Perception of leaders in a major sporting event: a qualitative study of the FIS Nordic Ski World Championship 2011

Masteroppgave - Norges idrettshøgskole, 2011The purpose of this master thesis was to write an article on followers’ perception of their male and female leaders in a major sporting event. The layout for this thesis is therefore untraditional as it is divided into two different, but correlating sections. Part I is the research article. Part II is the supplementary theory and method used in this thesis. The overall goal for the article was to gain better understanding of leadership in a major sport event organization. Inspired by Yukl’s (2008) multiple-linkage model, this study focused on how followers perceived their male and female leaders in accordance to masculine and feminine leadership traits. The research question for the article was: How do followers in Oslo2011 perceive their male and female leaders, and what conceptual variables affect their perceptions? According to Parent, Olver, and Séguin (2009) the multiple-linkage model is the leadership theory that review most aspects of sport event leadership compared to other leadership theories. For this reason, three different categories of variables from the multiple-linkage model were used as a conceptual framework in this study: leader behaviour, intervening variables, and situational variables. Masculinity and femininity were used as interpretative tools to describe perceptions of male and female leader behaviour in Oslo2011. The study was carried out as a qualitative case study of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championship 2011. Thirteen employees in the event organization (Oslo2011) were interviewed and asked question about their leaders and different aspects within the organization. In addition, five meetings with the same employees were observed in order to gain additional information and reduce possible bias. Findings show that followers in Oslo2011 perceived their male and female leaders as both masculine and feminine regardless of the leaders’ sex. Leader behaviour was influenced by situational variables such as the culture in the organization and in society at large, the egalitarian ideology within this culture, and the organizational structure. In this way, leader behaviour and a variety of situational variables made the biggest impact on how followers perceived their male and female leaders.Seksjon for kultur og samfunn / Department of Cultural and Social Studie