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In today's presentations, there were many good points from each presentation. The one which really stood out was the two Twins presentations. I thought it was funny how they were back to back so we had 20 minutes of Twins organizational information. In the first presentation done by Andrew, he was able to give a nice background overview of the organization. The slides were all very clear and easy to follow. His recommendations were also interesting and were ones that I would agree on. In the second presentation done by Dustin, his information was obviously the same but he was able to add some extra points to. I liked the way that Dustin set up his slides in his presentation because they were all bullet points which was a great way to not get caught reading right off a slide. Overall, both of the presentations were very good and provided with some interesting views on the Twins organization which I haven't really considered before.

Today's presentations were filled with information. The one that really stuck out to me and one that I remembered well was the LA Fitness presentation done by Ryan Prochaska. He had a very nice background and history for his presentation which really helped me get familiar more with the business side of the organization and not just the facilities. The structure of the organization was similar to what I would expect in a large organization like that. By having the people up at the very top only dealing with the large issues, it frees up the lower level people to handle the smaller tasks or issues which could pop up. One thing that I thought was interesting was the fact that they lost 5 percent membership to the club but that was still looked at as a good year. Since many of the clubs lose more, it is safe to say that LA Fitness is effective since they are doing better than the competitors.  

In this blog I will discuss what my group talked about in the MLB substance abuse case given to us in class. The given objective was to rid the MLB of performance enhancing substance while education current and future players about the effects these drugs have. I took that statement straight from the group blog we did. I think that this is a large goal to try to strive for but it is a good one. The most realistic part of the objective to is educate the current and future players about the effects they have and why they should not take them but to say that we will rid the game of all the drug abuse is not realistic. This ties right into the current culture of the MLB, the MLB is more focused on pushing the problem aside then dealing with it straight on. They seem to look away when a player has a history of drug use or is using. In most cases, if the player is a high profile player it looks like the MLB is trying to help the player push the issue aside. The MLB would not want to see more of its players getting ripped by the media and fans for the drug abuse. It looks bad on the resume for the player and the league. The culture is trying to change to be more willing to bring the heat on players about the abuse and they are trying to become more preventative in nature then just dealing with it when it comes around. To help create an answer for the issues here are some of the ideas that we gave as a group where to bring more rules to the clubhouse for the teams. A great example of the rules in the clubhouse would be like the NBA. In the NBA there are rules on the dress code, technology use like Twitter, what people can say to the media and generally just good conduct rules while in the clubhouse and in the team grounds. As for the actual drug policy, the MLB should have testing like they do for the World Anti Doping Agency. Those rules and policies are much better than those used by the MLB today. Another potential fix would be to create a plus minus system with the players, managers and owners, where a significant financial reward is at stack. The players, who do not have issues with the drug policy, failing a test, test issues, or use, will receive a bonus to their salary. This could be in proportion to the salary they make so the bonus would be large enough for even the biggest names. For the managers and owners, the system would reward them for having the least number of players on the team in all aspects of the organization not using drugs. By adding systems like this one to the stricture drug policies, this could help the MLB become more respected in the sporting community for the accomplishments that the athletes make.

Today's presentations were all very nicely done. The one in particular I thought really covered the material was the presentation on Nike. She was able to cover most of the material in the slides while staying in the 10 minute range. This is something that I am finding difficult because there are so many things which need explaining. She also created a PowerPoint which was easy to follow. It was not filled with text which was just read off the slide. She spoke directly to the group, showing us she knows what she is talking about. Within the presentation there were some facts I did not know. One interesting fact was the agent for Jordan came up with "Air Jordan" not the marketig team from Nike. Another was the short mission statement which is direct and to the point. I thought it would be a lot longer and more involved. Overall the presentation was well done and well put together.

Today's presentations were all very nicely done. The one in particular I thought really covered the material was the presentation on Nike. She was able to cover most of the material in the slides while staying in the 10 minute range. This is something that I am finding difficult because there are so many things which need explaining. She also created a PowerPoint which was easy to follow. It was not filled with text which was just read off the slide. She spoke directly to the group, showing us she knows what she is talking about. Within the presentation there were some facts I did not know. One interesting fact was the agent for Jordan came up with "Air Jordan" not the marketig team from Nike. Another was the short mission statement which is direct and to the point. I thought it would be a lot longer and more involved. Overall the presentation was well done and well put together.

