TOWARDS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN SPORTS

EVENT MANAGEMENT

Context Analysis of Malaysian Biannual Games with CommonKADS

Azizul Rahman Abdul Ghaffar, Ghassan Beydoun, Jun Shen and Will Tibben

School of Information Systems and Technology, Faculty of Informatics, University of Wollongong

Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia

Keywords: Context Analysis, Knowledge Analysis, CommonKADS, Sports Event Management.

Abstract: Context Analysis (CA) is typically used as an early phase preceding the development of a knowledge-based

systems in order to indicate how the system should interact with its environment and the various

stakeholders. We undertake a detailed context analysis of business processes of the Malaysian Games (MG)

to highlight blind spots of the process and enable the identification of an initial sports event knowledge

management (KM) framework. Firstly, our CommonKADS driven analysis highlights how we can improve

the business process and enable the organization to develop, distribute and apply its knowledge resources

effectively. Secondly, the paper highlights specific features about the domain of sports events management

and accordingly presents a set of recommendations to extend the CA of CommonKADS to improve its

applicability to Sports Events Management in general.

1 INTRODUCTION

Knowledge is a fluid mix of framed experiences,

values, contextual information and expert insight that

provides a framework for evaluating and

incorporating new experiences and information

(Davenport and Prusak, 2000). It originates and is

applied in the minds of knowers. In organizations, it

often becomes embedded not only in documents or

repositories but also in organizational routines,

processes, practices and norms (Davenport and

Prusak, 2000). KM is the systematic and explicit

management of knowledge related activities,

practices, programs and policies within the

organization to effectively apply an organization’s

knowledge and to facilitate the creation of new

knowledge to achieve and maintain a competitive

advantage (Alavi and Leidner, 2001). In this paper,

we investigate how knowledge management (KM)

can improve organizing sports events using the bi-

annual Malaysian Games (MG) event as a case study.

Organizing this large sports event is knowledge

intensive. As many practices and features can be used

again in future events, an effective KM strategy

promises significant efficiencies.

The MG event is also a fluid domain where

location and stakeholders change on a two-yearly

basis. The classic problem of ‘knowledge walkout’ is

an inherent characteristic of these KM problems. The

significance of this study relates to sport assuming

increasing importance in modern and developing

economies. Sports events management is a multi-

million dollar industry that is growing rapidly. The

industry now is important on a global scale –

economically, socially, politically and technologi-

cally. It is widely accepted that the introduction of a

knowledge-based system requires change

management strategies and additional staff training

(Bouarfa, 2008; Swart et al., 2003). This paper

applies the context analysis phase of the

CommonKADS methodology (Schreiber et al., 2000)

to the organization that is responsible for the MG and

provides a roadmap to implement a set of KM

policies to improve the current state of affairs and

minimize the impact of ‘knowledge walkout’. Case

study conducted shows how knowledge management

is used in sports event management and at the same

time reflect the relationship between the domains

involved. It will enable the development of sports

event management through appropriate strategies.

377

Rahman Abdul Ghaffar A., Beydoun G., Shen J. and Tibben W..

TOWARDS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN SPORTS EVENT MANAGEMENT - Context Analysis of Malaysian Biannual Games with CommonKADS.

DOI: 10.5220/0003497003770383

In Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Software and Database Technologies (ICSOFT-2011), pages 377-383

ISBN: 978-989-8425-77-5

 2011 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)

2 KM OPPORTUNITIES IN

EXISITING PRACTICES

The MG is owned and co-organized by the National

Sports Council of Malaysia (NSCM); see Figure 1.

The NSCM employs a set of policies to implement

guidelines to ensure consistency between events and

the quality of management. The NSCM aims to

provide each of the 14 states of Malaysia the

opportunity to host the event. Since it was initiated in

1986, the MG has been held every two years by a

different state. The Malaysian Games (MG) can be

seen as a smaller scale of a rotating Olympics and the

KM constraints will clearly be less than in the

management of bigger scale rotating events such as

the Olympics.

Figure 1: MG Organizing Structure.

The structure in Figure 1 shows the hierarchy of the

MG in which there are elements of KM that need to

be addressed. CommonKADS has been used as tools

in the MG analysis to identify the problems in the

MG. KM based observation indicate tacit knowledge

in this area. Tacit knowledge is derived from personal

experience; it is subjective and difficult to formalize

(Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). Therefore, tacit

knowledge is often learned via shared and

collaborative experiences requiring participation and

‘doing’. This section describes problems of

knowledge loss and contextual problem factors

impacting the effective organization of the bi-annual

MG in greater detail. We have identified four

problems:

2.1 Duties and Responsibilities are not

Sustained (P1)

Due to the change of host for every MG, nearly 80

percent of staff are new and there is no continuity

with previous work. They need to undergo training

by the NSCM before performing their duties in their

respective departments. The remaining percent of

staff, who monitor the operations of each department,

are officers of the NSCM.

