Context receptivity: Innovation in an amateur sport organization

Abstract

The Amateur Boxing Association (ABA) is a Canadian provincial sport organization. Recently, the ABA has attempted many innovations in response to strong pressure for change. The success of these attempts has been mixed. This study uses Pettigrew, Ferlie, and McKee's (1992) metaphor of context receptivity to explain this outcome variability. Context receptivity is a process-oriented perspective on organizational change behavior. This research is a qualitative, ethnographic case study focussing on two particular ABA innovations. One innovation failed; the other succeeded. These results are consistent with the expectations of context receptivity, which is a useful framework for understanding change outcomes in sport organizations.