Abstract

General Background: The management of university sports teams is a complex field requiring coordination between university administrations, coaches, and players. University championships serve not only as competitive events but also as educational platforms that enhance students’ personal and social development. Specific Background: Organizational culture plays a fundamental role in the success of university sports teams by shaping relationships, influencing performance, and fostering collaboration. Despite its importance, limited research has examined the impact of organizational culture on sports team management, particularly in university handball teams. Knowledge Gap: Existing studies have not fully explored the interplay between organizational culture dimensions—such as leadership, teamwork, responsibility, and transparency—in enhancing sports performance and team interaction. Aims: This study aims to analyze the organizational culture in university handball team management, determine its influence on performance, and identify key challenges. Results: Findings indicate that high-level university teams exhibit a strong organizational culture. Cooperation and teamwork have the most significant impact, followed by leadership, responsibility, and transparency. Novelty: This study provides empirical evidence on how specific cultural dimensions influence university sports management, emphasizing teamwork’s dominant role. Implications: The results offer insights for sports administrators and policymakers to strengthen organizational culture, ultimately improving team performance and fostering a more cohesive sports environment.

Highlights:

1. Teamwork Matters – Strongest influence on organizational culture in sports teams.
2. Leadership Guides – Enhances performance and shapes team culture.
3. Transparency Counts – Justice and responsibility improve team dynamics.

Keywords: Organizational culture, university sports management, teamwork, leadership, handball teams

Introduction

Managing university teams in university championships is a multifaceted and multifaceted field, including coordination between many different entities such as university administrations, sports teams, coaches, and players. Sports tournaments, especially those in which tournaments are organized within universities, are not just sports events, but also educational and educational events that contribute to the development of students' personality and increase their organizational and social capacity. And organizational culture, and is one of the most important factors affecting the success of any institution or organization, whether academic, sports or others. Organizational culture is related to the set of culture, beliefs, behaviors and standards that prevail in relationships within the organization and affect the way the people work and interact with each other. In the context of university sports, it leads to increasing transparency and improving relations between participants, and ensuring the achievement of sports and educational goals. And, the contribution of a strong organizational culture by building well-established organizational values and a harmonious and organized team, while everyone works to achieve a common goal of the success of the tournament and developing the skills of the players. It has tasks in how to manage and organize championships and sports competitions, which is a decisive factor in developing the general performance of the organization. This culture affects how to make decisions, set priorities, and achieve goals. In the sports administrative field, and its importance is manifested through the organization of championships and sports events. The quality of these events is largely based on the organizational culture and the standards applied by those in charge of their management, whether they are trainers, administrators or even players. Hence, the importance of this research to improve the organizational culture in the management of university teams from the perspective of a handball player, which can help improve organizational performance and raise the level of sports competition. Organizational culture is one of the factors that directly affect their performance and participation in university championships. In the presence of a high level of organizational culture, we can be a cultural identity that supports continuous training and personal development, enhances the self-confidence of players and increases their opportunities to achieve outstanding performance. The organizational culture based on cooperation and positive interaction between players and management contributes to creating a stimulating sports environment that contributes to raising the level of general performance of sports teams. If there is a sound organizational culture, it contributes to enhancing the belonging of players and administrators alike, and provides .a stimulating environment for ever and development

Research problem

Organizational culture is one of the basic pillars on which the management of university teams is based to achieve their sports and educational goals. However, there are questions about the effectiveness of the application of this culture in team management during university tournaments, especially from the perspective of handball players, who represent an important segment of the participants in these tournaments and constitute a vital penalty of the sports organizational structure. It is noted that there is a disparity in the level of management and the actual application of the elements of organizational culture between the team and different universities, and there is a note that there are organizational challenges that affect the general performance in competitions, such as coordination between sports management and teams, and weak support for training and personal development for players. This raises the need for a deep study to determine the reality of this organizational culture and the extent of its impact on the performance of sports teams. To what extent are the components of organizational culture applied in the management of university tournaments from the point of view of handball players? And how does this affect the level of performance, interaction, and discipline within the sports team? What are the challenges facing team management in promoting this culture? All these discussions posed a problem for the researcher who tried to find scientific answers to them, to understand how to apply the organizational culture in the management of university teams in handball, and the extent of the impact of this culture on the collective and individual performance of the participating teams. Therefore, the analysis of organizational culture from the perspective of handball players provides important insights on how to improve the management of university teams and achieve the highest levels of performance.

