ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with how the International Olympic Committee (IOC) changed to adapt in the last twenty years. Acting as the official spokesperson, and de facto leader of the Olympic movement, the IOC spearheaded numerous internal reviews and external consultations and engagements in order to improve, adapt and communicate its intended evolution to stakeholders across the movement. The chapter introduces the IOC’s major organisational change campaigns since 1998 and draws on organisational theory literature in order to discuss the implications of structural and cultural adaptations. The chapter addresses these four questions: (1) What are the main governance-related challenges that the Olympic movement faced in the last twenty years? (2) What are the component parts of the change campaigns that were launched as the IOC sought to respond to those challenges? (3) How can structural and cultural changes that ensued from the campaigns be commented upon utilising conceptual lenses from organisation theory literature? (4) Finally, how do the changes relate to effectiveness of governance in the Olympic movement?
