Tennis for Everyone? Identifying the Core and Aligning the Competencies : A Smashing Study of Bankeryds Tennisklubb

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Te nnis for Everyone?

Identifying the Core and

Aligning the Competencies

A Smashing Study of Bankeryds Tennisklubb

Bachelor Thesis within Business Administration Author: Terese Fält

Katarina Mannerfelt Johanna Widell Tutor: Jens Hultman

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Te nnis för Alla? Identifiering

av Kärnverksamheten samt

Sammanlänkning av

Kompetenser

En Smashande Studie av Bankeryds Tennisklubb

Kandidatuppsats inom Företagsekonomi Författare: Terese Fält

Katarina Mannerfelt Johanna Widell Handledare: Jens Hultman

Acknowledgement

The authors of this thesis would like to thank the tutor Jens Hultman for the guidance in the process of writing this thesis.

Furthermore the authors would like to give their greatest gratitude to Bankeryds Tennisklubb for their assistance and support and the respondents for their participation.

Thanks for providing valuable information.

Bachelor Thesis within Business Administration

Title: Tennis for Everyone? Identifying the Core and Aligning the Competencies- A Smashing Study of Bankeryds Tennisklubb Author: Terese Fält

Katarina Mannerfelt Johanna Widell Tutor: Jens Hultman Date: January 2008

Subject terms: Core activity, Brand management, Service, Customer satisfaction

Abstract

In 1974 - 81 Björn Borg conquered the tennis courts and his opponents around the world (International Tennis Hall of Fame, 2006). Today Jonas Björkman, Robin Söderling and Joachim "Pim-Pim" Johansson are the most successful Swedish tennis players according to the ATP ranking (2007). Svenska Tennisförbundet (2007) has a vision, that through the engagement of tennis clubs around Sweden secure the position as a world leading tennis nation. Bankeryd Tennisklubb is one of those engaged tennis clubs and is situated in Bankeryd, a smaller village in the outskirts of Jönköping. The organization was established in 1958 and has 230 members. They are striving to achieve a feeling of “we” among its members (Bankeryds Tennisklubb, 2007).

Bankeryd’s Tennisklubb wants to find out what their core activity is and if this is clear to their members. Therefore the purpose of this thesis is to examine the core activity of Bankeryd’s Tennisklubb to improve and strengthen the organization’s brand. Core activity within business and organizations is the inner core of importance, the main thing about a service or a product according to Eagan and Harker (2005). This is in turn dependent on the core competencies discovered within the organization (Beech & Chadwick, 2004). The theoretical framework also includes brand management and since the core activity of BTK is interrelated with the brand BTK the two concepts are not separated.

To answer the purpose a questionnaire was distributed among the members of Bankeryd’s Tennisklubb. To get a deeper understanding about the feelings of the members, four focus groups were carried out. The data collected was then analyzed with the support of the theoretical framework.

From the analysis it was found that the members thought the core activity of BTK should be the tennis practice and that the feeling of “we” at the club and that surrounding activities are less important. The deciding factor of whether or not to stay as members within the club was the quality level of the tennis practice. Conclusions drawn are that BTK should focus more on tennis practice but not be a professionalized club striving to reach the elite by themselves. With the “we” feeling and the corporate culture combined with knowledge about customer expectations on high-quality tennis practice they can build a stronger brand.

Kandidatuppsats inom Företagsekonomi

Titel: Tennis för Alla? Identifiering av Kärnverksamheten samt Sammanlänkning av Kärnkompetenser - En smashande Studie av Bankeryds Tennisklubb

Författare: Terese Fält

Katarina Mannerfelt Johanna Widell Handledare: Jens Hultman Datum: Januari 2008

Ämnesord: Kärnverksamhet, Brand management, Service, Kundtillfredställelse

Sammanfattning

Björn Borg, svensk tennis spelare som blev en av världens främsta tennis spelare, erövrade tennisbanor världen över 1974 -81 (International Tennis Hall of Fame, 2006). Idag är Jonas Björkman, Robin Söderling och Joachim ”Pim-Pim” Johansson de mest framgångsrika svenska tennisspelarna enligt ATP rankingen (2007). Svenska Tennisförbundet (2007) har en vision att genom engagemang från tennisklubbar runt om i Sverige kunna säkra positionen som världsledande tennisnation inom en snar framtid. Bankeryds Tennisklubb är en av de klubbarna och finns i Bankeryd, en ort strax utanför Jönköping. Organisationen grundades 1958 och har idag 230 medlemmar. De strävar efter en ”vi” känsla bland medlemmarna och inom klubben (Bankeryds Tennisklubb, 2007).

Bankeryds Tennisklubb vill gärna ta reda på vad deras kärnverksamhet är och om den är tydlig för deras medlemmar. Syftet med uppsatsen är därför att undersöka och förtydliga Bankeryds Tennisklubbs kärnverksamhet för att stärka organisationens varumärke. Kärnverksamheten inom företag och organisationer är den innersta kärnan; den huvudsakliga servicen eller produkten enligt Eagan och Harker (2005), som i sin tur är beroende av kärnkompetens som finns inom organisationen (Beech & Chadwick, 2004). Den teoretiska referensramen förklarar även konceptet brand management och eftersom kärnverksamheten på Bankeryds Tennisklubb står i så pass nära relation till varumärket BTK separeras inte de två koncepten.

För att kunna besvara syftet med uppsatsen gjordes en datainsamling genom en enkätundersökning bland medlemmarna på Bankeryds Tennisklubb. Fyra fokusgrupper genomfördes sedan för att få en djupare förståelse för medlemmarnas tankar och känslor. Den insamlade informationen analyserades sedan utifrån och med stöd av den teoretiska referensramen.

Analysen visade att medlemmarna ansåg att kärnverksamheten inom BTK skulle vara tennisträning och att “vi”-känslan framstod som mindre viktig. Faktorn som avgör om medlemmarna stannar inom klubben eller ej är nivån på tennisträningen. Slutsatserna blev att BTK ska fokusera mer på tennisträning som främsta aktivitet, men inte bli en klubb som satsar på professionell tennis på egen hand. ”Vi”-känslan och den interna kulturen i kombination med kännedom om medlemars förväntningar på tennisträningens kvalité kan bygga ett starkt varumärke.