Objectives of the study

1-Analyzing the reality of organizational culture in the management of high-end teams from the perspective of players of handball teams, and identifying the extent to which they are involved and interacting with the components of this culture.

2-The impact of organizational culture on the sports performance of players during university tournaments, and the extent to which it reflects on interaction, competition, and discipline within teams. And the extent of the application of the components of organizational culture in the management of university teams and its impact on the performance of sports teams.

3-Revealing the challenges facing the management of university teams in promoting and applying organizational culture, and knowing the obstacles that prevent achieving a high level of harmony and interaction between players and administrators.

Search assigns

1-The degree of the level of application of the organizational culture of those in charge of managing the teams varies from the point of view of university handball teams.

Research Area

1-5-1 Human field J: (78) Player of University Handball Teams

2-5-1 Time domain: from 15/9/2024 to 26/12/2024

3-5-1Spatial field: Baghdad

Methods

The descriptive analytical method is the method that will be adopted in this course. The descriptive analytical method is the most appropriate for the study of the analysis of organizational culture in the management of handball races from the point of view of the players, as this method allows the analysis of phenomena in reality, accurately describe them, and determine the relationships between the changing. "The descriptive analytical method is one of the scientific methods used to study social phenomena and facts as they are in reality, by collecting data and information related to the phenomenon in the subject of study, and analyzing them accurately to determine the relationships between the changes and the conclusion of the results.[1]

The research community and its sample

The research community is defined as "all the vocabulary of the phenomenon that the researcher is based on, or all the people or people or things who are the subject of the research problem"[2] (The research community was deliberately identified, represented by the players of handball teams in the university teams of the university in the subject community, so that this part represents the research community or the research audience. The sample was selected randomly distributed over a sample of the first exploratory experiment (4) players and the second exploratory experiment to build plugs amounted to (68) players and the application sample, and the number of F-Ward was 78) players, and the main goal or goal of studying a sample is only to generalize its results to the original community from which it was derived, and the research sample was selected randomly.

Means of collecting information used in research:

• Arab and foreign sources.

• Hiding and measuring.

• Internet.

• Organizational Culture Resonate.

Search tool:

The researcher adopted the form as a research tool to measure

Determination of scale areas.

After reviewing the theoretical studies and related research and through the analysis of the return and theoretical research related to the subject of organizational culture among the members of the university teams, the researcher was able, in the light of those studies, to propose (4) areas in the scale of organizational culture in the light of those studies from the study of (4) fields, namely:

(Organizational leadership, cooperation and teamwork, and responsibility, justice and transparency), and presented it to a group of experts and specialists in the field of sports management, testing and testing from Sunday 15/9/2024, numbering them (9) and asked them to express their opinion. The gentlemen expressed their approval of the proposed fields and their definitions and that they cover the scale according to their opinions.

تحديد فقرات المقياس.

The researcher formulated the scale in its initial form, which is (40) a paragraph distributed in four areas of the scale at the rate of (10) for each field, and the faqart was presented to a group of opinions for the purpose of evaluating and judging it in terms of its formulation and validity in measuring the organizational culture of LED players and the fields involved in measuring it and the direction of the negative and positive phrase and verifying the validity of the five-point estimate scale (always, sometimes, a little, the club) and the acceptance of the opinions that got 75% and the observations made by the experts were all accepted.

Preparing the scale instructions .

To complete the image of the scale and apply it to handball players, the instructions for the scale were developed, as "ensuring the correct answer depends on providing instructions that make it easier for the respondent to answer accurately"[3]Therefore, it was taken care that the instructions should be easy and clear, and that they send a sense of reassurance about the confidentiality of the answers, so that the answers are frank and reliable. The players were also asked to answer all the questions and not to leave any paragraph without an answer, in order to make the research to complete the image of the scale and apply it to handball players, the instructions for the scale were put.,

Calculating the weights of the alternatives

اThe researcher will use the five-scale with the Likert technique in the formulation of the scale, which is similar to the multiple choice (Multiple Choice). The balances were determined in a positive way from (1 to 5) based on the following alternative:

The option is "always" to give the highest weight (5 points), followed by "often" with a weight (4 degrees), then "sometimes with a weight of (3 degrees),

"Slightly by weight (2 degrees), and "rare" goods weighing (1 degree). In the negative direction, the balances were reversed

Construction sample experience:

The researcher conducted an experiment for the period from Wednesday to 25/9/2024 and until Thursday 17/10/2024, as he was going to distribute the art of people and gathered them publicly by the building of the building of (68) for the grape of the people who sleep their choice.

