counselling organisation at the national level, for it is in charge of all the sports affairs in Taiwan (SAC, n.d.). In addition, the SAC provides the funding support to the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (CTOC), NFs and Republic of China Sports Federation (ROCSF).. The mission of CTOC, the NOC in Taiwan, is to assist IOC to “develop, promote and protect Olympic Movement in their respective countries, in accordance with the Olympic Charter” (IOC, 2007, p. 61). In order to fulfill the mission, CTOC has the exclusive authority to recognise NFs to be the official communication window for IFs so as to facilitate the process of communication between international level and national level.. The ROCSF’s main task is to provide technical assistance to its members (the NFs and local government sports federations). The members of ROCSF are not necessarily the federations recognised by CTOC, as long as it is evaluated as a well-run organisation (ROCSF, n.d.). At the international level, the IOC is dominant and makes main principals in Olympic Movement; while at the national level, the dominant organisation is SAC, for it controls the majority of resources for sport organisations and decides the task each organisation is assigned. The network between these organizations is depicted in Figure 4.1.. .

(43) . 32. International. IOC. Level IFs. National Level SAC. CTOC. NFs. ROCSF Governmental. Non-Governmental. Figure 4.1 Network prior to bidding for the World Games 2009. Stage 2: Bidding for the World Games 2009 Since hosting international sport events is one of the most important sports policies in Taiwan, the IOC member for Taiwan, Mr. Ching-Kuo Wu, played an important role for Taiwan in bidding for the event. The staff of CTOC stated that: Ching-Kuo Wu is the coordinator between IOC and IWGA during the bidding process. C.K. Wu has personal relationship with the president of IWGA, Ron Froehlich and has unspoken consensus in Kaohsiung City bidding for the World Games 2009.. In July 2002, the SAC invited the president of IWGA, Ron Froehlich, to visit Taiwan and demonstrated Taiwan’s intention to bid for the World Games in 2009. As the staff in CTOC said, SAC was mindful of the importance of supporting the. .

(44) . 33. bid: “for SAC knew that showing the support from country is a key factor in winning the bid of the World Games”. In the bidding stage, SAC “is the authority and has the right to supervise the whole bidding plan and in charge of all the funding plans” (SAC staff member). In 2003, SAC mandated CTOC to conduct an evaluation of hosting the Games and the results of the evaluation were reported to the mayor of Kaohsiung City Government (KCG), Frank Hsieh. The same year in July, the SAC formally nominated Kaohsiung City as the representative city for bidding for the rights to host the World Games 2009. In November, 2003, a bidding group comprising representatives from SAC, CTOC, KCG and university in Kaohsiung was formed.. The SAC was subsequently informed privately in May 2004 by the IWGA that KCG had won the bid for the World Games 2009. One month later, the mayor of KCG signed the host city contract with the president of IWGA (Kaohsiung Organising Committee [KOC], n.d.). The SAC and CTOC were key players that helped Kaohsiung City to win the bid according to the staff of KOC: CTOC and SAC both are very important. If there weren’t SAC, we would not win the bid. Ching Kuo Wu (IOC member) brought the information back, so SAC formed a group to evaluate the feasibility and chose KCG to bid for the game. SAC helps a lot, especially in urban development.. In the bidding stage, the local organisation, KCG, began to get involved and play a dominant role with SAC. It is interesting to note that the Republic of China Sports Federations (ROCSF), the national sports federations in charge of the affairs relevant to training do not have any specific function in relation to the World Games 2009 at this stage. The network between these organizations during the bidding stage is depicted in Figure 4.2:. .

(45) . 34. International IOC. Level. IWGA. National Level SAC. CTOC. Bidding Local Level KCG. Governmental. Non-Governmental. Figure 4.2 Network during the bidding stage for the World Games 2009. Stage 3: Network in the lead up to the World Games 2009 IOC, IWGA, IFs and NFs Since IOC grants its patronage to the World Games, the IWGA accepts the Olympic Charter (IWGA, n.d.).That means that International Sports Federations (IFs), the CTOC and National Sports Federations (NFs) need to follow the Olympic Charter in organising the World Games 2009. Under this principal, the IWGA, IFs, NFs and KOC built a cooperative relationship. The relationship between the IWGA, IFs, NFs and the KOC was described by the staff of KOC as: IWGA demands IFs to contact with KOC. After the communication, we (KOC) also keep in touch with NFs, IFs, NFs and KOC do three way. .