Event Operational Management

About the London Olympics.

The 2012 Olympics held in London made the city first to host the modern games of three Olympiads. Further, city like London is considered as the only city in country like United Kingdom to have hosted summer Olympics on more occasions than the UK. The Olympics, along with paralympic games, are considered as the world's peace time event. All the athletes who are participating in this event are encouraged to live by a set of shared principles. Further, its core values are equality, respect, determination, excellence, inspiration and courage. Generally, games are held every four years and in the year 2012, London has hosted games. Further, the city received around 54 votes in the final round as compared to the 50 votes which were awarded to Paris. The organizing committee for the Olympic and Paralympic games of the city is responsible for organizing and planning (Sadd, 2012). Amount of £2 billion is required with the motive to organize and run the overall games in appropriate manner. Further, the overall funds have been obtained with the help of merchandising, selling sponsorship, selling tickets, etc. Apart from this, the overall event organized has provided platform to 14,000 athletes from around 205 countries. Individuals who are sports enthusiasts and spectators will purchase around nine million tickets and around billions of people will watch the event on television. city like London has benefited from hosting Olympic and Paralympic events, which can be in the form of economic development as well. Apart from this, it has supported in creating thousands of jobs. More training and development opportunities have been delivered to the local people across UK and they have been provided opportunity to prepare effective plans for the games so that entire project will benefit country like United Kingdom in every possible manner. One of the most effective and advanced technology used in London Olympics was robotic camera.

ANALYSIS OF THE LONDON OLYMPICS CASE 2012

While organizing any specific case, various operations have to be carried out in appropriate manner so that it may provide long-term benefits to the entire nation. Further, the range of operations while organizing London Olympics held in 2012 were planning, risk management, venue management, competition structure, sports medicine, transportation services, financial requirements, workforce management, etc (Hoxley, 2012).

Risk management as a major operation is most crucial where authorities linked with organizing event have to manage all the risks associated with this event. Further, main strength of this operation is that it supports in dealing with all the major risks associated with the event and corrective actions can be taken well in advance. In short, it enhances overall value of the event which is being organized and acts as development tool. On the other hand, main weakness of this operation is that it does not support in knowing what type of risks are associated with the event. Another major operation is linked with sports medicine, where it has to be ensured in advance those proper medicines along with other type of equipments through which participants in the sports event are provided proper support. main strength of this operation is that it supports in providing proper support to participants at the time of injury (Asteriou et. al., 2013).

Transportation as a service is also regarded as most important, where authorities have to ensure that proper transportation facilities are present for local public along with participants in the events. If proper transportation facilities are not delivered, then it becomes difficult to organize the event in effective manner. Workforce management is also regarded as one of the crucial operation of London Olympic event being organized in 2012. main strength of this operation is that through it it is possible to utilize human resource in appropriate manner and in turn all the major operations can be carried out in appropriate manner. On the other hand, main weakness of this operation is that it is not easy to satisfy the needs and overall requirements of every staff member. Venue management is also regarded as one of the most important operations while organizing London Olympics event (Chanavat and Desbordes, 2014). Authorities have to ensure that place is appropriate so that large number of locals take watch the event in a single number of times. main strength of this operation is that it supports fulfilling the overall requirement of the customers and they can easily enjoy the experience of watching different events. On the other hand, the main weakness of this operation is that it is not possible to identify the effective way through which venue management is being possible. Therefore, these are some of the effective operations which have been carried out for successful implementation of the event which has been organized on larger basis. On the other hand, while organizing the event, different targets have been set by the authorities, which can be easily accomplished if proper planning is present and in turn, it is fruitful for the entire event in every possible way (Bamford and Dehe, 2015).

All the operations designed were customer-focused so that large number of local public and other individuals can be influenced or attracted to watch the entire event being organized on larger basis. Further, processes were well designed as they were undertaken with the help of experts and appropriate control measures were taken so that entire range of activities can be carried out in proper manner. Apart from this, the culture of the operation were favorable, which encouraged active participation from each and every member involved in the planning. On the other hand, large numbers of factors were present in the external environment which adversely affected entire event, where major one was credit crunch, which states the condition of lack of funds available in the credit market due to which proper funds were not at all present for organizing the entire event (Arnold et. al, 2015). Further, inflation along with recession adversely affected the entire event, due to which it became difficult to obtain funds for this event.

