The making of the UK Sports Institute

Theodoraki, Eleni

Abstract

The paper explores decision-making related to the UK Sports Institute (UKSI) which was envisaged by ex-prime minister John Major as an agency that would co-ordinate elite sport development in the UK. Conceptual frameworks of organizational decision-making are employed to assist the analysis of the findings of the study, which examines perceptions of processes and the context within which
decisions were made. The former include those held by agents in government-related agencies and consortia of organizations that bid to host the UKSI. The methods employed for the generation of the
data include analysis of secondary data, such as government press releases and public ministerial statements and interviews with key respondents from the aforementioned groups of organizations.
The analysis of the data charts a chronology of events and identifies key players and major decisions.
Finally, respondents’ views of the decision processes and the broader context are presented to highlight (a) the extent of political involvement and (b) the complexity of the set of issues under
investigation.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 1999-01
• Deposit Date: May 11, 2016
• Journal: Managing Leisure
• Print ISSN: 1360-6719
• Electronic ISSN: 1466-450X
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 4
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 187-200
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/136067199375742
• Keywords: UK Sports Institute; elite sport development
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/10153
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/DOI: 10.1080/136067199375742