Presenting a Framework to Identify Competencies of Sport Managers based on a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Model

The purpose of the present work was to present a framework to identify the competencies of sport managers (COSMs) in the General Office of Sports and Youth in the Tehran Province.

Three major steps were taken to achieve the research goal. In the first step, the competency model of the sport managers was identified through the study of the existing literature, and then it was confirmed by the formation of focus groups. In the second step, the weights of competencies were determined using the fuzzy DEMATEL method with the participation of 12 senior managers of the organization. In the final step, based on the fuzzy TOPSIS technique, eight candidates were ranked to enter the talent pool.

In the first step of the work, the competency model of sport managers including seven core competencies (i.e. awareness of business rules and processes, familiarity with knowledge and rules of sport, supervision and human resource management, communications and public relation skills, economics and finance, leadership skills, and intelligence and political consciousness) was extracted. The dimensions of these competencies were confirmed by the formation of the focus groups. In the second step of the work, by determining the weight or relative importance of competencies, their degree of relative importance was determined, and the three competencies (i.e. political intelligence, leadership skills, and supervision and human resource management) were selected as the most important competencies in the competency model of sports managers. In the third step, the fuzzy TOPSIS decisionmaking technique was used to prioritize the precise ranking of the management candidates, and then the ratings of candidates for entering the talent pool were identified.

The framework and process introduced to identify the managerial competencies in other sports organizations can also be applied; however, due to the organization, different competencies can be counted for the managers of each organization. The process of extracting the competency model using a combination of literature in this area and endorsing senior executives is a common approach to develop a competency model. The weighting competencies is one of the less practiced functions but it is also a useful approach to determine the relative importance of competencies in different organizational and managerial positions.