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RISKS IN THE LONDON OLYMPICS

While organizing the big event, such as London Olympics 2012, there were many risks present; this affected efficiency of the entire event. Further, risk can be regarded as the main limitation which may adversely affect the entire event. In case of London Olympics, different risks were present, which are as follows:

Security risk: It is considered as one of the major risks, as it may be possible that planners of London Olympics have to undertake. Further, it is necessarily required that proper security guards be present for safety of local public. Apart from this file explosion, other tools are required so that it can support in unfavorable conditions. Moreover, certain risks may have adverse impact on public property and can affect local public (Liu and Wilson, 2014). Event planners have to take corrective actions well in advance so that security risks may not be faced in near future. Further, if proper security is not present, then it may adversely affect players who are participating in the event. This risk can surely disturb the entire event and it is required to manage all the key activities in appropriate manner.

Health-related issue: It is another type of risk which organizers of the event can face, which can be due to lack of sanitation facilities in the playing field and other major areas of ground. The place where Olympics have been organized must be clean and safe, as it will have positive impact on the local public along with the players who are participating in the event (Randeree, 2011). It is required for event planners to comply with the legal requirement linked with health-related issues. Therefore, in this way, health-related issue can also act as major risks, which has adversely affected London Olympics 2012.

Financial risk: It is well-known fact that while organizing big events, finance is regarded as one of the major source which has to be considered necessarily. Without proper finance, it was not at all possible to organize such big event. The main sources of finance in case of London Olympics held in 2012 were Sponsorship, tickets, etc. All these sources supported in satisfying the financial needs of organizing new event where the entire event can be carried out in appropriate manner. This was the major risk where it has to be ensured that financial resources are utilized in appropriate manner. Further, corrective actions were taken in advance so that situation of inadequacy of finance may not be faced by the business. All the sources considered acted as good source of income and it became possible to organize the event in appropriate manner (Nadeau et al., 2015).

Construction, transportation and infrastructure risk: This risk is also major one which was faced at the time of organizing London Olympics 2012. Transportation is one of the risks where planners have to ensure that proper facilities are present so that players along with local public can travel from one place to another. Lack of proper transportation facilities may have adverse impact on the entire event where it is not possible for different type of people to visit the place where event is being organized. Construction is also main issue where it has to be ensured that the place where event is organized is constructed in proper manner and lack of proper construction can be unfavorable for the entire event. So, this risk is associated with transportation and infrastructure at the time when London Olympics 2012 was organized.

Risk associated with fluctuation in currency: This risk is linked with fluctuation of currency rates in the market. In the year 2012, entire countries like the UK were adversely affected due to inflation, and this adversely affected the people living in the society. Further, this also increased the level of risk by reducing their enhanced income, which could be obtained from the visitors in the United Kingdom (Ritchie et. al., 2010). Apart from this, fluctuations in the currency rate may decrease overall rate of currency in the world. Major nations in the country were adversely affected due to fluctuation in the currency. Therefore, in this way, the risk associated with the fluctuation in currency was also major, and it adversely affected the London Olympics 2012.

Planning risk: Before organizing any event, different plans are prepared on the basis of which overall operations are carried out. This risk was major one at the time when London Olympics was organized. Event planners prepared different plans and it is possible that ineffective plans may be prepared due to which activities may not be carried out in proper manner. So, this was not in favor of the entire event and proper plans have to be prepared for the welfare of the event. Plans have to be prepared in relation to the seating arrangement of the local public and the sequence in which activities have to be carried out. In case proper plans are not at all prepared, then it becomes difficult to implement the range of activities, and in turn it may have an adverse impact on the entire event that has been organized (Giannoulakis et al., 2008). This may lead to a large number of complexities, and in turn, the main goals associated with organizing events cannot be accomplished easily. Therefore, in this way, the risk associated with planning was also a major one, and event planners have to make an effective plan for overall development.

Reputation risk: This risk is also crucial, as if the event planners present in London are not able to plan event in appropriate manner, then the overall reputation of the nation may be affected. The overall issue linked with reputation has to be tackled carefully so that other type of events in near future can be organized in London successfully for the growth of the nation.

INNOVATION IN THE LONDON OLYMPICS

Innovation is a must in every event, and it is required for event planners to ensure that advanced technology is being used to enhance the efficiency of the entire project. Further, the range of innovation which were associated with this event are:

Souped-up sound system:This innovation relies on the fact that most of the sound that is on the head on the television while playing games is not at all real. Further, they are considered to be pre-developed, and in many conditions, it is possible that some of the sounds are recorded in advance and they are recorded from an audience that arrives with the motive to watch a sports event or any other. So, this was the main technology which was being used while organizing the event and this was beneficial for entire nation where event is being organized (Lindsay, 2014).