There were three presentations for today's classes which dealt with as organization which the individual worked for or was involved in, Gopher Basketball, Minnesota Timberwolves, and USA Gymnastics. I think were great choices for the people involved because it gave real insight to the organization which other might have missed. Since it was the first day I was also able to get some good ideas on how to tweak my personal presentation about my organization. I will not be able to incorporate the same personal connection with the organization but the formatting and flow of the presentation is something I can take into account. One specific thing that I liked in the formatting sense was Andre's bullet point structure presentation. He listed the topics and just talked about them. This gave his presentation a nice flow and gave him great credibility to the things he was saying since he wasn't just reading it off his paper. Overall the presentations for the first day were great.

Decision making is not something specific for the sport industry but it is very present in the organizations. Decisions are made every day and the book describes decision making as a choice between alternatives. That definition is a very general statement which covers more than just the sport industry. To be a little more descriptive of the sport industry and the decision making which goes on would be a better definition. I would add to the books definition that many of the choices are; hiring and firing people, player personnel decisions (trades, signings, cuts, etc.), marketing plans, financial plans and balances, and so on. The book does describe two different types of decisions that can be made in the decision making process, programmed and non-programmed. The difference is pretty clear. The programmed decisions are decisions that are made on a routine basis and are repetitive in nature. This could be something small like ordering more office supplies. These types of smaller, generalized decisions are great for the lower management of the organization because they don't deal with the main mission of the organization directly. The non-programmed decisions are ones that come up and deal with more important matters. In these decisions they generally deal directly with the mission of the organization or with a high risk factor of making the decision. Along with that, the decisions are also given to the higher up managers because the responsibility of making the decision needs to be placed on someone that has the knowledge of the topic and the risks of the decision. An example of this in the sport industry for a sport organization would be a trade. Most recently the Bobcats traded Raja Bell and Vladimir Radmanovic to the Warriors for Stephen Jackson and Acie Law. This was a large decision to make because of the financial implications it puts on the team; Jackson is contracted to make $28 million over the next 3 years, more than any of the other players in the trade. It also is changing the culture of the team a little because of Jackson's "thug" appeal. He is looked at as a trouble maker and he is going to a team which is coached by Larry Brown who is known for working to get players to cooperate. This decision also is directly tied to the mission of the organization of winning. The Bobcats feel that with this trade they will be a better team and win more. The final aspect of this being a non-programmed decision is because it is not one that is made very often, especially with the same players involved. The three conditions the book talks about in decision making are; alternatives, risk and uncertainty. The people making the decision should look at and know all the alternatives for the decision they are about to make. After weighing the alternatives, then they would be able to make a final decision. The second is the risk involved in the decision. The people making the decision should know the risks that are involved in the decisions and the alternative decisions. Finally the uncertainty should not be present in the decision making process because this will only introduce doubt into the decision which could hurt the judgment of the decision. The decision makers should have all the aspects of the decision known to them before making any decision. This kind of decision process with the three conditions is a great way for any industries organization to make decision.

Objective:

To rid MLB of performance enhancing substances while educating current and future players about the effects these drugs have.

 

Current Culture: 

·      The current MLB culture seems to be if you are going to use these substances, do not get caught.  The MLB culture should be we will not allow these substances to be used at all.

·      Current culture has little reason to change.  Until enough fans revolt and stop going to games and watching them on TV it will be difficult to get MLB to make major changes in their current culture.  If this revolt happens change will happen swiftly because profits will be affected.

 

Unfreeze:

·      Stricter clubhouse rule similar to ones in place within the NBA

·      Adopting an independent drug control policy like the World Anti Doping Agency's, that includes more strict tests and more random testing, also increased random testing

·      Allow players to come forward with drugs they plan to take within a season and ask questions about what is acceptable and what is not, similar to a policy in place in place in the NFL, allowing for more open communication

·      Hold mangers and owner responsible for failed players, with substantial fines, this could have the effect of regular users not be able to sign with a team because owner and managers would not be willing to accept the risk of having that player, very effective scare tactic to prevent use

·      Encourage player, managers, owners and MLB to speak out against players that have tested positive

 

Change:

·      Using motivational style speakers to talk with players on an annual basis about the effects the even minimal substance abuse can have, include in this group former players that have used

·      Create a voted in committee within MLB made of multiple stakeholder groups that will continually evaluate drug policies and create formalized procedure to handle situations, this committee must be kept independent from the commissioners office or MLBPA to ensure more impartiality

·      Create a recognizable, anti-substance logo for the committee that could be a symbol for change within the MLB culture

·      Include language in contracts that will allow players and players managers to lose a percentage of there salary for the rest of their contract if they do test positive, a percentage would be more effective then a set amount because players salary ranges are extremely large and this would take a more equitable amount from each offender

·      Require players in the off-season to make appearances at schools or with youth groups to encourage non drug use, hopefully by talking about it the message will resonate with players more effectively

 

Refreeze:

·      Make rules permanent with committee review to modify slightly

·      Make rules that effect all levels of an organization, players, managers and owners this will lead to self policing of drug abuse situations

·      Offer rewards to players and managers for providing proof of other players substance abuse

·      More open communication about what is acceptable and allowing players to ask more questions about what is acceptable

Andre Phillips
David Dahlstrom
Rebecca Picha
Ryan Hooser

            In the sport industry there are leaders in the game and behind the scenes. It is very important to have a strong leader in making the decisions and providing a focus to the organization. If there is not a person in a leadership role then the organization can become unbalanced and there could develop at lack of drive towards the organizations goals. Leaders in the sports industry have to be able to handle the many factors that the organization will face. Some of these factors are actors, culture, processes, structure, and environment. For example, the Minnesota Timberwolves organization, like many sports organizations, is a very vertical organization. There are many people within the organization that are specialized in one area. There is a main leader at the top and then it trickles down the ladder adding only a few more people each step of the way until you get towards the bottom where it stretches out.

            In this type of structure there are many actors within the organization that can influence decisions, but the leadership role and the decision maker is still up to one man. The reason why the actors within the organization have some say is because they are specialized giving them some expert authority. In the case of the culture in the organization, the leader needs to be able to work within that culture. If there are some opposing ideas of what the culture is from the leader then the organization will have issues running effectively. This ties right into the process of the organization, because the leaders in the organization are responsible for the organization running smoothly. The structure of the organization is also part of the leadership's responsibility to figure out because they need to understand which type of structure would work best in the particular case. In the case of the Minnesota Timberwolves, the vertical structure gave the organization the best chance to get the specialized talent they need whether it is in the Basketball Operations side of the Organization Management side of the organization. Finally the environment to which the organization in submersed in. The leaders in the organization need to understand the environment to which they will work with in order to grow the organization. For the Timberwolves case, the environment is in an economic low with a team which is not looked at as a fan favorite because they are behind the Vikings, Twins, and Wild (for some people, not me). This will shape how the leader will show the team and run the team. The Timberwolves are focused more on rebuilding and seeing what the young talent they have can do, so that is the whole organizations mission. They are trying new things to get the most positive attention. Where on the other hand the Vikings are looking to go to the Super Bowl and they are focused on winning and continually keeping the high fan interest. In their campaigns, they are all about the great plays that are happening now where as the Timberwolves are all about the future. In any case the leader of the organization needs to be able to understand each aspect of the organization. They also need to be able to go with the flow and be flexible with the changing market of the sports industry.

            In the sport industry there are leaders in the game and behind the scenes. It is very important to have a strong leader in making the decisions and providing a focus to the organization. If there is not a person in a leadership role then the organization can become unbalanced and there could develop at lack of drive towards the organizations goals. Leaders in the sports industry have to be able to handle the many factors that the organization will face. Some of these factors are actors, culture, processes, structure, and environment. For example, the Minnesota Timberwolves organization, like many sports organizations, is a very vertical organization. There are many people within the organization that are specialized in one area. There is a main leader at the top and then it trickles down the ladder adding only a few more people each step of the way until you get towards the bottom where it stretches out.

            In this type of structure there are many actors within the organization that can influence decisions, but the leadership role and the decision maker is still up to one man. The reason why the actors within the organization have some say is because they are specialized giving them some expert authority. In the case of the culture in the organization, the leader needs to be able to work within that culture. If there are some opposing ideas of what the culture is from the leader then the organization will have issues running effectively. This ties right into the process of the organization, because the leaders in the organization are responsible for the organization running smoothly. The structure of the organization is also part of the leadership's responsibility to figure out because they need to understand which type of structure would work best in the particular case. In the case of the Minnesota Timberwolves, the vertical structure gave the organization the best chance to get the specialized talent they need whether it is in the Basketball Operations side of the Organization Management side of the organization. Finally the environment to which the organization in submersed in. The leaders in the organization need to understand the environment to which they will work with in order to grow the organization. For the Timberwolves case, the environment is in an economic low with a team which is not looked at as a fan favorite because they are behind the Vikings, Twins, and Wild (for some people, not me). This will shape how the leader will show the team and run the team. The Timberwolves are focused more on rebuilding and seeing what the young talent they have can do, so that is the whole organizations mission. They are trying new things to get the most positive attention. Where on the other hand the Vikings are looking to go to the Super Bowl and they are focused on winning and continually keeping the high fan interest. In their campaigns, they are all about the great plays that are happening now where as the Timberwolves are all about the future. In any case the leader of the organization needs to be able to understand each aspect of the organization. They also need to be able to go with the flow and be flexible with the changing market of the sports industry.