Table of Contents

Introduction...1

2

Theoretical Framework...4

2.1 Service and service quality ... 4

2.2 Core activity, product and competencies ... 5

2.2.1 Core competencies...5

2.3 Customer satisfaction... 6

2.4 Expectations and perceptions ... 7

2.5 Brand Management... 8

2.5.1 Competitive Identity and Brand Strategy ...9

2.5.2 Services branding...10 2.6 Ansoff Matrix ... 11 2.7 Processes ... 12

3

Method...13

3.3 Quantitative and Qualitative Method ... 14

3.4 Validity, Reliability and Objectivity... 15

3.5 Data collection... 16 3.5.1 Board...16 3.5.2 Questionnaire...16 3.5.3 Focus groups...17 3.6 Method of analysis ... 19 3.7 Limitations... 19

4

Results of the research ...20

4.1 Board ... 20 4.2 Questionnaires... 21 4.3 Focus Groups... 23 4.3.1 Adults...23 4.3.2 Teenagers...25 4.3.3 Children ...25 4.3.4 Coaches...26

5

Analysis...27

5.1.1 Analysis of Board ...27

5.1.2 Analysis of Questionnaires ...29

5.1.3 Analysis of Focus Groups...30

5.2 Overall analysis... 31 5.2.1 Professionalized Board...31 5.2.2 Professionalized Club ...32 5.2.3 Service...32 5.3 Limitations... 33

6

Conclusion...34

7

Recommendations ...35

8

Further Research...37

References ...38

Table of Figures

Figure 2 The NLM (Beech & Chadwick, 2004) ...6

Figure 4 The virtuous circle of Competitive Identity (Anholt, 2007, p.35)...9

Figure 5 The criteria influencing the success of services brands (de Chernatony & Segal-Horn, 2003)...11

Figure 6 Ansoff Matrix...11

Figure 7 The NLM (Beech & Chadwick, 2004) ...27

Figure 8 Analysis of NLM model, applied to BTK...29

Figure 9 Way to success for BTK (2007) ...36

Table 1 Questionnaire results in percentage...22

1 Introduction

In the first part of this thesis the background of the research is explained and the problem and purpose thoroughly discussed.

The theme of this thesis was given by Bankeryds Tennisklubb, further in this thesis referred to as BTK. This topic was chosen because the board of the sports club needed assistance within the area of brand management, to find the core activities and strengths of BTK. The tennis club has had active members since 1958 and strives to reach a feeling of we within the club. The hope is for this thesis to be of assistance for BTK, increase their awareness, build a competitive advantage and strengthen customer satisfaction. This is of great interest for BTK and their members, but also for Swedish tennis. From the analysis done and conclusions drawn in this thesis the expectation is to give well founded recommendations that can be valuable to BTK.

1.1 Background

In 1974 - 81 the Swedish tennis player Björn Borg, that became one of the world’s greatest tennis players, conquered the tennis courts and his opponents around the world (International Tennis Hall of Fame, 2006). Today Sweden does not have any outstanding tennis player. Jonas Björkman, Robin Söderling and Joachim "Pim-Pim" Johansson are the most successful Swedish tennis players at the moment according to the ATP ranking (2007).

Svenska Tennisförbundet (2007) has a vision to in the long run secure the position as a world leading tennis nation. This will be acquired through a functioning and healthy sport with width, from which more talents choose tennis as their sport. A further goal is to continuously work for an increasing tennis interest through stimulation from all tennis clubs in Sweden. There is a willingness to strive for a development of youth players, that there exist an obvious effort to reach the elite and reliable coach commitments.

BTK is situated in Bankeryd, a smaller village in the outskirts of Jönköping. They have two major competitors, namely Taberg’s and Jönköping’s tennis clubs. BTK started in 1958 and is today an organization with 230 members. The organization owns their facilities consisting of three indoor- and two outdoor tennis courts. The facilities also include a small café, two changing rooms, one for men and one for women, and a small gym. The board room is also allocated in the same facility.

The club offers practitioners of all ages a possibility to play tennis. The common goal for the association and its members is to have fun together on and off the tennis court and to create a “we” feeling, a sense of belongingness. Quality is mentioned as another important aspect within tennis training. BTK want to offer the opportunity of wellbeing and encourage people to exercise, practice and play tennis at their club. They believe they can give their members added value and they strive to have active members at their club. A model (see figure 1) made by BTK themselves shows all the goals of the club in a clear and concise manner.

Figure 1 The goals for BTK (Bankeryds Tennisklubb, 2007)

Previously BTK have had troubles with the board and things have been turbulent at the club. The former board was unengaged and was seldom seen among members at the club. They did not fulfill the wishes of the members and many of them therefore chose to leave the club. There were plenty of member drop-outs and the quality of training was low according to present members of the club.

Elite is defined as the top players that strive to be professional players in the near future or already are top players. To BTK the word elite imply hard training, sacrifices and a tremendous motivation. According to them these factors and requirements lead to dropouts in most cases, especially amongst young tennis players. They mean that the word elite is easily misinterpreted and connected to high pressure, which leads to lack of motivation and the risk of loosing interest in the sport is high. Also, many players that are not eager to become one of the elite could easily be put aside and when striving for the top the width could be forgone. BTK implies that they in many cases loose players due to elite dedication. BTK is striving to achieve a feeling of “we” among its members. Words such as happiness and comfort are used to describe a common objective. There is an attempt within the organization to let anyone join the club and give support to those who want to reach the top (Bankeryds Tennisklubb, 2007).

Brand attractiveness and the importance of a strong and unified brand are essential for BTK to solve the matter of their brand management. A first desire is therefore to focus on

customer expectations concerning service quality, more closely if what is provided through training and atmosphere at the tennis club corresponds to the goals and objectives of BTK. The reason for examining the core activity in the context of brand management at BTK is that the organization offers a service that is so closely connected to its brand that they are not separated.

There is a willingness to find out which strategies to follow in order to improve the brand and to give recommendations to BTK upon these strategies. By reaching an understanding of what customers expect of BTK the intention is to match the brand with those expectations.

1.2 Problem

As mentioned above, BTK have been suffering from member dropouts and competition from neighboring tennis clubs threatens the member situation. The financial situation of BTK is a hinder in their attempt to give enough support to members that strives to reach the top, the elite. This situation is, through experience and interviews with the board of BTK, common within non-profit organizations. Non-profit organizations often struggle with poor economies and a persistent hunt for sponsors. There is often a big spread among members, with different characteristics, age and gender. This raises the problem of BTK to offer something that attracts as many different customers as possible and to communicate this offering through a unified brand. This is troublesome for BTK and it demands urgent attention, since their current strategy is lacking some important aspects to get satisfied customers and a strong, unified brand identity.

