The Spread of Clubs in India and Australia, How Cultural Factors Have Affected the Club Industry - Case Study Example

Clubs Name Course Lecture Contents Contents 2 Introduction 3 Bowling Clubs 3 League Clubs 3 Gambling in Clubs 4 RSL clubs: Uniquely Australian 5 Golf Clubs 5 Cultural issues influencing club industry 6 Power Distance 7 Conclusion 7 References 8 Introduction The club industry is an important part of every country’s social culture; they provide valuable facilities and services to the citizens. Most provide an opportunity for people to engage in recreational activities. In Australia clubs can be organized into two distinct groups: Licensed and non-registered clubs. Licensed clubs include ethnic and religious clubs, Bowling, Leagues/football clubs, Sports and recreation clubs, RSL and Golf clubs. There are over 5,000 registered clubs in Australia. Most of these licensed clubs are concentrated in New South Wales (Taylor Woodings Chartered Accountants 2005). NSW takes the lion portion of clubs with 39 per cent of clubs found here while Queensland follows closely with 19 per cent of all clubs in Australia. As expected the spread of clubs in other countries is significantly different as the club industry reflects a nation’s culture. This report compares the spread of clubs in India and Australia and how cultural factors have affected the club industry in the two countries. Bowling Clubs Bowling clubs are the most common types of clubs in Australia, Bowling clubs are approximately 32 per cent of all licensed clubs in Australia. In contrast, Bowling clubs in India are less common. According to Pellizzeri (2013), 6 years ago the only bowling club in India was at Mumbai. In contrast, there was several bowling clubs spread out over Melbourne. In fact, India’s competitive bowlers have had to move to Australia to train in the country’s well-developed bowling clubs (Buultjens and Howard 2001). League Clubs Just like in Australia, league/football clubs account for the largest portion of membership to clubs. In Australia league clubs and the RSL account for 55 per cent of memberships to licensed clubs (Taylor Woodings Chartered Accountants 2005). On the other hand, many Indians are members of the clubs in the Indian Premier league the IPL. Popularity of football in India and Australia can be traced to the British colonial roots of both countries. Cricket clubs are also popular in both India and Australia, but more Indians are members of Cricket clubs than Australian. Gambling in Clubs In Australia, RSL and Football leagues clubs play host to large numbers of gaming machines. According to Taylor Woodings Chartered Accountants (2005), gaming machines represent a high proportion of income earned by RSL and leagues clubs in Australia. In contrast, gaming represents a lower proportion of earnings made by Indian organizations and league clubs. According to Taylor Woodings Chartered Accountants (2005), most bowling clubs in Australia make less than $1m in gaming machine revenue. On the contrary, Bowling clubs are very popular in India and are among the top revenue earners (Hansell, S n.d). While Slot machines represent the highest proportion of earnings in Australia, in contrast gambling is not popular in India (Hing 2006). Gaming machines account for 64 per cent of revenues collected in Clubs in Australia (Taylor Woodings Chartered Accountants 2005). On the contrary, a very small proportion of revenue earned by Indian clubs is through gambling. In most cases, Australian clubs that collect lesser revenue through gaming machines end up being unprofitable. According to Taylor Woodings Chartered Accountants (2005), a good proportion of Australian bowling clubs are unprofitable owing to the fact that they collect a lower proportion of income from gaming machines. According to Taylor Woodings Chartered Accountants (2005), Australian clubs that earn less from gaming machines are likely to be struggling financially. In contrast, clubs in India obtain their revenue in other ways apart from gambling. RSL clubs: Uniquely Australian One of the distinctions of the club industry in India and Australia is the prominence of the veterans club in the two countries. The Returned Services League (RSL) is a club formed to support former members of the Australian Defence forces. Formed in 1916, after the First World War, RSL club hold a huge proportion of Australia’s membership to clubs (Smith 2006). By the end of 2009, there were over 186,652 members of RSL clubs. There are more than 1,306 member RSL clubs. Unlike most other clubs, the RSL is heavily involved in politics. The membership of the RSL is limited to Australian sailors, soldiers, airmen and service women. The organization’s badge symbolizes the unity of the soldiers in loyalty to their country and their allegiance to the English crown. The RSL clubs is heavily involved in the organization of national days including the Anzac day and the Remembrance Day. Politically, the RSL argues for veteran benefits but also voices its opinion on many political issues. After, the Vietnam War many veterans found it hard to actively participate in RSL club activities as they were dominated by Second World War veterans (Smith 2006). However, the influence of these veterans has waned and others have taken a more active role in the running of RSL affairs. The RSL advocates also advocates for the rights of serving servicemen and helps in