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Correlation between Quality of Work Life and
Change Management of Sports Clubs of City of
Tabriz
Kazem Zare1, 2, Hamid Janani 1, 2*
RESEARCH
RJSS
JOURNAL OF
SPORT SCIENCES
Vol 3 (2): 45-50
http://www.rjssjournal.com
ISSN: 2148-0834
Copyright © 2015
1Department
of Physical Education, East Azarbaijan Science and Research Branch,
Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran
2Department
of Physical Education, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz,
Iran
*Corresponding Author Email: Janani@iaut.ac.ir
ABSTRACT This research was conducted with the aim of surveying the correlation
between QWL and change management of sports clubs of city of Tabriz. The
research method was descriptive-correlative. 150 managers of sports clubs were
chosen through simple random sampling. The research tools were Shojaei quality
of work life questionnaire (2009) and Maleki change management questionnaire
(2010). Spearman correlation coefficient was used for data analysis. Results
showed that there was a positive and significant correlation between QWL and
change management (Readiness for change, planning for change, implementing
change and change stability) of managers of sports clubs of city of Tabriz. Also
there was a positive and significant correlation between components of salary and
bonuses, democracy in organization, job design and work environment and change
management (readiness for change, planning for change, implementing change and
change stability) of managers of sports clubs of Tabriz; but there was no significant
correlation between participation in decision making and continuous learning
opportunities and change management (readiness for change, planning for change,
implementing change and change stability) of managers of sports clubs of Tabriz. It
is suggested to increase and improve the indicators of QWL to increase the level of
indicators of change management.
KEYWORDS QWL, Change Management, Managers of Sports Clubs.
INTRODUCTION
Nowadays a significant part of our life is spent in organizations or in relation to organizations. We work in one
organization and use the services and products of another organization. Each organization has multiple
responsibilities and realizes a general or special goal for the society and its people (Alaghehband, 2007). Reaching a
high quality work life requires organized efforts from an organization and letting employees have more
opportunities to affect their work and cooperate in the overall effectiveness of the organization. Nowadays in the
contemporary management, QWL has turned into the main social issue all around the world. Supporters of QWL
theory try to find new systems for helping employees balance between work life and personal life (Donyavi, 2009).
Broadly, organizations are the main pillar of the current society and management is the most important factor in
their survival, growth and development or failure; and undoubtedly, it is the managers’ responsibility to direct the
movement from the current situation to a desirable situation regarding the organizational goals. On the other hand,
massive changes at global level have caused several problems and changes for the organizations for reaching their
goals. These changes result in new changes, especially regarding the management theories; and it could be stated
that hundreds of management theories have been provided in 20th century. The important issue is that in all these
theories the emphasis is on the important role of management and efficient manpower of the organization in
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Res. J. Sport. Sci. Vol., 3 (2), 45-50, 2015
reaching the organizational goals; and this perspective regarding the role of management in
organizations has led to several researches and surveys related to organizational management and
leadership; because it is in optimal management that employees feel that they are more accepted in the
organizations and they are involved in its tasks and through this they feel self-respect, job satisfaction,
and the employees’ cooperation improves (Hersey & Blanchard, 2008). For providing such ground
managers must have mental relaxation in the competition field in order to efficiently cope with these
changes. In such organizations it is possible to reach these goals through improving the QWL of managers,
since individuals’ mental needs in the organization are met by the use of QWL techniques (Payne, 2000).
QWL is a comprehensive program for increasing the employees’ satisfaction, training them in the
environment and helping them in management and changes. Dissatisfaction with quality of work life is a
fundamental problem which affects all employees regardless of their position and status. Nowadays for
keeping their competitive status, all organizations need rapid change. Rapid changes require
organizations to have adaptive managers and employees, who work efficiently, continuously improve
systems and processes and are customer-oriented (Vaill, 1996) and who can coordinate themselves with
the changes of internal and external environment in order to survive; and in this regard the change
management skill of managers is highly important. If there were no changes managers would have a
much simpler task and planning would have been easy. Also regarding the advancements in the current
era in terms of technology and different sciences, managers of sports organizations should also adapt
themselves with these changes otherwise, this part of sports that have a more service-providing and
educational role will face several problems. This inattention severely decreases the effectiveness and
efficiency of organization and ultimately has negative results for the sports club and sports in the society.
