The Visible and Invisible Institutional Work to Leverage Major Sport Events: A Case Study of 2024 Busan World Table Tennis Championships = The Visible and Invisible Institutional Work to Leverage Major Sport Events: A Case Study of 2024 Busan World Table Tennis Championships

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Despite the potential benefits of hosting major sport events, National Federations （NFs） with limited resources often face diverse institutional expectations from relevant actors during the hosting process, making it essential to adopt various formal and informal strategies to successfully navigate them. This study, therefore, explores how a resource-constrained Korea Table Tennis Association （KTTA） undertook both visible and invisible efforts throughout the 2024 Busan World Table Tennis Championships （WTTC） to drive organizational development. Adopting a qualitative case study approach, this work analyzed data from documents （n=331） and semi-structured interviews （n=16）, using process coding. The findings demonstrate that actors within the KTTA achieved organizational development by continuously coordinating diverse expectations from internal actors, domestic governing bodies （i.e., the Busan Metropolitan Government,Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Ministry of Economy and Finance）, and an international federation （i.e., the International Table Tennis Federation） through visible and invisible strategies throughout the entire event process. By doing so, this work extends institutional theory in sport management by empirically showing two-layered institutional work （i.e., visible and invisible work） and explaining the micro-macro link mechanism, while simultaneously contributing to the event leverage literature by illustrating how leverage strategies evolve across different event phases. Practically, the study provides a reference that sport organizations with resource deficits can apply when planning and hosting large-scale events.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• List of Figures iv
• List of Tables v
• Abstract vi
• 1. Introduction 1
• 1.1. Research Background 1
• 1.2. Research Purpose 3
• 1.3. Research Questions 3
• 1.4. Scope and Methodology 4
• 1.5. Significance of Study 4
• 1.6. Definition of Terms 5
• 1.6.1. National Federations 5
• 1.6.2. Major Sport Events 6
• 1.6.3. Event Leverage 7
• 1.6.4. Institutional Work 7
• 1.7. Limitations of Study 8
• 2. Theoretical Backgrounds 9
• 2.1. Event Leverage 9
• 2.1.1. Event Leverage for Organizational Development 10
• 2.2. Institutional Theory 14
• 2.2.1. Old- and Neo-Institutional Theory 14
• 2.2.2. The Key Concepts of Institutional Theory 22
• 2.3. Institutional Work in Sport Management 27
• 3. Methodology 32
• 3.1. Research Context 32
• 3.2. Data Collection 35
• 3.2.1. Documents 35
• 3.2.2. Interviews 36
• 3.3. Data Analysis 40
• 3.4. Trustworthiness 43
• 3.4.1. Credibility 44
• 3.4.2. Confirmability 45
• 3.4.3. Dependability 46
• 3.4.4. Transferability 47
• 3.5. Ethical Approval 47
• 4. Findings 50
• 4.1. Building Organizational Unity Through Maintenance Work 50
• 4.2. Securing Essential Resources Through Cognitive and Emotional Work 53
• 4.3. Enhancing Key Resources Through Institutional Manipulation 56
• 4.4. Re-securing Hosting Rights Through Above- and Below-the-Surface Tactics 58
• 4.5. Sustaining Growth Momentum Through Influential Individuals 61
• 5. Discussion 64
• 5.1. Multi-Layered Institutional Work: The Interplay of Visible and Invisible Work 64
• 5.2. Multifaceted Institutional Work: The Interplay of Cognitive and Emotional Work 67
• 5.3. The Micro-Macro Link in Institutional Change: A Bottom-Up Approach Through Actors’ Interactions 69
• 5.4. Event Leverage as an Ongoing Process: Coordinating Diverse Expectations 71
• 6. Conclusion 74
• Appendix 1. Informed Consent Form （Version 1.0） 76
• Appendix 2. Informed Consent Form （Version 2.0） 81
• Appendix 3. Interview Questions 86
• Appendix 4. Field Note Form 88
• References 90
• Abstract in Korean 98