commemorating the lives of soldiers who die during their service to the nation. In contrast, there is no overall veterans club in India that is as well organized and with membership across the country as the RSL. Golf Clubs A discussion on the club industry cannot be complete without touching on the golf industry. Both Australia and India have well developed golf industries but Australia’s industry is relatively more advanced. According to AGIC (2005), there are over 1,530 golf courses in Australia, while in India there are only 169 golf courses. Over 100,000 Indians are members of golf clubs while in Australia there are over 445, 350 active club members. While only about 10 per cent of Indians women are members of golf clubs, more than 30 per cent of Australian women are active members of golf clubs. In India, access to non-members to golf clubs is more restricted. Only two golf courses in India allow non-members to freely participate in the sport. According to KPMG (2011), non-members in India’s golf clubs can only play during weekdays and access is limited to members during weekends. In contrast, Over 470,000 Australian golfers are not members of golf club, representing 51 per cent of the Australian golfers. Cultural issues influencing club industry Religious customs and values have a big influence on the club industry especially in India. As discussed above, the membership of women to golf clubs is less than 10 per cent while in Australia it is over 30 per cent. This trend of lesser numbers of women participating in social activities is also reflected in other club activities (Wang and Guo 2013). Indian women are expected to appear less in public on their own and in most cases they are housewives. This limited social interactions of Indian women means their numbers are lesser in golf clubs, bowling clubs or football clubs. An Indian woman is expected to save face and which may limit their participation in outdoor activities which require club membership. In contrast, Australians are a more liberal society where women are viewed as socially equal to their male counterparts. Australian women are more likely to participate in club sports like bowling, football leagues and golf clubs. Power Distance There is a huge contrast in Australian and Indians perception of class in their society. India can be considered a high power distance culture where there are distinct divisions across classes (Wang and Guo 2013). This class division is evident in access to popular club sports. As seen earlier over 470,000 Australians who are non-members of golf clubs are able to access golf courses. Australian non-members in golf clubs can also play a round of golf whenever they feel like. In contrast, very few Indians who are not affiliated to clubs can participate in golf. On the other hand, non-members to golf clubs are barred from playing in periods where member demand is higher. Another factor that makes the class division in club membership evident is the number of members in golf clubs; while over 400,000 Australians are members of golf clubs, only 100,000 Indians are members of golf clubs. The high fees required for members to join golf clubs serve to enforce class separation in Indian society. Conclusion The club industry in Australia and India are significantly different. While membership to bowling clubs in Australia is losing popularity, more Indians are eager to join bowling clubs. The largest contrast between the two is the presence of the RSL in Australia which caters for the welfare of veteran soldiers. On the other hand, India lacks an organization of clubs were their former soldier meets to socialize and voice a common opinion on political issues. Membership to golf clubs is also low as people of lower social status are prevented by the high power distance in the society from joining. In contrast, joining a golf club in Australia has little to do with social status. Moreover, Indian culture is likely to bar women from participating in the activities of clubs. Popularity of some sports in a culture also influences the type and spread of clubs likely to be found in that area as seen with the case of cricket in India. References Australian Golf Industry Council (AGIC) 2005, A snapshot of the Australian Golf Industry, AGIC Research Summary Report Buultjens, J., & Howard, D 2001, Labour flexibility in the hospitality industry: questioning the relevance of deregulation. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 13(2), 60-70. Hansell, S n.d, Overview of the Bowling Industry, Sandy Hansell Associates, New York Hing, N 2006, A history of machine gambling in the NSW club industry: from community benefit to commercialisation. International journal of hospitality & tourism administration, 7 (2-3), 83-107. KPMG 2011, Country Snapshot: India Great challenges…even greater potential, Indian Golf Union, New Delhi. Pellizzeri, T 2013, Our greens lure Indian bowlers, Northern Weekly, Accessed on 21 October 2012, http://www.northernweekly.com.au/story/1275394/our-greens-lure-indian-bowlers/ Smith, T 2006, Conscripting the Anzac myth to silence dissent. Australian Review of Public Affairs, 11. Taylor Woodings Chartered Accountants 2005, INDUSTRY UPDATE: No Free Games for Clubs, The New South Wales Licensed Clubs Industry Wang, I., & Guo, L 2013, Introduction to Asian Culture (s) and Globalization. CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, 15(2), 1. Read More