Efficient nations are better organised and structured
One major finding that came out of the SPLISS 2.0 study is the clear relationship between the organization and structure of nations and their efficiency in terms of return on investment. Precisely those countries that were identified as being the most efficient (Australia, Japan, France and the Netherlands for summer sports; Canada, the Netherlands, and Switzerland for winter sports), are also the countries that perform best on Pillar 2: “organisation, governance & structure of elite sport”.
Efficient nations
Figure 1 (below) plots the elite sport expenditures of nations against their success (market share) in summer sports (1e graph) and winter sports. There are clear indications that some nations use the resources that are invested more efficiently than others: Australia, France, Japan and the Netherlands in summer sports and Canada, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland in winter sports, because they are located above the line of best fit; in short: they do more with less money.
Well-structured and organized countries
The organisation, structure and governance of elite sport in Pillar 2, is concerned with national coordination, long-term planning, stakeholder involvement, staff, communication and decision making and collaboration with commercial partners, and how these are all evaluated by their elite athletes, coaches and performance directors. Figure 2 (below) illustrates that the nations that we have identified as the most efficient, also have the most integrated approach to policy development.
Total scores of the SPLISS sample nations against the 18 CSFs (119 subfactors) of pillar 2
Successful Elite Sport Policies
This book deals with the strategic policy planning process that underpins the development of successful national elite sport development systems. Drawing on various international competitiveness studies, it examines how nations develop and implement policies that are based on the critical success factors that may lead to competitive advantage in world sport.
Veerle de Bosscher, architect of SPLISS, is Associate professor of Sport Management in the department of Sport policy and Management and research group Sport and Society, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
Contact Prof. dr. Veerle De Bosscher SPLISS@vub.ac.be For more information about SPLISS 2.0 www.spliss.net A teaser of the 2e SPLISS book can be viewed here.
We receive many questions from nations interested in taking part in a SPLISS 3.0 project. The goal of SPLISS is to further develop elite sport policy research and to help nations increase the effectiveness of their elite sport policy. We would like to use this opportunity to invite (supra)national organisations worldwide to support, in particular less developed sport systems, in taking part and assist SPLISS in establishing a coordination structure that is manageable on even a larger scale.
