Deming management model in the context of sports tourism: a measuring model proposal

This study is an application of the Deming Management Model, developed by Anderson et al (1994), to the context of sports tourism industry. The referred method sustains that leadership efforts aiming at the simultaneous creation of a cooperative and learning organization facilitate the implementation of process-management practices. The empirical analysis was structured in two studies: In study one, the measurement’s model was developed, specified and empirically tested with a pre-test (27 public and private service organizations) and with an exploratory factor analysis in 72 sport tourism centers (STC) located in IRL, UK and USA. In study two, the final questionnaire was validated, using confirmatory factor analysis (126 STC, located in the Iberian Peninsula). The measurement model showed a highly significant goodness of fit and revealed specific evidence of validit