Overall Analysis of Chesterfield College

Overall Analysis of Chesterfield College

Overall, from looking back at my blog, I can see that Chesterfield College is a well run organisation that aims to benefit all of its students.  This could be both academically and physically.  The main strengths of the organisation has to be its facilities for the academy.  It has many football pitches meaning that there can be more than one game being played at the same time, or that it is possible for more people to train on the same day.  One of the weakest points of my organisation has to be advertising the academy.  I have stated in previous blogs how this could be improved, and I believe that if they choose to follow this advice, the organisation could grow from strength to strength and become a more noticeable college in the area.

Organisational Theories of Chesterfield College

Organisational Theories

“Organisational theory is not a collection of facts, it is a way of thinking about organisations and ideas and theories about management and organisations”. (Hannagan, 2008)

Organisational theory is broken down in to 4 main areas.  These areas are:

·         Physical Structure

·         Social Hierarchy

·         Culture

o   Achievement Culture

o   Process Culture

·         Technology

Physical Structure

Chesterfield College distributes its students over three campuses.  The three campuses are at Chesterfield, Tupton, and Clowne.  The campus that I am based at whilst on my placement in Clowne Campus.  The campus itself it a fairly new build, so it attracts the eye and has some of the most recent facilities for the College.  Some of the facilities that the campus holds are:

·         An astroturf pitch

·         Three football pitches

·         A sports hall

·         Home and away changing rooms

·         A 30 machine gym

The campus has three floors, with a lift supplied to each of the floors for students that are physically unable to walk up the stairs.  There is also a ramp up to the sports field for anyone that is in a wheelchair.  The main facilities like the food hall, the library, and the offices are all located on the ground floor of the campus.  This makes access easy for, again, people that might be in a wheelchair.  All of the corridors in the campus are wide ensuring that people aren’t ‘bumping into each other’ whilst walking to lesson.

Social Hierarchy

The structure of how my organisation is formed slightly resembles a pyramid, with the head of Chesterfield College at the top of the pyramid, and the lecturers more towards the bottom.  The positive points about this type of structure are that it is consistent, co-ordinated, and is a solid structure.  This means that everyone in the pyramid know their roles and responsibilities and know who to go to if there should be a problem.  The negative points about this are that it can get very time consuming if there is a problem, and that the staff at the bottom of the pyramid are less likely to be heard and to voice their opinion. 

Achievement Culture

Achievement culture is where results are rewarded.  This means that if Chesterfield College receive outstanding grades overall at the end of the year, they will be granted more funding.  This will benefit the college in different ways.  It will show the college as a respectable ad hard working environment and would also benefit the coaching academy.  This could enable the academy to receive new equipment and kit for the squads.  This would also improve the overall presentation of the college when all of the players are in matching kits when playing, either at home or away. 

Process Culture

Process culture is how concentrated the organisation is.  This means that the organisation, Chesterfield College, must abide by the rules that the regulation government set for them.  This means that the government have a big impact on how things get run at Chesterfield College, and therefore at the football academy. 

Technology

Technology is being used in many ways at the academy.  Myself and the other volunteers use technology to communicate to people outside of the college to report on games and fixtures, keeping local media and enthusiasts up to date with how the academy are doing.  A way in which the coaches are using technology is that they are being able to get in touch with their players through mobile phones, letting them know training times, match fixtures and away game locations.  This is a much easier way to communicate because the majority of young adults carry their mobile phones around with them all day.  If they don’t, the coach could always leave the student an answer message for them to receive later on when they get the chance to.

References

Hannagan, T. (2008) Management: Concepts & Practice. Fifth Edition. Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

Mullins, L. J. (2002). Management and Organisational Behaviour. Sixth Edition. Harlow, Essex; Pearson Education Limited.

Torkildsen, G. (2005). Leisure and recreation Management. Fifth Edition. Oxon. Routledge.

Organisational Roles of Chesterfield College

Organisational Roles

The main organisational roles on my placement are Neil Cluxon, Carl Vickers, Dave Rushbury and the Security Team.

Neil Cluxon – Neil is the main coach at the football academy and he manages the boys 1^st team.  He was my placement manager and was the one that I reported to each week during placement.  Some of the roles that Neil has to undertake as the main coach are, picking the first team to play at the games, organise the fixtures for the teams to play, and to organise kit and equipment ready for games.  He has to aim towards the team winning their games for the College, so in doing that, he has to coach the students to the best of their ability.  He has to take on the leadership role in the squad and wants the students to look up to him as their role model.  According to Mullins (2002),

“Leadership might be based on a function or personality, or it can be seen as a behavioural category.  It may also be viewed in terms of the role of the leaders and their ability to achieve effective performance from others”.