The fact that BTK want to become a working tennis organization is of importance not only for the local members. The issue is also of interest for the Swedish Tennis Association (STA) that strives for a development of youths in tennis and for Sweden to become a great tennis nation.

The problem is looked upon from the perspective of BTK and why, what and how they can manage their service offering to be more successful. Other perspectives are also taken into account, namely those of the board, the members as well as the coaches.

1.3 Purpose

The purpose of this thesis is to reach an understanding of how BTK, a non-profit sports organization, can make use of their core activity effectively to reach one shared vision and a stronger brand identity.

1.4 Research questions

• How can BTK match the sport organization’s core activity with the demands of their members and strengthen their brand?

2 Theoretical Framework

In this part the theories and models used are explained. These theories and models are the supporting poles in this work, the groundwork that the empirical study, and later the analysis and conclusion, relies upon.

2.1 Service and service quality

Most sports organizations possess the goal of satisfying consumer needs. To reach this goal a sports organization needs to provide a service with enough benefits for the consumer to feel satisfied (Shank, 1999).

There are aspects differentiating services from pure goods. Services are intangible, meaning they cannot be inventoried, patented, readily displayed or communicated. They are also heterogeneous, since delivery and satisfaction depend on employee actions, many uncontrollable factors and the uncertainty of knowing if a service was provided as planned or promoted. Further a service is produced and consumed simultaneously, whereas the consumer becomes a participant and affect the outcome as well as other consumers. Also mass producing services is difficult due to the simultaneous production and consumption. Last out is the fact that services are perishable. This aspect of services points at the difficulty in coordinating service supply with demand as well as the inability to store or resell a service (Zeithaml & Bitner, 1996).

Zeithaml and Bitner (1996) means that service quality is the tool customers use in evaluating a service and how it has performed. So, to meet customer expectations about a service there is a need to find out how costumers evaluate service quality. There are five dimensions that consumers regard as important when assessing service quality (Zeithaml & Bitner 1996). Supported by Fornell, Johnson, Anderson, Cha and Bryant (1996) two of those are empathy and reliability.

Zeithaml and Bitner (1996) give the following explanations of reliability: “Is the service performed as promised/advertised?” and responsiveness: “Are customers to experience quick responses to questions or other problems they might have?” Further, assurance is referring to a service within which customers may feel confident. It also refers to employee knowledge and trust for the providing organization. Empathy involves the treating of customers as individuals, bringing them customized or personalized services. Finally, tangibles are the physical representations of the organization in the forms of facilities, personnel and equipment. For BTK to be knowledgeable about its members the above mentioned factors should be taken into consideration.

Another definition of service quality was explained by Garvin in 1984 and is called the user-based approach (Beech and Chadwick, 2004). This approach could be seen as similar to the measurement of satisfaction and even confused with it. In fact, the user-based approach to service quality is present if a service reaches the required level set by a consumer/user. In a case of service quality the actual service fulfills its purpose, and therefore any service can be seen as high quality but depend on the requirements of the user and if these are met or not (Beech & Chadwick, 2004). BTK consist of many different types of members and all different requirements may not have to coincide for all to be satisfied, which is why this theory might be useful for such an organization. This is also of

interest for the tennis club as the quality of the services provided at BTK could be measured and evaluated for a richer understanding of how to satisfy members’ needs.

2.2 Core activity, product and competencies

Different businesses and organizations have different core activities that define their work. Within businesses and organizations that are trading services or products there is an inner core of importance, the main thing, the core product (Wheeler, 2003).

The designers of a product may be satisfied with what they offer, but it is not certain that customers will see the product in the same way (Cooper, 2001). Products are developed both at and in different speeds; they have different life cycles depending on market size, design and quality, sales and if there are problems within these areas. The product development processes is supposed to be effective and the final product consistent with the original product-customer concept, what the customers obtain (Gorchels, 2006). Effort should be put in understanding what customer wants. Different aspects about the products need to be understood: what the product perform, what it is, who the product serves and what the product means to the customers. Sometimes there is a shift in customer preferences during the development cycle and sometimes competitors move more quickly and grab the market opportunity (Cooper, 2001). Existing products should then according to Gorchels, 2006, be treated like core brands and looked upon as if they were acquired from another company. This makes it promising to envision the existing possibilities. Gorshels, 2006, implies that a strong product concept includes a healthy measure of what is called “market imagination”: to encompass what customers say they want and what the concept’s creators imagine the customers will want some years ahead, in the future. The consumer product perspective needs the brand perspective to be able to influence household buyers and to be able to motivate partners and sell the product. There exist different product strategies and knowledge about the market and competitive trends. Together with an understanding about the sustainable product, brand, and financial performance characteristics, this yields the foundation of the product vision and goals (Gorchels, 2006). Strategies should be consistent with the vision and long-term goals of the product.

Drucker (2006) implies that every organization should have, whether it is a business or not, a theory of the business that is valid, clear, and consistent and focuses on extraordinarily power. The organization needs a steady stream of new innovations, efficient operation processes and effective processes for identifying and communicating with potential customers and give support and service to the current ones (Eagan & Harker, 2005).

2.2.1 Core competencies

“Every organization, not just businesses, needs one core competence: innovation” concluded by Drucker (cited in Eagan & Harker, 2005, p.96). According to Drucker (2006) core competencies are needed to fulfill the organizations’ mission. Non-profit organizations should focus on action and devote a great deal on defining the mission and have a clear definition of what implications the work at the organization has.

The purpose of making an internal analysis of a sports organization may be to understand one’s own strengths and weaknesses. This is what BTK is in need of and by understanding its core competencies this might be achieved. Based on the external environment and in particular a clear vision, the organization will be able to discover the core competencies upon which to focus for a prospering future. In order to take advantage of arising

opportunities the sports organization needs a well developed strategy. This strategy should stand on the solid ground of coherent strengths, including areas where the organization excells in perfomance and competitors face a difficulty in imitating (Beech & Chadwick, 2004).

When defining the key strengths or core competencies of a sports organization different models can be used. The one used in this thesis is based on a neurological levels model (NLM) and rests on the framework of organizations being collections of individuals aiming at realising common objectives restrained by the time and money aspects (Beech & Chadwick, 2004). The model helps the organization to find the appropriateness and value at five different levels. The goal is to have all five levels in alignment to discover what constitutes the core competencies.

