OLYMPIC MOVEMENT IN THAILAND

  • Suriyan Somphong Faculty of Science and Technology, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Bangkok, Thailand
  • Komkrit Rattamanee Faculty of Science and Technology, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Bangkok, Thailand
Keywords: Olympics, Olympic Movement, Corporate Governance

Abstract

               The Olympic Games is by far the most admirable competitions among athletes and the most spectacle sports tournaments among sports fans. The Olympic Games is built on their very core values when the games bring together people around the world to witness one of the amazing sports events in the world. It is a congregation of the Olympic Games, three core values, i.e., excellence, friendship and respect, are around the world.
The immense role of the dissemination of Olympic values and promoting and overseeing the Olympic Games falls on the shoulder of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which is a decision – making organization regarding the Olympic affairs. Though a huge responsibility lied upon the IOC, the IOC alone cannot operate and function at this successful level. The National Olympic Committees (NOCs) from various countries need to provide considerable support to the IOC, and the accomplishment of the IOC’s objectives can be achieved only if the NOCs work efficiently and effectively.
The NOCs perform various functions and provide significant contribution to promote sports in a country. Thailand is one of the IOC members. The missions of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand (NOCT) under the Royal Patronage of H.M. the King include supporting and promoting amateur sports and physical education, sending delegated athletes and the international. Competitions, providing welfare and education for athletes and coaches, organizing a sports museum, and coordination with different management of the NOCT are highly essential. Effective management of the NOCT will lead not only to the increasing number of junior athletes and national athletes and the success of our national athletes in major international sports competitions, but also to gear Thailand to be a healthy society using sports as a means to this end.
In business, it is often argued that effective management is caused by competition. The term “creative destruction” coined by Joseph Schumpeter has continuously been proven through time that the most effective and innovative firms will thrive. Without competition, there is no real incentive and need for firms to be effective and efficient. Firms can do whatever they want bearing few or no consequences. Many sports governing bodies, e.g. the IOC and the NOCs, however, have no competition and, thus, are a monopoly. Yet, they organizations that need to be most effective.
In this paper, I will argue that corporate governance is the solution to make the NOCs and the IOC to be most effective by using an example of the NOCT. Corporate governance (CG) can be loosely defined as to how to institute integrity to organizations/industries. Similar to business, the IOC and the NOCs need to instill integrity to their members no matter who they are or what role they take. A cleverly tailored corporate govemance process employing control from both top-down and bottom-up will provide a necessary means to make the NOCs or, in this paper, the NOCT become well managed.