In “Shifting Boundaries and New Management Implications for Leisure Organisations”, Trevor Slack describes a convergence taking place between three types of leisure organisations: public sector organisations, voluntary leisure organisations, and private sector organisations. As he explains, the traditional boundaries between these groups have “blurred” as public sector organizations have come under increasing pressure to link more closely with corporate partners or be market driven, while voluntary organizations have come under pressure to become more professional and bureaucratic rather than more loosely and informally organized. At the same time, private organizations are increasingly cooperating rather than competing with other private organizations in various types of strategic alliances, joint ventures, licensing agreements, and investment arrangements, as well as partnerships with public and voluntary organizations.
As Slack describes it, public organizations, which have a mission to serve the public good in some way, such as contributing to making the nation healthier, improving the environment, and supporting the arts and culture, have needed to become driven. by the market due to the decrease in financing. This has affected sports, arts and other public sector organisations. As a result, many have become smaller because they have less money to fund their staff and programs, or have sought ways to increase their financial resources. For example, they have asked users to pay for their services, have negotiated contracts for external services and products and have closely monitored them due to internal staff reductions, or have partnered with private sector companies that have become sponsors of advertising change. and gaining recognition for their companies and products.
Meanwhile, voluntary organizations have had to become more “business-as-used” in response to the push by public organizations to link more closely with the private business sector and become more market-oriented. Another reason for this growing link with private organizations is that these public organizations have had less funding to contribute to volunteer groups, so these volunteer groups have needed more support from private companies. However, to get this private support, these volunteer groups have had to become more responsible, effective and efficient in exchange for their support, as these private groups want to show what they get for their money, as well as make an investment in anything. . So the volunteer groups have had to become more professional to get these funds. In particular, they have had to become more strategic to show how they are delivering value, and that has often meant that they have to become more corporate in their own structures, which has included bringing in paid professionals to run the organization and seeking sponsorships and grants to financial support.
Another result of these developments has been an increasing number of strategic alliances between different types of organizations, both within these three different categories and between them. Slack mentions a number of such partnerships, such as between Nike and various manufacturers of its shoes in the Far East, and between various professional sports leagues and merchandising companies to sell products with their logos.
Many other examples could be mentioned, such as the use of reality shows on TV to promote products through product tie-ins, such as contestants drinking popular sodas or eating brand name potatoes on Survivor, raving about how good it is. each of these products. are. In The Apprentice, not only does Trump promote various brands by integrating them with the contestants’ tasks, such as creating a commercial for Clairol and a showcase for Kim Kardashian’s perfume line, but Trump often invites the contestants to fundraise for a charity.
The implications of these changes is that parks, recreation and tourism professionals need to think about how they might make more strategic alliances and pursue more marketing opportunities to promote their programs and services, whether they are public, voluntary or private organizations. All sectors are affected by declining funds, whether from grants, charitable contributions or the discretionary funds available to consumers, so these organizations are having to do more with less through strategic alliances and marketing and promotion. lower cost. For example, parks, recreation and tourism professionals can look for ways to partner with people from other companies to organize joint programs and promote them together, which will reduce their marketing costs.