Randomly from the community of origin, as the answers of all the experimentation were collected and experted here, and we experimented with the tools of measurement in the exploratory study and the scientific transactions of the scale.

Scientific transactions:

Validity of the scale

Content Validity

1-Al-Dhaheri's honesty: It is one of the most important types of honesty in measurements, as it indicates the extent to which the paragraph is related to the phenomenon to be measured. This type of honesty is considered an achiever "when a subject with knowledge of the subject reads that the scale is suitable for measuring the required property, and this subject may be an expert"[11] (The apparent honesty of the scale has been confirmed by presenting the scale of organizational culture of football players in its initial form on a group of experts, who evaluated the suitability of its paragraphs for use.

2- Logical honesty: The availability of this type of honesty at the beginning of the preparation of the scale of organizational culture by defining and determining its fields and paragraphs with the help of a group of experts

Construct validity

First: the discriminating power of the paragraphs.

This method aims to estimate the truthfulness of the test based on its ability to distinguish" between the correct high scores and the correct low scores in the attribute or ability measured by the test"[4] (. The answers of all the sample of the adult experiment (68) a handball player have been unloaded. The total score was determined for each form from the art form. The descending score was arranged from the highest to the lowest grade”[5]. Then the percentage of (27%) the upper) was chosen with the number of (18) forms, and (27%) the lowest with the number of (18) forms of grades to represent the extremist group and the exclusion of (46%) the middle with the number of (32) forms, as Kelly (1939) and Meherns and Lehman (1973) confirmed that the adoption of 27% gives the largest size and distinction.) (. The test was then used for the purpose of counting the discrimination coefficient for each paragraph of the scale N (40). The results showed that the calculated level of significance is smaller than the value of the approved significance level (0.05), which means the significance of the calculated values of (t)

All and for all faq, except paragraph (13) and paragraph (40), which is paragraph (3) in the field of cooperation and teamwork, and paragraph (10) in the field of justice and transparency, thus remaining 38 paragraphs

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

Figure 4.

Figure 5.

Figure 6.

Second: Internal consistency coefficient (the relationship of the item score to the total score)

The internal consistency coefficient is used, and the degree of internal consistency is “the correlation coefficient between the scores of each item and the total score of the scale” [6] The researcher used the simple correlation coefficient between the score of the scale and the item, for the items (38). All items showed consistency. Internal because the correlation coefficient for each of them is greater than the value of the tabular correlation coefficient at the level of significance (0.05) with the exception of paragraphs (26 and 8) and , which is paragraph (8) in the field Organizational leadership It is paragraph (7) in the field of justice and transparency, and thus remaining (36) items to measure organizational culture and Appendix (2) shows the scale in its final form.

Stability of the scale :

First: the semi-fragmentation method.

The half-fragmentation method was adopted because it was one of the most used stability methods on the sample. The value of the correlation coefficient between the two halves reached (0.747) at an error level of (0,000), so the equation (Spearman-B-Aron) was used, so the value of the stability coefficient of half of the test was modified with the equation of the meaning of the stability of Spearman B Aron (Spearman - Brawn) and the value of the stability coefficient of the scale was 0855. This is a good indicator and is a high stability coefficient, reliable to estimate the stability of the test.

Second: The method (Alfa Kronbach coefficient) for the sense of stability at the Kronbach alpha coefficient was based on the scale construction sample itself and the stability coefficient value was (048.7)

Objectivity of the scale

It turns out that all the arts were clear to the sample, and it is characterized by the fact that the alternatives are multiple choice, and the answer is not accepted for more than one alternative, and there is no phrase for the open answer, as the questionnaire is highly objective, and it is not possible to differ on the grades obtained by the sample.

Levels of Measurement

Levels for the scale were found based on the range method according to the estimate of the scores of the fifth scale (Likert method) and the level was divided as follow:

Applying the scale (main experiment)

The researcher applied the scale of organizational culture to a sample of the research community randomly. The researcher distributed the scale to a sample formed from the number of samples (78) players, as the scale was distributed on Monday from 6-4-3 Description of the scale of organizational culture among handball players

The organizational culture scale consists of (36) paragraphs distributed in four areas of the scale at the rate of (9) art for each field, and the scale is the five-year estimate, and the lowest score is (36) and the degree of neutrality is (108) and the highest score is (180).