Figure 2 The NLM (Beech & Chadwick, 2004)

Beginning from the bottom the NLM model describes the internal environment where resources are employed and made use of in the work of people. The behaviors vary within the diverse functions of an organization and the synergy is of importance in the model’s next step. Core skills and core capabilities are the central part of the model and represent an organization’s major focus. Further every organization possesses its own culture consisting of believes and values, shown in the top of the model. In the very top, the corporate identity is created in relation to strategic means of an organization (Beech & Chadwick, 2004).

2.3 Customer satisfaction

For the organization of BTK it is crucial to figure out the way in which their members and thereby their customers become satisfied. The concept of customer satisfaction is in this thesis of importance since BTK rely on satisfied members to become a stronger organization. Satisfaction is: “…the customer’s evaluation of a product or service in terms of whether that product or service has met the customer’s needs and expectations” (Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler, 2006, p.110). Another definition of customer satisfaction is that it is an emotional response. This response arises when a customer assesses the benefits received from a service and compares them with the costs of obtaining it (Tam, 2004). The customer satisfaction is shaped by product and service features, consumers’ moods and emotions, the way a service may surprise a customer in a positive or negative manner, equal and fair customer treatment, and other people such as family members (Zeithaml et al., 2006).

It is important to mention customer satisfaction in the context of service quality, since the two concepts are fundamentally different, but still interrelated. In fact, service quality might lead to satisfied customers (Zeithaml & Bitner 1996). This is because customers possess a perceived service quality, which is the difference between customers’ perceptions and expectations of a service. In a situation where a customer would perceive a service as quality enhancing, that customer’s level of satisfaction would increase (Tam, 2004). According to Fornell et, al. (1996) perceived service quality has a direct effect on customer satisfaction through customers’ evaluations of service performance on similar dimensions as mentioned by Zeithaml & Bitner, 1996.

Further the perceived value of a service is the difference between the performance of a service and the cost of obtaining it. Therefore the greater the perceived service quality in relation to the cost of obtaining a service, the higher perceived value of the service and in turn the outcome of greater customer satisfaction (Tam, 2004).

The central drive of the marketing activities of a firm is often viewed in terms of development, maintenance, or enhancement of customers’ loyalty toward its products or services. Customer loyalty – brand loyalty – is an underlying objective for strategic market planning according to Kotler (2005). If performance matches or exceeds the expectations, the buyer/customer is satisfied or delighted. Customer satisfaction though, does not affect customer loyalty according to Eagan and Harker (2005). When customers are satisfied they often let the environment know positive things about their experience and the phenomenon of word-of-mouth has taken its beginning. Satisfied customers come again and they tell others about their experience, and the word-of-mouth has a domino effect with impact, friends tell friends who tell friends about the experience they obtained (Eagan & Harker, 2005). Word-of-mouth could have a negative effect if the experience received is poor and not excellent.

2.4 Expectations and perceptions

The service provider carry certain perceptions and expectations about its customers from which actions are taken in shaping the service. BTK is at this point in time designing their services offerings according to thoughts about what their members may appreciate. Customers on the other hand hold their expectations about the service quality, and it is recognized by Krepapa et al. (2003) that through communication a service provider may engage customers in co-creating the actual service. A service provider may then be able to supply a service closer to the perceptions its customers hold in reality (Krepapa et. al., 2003). Different customers hold different reference points as what to expect of a service and even those reference points represent different levels of expectation. (Zeithaml, et, al., 2006). For BTK expectations and perceptions are seen as two factors that will strongly influence the way of success for the club and are therefore brought up in this theory part. Expectations vary within the span of desired service and adequate service. Basically, the desired level represents what a service should live up to and the adequate level represents what an acceptable level of service is. This is also called the zone of tolerance when measuring to what extent customers are willing to accept variation among service providers (Zeithaml et, al., 2006).

Peoples’ perception, what they are aware of and have insights and thoughts about, is important knowledge expressed by Krepapa et al. (2003).

“The interactive nature of professional services and their often simultaneous production and consumption indicate the need to examine the perceptions of both parties involved in the service encounter”.

Krepapa et al. (2003, p.199)

Individual perceptions are affected by personal beliefs and certain values that individuals hold. Past experiences may also influence the way in which people interpret situations. Customer perceptions are influenced by satisfaction and service quality, where perceived service quality is a component of customer satisfaction (Beech & Chadwick, 2004).

2.5 Brand Management

The techniques of brand management has emerged through the world of commerce; promotion, positioning and reputation management. Branding is not just advertising, graphic design, promotion, public relations (PR) or propaganda, but the definitions used by people working professionally with branding are different and more technical, a definition that vary among industries (Anholt, 2007). Brand management is more than a name or a slogan and the heart of the brand is an idea. This idea can change and be changed, that is how the brand lives, learns and grows (Cheverton, 2006). BTK has recently gone through changes in terms of board switch and all that comes with such a transformation. This made it interesting to highlight aspects of brand management in order to be able to give recommendations on how to strengthen the brand of BTK.

Brand is a product, service or organization in combination with its name, identity and reputation (Wheeler, 2003). Kotler (2005) defines brand as a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of these, intended to identify the service of a seller and differentiate them from those of the competitors. The process of designing and communicating the name and the identity is called branding according to Wheeler (2003), and it is necessary to build the reputation of the organization or company. Daryl (2000) on the other hand perceives the brand as the entire company and what it stands for. Services have characteristics of being intangible and heterogeneous and the attributes that make up the brand may be real or illusionary, rational or emotional, tangible or invisible (de Chernatony & Segal-Horn, 2003). Therefore it is possible and appropriate to resemble a service brand to a promise. The different definitions of brand explained above confirm that brand can be interpreted differently. In this thesis the definition of brand stands for the product and service offered, name, logo, and identity.

Brand image on the other hand is the perception of the brand that exists in the mind of the consumers or the audience, virtually the same as reputation, which could be or not be the brand identity (Wheeler, 2003). This includes associations, memories, expectations and feelings bound to the product, service or the company itself and these feelings are important drivers of people’s behavior. The market response might be different although the message is identical, everything depending on the effect of brand image, a positive or a negative one. Brand purpose is an idea that is similar to corporate culture, the internal equivalent to brand image (Wheeler, 2003). It is the power of shared goals.

The asset value of reputation, based on high brand loyalty, name awareness, perceived quality and strong brand associations are described as brand equity (Kotler, 2005). If the reputation is powerful and positive this becomes an asset of great value, more valuable than tangible assets of the organization itself, because it represents the ability of the organization to trade a healthy margin for as long as its brand stay intact (Wheeler, 2003). Brand equity also represents the permission given by the loyal consumer base to develop and improve

the product/service and innovate it, sell it and communicate it to them. Small companies and non-profit organizations have to build brand equity, increase shareholder value and treat the brand or the company’s reputation well, as it is considered the most valuable company asset (Wheeler, 2003).