Due to the lack of knowledge of organizational managers about the QWL this issue has lost its actual size
and proportion in the organizations. Improving the QWL of employees’ needs constant care of
organizational managers to develop a support system for the human resources; based on this, optimal use
of human resources depends on developing human resource strategies and taking measures to protect
the body and soul of employees and to protect their human dignity. Proceedings such as welfare and
medical facilities, job security, job design, job importance, job growth and development, training and
improvement could be considered as QWL (Norouzi, 2013). Thus regarding the above mentioned
statements and importance of QWL and change management in organizations the current research tries
to answer this question that whether there is a significant correlation between QWL of managers of
sports clubs of Tabriz and their change management or not.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The research method was descriptive-correlative. The population included all managers of sports clubs of
city of Tabriz and the number was 260 individuals; and based on Morgan table 150 individuals were
randomly chosen and participated in this research. The predictor variable was quality of work life and the
criterion variable was change management. At the research implementation stage, after making the
coordination with the related sports clubs the questionnaires were handed out to participants. After
providing introductory explanations about the measuring tools and aim of conducting the test, the
answering method was fully explained to participants. Regarding the ethical considerations, after
obtaining their testimonials, and providing enough information, they were assured that the received
information would be only used in this research and they would be protected from all sorts of abuse.
From 150 distributed questionnaires, 127 questionnaires were surveyed in analyses. The following
questionnaires were used for measuring research variables.
Managers’ quality of work life questionnaire (Shojaei, 2009): This questionnaire includes 33 questions
and it is answered based on a 5-point Likert scale and it can measure 5 dimensions of salary and bonuses,
continuous learning opportunities, democracy in the organization, participation in decision making, job
design and work environment.
Change Management Questionnaire (Maleki, 2010): This questionnaire includes 38 questions
measuring 4 subscales of readiness for change, planning for change, implementing change and change
stability and it is completed based on a 5-point Likert scale (Quoted by Koushki, 2013). The validity of
questionnaires was confirmed by professors and experts. Cronbach alpha was used for surveying the
reliability of questionnaires. The Cronbach alpha coefficient for QWL was 0.917 and for change
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Res. J. Sport. Sci. Vol., 3 (2), 45-50, 2015
management was 0.917; which indicates the desirable reliability for the measuring tools. Spearman
correlation coefficient was used for data analysis. Significance level in all analyses was p≤0.05.
RESULTS
Table 1 shows mean and standard deviation of research components.
Table 1. Descriptive statistics of components of QWL and change management.
Components
of change
management
Components
of QWL
Readiness for change
Planning for change
Implementing change
Change stability
Salary & bonuses
Continuous learning
opportunities
Democracy in the
organization
Participation in decision
making
Job design
Work environment
No. of
respondents
127
127
127
127
127
127
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
SD
2.89
2.79
2.67
2.90
1.60
2.33
5.00
5.00
5.00
5.00
4.20
4.67
3.9571
4.0586
3.8563
4.0724
2.9244
3.2638
0.50726
0.47510
0.50534
0.45034
0.53862
0.57022
127
1.60
4.60
3.1811
0.63618
127
1.00
5.00
3.0925
0.74189
127
127
2.00
2.17
4.43
5.00
3.4353
3.6483
0.52562
0.69205
Kolmogorov-Smirnoff test results showed that data distribution of components of quality of work life and
change management was abnormal (p≤0.05). Spearman correlation test was used for surveying the
correlation between QWL and change management (readiness for change, planning for change,
implementing change and change stability). Results showed that there was a positive and significant
correlation between QWL and change management (readiness for change, planning for change,
implementing change and change stability) of managers of sports clubs of city of Tabriz (Table2). Also the
correlation between dimensions of QWL and management was surveyed. Results showed that there was a
positive and significant correlation between salary and bonuses and components of change management
(readiness for change, planning for change, implementing change and change stability) of managers of
sports clubs of Tabriz. Other analyses showed a positive and significant correlation between continuous
learning opportunities and change management in two dimensions of readiness for change and change
stability of managers of sports clubs of Tabriz; but there was no significant correlation between
continuous learning opportunities and two dimensions of planning for change and implementing change
of managers of sports clubs of Tabriz. Also there was a positive and significant correlation between
democracy in the organization and change management and its components (readiness for change,
planning for change, implementing change and change stability) in managers of sports clubs of Tabriz.
