Universities and colleges are under increased pressure to be self- sustainable and to rely less on government funding and generate more third-stream revenues. In sport, university High Performance Training Centres (HPTCs) are seen as key strategic assets to the university, but generally do not receive continuous direct funding from the universities and need to be self- sustainable in its own right. These centres support university sport in general but are also commercial entities that serve all target markets, including professional and recreational sport and fitness. The onus is on these HPTCs to be sustainable and even profitable, following normal business practices like sales and marketing and client service, with retained earnings being used for capital improvements and additions, as well as general operational expenses of the centres. Recently, university HPTCs across South and Southern Africa (and internationally) are on the increase, but there seems to be a lack in the consistency of business framework principles implemented by the different universities and colleges. The aim of this research is to develop and propose a standardised business framework specific to university HPTCs, which can be implemented to enhance the overall likelihood of sustainability and even profitability of the HPTCs, and also ensure that these HPTCs are less reliant on continuous university funding. The framework will align with specific micro, macro and meso level policy factors that have to be considered in the development of a university-specific business framework. The study proposes several Key Success Factors (KSF) to be considered in the development of the business framework. To reach the aim, various business practices and frameworks from university HPTCs were compared to non-university HPTCs, consisting of commercial and government- supported centres. In conclusion, a generic business framework is proposed, specific to the university and college sport environments.
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