Brand identity in turn is the core concept, the core meaning, of the product or service, clearly and distinctively expressed. It is what the consumer sees, the logo, slogan and the packaging and the design of the product or service (Wheeler, 2003). When accelerating success brand identity is a very critical strategy. When revitalizing a brand, reposition and renew the corporate brand, when the company is not in the business as supposed, no one knows about it, stock is devaluated and a new affluent market is desired, then brand management is very important.

Criteria to get the heart of brand identity are listed by Wheeler (2003). These are ideals of brand identity to be successful. The combination of these variables looks different to different organizations. The valuable criteria are: vision, meaning, authenticity, coherence, differentiation, flexibility, sustainability, commitment and value.

The expression of brand management effectively links the different definitions explained above, brand, brand identity, brand image etc, into a coherent system (Anholt, 2003).

2.5.1 Competitive Identity and Brand Strategy

A strong internal culture is most likely to build a powerful reputation. Marketing is a tool used to persuade a large number of people to change their mind about something. Flourishing marketing and brand management often leads to success and are necessary for goals to be reached. Anholt (2007) state that brand management realizes its broader potential through Competitive Identity (or CI) and contributes above and beyond the old look upon the idea of “increasing shareholder value”.

In the figure below, the virtuous circle of competitive identity, explains how a company should use their identity and make use of their strengths and advantages in their strategy.

Figure 3 The virtuous circle of Competitive Identity (Anholt, 2007, p.35)

As the world is exposed to the phenomenon of globalization, it becomes “smaller” in the sense that everything is much more easily attained and accessible. The information sources have grown rapidly for example and it is easy for people to attain information because there are many information channels to choose from; the Internet, TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, blogs etc, but there still exist information gaps. According to Anholt (2007) people need to be stimulated to learn about things and that is what the marketing is supposed to do. Marketing is the way through which people get persuaded to acquire information, but information provision and marketing is two different things according to

Have a competitive Strategy

Have great onstrategy ideas Tell the world about them

Anholt (2007). Information provision is a passive or “permission-based” marketing, because it has neither intention nor power to impose itself on people or change their mind. It only has persuasive power if people request it.

Wheeler (2003) finds that companies and organizations have to differentiate themselves to gain a larger market share and be or stay competitive. Survival of the fittest requires a brand strategy and a medium to express that. The brand helps a business or an organization to represent the pursuit of a unique competitive advantage, in a single focused definition (Cheverton, 2006).

An effective brand strategy gives a central unifying idea and around that idea all behavior, actions and communications are united. It is built on a vision and come forward through the company history and culture and the brand strategy also reflects a deep understanding about what the customer needs and their perceptions. The best brand strategies are so much differentiated and powerful that they deflect the competition. The brand strategy should define positioning, differentiation, the competitive advantage and the unique value proposition. It is necessary for it to be a good map that guides marketing activities and provides clarity and context (Wheeler, 2003).

Wheeler (2003) indicates that building a great brand requires devotion to unite the company business with external expressions and its internal culture. Branding is not about check the box and then move on. Brands are alive and breathe, and need to be embraced, supervised, and adapted.

Brand management has implications on both brand loyalty and service loyalty as mentioned previously. This involves enhancing absolute attitude strengths and/or differentiation with competing brands, which is usually a goal of the communication strategy. According to Eagan and Harker (2005) service is viewed as a key determinant of satisfaction, and confidence in the service among customers often leads to loyalty. Managing service loyalty could be done through for example a “thank you” note to customers to make sure expectations are fulfilled.

2.5.2 Services branding

BTK is an organization offering services and as explained in earlier theory services and products are differing on several dimensions. For a greater accuracy in theory on brand management and further in the strive to make BTK a stronger brand, services branding is brought up. The importance of services branding relies not only on creating a holistic brand image but to keep this image consistent, according to the notion that customers actually expect consistency (de Chernatony & Segal-Horn, 2003). A services brand may be resembled to a promise and due to this advertised in a way that increases customers’ expectations. To meet these raised expectations with consistency in service delivery is a difficult task. It may be solved by focusing on a few issues:

• Have a well developed internal and external communication • Monitor the service delivery process, in order to;

• Motivate staff in delivering a services brand, through strong organizational values In developing a brand’s personality staff facing customers are crucial in their role and the impact they have on brand perceptions. Also the corporate culture of an organization is influencing staff behavior, making it a critical component of service delivery (de

Chernatony and Segal-Horn, 2003). The model below further explains the criteria influencing services brands.

Figure 4 The criteria influencing the success of services brands (de Chernatony & Segal-Horn, 2003)

To reach customer satisfaction a services brand image should be shaped through a compound of the promised and perceived services brand. Service organizations may improve their chances of reaching customer satisfaction through improving customer perceptions of the brand. It is argued that organizations should focus on a specific and limited number of benefits that are being carefully selected. Partly, a clear position can contribute to a means of competitive advantage and attract new customers. The understandings of a services brand should be shared by consumers and staff as well as guide the way for delivering with consistency (de Chernatony & Segal-Horn, 2003).

2.6 Ansoff Matrix

Figure 5 Ansoff Matrix

Igor Ansoff came up with the Ansoff Matrix, which is used when analyzing the market in terms of growth (Smith, 2003). There are four different options – marketing existing products on an existing market; creating new products on an existing market; market an existing product on a new market and the riskiest option of them all: create a new product and launch it on a new market.

The first option – existing product on an existing market – is the least risky and aims at penetrate the market the company is already operating within. The next two options are more risky as it either means market an already existing product on a new market or put a

new product on the already familiar market. Is the new market ready for the product? Or is the market ready for a new product? The last option – a new product on a new market – is the most risky since both the product and the market are new and unexplored (Smith, 2003). The Ansoff Matrix focuses on new versus old products but BTK is producing a service. This thesis therefore looks upon their services as products to be able to apply the model correctly. The result of using this model will be presented as applied to BTK in the conclusion since it is perceived that an analysis of this model would not add to the fulfillment of the purpose of this thesis.

