Abstract:
Although capacity has been used in recent federal government accords and
policies related to the voluntary and amateur sport sectors, there is little consensus over
the meaning of the term. Consequently, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to
explore the concept of organizational capacity within a temporary voluntary sport
organization. Specifically, the nature of organizational capacity was examined within the
case of the Volunteers Division of the 2005 Canada Summer Games (CSG) Host Society.
Data were collected from executive planning and middle management CSG volunteers
through the use of a variety of methods: verbal journals, interviews, observations,
documents and a focus group. Findings indicated several challenges associated with the
volunteer management model utilized by the host society, varying levels of importance
among six elements of capacity, and key aspects of the relationship between
organizational capacity and transformational development. Implications focused upon the
importance of highlighting individuals rather than the organizational as a whole in order
to build capacity, and utilizing a brain or hybrid brain-machine organizational form to
enhance capacity. Recommendations are provided for both the Canada Games Council
and Canada Games host societies.
