Organizational Learning from Sport Major-Events: The Case of the Asian Men’s Handball Qualification for Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Abstract

Studies on sports event management have focused on how host residents perceive the event and its impacts, but very little is still known about how such experiences can facilitate organizational learning (OL) in host sports organizations. The study explores the potential of major sports events to generate human and social capital amongst the public and the ensuing process of OL for host sports organizations. Using the 2023 Asian Men’s Handball Qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games held in Qatar, a mixed-method concurrent nested design was employed, collecting quantitative (survey questionnaires) and qualitative (interviews) data from event attendees and event managers, respectively. The interplay between tacit and explicit knowledge, as well as individual and collective learning, stimulated a combination of low levels of organizational formalization and specialization and individual (i.e., tacit) knowledge, which has resulted in an ‘operational adhocracy’ form of OL in sports organizations dominated by embracing knowledge.