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Companies Today Are Using Technology to Change Their Industry and Achieve Competitive Advantage

In: Other Topics

Submitted By Rjm93
Words 605
Pages 3
The industry I have chosen is that of professional rugby, and the company I will be discussing is Munster Rugby and how they are using new technologies to gain an advantage over other companies. I have personal experience with the company over several seasons from the season 2011/12-2014/15. The technology is the GPS system (1.Catapult Sports, 2015) each player uses. Before it was simply used to calculate your total distance covered but due to advancements in the technology it has become vastly more important and provides greater influence. Today the GPS systems each player wears, will calculate not just distance, but will also record top speeds in metres per second, as well as provide a breakdown of what distances was covered at top speed. This data then enables coaches a very beneficial analysis tool as they can see what players are their work, slacking off, or going over and beyond their duty. Another addition of the updates GPS systems is that they include a gyroscope, accelerometer. Which together, they both combine and take into account the total impacts ( tackle, carry, ruck ) and the force/intensity of each impact that each player endures throughout the game. With these stats now readily available Munster Rugby are making great progress for strength and conditioning, but more importantly for injury management. The S&C staff have a training plan for each session, as it is their job to make sure each athlete is in pristine condition to perform on match day. The GPS provide live “real-time” feedback which is monitored during each training session so they know when they need to cut a session or even make it easier to allow players to feel fresh the next day. The physio department find the new GPS extremely helpful, as players wear it during training, and the device monitors everything, the stats are then logged so they then have a baseline for each player to refer to in the case of an injury. If “player X” tears a hamstring, he will rehab and go through all the protocols, but with the new technology, they physios will be able to send him out to run and have the stats to prove if he is back to full fitness or not by cross referencing the data. In addition, the use of the GPS impact properties in conjunction video analysis, can provide great detail to medical staff when a player suffers an “impact” injury. The physio may revert to the footage to get a better understanding of what happened, and this can aid in the diagnosis of injuries, and can be a tool for preparing rehab programs so that the player will be able to withstand what caused the injury. The company used by Munster Rugby is Catapult Sports (2. Catapult Sports, 2015). In fact they provide these GPS system for a range of other sports such as soccer, American football, basketball, NHL and GAA.
To conclude, I believe Munster are on the right track to reaching their optimum performance level by engaging with Catapult Sports, and in doing so will continue to give them an advantage over competitors. The only recommendations I would make would be that as Catapult progress through innovation, that Munster would also advance with updated products where available.

Bibliography: 1. Catapultsports.com, (2015). The Innovator of GPS Tracking for Elite Sport | Catapult UK. [online] Available at: http://www.catapultsports.com/uk/system [Accessed 13 Nov. 2015] 2. Catapultsports.com, (2015). About Us - The Leader in Athlete Analytics | Catapult UK. [online] Available at: http://www.catapultsports.com/uk/about [Accessed 13 Nov. 2015].

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