2.2 NSCM IT Unit has Overreliance on

Outsourcing (P2)

The development of computer systems is a priority

for the MG as it is for most large sports events. The

NSCM IT unit has management capabilities but does

not have enough manpower to develop the systems.

The IT management practice is to engage private

companies which require time and additional

expertise to become familiar with the existing

processes, regulations and requirements of each sport

played. The NCSM currently views IT management

as a transient role carried out only during the games.

The experience of other major sporting events such

as the Sydney Olympics suggests this is an area of

considerable potential improvement (Halbwirth and

Toohey, 2001).

2.3 Problems related to Ownership of

Games Management Systems (P3)

In the MG, the games management system is the core

knowledge source to update users with the latest

games news, contingent information, and information

on medal tally and record breaking. The hosting state

chooses a system based on its own specifications and

provisions by the federal government. When the

games has been completed, the system becomes

essentially state-owned and can not be used by

others. The use of the system is not sustained as the

host state will not be organizing the next MG and the

sports management system is only used in the two

weeks of the current organization. The question as to

who will be responsible for maintaining the system is

always contentious. In addition, the cost of the

development of the system increases in every

subsequent event because of repeated system

development, changes in host committee and IT

companies to develop the systems.

2.4 Overarching Contextual Factor in

MG Organization is Lack of KM

Awareness and Practices (P4)

Knowledge is an important aspect in sports event

management. As an example, during the Olympic

Games in Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008 and Athens

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2004, the organizers have formed a special

committees to manage and store knowledge as a

valuable asset for future references. The Sydney

Olympic Games in 2000 set up a Post Games Report

project for a period of two years. This produced an

additional percent increase in data over the year 2000

(Halbwirth and Toohey, 2001). In the MG case, there

are no initiatives to encourage those involved to

transfer or explicitly codify their knowledge. The

officers and staff involved have to learn in an

informal way based on the experience of seniors.

Effective management is an important part of

successful sporting events at all levels – elite,

professional and amateur. This in turn assists sporting

organizations to adapt and thrive in an environment

of rapid and pervasive economic, social and

technological change. Investigating the potential

impact of any KM-motivated proposal on an

organization is critical for the successful deployment

of the future system. Figure 2 shows the relationship

between the sub-committees in terms of functions

and knowledge flow and the level of knowledge

identified during the analysis.

Figure 2: MG Sub Committees (by functions/level).

For this study, sub-committees of the MG were

divided into three levels according to the task

hierarchy of the MG and the possible strength of KM

in its operations. High Level – Level 1 refers to the

sub-committee which has the highest level of

importance for the management of the MG.

3 CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS

Contextual analysis has been defined as the analysis

of the social, organizational and physical

environment in which a system will be used (Preece

et al., 2002) while Bouarfa (2008) defines context as

user, task and physical and social environment.

Context analysis is typically used in application

development projects to indicate how the system

should interact with its environment. Context models

describe information and control flow between a

system and its environment. According to Aguila et

al. (2001), there are many modeling frameworks; the

most representative are CommonKADS, MIKE and

PROTÉGÉ-II. Each one of them has its own

modelling approach. CommonKADS is prominent

for having defined the structure of the Knowledge

Model (or Expertise Model), MIKE puts emphasis on

formal and executable specification of the expertise

model, as the result of the knowledge acquisition

phase, and PROTÉGÉ exploits the notion of

ontology. CommonKADS methodology is a standard

in Europe and covers all knowledge based systems

(KBS) development processs. CommonKADS

provides a complete methodology for the

development of a knowledge-based system

describing principles, techniques, modelling

languages and document structures to assist the

construction of a knowledge based systems (KBS).

The CommonKADS offers a detailed sets of

models to guide an in-depth analysis. The analysis

focuses on the business processes of the organization

and traces the use of knowledge in the working

processes (Schreiber et al. 2000). CommonKADS

methodologies comprises of three phases needed in

developing a knowledge based systems (Schreiber

et.al., 2000), they are: contextual analysis, conceptual

analysis and design. Contextual Analysis in

CommonKADS aims to understand the social and

physical contexts of organizations to determine their

vulnerabilities and potentials by tracking the flow of

data through an application, using cross-module,

cross-language, semantic and data flow analysis to

deliver the most complete understanding of the KM

risk.

The CommonKADS organization model supports

identification of promising areas for knowledge

based systems in organization and detection on how

the KBS might affect the organization (Post et.al,

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Table 1: Identifying knowledge-oriented problems and organizational aspects that relate to KM initiatives.