2.7 Processes

According to Eagan and Harker (2005) it is processes that add value to an organization. To be able to build a strong and successful brand organizations has to have functional and effective processes. Things have to run smoothly and be convincing and believable. Processes are in this thesis looked at on the internal level between board and members. Johnson and Murray (2006) argue that marketing is in a privileged position to identify key markets trends and opportunities, to be able to connect the enterprise more deeply to its customers. Marketing is therefore a must to make growth and it has to defend and validate its actions, measurement of its performance must be clear and definable. This is a hard task since marketing is very intangible.

Johnson and Murray (2006) also discuss that advertising can be used as a way to increase awareness, recognition, or recall, to improve consideration. It is difficult to decide which matter the most and how to measure it. Direct marketing effectiveness can be measured in terms of response from example an email campaign, but the quality of the response may be more significant than the quantity. What measure matter the most depends on what there is to be discovered and sometimes the key measure potential lifetime value of the customer acquired is more critical than for example the cost of acquisition.

Eechambadi (2005) means most organizations do not have the practices, processes, or the measurement in place to find and provide answers to questions like, “What is working and what is not? Which marketing program is effective? What customers are the most profitable ones?” Marketing is said to be a “black box”, and inside that black box there are more black boxes. It is a wide area with vast complexity and therefore processes are important.

“If you can't describe what you are doing as a process, you don't know what you're doing.”

(cited in Eechambadi, 2005, p.97).

Effective processes are a critical dimension in the overall marketing performance framework. A structured and integrated set of activities that are performed to achieve a defined business outcome is called a process (Eechambadi, 2005). Processes provide clarity, visibility, predictability and drive obvious and measurable value for the customer, and thus, produces lasting value for the enterprise. Process is the central means by which activities ensure to be consistent and coordinated, aligned, and executed to create value. Without processes people act in an unplanned and inconsistent way. Eechambadi (2005) means they diminish productivity and unnecessarily scatter their resources, talents, and energy.

3 Method

In this section the research methods used are explained thoroughly, what they are, what their disadvantages and advantages are, why they were used and for what purpose.

3.1 Research Approach

There are two different ways of conducting a research, deductive or inductive. A deductive research approach means that a theory is developed and a hypothesis designs a specifically research strategy for the purpose to test the hypothesis, a testing theory. The inductive approach, which is associated with surveys means that a theory is developed as a result of the observations of the empirical data collected, a building theory. This theory is used to get a feel of what was going on and understand the nature of the problem better (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2003).

The deductive approach, which is the opposite of the inductive approach, is used throughout this thesis because different theories and models were looked upon before the research was conducted. Theories had to be analyzed and known about in beforehand to be able to get the most out of the research and to be able to offer BTK the assistance needed. In the end an own model was created, though the research was based on the deductive approach.

3.2 Research Strategy

In this research the emphasis, as previously mentioned, was put on the deductive approach. This approach was constructed upon an exploratory study, which is a strategy where the researcher finds out what is happening to be able to seek new insights about the phenomenon and put it in a new light. The exploratory study was conducted through a search of literature, questionnaires, and e-mail interviews and finally focus groups were carried out, based on results from previous survey, to achieve a greater in-depth knowledge (Saunders et al., 2003).

In an exploratory study flexibility and willingness to change direction as the result of new data is important for new insights to be reached. Thus, according to Holliday (2007) the direction of enquiry is important and the focus should be broad in the beginning, but narrow down progressively as the research move forward.

There were also parts of an explanatory study, a study where a situation or a problem are investigated in order to explain relationships between different variables (Saunders et al., 2003). In this case it concerns the relationship between the customers, members, of BTK and the providers, the board, of BTK.

Since the research was constructed through a combination of both quantitative- and qualitative study, plus primary and secondary data, it is therefore of great advantage to use the multi-method, which means that the strategies that are important are “mixed and matched”. The great advantage is that different methods give answers to different purposes in the same study. The multi-method in this research is a combination of exploratory and explanatory study (Saunders et al., 2003). When combining qualitative study with quantitative study Creswell and Plano Clark (2007) think of this as a mixed method

research. The method focuses on collecting, analyzing and mixing both quantitative and qualitative data in a single study or a series of studies.

This thesis is not a case study but study of a case. A case study involves the process of gathering information about the unit of analysis in order to reach an in-depth knowledge about the phenomena (Hussey & Hussey, 1997). Due to complexity a case study is not applied. Although interviews and meeting with people’s moods and situations have been done, it is called a study of a case since BTK had a real dilemma and the purpose was to solve it and come with suggestions based on different theories. It is argued that the problem within BTK is a common problem within other non-profit organizations. Though, it is not a typical problem in this case and therefore it is not a case study done to understand other cases, but a study of a case. The most important aspect is to understand the case itself and one of the most positive aspects is the meeting with real people, moods and situations (Stake, 1995).

3.3 Quantitative and Qualitative Method

To fulfill the purpose of the thesis, to understand the core of BTK and be able to strengthen their brand, the research was conducted both quantitatively and qualitatively as previously mentioned.

Quantitative research is about counting and raises precision and controlling variables. The aim was to acquire enough information from enough different people at BTK to get an acceptable range of confidence and to be able to predict what might happen in the near future at BTK. According to Wheeler (2003) the same questions are asked to a large group of people in a quantitative study, and then the results are modeled on the entire population, generalized. In this case the same questions were asked, with anticipation, to the entire population of BTK, all their members. The respondents were of all ages to obtain an overall perspective of what they think about BTK and their services, what BTK provide. A quantitative research always includes qualitative elements and vice versa (Holliday, 2007). This is of importance since the plan was to get insights about the problem at BTK from different perspectives.

Qualitative research does not pretend to solve the problems of quantitative research, but does not see them as constraints. It does not find different ways to reduce the effect of uncontrollable variables, but investigate them directly (Holliday, 2007). The aim of a qualitative study is to get the insight of the customer beliefs, feelings, and motives, which in turn can lead to new insights and perspectives (Wheeler, 2003). Those are the reasons why a qualitative research was conducted besides the quantitative research, to get a deeper understanding about the investigated area. The qualitative study was open-ended and led into unforeseen areas of discovery by setting up research opportunities, locate the study within a special setting, investigate them and set manageable boundaries. In this thesis the setting was put at BTK, in an environment that the respondents recognize, to make them feel comfortable and secure.

According to Holliday (2007) the qualitatively belief is that realities of settings and people are mysterious and can only be superficially touched by research that tries to make sense, interpretive. Interpretation is as far as one can go and it makes the burden of proof smaller, because a qualitative study builds gradual pictures, approximations- fundamental efforts to illustrate what is fact in a much more complex reality (Holliday, 2007). The qualitative study was done at BTK to seek the subjective reality in order to make sense of and understand the motivations, actions and intentions of the members and the board of BTK.

