The purpose of this study is on investigating the effects of the organizational atmosphere recognized by soccer players on empowerment and team performance, and its purpose is to provide basic data for enhancing the athlete leadership of soccer coaches and team efficiency.
The targets participating in this study were, for men, 309 students from five teams each in middle school, high school and universities that took part in the 2010 national soccer tournament, and for females, 244 students from five teams each in middle school, high school and universities that took part in the 2010 spring Korea Women's Soccer Federation Tournament. Data on a total of 553 persons were empirically analyzed to attain the following results. First, in the relationship between organizational atmosphere and empowerment, the work features of the organizational atmosphere recognized by soccer players were found to have a significant static effect on influence and meaning of empowerment, and the work features and organizational features were found to have a significant static effect on self-decision making. Second, in the relation between organizational atmosphere and team performance, colleague features, leader features and organizational features were found to have a significant static influence in game performance, while colleague features had an effect on game performance. Work features, colleague features and organizational features had a significant static influence on performance, while colleague features, leader features and work features had an effect on teamwork.
Third, in the relationship between empowerment and team performance, self decision making had a significant static influence on game achievement, game performance, teamwork and performance, while influence and meaning only had a significant static influence in performance.
Taking into account the above results, the organizational atmosphere perceived by soccer players were confirmed to be factors that played an important effect on player empowerment and team performance. Thus, for effective management of the team, coaches of soccer teams should establish a guidance plan in which the team's organizational atmosphere could be perceived positively.