Sport and knowledge management: an unlikely but winning team Sue Halbwirth, Senior Lecturer, Knowledge Management Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences University of Technology, Sydney Associate Professor Kristine Toohey Faculty of Business University of Technology, Sydney

Knowledge is.. Captured as information in containers What flows between people Know-how, skills, capability and expertise An asset, a competitive edge, new ideas and innovation

Managing knowledge ‘Knowledge has become the key to success, it is simply to valuable a resource to be left to chance’ (Wenger) Knowledge management (KM) is : ‘A trans-disciplinary approach to improving organisational outcomes and learning, through maximising the use of knowledge’ (AS5037(2004) to be released)

ArtefactsProcesses, documents, databases,etc - things that are codified/captured SkillsThings that can be learnt and there is a tangible measure HeuristicsExperts make decisions using heuristics, or rules of thumb. Some of the rules used may be capable of being documented over time Experience It can be both collective experience and individual experience i.e. Some of this may never be able to be replicated or codified Natural Talent able to be spotted and fostered by leadership or management programs but otherwise is inherent. Knowledge Types (Snowden, 2000)

Sport is Leisure and work Perception of ‘brawn not brain’ As a business – Multimillion dollar business – Globalized industry For participants it is about: – About improving and doing better – Working together in teams

Use of knowledge in sport Governing bodies use information for records Organizations use information for results and profits Teams use collective knowledge for strategies and team work

Use of knowledge in sport Coaches use knowledge in teaching skills and applying strategies during games Technicians use information technology to improve performance of athletes Athletes use knowledge to learn and improve their skills

The value of KM in sport Changing attitudes New breed of sport managers Product and performance improvement Improvements to technology Value of ‘looking at’ the environment differently What KM can learn from sport Building teams Effective coaching Competitive advantage

Case studies Sport business The team The coach The technician The athlete

The Oakland A’s : thinking and doing differently /smart Billy Beane, General Manager of the Oakland Athletics Threw out 150 years of statistics and scouting practices Hired professional statisticians with academic qualifications Ignored statistics with ‘suspect’ knowledge Looked at exactitudes (scientific investigation) Re-evaluated the key processes and metrics of the game Looked for new baseball knowledge Bought many new players and sold players

A KM interpretation of the baseball story – Recognizing the value of knowledge in decision making and innovation – Developing a culture of challenge existing beliefs and ‘ways of doing’ – Embracing new knowledge -use the specialized knowledge of experts – Looking for patterns and trends in information and processes

The Team in sport Mutual concern for competing externally (winning) Management of human resources strategically (offence and defence) Development of appropriate systems and structures (training, support staff etc) Training builds collective tacit knowledge- eg where players will be on a court

The Team and KM Links between shared experience at group level (team plays/strategy), tacit knowledge (individual and group skill) and organizational performance (win/loss record) Value of shared experience can be subject to diminishing returns (no new talent) Core competencies based on tacit knowledge can become core rigidities when knowledge ossification sets in (scouting of strategies by other teams)

The Coach Good coaching strengths and weaknesses of the opposition own strengths and weaknesses environmental factors Coaches often have previous experience as athletes (implicit form of knowledge strongly tied to past experiences) These provide ‘maps of meaning’ Coaches influenced by early role models and mentors- provide the information culture

The Coach Increase in coaching accreditation Now robotic coaches playing robotic football- knowing and doing the same thing to pass qualifications Refusal to innovate (take risks) Idea that professional development only needs practical based information Yet need flexibility to deal with unexpected

The Technician High tech tools Link to increasing athlete/ team performance Coaches and athletes can’t interpret results 3 examples- biomechanist exercise physiologist technology firm

The Biomechanist Tennis: 5 different string tensions Testing: elite players (world ranking) impacted tennis balls projected from a ball machine using 2 racquets Long errors were more likely to occur with low string tensions Net errors were more likely to occur with high string tensions Elite players ‘know’ what tension is best for them Tests results

Exercise physiologist Individual attributes of RL team tested in a number of protocols Athlete with best speed had slowest recovery time Link to coach Revise strategy to ‘hide’ player in recovery

Sports technology firm tracking patterns of data FIFA referees Critical information about performance Video and physiological analysis

The athlete Learning of motor skills- 3 stages (Paul Pitts 1964) cognitive associative autonomous (tacit knowledge) Knowledge of Results- difference between the outcomes of the actual and ideal responses (Bilodeau, 1966) Learning depends on frequency with which KR is given, and how the performer is encouraged to utilize that KR

Looking at sport through a ‘knowledge lens’ Where is knowledge ? How is created, shared and leveraged? How is it used and managed for advantage? SPORT can gain a new approach, KM, for managing its business and outcomes The “knowledge” lens KM can learn about best practices developed in sport - building teams, sharing knowledge, improving performance KM