Administration and Management of Sports Federations in the Czech Republic

This dissertation explores governance of national sports organizations (NSOs) in the Czech Republic and thus reflects contemporary course of events in the Czech sport. The aim of the dissertation is to explore governance of Czech NSOs with special focus on governance structure and transparency. Particularly, the dissertation examines compliance of Czech NSOs with codes of good governance and determines relations between governance structure, transparency and effectiveness of Czech NSOs. Mixed method approach was used in equal status sequential design (QUANT -> QUAL) Firstly, content analysis of websites of 67 Czech NSOs was conducted. The analysis allowed to determine the level of transparency and also provided variables for quantitative part of the study. Purposive sampling was used to choose nine NSOs where subsequent interviews with a CEO or a head of the board were done. And finally, quantitative data survey was conducted in 67 NSOs using phone interviews and e-mail survey. The quantitative data were processed using MS Excel and SPSS and, hypotheses were tested using standard statistical tests. The results are presented in three chapters. First, applicability of five elementary approaches to effectiveness is presented and combination of goal attainment and system resource approach is implemented. Second, governance structure of NSOs is analysed revealing substantially higher variability of governance models in comparison with theoretical presumptions. Moreover, a new framework of governance structure classification was developed. Third, transparency was identified as the most notable principal. Results reveal very low level of the transparency within Czech NSOs and explore the sources and impact of low transparency. For instance, more transparent NSOs are more effective using system resource approach. Overall, the dissertation provides a new deep insight into Czech NSOs governance and brings numerous recommendations for Czech NSOs