抄録
Sports services diversification in open service management (OSM) of public-school sports facilities is a policy requirement and an academic necessity. However, there are few examples of diversification of sports services in OSM, and little accumulation of academic knowledge. Therefore, we present here a case study of an operating entity that have diversified its sports services, describe the historical process of sports service diversification, and examine factors that facilitate diversification. The subject of the study was the OSM Committee of D Public Elementary School (D-OSMC) in A Municipality. Data were collected from interviews with persons familiar with the history of the OSM of D-OSMC and of City A, and from related documents. D-OSMC diversified its sports services over a 10-year period from around 2000, and currently offers four types of sports services. The results of the study revealed that D-OSMC achieved sports services diversification via an interaction relationship between the accumulation of management resources through commercialization and their utilization. First, recognition of operational issues by the leader was an important factor in launching new sports services, for the reason that a new project is generally unlikely to be launched if the leaders are unaware of problems. Backing from other members of the community who supported the initiative also facilitated the launch of the project. The findings suggest that existing social capital within the community encouraged the cooperation of these members. Second, to enable satisfactory timetabling for all activities, at the initiation of the project, the D-OSMC took care to avoid scheduling conflicts between the registered organizations. Following the initial commercialization, the new business gained legitimacy, which was used to expand the activity time available to D-OSMC. Finally, D-OSMC acquired new business ideas, human resources, and other management resources from stakeholder networks outside the organization through relationships formed through the business activities. These networks were used to further develop the business plan by boundary spanners who had the authority to make decisions regarding the business plan.