JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact

The role of values in determining how organizations are structured and operated has become an increasingly important area of study. As yet, however, little work has explored the way in which values affect the change process. Drawing on insights from the institutional theory, change, and values literatures, this article presents a set of propositions that explore the change-values relationship. The propositions were examined using real-time data collected over a 12-year period from a set of Canadian amateur sport organizations undergoing pronounced institutional change. It was found that organizations that contained members who held values congruent with the prescribed changes were able to successfully engage in the transition process. Conversely, those organizations with members who opposed the change entered into a period of largely superficial conformity, mainly in response to certain coercive pressures, but ultimately reverted to designs more consistent with the values held within the organization.

This paper examines the process of isomorphic change. It does so by examin ing the dynamics of the change process and looking at change holistically. Using a population of 36 national-level sport organizations, subject to environ mental pressures from a state agency to adopt a more professional and bureau cratic design, the paper shows that over time there is an increase in the level of homogeneity of these organizations. Although the general shift is to a more professional and bureaucratic type of organization, certain elements of struc ture do not change as much as others, thus demonstrating resistance to institu tional pressures. The processes by which the changes that occurred took place are explored.

The literature that has focused on the change in amateur sport organizations in Canada, has suggested an evolutionary movement toward a more professional and bureaucratic design. While this view of change in Canadian national sport organizations provides strong descriptive support for understanding these organizations, it neglects the differences between them. The central premise of this paper is that changes in these organizations should not simply be explained as system-wide trends toward increased professionalization and bureaucratization. Rather the variety in organizational design may be understood by identifying common design archetypes that exist within this institutionally specific set of organizations. It will then be possible to more precisely identify the nature of the change process that is occurring.

Recent approaches to understanding change in organizations have moved beyond just looking at structure and have focused on the role of values in defining the manner in which organizations change. This article integrates the concepts of design archetypes, tracks and high impact systems in an effort to understand the patterns of change for an institutionally specific set of organizations. The sample used for the study was a set of Canadian national sport organizations undergoing institutional change. Three design archetypes (IGtchen Table, Boardroom and Executive Office) that represent institutionally specific coherent value-structure relationships were used to show that patterns of change are determined by the extent to which the coherence of organizational design elements shift over time. Using these design archetypes as a model for change, tracks were identified that provided an indication of the degree and direction of change and the extent to which design coherence was maintained. This paper shows that there is variety in organizational design coherence and that this is related to patterns of change. In addition, reorientations to a new design are signalled by changes in structures or systems that are central to the organization's purpose and as such can have a high impact on moving the organization to a new design.

Recent developments in organizational theory emphasize the need to examine the relationship between organizational values and structure. Values underpin organizational structure and give it meaning. Drawing on concepts of culture, institutional theory, and archetypes, this paper tests hypotheses on the value/structure relationship. The sample used for the study was a set of Canadian amateur sport organizations undergoing institutional change. This test shows that there is a fit between elite values and the nature of the institutionally prescribed organizational archetype.

Presents the results of an analysis of 28 national and multinational Canadian firms that had been involved in sport sponsorships at the national or international levels. Detailed interviews were conducted with senior marketing personnel in each company to determine how sponsorships were created and managed. Suggests that those firms which were successful had, either knowingly or fortuitously, developed their sponsorship into a distinctive competence and made it an intrinsic part of the overall marketing and communications mix. By contrast, those that were unsuccessful entered into sponsorship agreements on a more piecemeal basis with little thought of building a coherent marketing image. The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance of Sport Canada for funding the research upon which this study is based.

Increased interest in organizational change (i.e., shifts in an organization's structure, strategy, and processes) has led to considerable diversity in the theoretical approaches used to explain the phenomenon. This theoretical diversity has caused some scholars to suggest that a more complete understanding of organizational phenomena such as change is obtained when different theoretical perspectives are used in conjunction with one another. This paper examines a process of change that has been occurring in Canadian national sport organizations. Utilizing the theoretical approaches found in work on resource dependence theory, institutional theory, organizational culture, and the role of transformational leaders in managing change, the paper shows how these approaches explain different aspects of the change process. It also shows how a more complete understanding of change may be gained by using more than one theoretical perspective.