Traditional Sports Event Informal Organizational Culture Research:A Case of the Dragon Boat Club of the Youth Entrepreneur Association of Shunde
Informal sports organizations and organizational culture perform a vital role in the traditional sports event modern transformation,while have not been thoroughly analyzed.The dragon boat club,as an informal sports organization,engages in rich daily practice,which not only continues the local culture in a lively and positive way,but also integrates and innovates the modern competitive traditional sports event.This study takes Schein's three-level theory of organizational culture as the research perspective,namely"artifacts,espoused values,and basic assumptions",and takes the Dragon Boat Club of the Youth Entrepreneur Association of Shundeas a typical case.Through open-end and semi-structured interviews with 14 core members of the club,combining with participatory observation and second-hand data collection,this article adopts thematic analysis to investigate the artifacts level and values level of the organizational culture of the Dragon Boat Club.Specifically,it also delves into the basic assumptions level based on the first two.It is found as follows.(1)The content of the artifacts level is scattered in all aspects of the club's daily life,competitions,and social life.Though seemingly trivial,these aspects are closely related.It includes life-related objects in dietary practice,the organizational style presented in the image management process,and the key"symbols"of organization management.(2)At the espoused values level,the organization takes"Happy Dragon Boat"as the development orientation.The management and members adhere to principles of mutual assistance and equality in relationship,and boast the spirit of entrepreneurship,resilience,and forward-thinking.The establishment and maintenance of the Dragon Boat Club not only serve personal interests,training,and competition,but also uphold the concept of humanistic care and assumes the responsibility of inheriting culture.Based on Cantonese traditional ritualized management and an orientation towards enjoyment in organizational development,the club embodies organizational culture with a spirit of perseverance.(3)In terms of basic assumptions,the situation is slightly more complicated.It may include the following elements from the interpreted view:the club comes with obvious informal organizational characteristics,paying more attention to the individual itself and fostering a"neighbors"relationship among members;qualifications of members have become a natural evaluation criterion;and the cultural value of"unity","mutual assistance",and"inspiration"has become more prominent.Finally,the study discusses relevant theories of informal organizations and the social significance of these organizations in the context of traditional sports event.Theoretically,the research stands as a helpful supplement to our understanding of dragon boat activities under the grand issues of traditional sports event modern transformation.It discovers the mutual influence and support relationship between traditional sports event and local culture.In practical terms,the study not only reveals the vitality and function of a typical dragon boat cultural informal organization,but also illustrates that the development of traditional sports event development can help foster enthusiasm and creativity of local culture promotion.
traditional sports eventinformal organizationorganizational culturedragon boat organizationShunde
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