Dr. Richard Wolfe, professor of strategic management and Winspear Fellow at the University of Victoria鈥檚 Peter B. Gustavson School of Business, hopes to begin changing that. He has put together the first of what is planned to be an annual Academics and Athletics Co-Creation of Excellence Conference on Friday at UVic鈥檚 CARSA Gymnasium.
Taking part is Cam Hope, Victoria Royals GM; Mike Gillis, former Vancouver Canucks GM and president; rugby legend Gareth Rees, now manager of national team programs for Rugby sa国际传媒; and Chuck Armstrong, president of the Seattle Mariners for 28 years up to 2015.
Sport is the perfect vehicle for understanding organizational dynamics, said Wolfe: 鈥淚t is so transparent, there is lots of data, and outcomes are clear . . . you know whether something is successful or not.鈥�
The format is unique. Researchers will present their papers. That will be followed by practitioners Hope, Gillis, Rees and Armstrong commenting on whether those theories are practical in real-life sporting situations.
鈥淧eople are passionate about sports. But deeper than that, there is an analytical aspect of it to be explored,鈥� said Hope, who said he is excited about the idea of using sport as a prism to understand organizational dynamics across a wide range of fields.
It might help organizations in many non-sporting fields to understand why the San Antonio Spurs have won six NBA championships since 1999 while the Toronto Blue Jays were 22 years between playoff appearances from 1993 to 2015.
鈥淭his conference is not about the marketing or PR side of sports, but about the team side,鈥� said Wolfe. 鈥淭here is stuff going on in sports that people, even in it, are not conscious of. Organizational dynamics are ignored.鈥�
No longer, if Wolfe has his way.
鈥淰ictoria is such a great sports capital. There is the potential at UVic to have a research centre for sport,鈥� he said.
Wolfe, who has consulted with Bob Lenarduzzi and the Vancouver Whitecaps about organizational dynamics, has long thought about this.
鈥淚t was Moneyball before Moneyball,鈥� he quipped.
The conference is sponsored by the Gustavson School of Business with support from the UVic athletics department and UVic law school. The conference runs 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and is open to the public. There is no charge. Registration, however, is required. Seats are available at: govikesgo.com/sodc.
