Abstract

PURPOSE This study examines factors surrounding the work environment of Korean professional baseball coaches and provides implications from practical and policy perspectives. METHODS Data were obtained from 14 experts consisting of baseball coaches, front office staff, professors, and a sports journalist using Delphi technique and analytic hierarchy process analysis from September to October 2024 and were analyzed using SPSS WIN 24.0 and MS Excel 2019. RESULTS First, this study ranked the main factors “performance evaluation and contracts,” “workload,” “organizational culture,” and “support” in order of importance. Second, “enhancing job stability” was observed as the key subfactor under the “performance evaluation and contracts” domain, while “improving the work atmosphere” was prioritized in the “workload” category. Under “organizational culture,” the “elimination of nepotism and school-tiebased inequality” was the most significant, while “increasing staff and strengthening cooperation” was prioritized in the “support” domain. Third, analysis of the weighted priorities highlighted “enhancing job stability,” “raising salaries,” “increasing transparency in performance evaluation criteria,” “improving the work atmosphere,” and “elimination of nepotism and school-tie-based inequality.” CONCLUSIONS This study provides meaningful empirical data for developing the KBO League and is expected to help improve the working environment for professional baseball coaches.