There exist a conviction that what is important to look for will emerge, among with confidence in the ability to work out a research procedure to fit the nature of the people in it, as they are revealed. The data collected was looked upon differently from the quantitative data, where data are plural and numbers. Qualitative data is conceived as what happens in a special social setting- in a particular place or amongst a particular group of people (Holliday, 2007), what happens at BTK and among their members in this case. When doing these types of studies the position taken as researchers was engaged so that the respondents were not influence in a particular way or direction of the survey and interviews. The presence in the setting was unavoidable of interacting, and perhaps changes the culture investigated by entering with own cultures, but opened all channels of perception to capitalize on what was revealed about the culture during the process. Holliday (2007) means that it therefore must be treated as a resource to avoid misperceptions and a biased result that easily can arise. When undertaking the research at BTK the lead interviewer liberated themselves and established a relation with the respondents on their terms. To avoid a biased result the interviewers have to be prepared to take a role meaningful for the culture, which is essential according to Holliday (2007).

3.4 Validity, Reliability and Objectivity

Validity and reliability is important when it comes to introduce this thesis as a trustworthy research (Holliday, 2007). There are different sources of validity depending on what type of research that is conducted. To ensure validity within this thesis the size of population and the focus groups addressed were carefully considered to get valid answers. Validity is concerned about if the findings really are about what they seem to be about. Meanwhile reliability could be explained through three questions as said by Saunders et al. (2003): Will the questions asked yield the same results on other occasions? Will other observers reach similar observations? Is there transparency in how sense was made from the raw data? The research made at BTK would not yield the same results on other occasions since it is not a case study of BTK and dependable on time, which means it is not generalized. The research made is a specific research at BTK, which can not be applied to any other case. According to Neuman (2006) validity is an overused term for “true” and “correct”, but implies that when something is valid it is valid for a particular purpose and definition. It may for example be invalid for other purposes. Core of validity is that it refers to how well the conceptual and operational definitions fit together. The greater the fit the greater will the validity be (Neuman, 2006).

Reliability means dependability or consistency, especially important within qualitative studies where a variety of techniques are used to record the observations (Neuman, 2006). It is easiest to achieve when the measurement is precise and observable. The qualitative research at BTK ensures reliability by close measurement and observable situation. The concepts used in this thesis also fit together with the operational definitions in an appropriate manner. There exist a relationship between validity and reliability (Neuman, 2006). Reliability is necessary for validity for example, but do not guarantee validity. They are usually complementary concepts, but sometimes they clash. Validity and reliability are further strengthening in the thesis through more information about questionnaires and focus groups.

Objectivity is the concerns weather or not the data collected are honestly presented and analyzed. The data collected is honestly presented, what was said and answered in the questionnaires, focus groups and e-mail interviews are what are written in this thesis and nothing else. The traditional view of researchers’ objectivity, that researcher should

minimize their contact with respondents in order to avoid subjectivity, is important and relates to the validity and reliability of the research- the ability to analyze the results accurately (Saunders et al., 2003). The interviewers had an objective standpoint to get undependable answers. When the standpoint is objective the result will be independent of the researchers view and the respondents also tend to be independent form each other, (Homburg & Krohmer, 2003).

3.5 Data collection

Data was collected through both secondary and primary data. Secondary data, information already collected and put together by other researchers, was collected and gone through before the research was done to make the data collection more efficient. It was found in written documents like journals, articles and books as well as from the homepage of BTK (2007) and Saunders et al. (2003) calls these sources documentary secondary data. Primary data was collected through a survey research, where written questionnaires were handed out to a sizeable population. Focus groups were also conducted to get a deeper knowledge about the opinions of the respondents.

3.5.1 Board

To get quick answers from the board an e-mail interview was sent to the five members of the board. Through e-mail interviews you can reach a large population at the same time and it suits best for computer-literate individuals (Saunders et al., 2003). The risk of a biased result is lower since the interviewer does not interact with the respondents and the likelihood of distortion of respondents’ answers is low. Though, an e-mail could easily end up in the trash can and when using the internet for an interview or questionnaire the response rate is 10% or lower according to Saunders et al., 2003. Therefore effort has to be put on getting the respondents to answer the questions. Reminder e-mail was sent to the board and resulted in more answers. Each and every one was encouraged to answer the questions alone for the answers to be as truthful as possible and not be affected by group pressure. A series of seven open-ended questions were asked to get a picture of the core activities from the board point of view.

3.5.2 Questionnaire

A written questionnaire is utilized to learn about people’s background, beliefs or opinions and attitudes of a large number of people (Neuman, 2006). Questionnaires or, as Crouch and Housden (2003) call it – self-completion – has a large problem with non-respondents. Depending on what the topic is the response rate can be as low as 5%, but as the range is very wide the response rate can be a lot higher as well. The reason to why Crouch and Housden (2003) use the descriptive term self-completion is since the whole idea of a questionnaire is that the respondent answers all questions asked individually. There are different ways to increase the response rate. One is to choose a topic that will interest the possible respondents. Other ways are to have the questionnaire not being too difficult, to have an incentive for the reader to fill in the questionnaire (e.g. the chance to win a price) and to do follow-up reminders. If the reader gets the idea that the questionnaire is difficult and time consuming, he or she will be less willing to fill it in. To solve this problem one should have a fully pre coded questionnaire with boxes where the reader can tick in their answers. The layout should be plain and easy to read. According to Crouch and Housden (2003) a covering letter, letting the respondent know what the return will be to him or her, can also lower the non-response rate. The disadvantages of using a questionnaire are, as said before, the problem with non-respondents. This leads to the risk of lowering the

quality of the analysis, since the responses given might be biased in the way that e.g. only the respondents most interested in the topic answered. The advantages in using a questionnaire is that a personal interview is not needed and people who are not willing, or do not have the time to have a personal interview can be reached in this way (Crouch & Housden, 2003).

The questionnaires were placed at the club at two different spots. People were also asked personally to answer the questionnaires and finally it was placed on the main page of BTK’s homepage. The questionnaire consisted of 19 questions. In the first 14 questions the men and women were asked to decide whether he or she agreed to a statement in the range from one to five, where one meant “strongly disagree” and five meant “strongly agree”. This is called a Likert scale (Uebersax, 2006). In question number 15 people were asked to rank six statements in the order they thought the statements were most important, where one was most important and six was least important. The last four questions were open-ended questions where the respondent was asked to answer in his or her own words. Questionnaires have a well known problem with – how the mode of questions influence the mood of the response; how far people tell the truth: how far they comprehend the questions; how far the social impact of a questionnaire will influence perceptions according to Holliday (2007). The questions to the members and board of BTK were presented straight forward and direct to be able to control the variables as much as possible, to minimize biases in the results.