Carl Vickers – Carl’s main role in the academy is to coach the teams, and to lead the warm up sessions before the games.  This role is important because he needs to make sure that all of the players are properly warmed up before each game to reduce the chances of any of them getting injured during the game.  During the warm up, Carl also needs to motivate the team before the game to win.  This gives the team something to aim towards and want to achieve for themselves and the College. 

Dave Rushbury – Dave manages the reserve team for the academy.  This means he gets to pick the team for each game and has the main responsibilities for them during training sessions.  One of the biggest roles that Dave has in the academy is that he is a professionally trained physiotherapist.  This is a huge benefit to the academy to have such a highly skilled physio on the side of the pitch at each game. 

Security Team – the security team are an important role in this organisation because they are all trained in first aid and are well prepared for anything that may happen during training or a game.  They also have the responsibility of making sure the facilities and equipment are well looked after and that there has been no damage done whilst occupying away teams. 

Another role in this organisation is the volunteers at the academy, like myself.  Together there are five of us volunteering at the academy, and some of the roles that we have to undertake whilst we are there are:

·         Making sure the kit is ready and sorted out before each game

·         Getting the equipment out ready for training or a game

·         Filling all of the water bottles up before training or a game

·         Leading warm up session

·         Promoting the academy in a variety of ways

·         Performing admin work

References

Hannagan, T. (2008) Management: Concepts & Practice. Fifth Edition. Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

Mullins, L. J. (2002). Management and Organisational Behaviour. Sixth Edition. Harlow, Essex; Pearson Education Limited.

Torkildsen, G. (2005). Leisure and recreation Management. Fifth Edition. Oxon. Routledge.

How to Overcome the Problems facing my Placement

How to overcome the main problems at Chesterfield College

To overcome the threat of lack of advertising and media coverage, there are many things that the academy can do.  To advertise more, the academy could enlist the help of other students, or students that are part of the teams, to do regular fixture lists to post around the college campuses.  They could also set up a social networking page and assign one of the academy students to keep it up to date with fixtures, training times, game results, etc.  This would keep the rest of the student bodies up to date with the academy and could draw new potential players towards the teams. 

To gain more media coverage for the football academy, I would suggest some of the following ideas:

·         Local radio adverts/interviews

·         Newspaper reports

·         Photographers

My inviting a newspaper journalist from a local newspaper to come along to training or a game and to take photographs then to interview a few of the coaches/players, this would attract the attention of local businesses that may potentially sponsor the academy, thus resulting in more available funding for the college. 

Main Problem my Placement is Facing

The Main Problem Chesterfield College Football Academy is Facing

In my opinion, the biggest threat and problem that the football academy is facing is media coverage and advertising.  Without advertising, the academy could struggle to gain more players and supporters for the team.  The academy could advertise itself in many ways.  This could be via the internet on social networking sites, in the local newspapers, or through posters that are placed in various places around the college campuses.  This way, we could get supporters or even new players from the college to come and watch/play for the academy. 

At present, the football academy has very little to do with media coverage.  With this, we can bring in more supporters to encourage the teams to do well, and could also gain sponsorships for the academy.  This would help with the funding of the academy and could go towards better kit, equipment and more coaches for the teams. 

SWOT Analysis for my Work Placement

SWOT

“A SWOT analysis consists of listing the strengths and weaknesses of the sport organisation, and also its opportunities and threats.” (Trenberth & Hassan, 2012). 

criteria examples Advantages of proposition? Capabilities? Competitive advantages? USP's (unique selling points)? Resources, Assets, People? Experience, knowledge, data? Financial reserves, likely returns? Marketing - reach, distribution, awareness? Innovative aspects? Location and geographical? Price, value, quality? Accreditations, qualifications, certifications? Processes, systems, IT, communications? Cultural, attitudinal, behavioural? Management cover, succession? Philosophy and values?	Strengths ·          Facilities ·          Funding from College ·          Qualified & knowledgeable staff ·          Location	Weaknesses ·          Lack of advertising ·          Unreliable players	Criteria examples Disadvantages of proposition? Gaps in capabilities? Lack of competitive strength? Reputation, presence and reach? Financials? Own known vulnerabilities? Timescales, deadlines and pressures? Cash flow, start-up cash-drain? Continuity, supply chain robustness? Effects on core activities, distraction? Reliability of data, plan predictability? Morale, commitment, leadership? Accreditations, etc? Processes and systems, etc? Management cover, succession?
Criteria examples Market developments? Competitors' vulnerabilities? Industry or lifestyle trends? Technology development and innovation? Global influences? New markets, vertical, horizontal? Niche target markets? Geographical, export, import? New USP's? Tactics: eg, surprise, major contracts? Business and product development? Information and research? Partnerships, agencies, distribution? Volumes, production, economies? Seasonal, weather, fashion influences?	Opportunities ·          Advertising ·          Better equipment ·          More players ·          Sponsorship ·          More media coverage	Threats ·          Government cuts ·          Funding ·          Staff	Criteria examples Political effects? Legislative effects? Environmental effects? IT developments? Competitor intentions - various? Market demand? New technologies, services, ideas? Vital contracts and partners? Sustaining internal capabilities? Obstacles faced? Insurmountable weaknesses? Loss of key staff? Sustainable financial backing? Economy - home, abroad? Seasonality, weather effects?