CommonKADS Problems and Opportunities Worksheet OM-1

Problems

Identified problems and opportunities in the MG are as follows:

• Duties and responsibilities are not sustained (P1)

• NSCM IT Unit overreliance on outsourcing (P2)

• Problems related to ownership of Games Management Systems (P3)

• An overarching contextual factor in MG organization is the lack of KM Awareness and Practices (P4)

Organizational context

Mission, vision, goals of the organization:

• Enhance athletes’ participation and their records in a key sport at states and districts level.

• Enhancement of credibility of coaches, technical officers and sports administrators involved.

• Increase knowledge in managing the new and existing sports facilities in the hosting states.

• Simplify the management process for athletes representing the country in future.

• Enhance national integration of Malaysian society through sports awareness and involvement.

Important external factors the organization has to deal with:

• Facilities and Services: Building new facilities and services to host the MG are generally seen as long-term legacies, and the

organizers have to justify their investment by looking to their usage beyond the end of the event for the use of the community.

• Social Regeneration: The benefits to the hosting state can create a new focus for social activities, community involvement,

and local economic benefits.

• Political Development: The improved profile of the organizer as a result of staging a successful major sports event is

considered of value for hosting state.

• Cultural Development: Major sports events can offer wider programs that are of cultural and social longer term benefit. This

will be difficult to measure but its importance should not be overlooked.

• Environmental Development incorporating green policies

• Economic Development to ensure all facilities in the long term create activities for income.

• Event Tourism beyond MG execution.

Strategies of organization: To achieve goals including policy and guidelines that need to be updated:

• Proper resourcing of initiatives aimed at breaking the normal culture: To ensure that the key knowledge-sharing and learning

processes are implemented and adequately resourced.

• Updating of job descriptions: To include learning and knowledge-sharing objectives, activities and evaluation system will

specify measures of innovation, learning and knowledge-sharing achievements.

• Updating of human resource processes to provide for adequate incentives: To make contribution to knowledge-sharing and

learning an integral part of them. Reform of a new working culture is a must.

• Developing KM skills and competencies: To provide training to ensure that staff are familiar with knowledge-sharing and

learning processes and tools, and with the appropriate behaviours and attitudes.

• Implementing a space for knowledge sharing and learning: To create a rotational program among staff to further their

creativity and skills; to improve communication of the MG business and expand the staff field immersion program as a means

to improving learning and knowledge-sharing.

Its value chain and the major value driver: KM can be employed to some degree in every value-creating activity, so

changes can influence competitive advantages by changing the activities themselves or by discovering new configurations of the

value chain. This applies to both primary and support activities such as operations which range from process, event and sports

facilities handling to maintenance, testing and knowledge systems.

Potential Solutions

• Organizations need more permanent staff, standards, management practices and work procedures.

- Use of systematic workflows and explicit procedures to reduce errors to avoid repetitions of tasks.

- Use of a corporate memory as a basis for viable KM initiatives, e.g. knowledge compilation to support

design, layout and safer products for sports facilities.

- Systematized staff training, planning, organizing evaluation and creating systems for human performance

evaluation.

- Planning for competency and standardization and benchmarking.

• Organizers should reduce the sub-committees to reduce delays and to improve accountability.

To enable technology transfer, all parties involved in IT should be working with IT NSCM Unit. The National Sports

Council’s IT unit should have more permanent officers and staff to enable them to plan, and take on the challenge of

introducing KM initiatives.

• To create a repository of so called ‘structured knowledge’: NSCM should serve as a central database of sports knowledge to

share with involved parties and to meets user needs.

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Table 2: CommonKADS description of the MG organizational aspects that relate to KM initiatives organizational aspects

that relate to KM initiatives.

Variant Aspects Worksheet OM-2

Structure

The MG Organizing Committee is headed by the Chief Minister of an organizing state. The Committee consists

of the Executive Council and representatives from the state. The Malaysian Games Sub-committee comprising

21 sub-committees set up to operate the MG during this event. Each committee will be chaired by the

representative of the state with their own specific tasks. The National Sports Council Task Force consists of

officers from various backgrounds such as finance, IT, sports management and engineering. The formation of the

group is normally within six month to a year before the games. The states team consists of staff from various

departments of the state. The MG analysis will involve six major sub-committees as follows;

• Finance, Sponsorship, Promotion and Publicity

• Facilities Management

• Equipment and Competition Facilities

• Infrastructure

• ICT and Contingent Information

• Competition, Technical and Venue

Process

The value of sports event organizing is increasingly measured by the way it creates, uses and reuses knowledge

to add value to services and processes, and to improve relationships with users. The organization can use KM to

provide accountability of information and help in decision making processes, together with compliance with

standards by organizing all sources of knowledge available in the MG.

People

In the MG management, there are many different people playing many different organizational roles, requiring

very different levels of expertise. Given the brief for the project (OM1), only a very limited area has been taken

into account, mostly the high level committee that is directly involved in some way in the decision-making

process. People will have their roles based on their expertise. Their functions are carried out by full-time staff,

staff on a contract basis or volunteers. They will report to the head of the sub-committee with a specific job

specification for the duration of the games.