There was a positive and significant correlation between participation in decision making and change
management and component of readiness for change of managers of sports clubs of Tabriz; but there was
no significant correlation between participation in decision making and three dimensions of planning for
change, implementing change and change stability of managers of sports clubs of Tabriz. There was a
positive and significant correlation between job design and change management and its components
(readiness for change, planning for change, implementing change and change stability) in managers of
sports clubs of Tabriz. Other analyses showed a positive and significant correlation between work
environment and change management and its components (readiness for change, planning for change,
implementing change and change stability) in managers of sports clubs of Tabriz (Table2).
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Res. J. Sport. Sci. Vol., 3 (2), 45-50, 2015
Table 2. Spearman correlation coefficient results of QWL and dimensions of change management.
Change
management
QWL
r
p
Salary & bonuses
r
*0.240
p
0.007
Continuous learning
r
*0.236
opportunities
p
0.008
Democracy in the
r
*0.336
organization
p
0.000
Participation in
r
*0.183
decision making
p
0.039
Job design
r
*0.530
p
0.000
Work environment
r
*0.510
p
0.000
*At level P<0.05 difference is significant.
Readiness
for change
*0.496
0.000
*0.307
0.000
*0.252
0.004
*0.370
0.000
*0.265
0.003
*0.510
0.000
*0.553
0.000
Planning for
change
*0.278
0.002
*0.201
0.023
0.123
0.168
*0.180
0.043
*0.097
0.276
*0.374
0.000
*0.345
0.000
Implementing
change
*0.330
0.000
*0.175
0.049
0.146
0.100
*0.275
0.002
*0.104
0.246
*0.433
0.000
*0.372
0.000
Change
stability
*0.412
0.000
*0.176
0.048
*0.248
0.005
*0.296
0.001
*0.172
0.053
*0.482
0.000
*0.423
0.000
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
The aim of conducting the current research was surveying the correlation between QWL of managers of
sports clubs of Tabriz and their change management. Results showed that there was a positive and
significant correlation between QWL and change management (readiness for change, planning for change,
implementing change and change stability). The current research results are consistent with research
results of Ahadi (2011). Since the aim of organizational change is adaptability to environment and better
performance, a set of actual work conditions in an organization such as salary and bonuses, participation
in decision making, job diversity and enrichment are considered as the QWL program and ultimately in
the process of making and developing change management paying attention to the above mentioned
dimensions could result in the best possible management method. Thus there may be a direct correlation
between QWL and change management. Also, there was a positive and significant correlation between
salary and bonuses and change management and its components (readiness for change, planning for
change, implementing change and change stability).
The current research results are consistent with research results of Ahadi (2011) and it confirms that
adequate salary and bonuses is an important factor for increased performance. Fair salary and bonuses
depends on appropriate and correct system of payment, fair payments, security and stability of payment,
reward based on performance, on-time payment without delay, paying appropriate rewards and etc.
Organization could design and implement a fair and reasonable salary system through analyzing jobs and
using appropriate resources. Direct and indirect payments meet different needs of individuals; thus they
are important; and there may be a direct correlation between salary and bonuses and change
management. There was a positive and significant correlation between continuous learning opportunities
and change management and its components (readiness for change, planning for change, implementing
change and change stability); whereas, there was no significant correlation between continuous learning
opportunities and components of planning for change and implementing change. This lack of correlation
could be due to the lack of implementing training programs along with conducted changes in an
organization in one of the stages of change. In case of providing the ground for fostering talents and
improving the individuals’ abilities in the environment, individuals will easily and fearlessly accept the
changes. Providing the appropriate ground for improving individuals’ abilities, promotion opportunities,
use of gained skills and providing security regarding the income and job are in line with continuous
learning opportunities in the organization.