When conducting a research a sample is often selected. The larger sample size the lower is the likelihood of errors to be made in generalizing to the population. The choice of sample size is governed by the confidence needed to have in the data (level of certainty), the margin of error that can be tolerated (the accuracy required) and the types of analyses that are going to be undertaken. Of course the size of the population from which the sample is taken has a significant role as well. When selecting a sample it is always a matter of judgment and calculations (Saunders et al., 2003). In the case of BTK the population was 230 members and therefore no sample was selected, but the entire population was undertaken. The rate of respondents was believed to be higher when using the population and not a sample. The aim was to get as many respondents as possible with a minimum of 20% to get a trustworthy result. A high response rate ensures a representative sample, but there is always a risk of non-responses. Non-respondents refuse to answer the questionnaire or are not to be found by the researcher and could therefore not be included in the selected population of BTK.

3.5.3 Focus groups

Focus groups were used to collect qualitative data about BTK. This involves engaging a small group of people in an informal group discussion (Saunders et al., 2003). In this research there was a number of group discussions made to get a deeper understanding about the feelings at and about BTK. The main theme of the discussions in the focus groups evolved around the predetermined subject of core activities at BTK to be able to answer the purpose and aligning competencies. Questions were asked to guide the discussions, in order to keep them alive and with a natural flow.

A focus group is a type of qualitative research and it is a fast-paced meeting together with participants, carefully selected because they share common characteristics. The group meets to discuss a predetermined topic introduced, in this case tennis at BTK. Wheeler (2003) thinks that focus groups are important and valuable because they stimulate thoughts

and discussions not arising otherwise. It is an appropriate method to use to find out attitudes, needs, prejudices, ways of using products/services and different viewpoints. According to Silverman (2006) focus groups or as he calls those “informal group discussions” should be based on a series of questions that yields better results if the discussions have a flow with participating members and interactions.

Saunders et al. (2003) find that focus groups, or group interviews, is likely to lead to more deep and important insights and rich flow of data, thus it needs to be managed carefully since the interaction might lead to a highly productive discussion. During focus group discussions participants tend to act upon responses from other participants, a “synergy effect” as Silverman (2006) explains it. When interviewing the groups at BTK the level of individualism was not present, but a group effect with some persons trying to dominate the discussion did not emerge. The discussions within the focus groups gave rich flow of information from different perspectives of the matter.

Dynamic groups are to prefer according to Saunders et al. (2003) since they can generate and respond to a number of ideas and help explaining and exploring concepts. It is also an efficient way of interviewing a large number of people and collect data relatively quickly, rather than what would be possible if one-to-one interviews were done. This method is according to Silverman (2006) more “naturalistic” than interviewing in the sense that it is more similar to every day conversation and they are well suited to explore sensitive topics. The situation at BTK is considered sensitive; regarding the crucial economy, new board and peoples feelings about the club. The belief was that the focus groups would lead to a better solution for the club than today. The quick data collection, large number of people and deeper information were all reasons to why the method of focus groups was chosen. They fulfill our preferences of a time constrain. As mentioned previously BTK has 230 members and the desire to get as many answers as possible regarding the questionnaires also affected the choice of doing focus groups. The anticipation was furthermore to get more in depth information from as many respondents as possible. Given that focus groups can be used to identify key themes used to develop items included in a questionnaire (Saunders et al., 2003), focus groups were favored.

Another reason that focus groups was chosen was that focus groups are flexible according to Silverman (2006). It can be used within classrooms/laboratory or in the field, to study the world or in an attempt to change it. Silverman (2006) implies that a focus group project can involve a single group participants meeting at one single occasion, or many groups, with single or repeated meetings. Regarding the numbers of participants a focus group can involve as few as two participants or as many as a dozen. These groups may be pre-existing groups of people, for example members of families, clubs or work teams. The participants could also be brought together specifically for the research as representatives of a particular population or because they have the same characteristics or experiences. In this thesis the focus groups are divided into existing groups at BTK, since it is a club with already existing training groups with different ages, gender and tennis skills. The size of the groups became small, with between 3-5 members in the groups, because the alternative to have more did not exist. There were a limited number of people that could participate at BTK on the days conducting the focus groups. The goal was to seek and develop the competence about what the customers thought and felt about BTK and this was achieved.

The number of groups summed up to four - one consisting of adults in mixed ages who are also parents to active children, one involved teenagers active both as tennis players and youth coaches. In the last two groups one was consisting of children at the age of nine and one with solely coaches. For the group consisting of the children the questions had to be

modified to suit them better, both in terms of how the questions were asked and how long they wanted to have the discussion. In this group their parents were also present. The focus groups lasted between 30 and 60 minutes and were situated in the café at BTK, a common and friendly area for the interviewees. They were recorded and then later transcribed.

3.6 Method of analysis

Analysis of the empirical findings was done in several different steps. The answers from the board, the questionnaires and the focus groups were analyzed separately and section by section before an overall analysis was done. Within the overall analysis three different dimensions of the club were discussed, the professionalized board, the professionalized club and the services. Differences and similarities were also explained through comparisons of the sections in the beginning of the analysis.

The purpose was to find the core activity of BTK, match it with the demands of their members and strengthen their brand. Therefore the decision was to analyze the empirical findings in several steps.

Several steps of the analysis made it possible to get different perspectives about the issue of BTK. The authors believe that analyzing like this make the risk of leaving something out smaller.

3.7 Limitations

There exist some limitations within this thesis. To begin with the questionnaire had some questions that were supposed to be answered with strongly agree or disagree. A typing error was discovered when the questionnaire had been handed out. The scale had been written on the opposite, where one represented strongly agree and five strongly disagree. The respondents were immediately informed about the mistake in order to minimize the bias.

The questionnaire could also have been more adjusted to in-active members, members that do not play tennis at BTK but are involved in other ways. This would perhaps have given some more and different inputs.

In the focus group where the parents to the children were present during the focus group, there is a chance of a biased result. The children were perhaps influenced by their parents when they answered and did not reveal what they actually thought. The results might have been different if the children where on there own in the group, but on the other hand the children would perhaps have been too shy to speak up on their own as well. It is hard to know which way is the more appropriate because different children response differently with or without their parents around.