Member sport organizations play a crucial role in promoting participation in sport-specific recreational activities, providing accessible programs for citizens across diverse age groups, and supporting the formation of healthy communities at the local...
Member sport organizations play a crucial role in promoting participation in sport-specific recreational activities, providing accessible programs for citizens across diverse age groups, and supporting the formation of healthy communities at the local level.
Accordingly, this study aims to examine the organizational capacities required for the successful operation of member sport organizations and to analyze how these capacities influence organizational outcomes.
To achieve this objective, key dimensions of organizational capacity were identified through a review of prior studies, and an Importance–Performance Analysis (IPA) was applied to analyze gaps between perceived importance and performance, thereby identifying priority areas for organizational improvement. Furthermore, a structural equation model was established to investigate the structural relationships between organizational capacity, affective commitment, and the formation of social capital.
Data were collected through an online survey using convenience sampling targeting adult members affiliated with member sport organizations, yielding a total of 437 valid responses. The data were analyzed using SPSS Statistics 25.0 and AMOS 20.0, and the main findings based on the proposed hypotheses are summarized accordingly.
First, the results of the Importance–Performance Analysis (IPA) indicate that core operational foundations—such as transparency in financial management, safe and convenient facilities, and systematic administrative systems—were positioned in the quadrant characterized by both high importance and high performance (Quadrant I).
In contrast, areas perceived by members as highly important but exhibiting low performance (Quadrant II) included securing financial resources, long-term financial planning, professional human resources, and systematic education and training.
Elements with both low importance and low performance (Quadrant III), such as diversified funding structures, expansion of human resources, and enhancement of facilities and equipment, were not identified as immediate priorities; however, they require long-term and systematic improvement to ensure organizational stability and program quality.
Finally, areas with high performance but relatively low perceived importance (Quadrant IV) included external cooperation, network expansion, volunteer contributions, and the standardization of operational procedures.
This finding suggests that although these activities are actively implemented, members perceive the strengthening of financial and human resource foundations as a more urgent challenge. Overall, these results underscore the need for strategic improvement efforts centered on reinforcing financial and human resource–related foundational capacities in the management of member sport organizations.
Second, the structural model linking organizational capacity, affective commitment, and social capital was found to be adequate in explaining the relationships among the study variables. Third, analyses of the effects of organizational capacity on affective commitment revealed that all dimensions of organizational capacity—including financial capacity, human resource capacity, relationship and network capacity, and infrastructure and operational process capacity—exerted statistically significant positive effects on affective commitment. Fourth, analyses of the effects of affective commitment on social capital indicated that affective commitment had statistically significant positive effects on all subdimensions of social capital, namely trust, norms, and networks. Fifth, analyses of the direct effects of organizational capacity on the subdimensions of social capital demonstrated that all organizational capacity factors had statistically significant positive influences on trust, norms, and networks.