From looking at my SWOT analysis of my placement, I can see that some of the strengths of my placement are the facilities and location.  The academy is run at Clowne Campus.  This hosts a range of football pitches, an Astroturf pitch, a sports hall, and a gym that’s full of up to date machinery.  Another strength of the academy is the highly knowledgeable and qualified coaches that run it.

Looking at the weaknesses of the academy, I can see that it is to do with a lack of advertising, and the reliability of the students.  To improve the lack of advertising, the academy could enlist the help of the students to supply regular updates of the fixtures and game results.  They could also advertise the training times and location so that anyone who would like to come along and train with the teams to see if they would enjoy it or not. 

From looking at my opportunities section from my SWOT analysis, I can see that advertising and media coverage would benefit the academy.  With better advertising and the help of local media attention, the academy could gain new sponsorship, and therefore, become better equip with kit etc. 

Looking at my threats section of my SWOT analysis, I can see that the government cut backs are going to be a big threat to the academy.  This would mean less funding to be given, and the possibility of losing staff.  If this was to happen, it would mean that there wouldn’t be enough staff for the student to teacher ratio and could potentially cause problems in the running of the academy.

References

Trenberth, L., & Hassan. D. (2012) Foundations of Sport Management: Managing Sport Business, an Introduction. Oxon: Routledge.

PEST Analysis for my Work Placement

PEST

PEST stands for Political, Economical, Social, and Technological.  “Using a PEST analysis helps a business to understand various macroenvironmental factors that they need to take into consideration when determining the decline or growth of a particular market.” (PEST Analysis, 2012).

criteria examples ecological/environmental current legislation  future legislation international legislation regulatory bodies and processes government policies government term and change trading policies funding, grants and initiatives home market pressure- groups international pressure- groups wars and conflicts	Political ·          Data Protection ·          Legislation ·          Student to teacher ratio ·          Equality and diversity ·          CRB checks ·          Pension cuts	Economical ·          College budget ·          External funding ·          Government cuts	criteria examples home economy economy trends overseas economies general taxation taxation specific to product/services seasonality issues market/trade cycles specific industry factors market routes trends distribution trends customer/end-user drivers interest/ exchange rates international trade and monetary issues
criteria examples lifestyle trends demographics consumer attitudes and opinions media views law changes affecting social factors brand, company, technology image consumer buying patterns fashion and role models major events and influences buying access and trends ethnic/religious factors advertising and publicity ethical issues	Social ·          Media ·          Recession ·          Group cohesion ·          Presentation (Clothing) ·          Religion ·          Role models	Technological ·          Technology ·          Teaching Methods ·          Advertising ·          Registers	criteria examples competing technology development research funding associated/dependent technologies replacement technology/solutions maturity of technology manufacturing maturity and capacity information and communications consumer buying mechanisms/technology technology legislation innovation potential technology access, licencing, patents intellectual property issues global communications

Looking in the political section of my analysis, I can see that all of the staff must have a current CRB check.  “The CRB check searches your details against criminal records and other sources, including the Police National Computer. The check may reveal convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings.” (Direct Gov, 2012).  This is important when working with students as it ensure the parents that you are safe for their children to be around. 

Looking in the economical section of my placements analysis, I can see that the academy relies heavily on funding from both the college and external sources.  With the recent government funding cuts, this may threaten some of the current funding that the academy receives.  This may lead to lack of coaches, kit, and equipment. 

From looking at the social section of my PEST analysis, it shows that media is important for the academy.  This helps to raise the awareness of the academy to potentially gain more participants.  Presentation is also important.  This means that the academy should all have the same kit and make sure that all of the players are presentable when playing at an away game.  One of the requirements for the players is that, when playing at an away game, they must either wear smart clothing (shirts and trousers), or that they wear the college track suit.

From looking at the technological section of the PEST analysis, I can see that technology can be used in a variety of ways in the academy.  One of the ways where technology can be used is for advertising.  The college may decide to advertise the academy on the internet and through social networking sites.  This could publicise the academy greatly because the majority of students at college will be online.  This could gain their attention and possibly attract more players to the academy. 

References

Direct Gov (2012) Criminal Records Check: an Introduction. [Online] Available From: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Startinganewjob/DG_195809  [Date Accessed January 11th 2012]

Pest Analysis (2012) [Online] Available From: http://www.pestanalysis.net/ [Date Accessed January 11^th 2012]