Description of the scale of organizational culture among handball players :

The organizational culture scale consists of (36) paragraphs distributed in four areas of the scale at the rate of (9) art for each field, and the scale is the five-year estimate, and the lowest score is (36) and the degree of neutrality is (108) and the highest score is (180).

Result and Discussion

Collaboration and teamwork rank first as the most important influencing factor raising the level of organizational culture, something that many students support. Jones et al. (2012) point out that teamwork is one of the most important success factors in team sports, as effective performance depends on the harmony between the team and the speed of decision-making. Cooperation between the team enhances.”[7] the effectiveness of the team and enhances the level of organizational culture.

The second place came after organizational leadership with an arithmetic average of 31.87, which is equivalent to 25.2% of the scale score. The value of (T) for this d was 7.217 and the significance level was 0.000, indicating the existence of moral differences and a high level. This reflects the importance of organizational leadership in developing the level of organizational culture, as good leaders effectively guide the team and promote rapid response and critical decision-making. This is in line with Kotler's study (2014), which confirmed that effective leadership (severely affects the performance of players, both tactically and psychologically. The leader within the team is the one who sets the rhythm and directs the players towards specific goals, which is reflected at the level of organizational culture. Organizational leadership is a senseless general in improving interaction between members and ensuring that everyone is at the same level of understanding and coordination.’[8]

In the third place came after the aggment and responsibility with an arithmetic average of 30.11, by 23.8% of the scale score, and the value of (T) amounted to 3.582 and the level of significance 0.001, which indicates the existence of moral differences but at an average level..

This analysis shows that compliance and responsibility have a moderate impact on the level of organizational culture, as adhering to the roles of players and taking responsibility towards the team is necessary to improve raising the level of organizational culture, but it is less impact compared to cooperation or leadership. The crisis and responsibility came in third place with an average level of influence, and this is consistent with the results.

Reached by Jones et al. (2004), where it showed that “committed administrators enjoy stable and consistent performance, but individual commitment may not be sufficient to achieve excellence if it is not accompanied by cooperation and teamwork. Because it needs to be a reward for a collective strategy.”[9]

In the fourth place came after justice and transparency with a calculation of 29.19, by 23.1% of the scale score, and the value of (T) 2.454 and the level of significance was 0.029, which indicates the existence of moral differences at an average level.

Although it came in fourth place, the impact of justice and transparency was still important. This analysis reflects that justice and transparency play a role in enhancing trust between players and management, which contributes to raising the level of organizational culture, but it remains a mediate effect compared to other dimensions. The study of Morris et al. (2010) indicate that “fairness within sports teams enhances confidence among players and creates an environment that encourages optimal performance, where players feel fair and appreciated.”[10] Which increases their motivation to improve the level of organizational culture

The overall scale score reached 126.23, with a value of (T) 12.771 and a significance level of 0.000, which means that there are high moral differences. This suggests that all dimensions, whether leadership, cooperation, intencement, or justice, contribute positively to the level of organizational culture. The overall results reflected that the four factors, despite their different levels of impact, form a strong basis for improving and looking to integrate many skills in harmony, and this can only be achieved through targeted training that takes into account all aspects related to leadership, cooperation, and firmness, while promoting fairness within the team.

Conclusion

1-The management of high-level university teams has a high level of organizational cultureFrom the point of view of handball players in high universities.

2-Cooperation and teamwork rank first in terms of influencing the organizational culture in the management of university teams, which reflects the importance of teamwork in promoting the culture of organizational management.

3-Organizational leadership came in second place, which shows its positive impact on organizational culture, as good leaders contribute to guiding the organizational culture of the team and improving their response.. The crisis and responsibility came in third place, which indicates their moderate influence on the organizational culture.

4- The role of management and responsibility is necessary to improve the organizational culture, but it must be accompanied by cooperation.

.Justice and transparency play important tasks in enhancing the organizational culture between the administrations and the players, which contributes to improving performance in general.

5-All four dimensions (cooperation, leadership, leadership, and justice) contribute positively to improving organizational culture, and the low standards indicate the consensus of the players on the importance of these factors.

References

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