ABSTRACT
After completing this chapter you should be able to:
Explain the need to view organizations from a systems perspective and design them to be responsive to environmental conditions.
Understand the concepts of differentiation and integration of organizational units, and explain why organizations need to undertake both simultaneously.
Discuss the methods of integrating differentiated units.
Explain the applicability to sport organizations of Thompson’s idea of insulating the technical core.
Understand the significance of boundary-spanning units.
Discuss Parsons’ notions of vertical differentiation of the institutional, managerial, and technical subsystems.
Explain the role of the technical core in service organizations in boundaryspanning activities.
Describe the types of network organizations and identify their purposes.
