Identifying and Analyzing Elites' Mental Patterns Regarding Behavioral Pathologies of Iranian Swimming Management System

The aim of this work was to identify and analyze the mental patterns of the experts regarding the behavioral injuries of the Iranian swimming management system. To this end, using the Q methodology and benefiting from all the active coaches in the Premier League, veterans and elite experts, sports management specialists familiar with the field of swimming, sociologists, and members of the media active in swimming, the mental patterns related to the management behavioral injuries of Iranian swimming was identified in the form of six mental models of the scholars, politicians, managers, communists, ethicists, and skilled people. Considering the importance of the human capital injuries in the management sector as well as the unfavorable situation of most behavioral components in this field, the preventive measures to eliminate the shortcomings and deficiencies as well as the measures to maintain the strengths and weaknesses in the behavioral dimension seem to be necessary, and is suggested. The top managers of the Iranian Swimming Federation should identify the problems and provide the practical solutions immediately.

With the beginning of the third millennium, the role of the human capital has become more prominent every day, and it has now been mentioned as the only factor involved in achieving success and a sustainable competitive advantage in an organization. This is especially true in the sports industry. Among the various disciplines, the sport of swimming has been mentioned to be one of the most popular Olympic disciplines for the development of national sports. The number and value of the medals in this field in the world events, especially the Olympics, has added to the importance of this popular sport. On the other hand, swimming as a social and economic phenomenon and a basic sport finds million of the fans around the world dependent on it. For this reason, considering the important and key role of the Iranian professional swimming managers and coaches as the human and intellectual capital in the development of this sport to achieve a significant success in reaching the peaks of global pride in this beautiful, popular, and foreign sport seem to be necessary. Getting out of the current situation, the pathology of the obstacles in front of these people is necessary in order to discover the obstacles and to remove them.

In terms of purpose, the present research work was an applied one. It was an explorative one in terms of nature, it was of descriptive–survey type in terms of data collection, and it was a mixed research work due to the application of the Q methodology. By interviewing the Iranian swimming elites with research backgrounds in this field, five persons were selected as the research sample. In the section of sorting the expressions, 20 persons were selected as the research contributors among the active coaches in the premier league, ancestors and elite experts, sport management specialists familiar with swimming, sociologists, and active media in swimming. The sampling method was a combination of the objective, purposive, and snowball samplings.

Six mental patterns were identified in the Iranian swimming management system regarding the behavioral damages in terms of priority as the knowledge-oriented, politics-oriented, management-oriented, relations-oriented, ethics-oriented, and skill-oriented individuals. In this regard, is necessary to take preventive and corrective measures in order to eliminate the defects as well as the measures to maintain the strengths, especially in the behavioral dimension.