Resources

The development of KM initiatives for organizing the MG will involve capital, human resources, costs and

physical resources. These may cover different types, such as:

• Information systems and computing resources which provide data capture and storage facilities

• Facilities, equipment and venues

• Social, interpersonal, and other (non-knowledge) skills and competencies

• Technology, patents, broadcast rights in various media outlets

• Organizing Budget (providing a forecast of revenues and allocation usage of the games)

Knowledge

Knowledge is a resource exploited in a business process. Sports knowledge, expertise and skills are among the

aspects to be considered. As the MG try to improve the quality of management, it was a straightforward step to

investigate in more detail on knowledge used in variety of ways that can improve the overall performance of the

organization. In addition, as KM initiatives need to be more effective, management should consider knowledge

assets and task-significant perspectives within the sports event management environment.

Culture

In MG, it is customary to rotate events to vary cultural contexts. This necessitates the need to take a cultural

perspective on the knowledge involved and the concomitant business processes. This view proposes that all

tangible benefits such as stadium, transport infrastructure and tourist facilities, and intangible benefits, such as

sports history making, are accumulated cultural capital.

1997). For the MG case, the research has been done

on six sub-committees (High Level- Level 1 in

Figure 2) using the CommonKADS Organizational

Model 1 (OM1) – Organizational Model (OM4).

Tables 1 – has been used to identify the main

problems in the MG organization that requires the

use of KM in the future in strengthening this

organization. The focus is on problems,

organizational context and the problems solution.

Tables 2 - has been used in identifying areas of the

organization associated with the KM initiatives

focuses on organizational structure, organizational

process, people and resources. Tables 3 - has been

used to assess and demonstrate the process of

covering their daily duties in the organization and

the KM-related characteristics. Tables 4 - has been

used to demonstrate knowledge of identified

component in the organization and specifically

relevant to the study. Details of the use of this table

is described as follows;

4 DISCUSSION

Through this case study has revealed some things

that give contribution to the development of

knowledge management in sports event

management. Whatever the effects occur and have

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381

Table 3: CommonKADS description of the process in terms of the tasks and their main characteristics.

OM 3 CommonKADS Process Breakdown Worksheet (OM-3)

Task Agent Where? Knowledge Aset Knowledge Intensive? Significance

Finance Accountant

Finance, Sponsorship,

Promotion and Publicity

Tacit skills, Qualification Yes 5

Sponsorship

Manager

Finance, Sponsorship,

Promotion and Publicity

Tacit skills,Finance

procedure

Yes 4

Promotion

Marketing

Manager

Finance, Sponsorship,

Promotion and Publicity

Tacit skills, procedure

Sports Act 1971

Yes 4

*(Only some are shown – 3 out of 13)

Table 4: CommonKADS description of the knowledge component of the MG organizational model knowledge component

of the MG organizational model.

Organization Model CommonKADS Knowledge Assets Worksheet OM-4

Knowledge Asset Agent Task Right Form?

Right

Place?

Right

Time?

Right

Quality?

Tacit skills, qualification,

finance procedure

Accountant

Finance

management

Yes/new

concept

Yes/priority Yes

No/depends

on report

Tacit skills, finance

procedure

Sponsorship

Manager

Sponsorship

management

Yes/new

concept

Yes/priority Yes

No/depends

on report

Tacit skills, finance

procedure, Sports Act 1971

Marketing

Manager

Promotion program

Yes/new

concept

Yes/priority Yes

No/depends

on report

Tacit skills, finance

procedure, Sports Act 1971

Publicity

Manager

Publicity program

Yes/new

concept

Yes/priority Yes

No/depends

on report

*(Only a subset is shown- for lack of space)

become the norm in managing knowledge have also

been identified and the basis for a decision making

process. It shows the situation relating to knowledge

management as well as further consideration for the

organization. It provides the identification of

problems and providing measures to resolve

problems. We have identified a comprehensive

business process and daily operations of the

organization and its relationship with the use of

knowledge management. Analysis relating to KM

and the MG has never been done before, and we

think the use of a reference method to enhance the

ability of the organization is required.

5 CONCLUSIONS

The MG is a unique case and the model will only be

made based on the actual situation in this

organization which will be translated into the

analysis. CommonKADS through specific templates

is able to produce long and inconsistent

documentation. Using tables of all documentation

makes it difficult and we think the use oftechniques

such as modelling of the process and content of the

organization far more appropriate and effective. The

use of CommonKADS in this analysis can not meet

the requirements in the field of sports management

in full. Therefore, the sports event management

needs its own KM framework that is most accurate

and appropriate and is certainly to extend what had

previously been done by CommonKADS.

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