Management and leadership styles are used for preparing and motivating employees to continuous
learning and development and accepting changes and also providing conditions and facilities for
conducting organizational changes. Change leaders are people who think of the future, know the
destination, have self-confidence for making changes and who are patience in helping or guiding others
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Res. J. Sport. Sci. Vol., 3 (2), 45-50, 2015
toward changes (Robbins, 2002). Thus there may be a direct correlation between continuous learning
opportunities and change management. There was a positive and significant correlation between
democracy in the organization and change management and its components (readiness for change,
planning for change, implementing change and change stability). It could be said that distributing
democracy in the organization is one of the aims of QWL. Democracy in the organization is inevitable and
traditional concepts existing in models such as bureaucratic model are inappropriate for today’s
organizations. Providing the ground for freedom of speech without being afraid of the reaction of higher
authority in an organization is called democracy. Providing opportunities such as independence and
autonomy at work, benefiting from different skills and access to data related to work are some of the
measures took in the organization to satisfy and ensure the employees. Thus there may be a direct
correlation between democracy in the organization and change management and its components. Other
results indicated a significant correlation between participation in decision making and change
management and its component of readiness for change; but there was no significant correlation between
participation in decision making and components of planning for change, implementing change and
change stability. Group factors such as group cohesion, social standards and participation in decision
making are some of the factors resisting against change (Robbins, 2002).
Individuals who are affected by changes are different from each other in terms of attitude and needs; thus
effective change programs must be flexible enough to create a collaborative environment for all
employees at the organization. The more individuals participate in decision makings the more awareness
about the goals of change program and the easier the acceptance and implementation of change
programs. Creating an atmosphere of cooperation, and trust in organizational relationships could be an
important step for reaching the goals of organizational change. Managers must use the participation of
employees in the process of resistance recognition in different forms and challenge change strategies and
use them to gain employees’ participation in change. In this case it could be expected from this approach
to provide a model being used for positive and active resistance accompanies by benefits (Rezaeian and
Baba Ahari, 2004). The ability to create trust and impose power from an appropriate source for creating
an environment in which the individuals feel the change is necessary and committing them to change is
one of the important features of managers and leaders. Trust could be gained through participation in
different fields and discussing them and this also prevents from the negative aspects of power (Zand,
2003). Thus there may be a direct correlation between participation in decision making and change
management. Also there was a positive and significant correlation between job design and change
management and its components (readiness for change, planning for change, implementing change and
change stability). Individuals in an organization are the base and foundation of all organizational changes
such as change in the structure, group process, reward systems and job design and the nature of human
being shows resistance toward any changes even desirable changes. Efficient change brings about
improving new tendencies and behaviors or new strategies and improving new tendencies and behaviors
challenges leaving current tendencies and behaviors. In other words, for replacing the current behavior
with a new one there is a need for breaking the resistant layers of individuals and attracting their
participation for efficient implementation of change. In other words, for making a behavioral change the
resistance toward previous behavior must be eliminated and the tendency to accept the new behavior
must be created (Rezaeian and Baba Ahari, 2004).
Organization must take measures for updating the technical and professional information of its
employees and increasing the job content. Also for realizing the principals of succession in the
organization it must use job rotation techniques. Thus there may be a direct correlation between job
design and change management and its components. Also there was a positive and significant correlation
between work environment and change management and its components (readiness for change, planning
for change, implementing change and change stability). The current research results are consistent with
research results of Shahbazi (2009). Naturally, organizations face different phenomena each day and as a
result they must be flexible and change the work environment according to those phenomena. By making
a balance it means coordinating work life and other aspects of life of employees and managers. Thus there
may be a direct correlation between work environment and change management and its components.
Generally it is suggested to increase and improve the indicators of QWL in order to increase the indicators
of change management.
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