Strategies and Management Trends in Management of Academies: The Profile of the Coordinators and Academies in Vine

Abstract

The health and fitness club market is growing rapidly and thus it requires professional management. This evolution occurs in various business’ segments, pointing out customer-oriented management strategies, customer service excellence and quality of service (Saba, 2012). This study sought to understand management strategies and skills of the fitness clubs in Videira/SC, by studying their managers’ profile. It is both a qualitative and quantitative research. Data was collected through a 32-question interview applied to 5 managers from fitness’ clubs registered in the Physical Education Regional Council (CREF/SC). Data was processed using descriptive statistics. The managers’ profile is mainly composed of males (80%) and owners of the fitness’ club, and of an average age of 39 years old. They hold a Physical Education bachelor’s degree but with no further postgraduate studies in the field. The fitness’ clubs have an average of 440 clients, mainly composed of adults (46.59%), with 39.28% being under 18 years old and the elderly accounting for 14.13%. Among these, 53.10% seek a fitness club for aesthetic purposes, 33.24% for health purposes and 13.66% for physical performance. Managers perceive Customer Service and Quality of Service as key factors to achieve success, although they do not provide customer feedback. Moreover, 80% of the fitness’ clubs do not present any Mission, Vision, Values and Goals; 80% of them do not involve the staff in formulating procedures; 80% of them have no reward program; 100% of them perform activities to bond the staff; 100% of them seek a professional attitude within their staff; and 60% of them hold regular meetings. The most commonly used marketing tool is the Internet. Hence, the study shows that management of fitness’ clubs in Videira/SC needs to further develop their professional aspects, which requires managers to pursue postgraduate studies and to focus on customer-oriented strategies and actions.