Robotic cameras: This was another innovation tool which was being organized where advanced cameras were used which are capable of rotating at 360 degree. Further, this device is effective enough in taking 3D pictures. Apart from this, it is possible to take delicate pictures and security issues can be tackled easily (Rossi, 2014). Further, photographers are not allowed on the place where events are being organized and it plays key role in organizing the entire event successfully. Every special moment of the event can be captured easily and in turn it is effective in every possible manner. Therefore, the robotic cameras which were being used while organizing the event were successful and it enhanced efficiency of the entire event.

Track suits: The biggest innovation was in the suits which were being given to the participants. A company like Nike has done innovation in the track suits, which are convenient for players as they can participate with full efficiency. Further, it provides advantage in terms of 0.043 seconds to participants. Apart from this, suits were heavy, and due to this basic reason, all the participants faced difficulties when performing (Jenkibns, 2011).

No false start: This was one of the major innovations in the London Olympics 2012, through which it was quite possible to measure the actual force being applied by the participants while starting the race. Further, the device introduced supported knowing the movement made by the participants, due to which a false start may not be possible. Therefore, this type of innovation leads to a perfect start, which is beneficial for the entire event.

Therefore, these were the major innovations which took place at the time when London Olympics 2012 was organized and this enhanced efficiency of the entire event being organized on larger basis.

Innovation theory

In order to better understand the concept of innovation theory linked with diffusion of innovation, it is effective, which takes into consideration larger number of elements where innovation is major one, and it is linked with the current knowledge where any idea, practice or object which is perceived by individual is an innovation. Adopters are the next element, which is the minimal unit of analysis and they are the individuals who undertake innovation for obtaining favorable results (Bes, 2012). Communication channels are next element which supports in sharing information from one unit to another. Time is another element which states that innovation must be adopted timely and social system is last element, which is the combination of external influences. Therefore, this model supports knowing the different type of individuals along with companies that indulge into the practices of innovation and through this large number of benefits can be obtained easily. In case of London Olympics, the innovation took the form of advanced technology, which was adopted so that operations can be carried out in effective manner.

Further, the communication channels were kept open so that the range of event planners can easily share idea and information with each other and this is for the betterment of the entire nation. Apart from this, the new technology used was not used earlier in any other type of event and was totally new. Therefore, this was also fruitful for the London Olympics, where each and every operation carried out was effective and increased the overall value of the event being carried out. It was convenient for the performers and allowed them to perform better (Poynter and MacRury, 2009). There are five stages of the adoption process that were considered at the time of organizing the London Olympics event, which are knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation. In the first stage of knowledge, all the event planners had full knowledge regarding the new innovation, and this encouraged them to implement the same. In the second stage of persuasion, individuals are interested and obtain information regarding new technology. In the next stage, a decision is taken, followed by implementation and conformation. Therefore, in this way, the stages of innovation followed were effective.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Innovation and technology also play a key role in success of every event so it is necessary for operations management of event organizers to focus on diverse ways that can amend innovative opportunities. In this respect, it can be said that the event management firm can focus on diverse technological tools that can reduce the risk in diverse context. For example, the management can focus on installation of various technological tools in order to reduce sanitation issues. Use of automatic pumping machine to evacuate the water from ground and latest cleaning tools to improve effectiveness also facilitates in maintaining the innovation factor. Other than this, transportation is also one of key factor in success of London Olympics, so it is also necessary for government and authorities to bring various innovation in context of transportation. In this respect, it can be said that eco-friendly transportation mediums can be used, such as bio-gas fuel automobiles, so that environmental conditions can be improved and innovation aspects can also be maintained in proper way. Buses and light-weight vehicles can be introduced that use bio-gas fuel (Nadeau et al. 2015).

In support of this, it can be said that the online mobile application can also be introduced by governing authorities with the assistance of local taxi corporations. It will assist guests to access the taxi and transportation facilities in an easy way, which is beneficial for the success of the event and the maintenance of the innovation factor. A number of sensors and other digital tools can be used to ensure security aspects. Such as metal detectors and drones for effective monitoring of Olympic premises. With the assistance of sensors and drones, security personnel can easily accomplish goals. A number of communication tools can also be used by event organizers to flow the correct information among members and visitors. Such as 3D display during sports so that guests can have an enhanced level of experience during the sports events. Moreover, a number of innovative software programs can be used in order to manage all operations during the event in the United Kingdom.

REFERENCES

• Herstein, R., and Berger, R., 2013. Hosting the Olympics: a city's make-or-break impression. Journal of Business Strategy.
• Sadd, d., 2012. The Olympics—The Basics. International Journal of Event and Festival Management.
• Hoxley, M., 2012. Olympics, jubilees, and surveyors. Structural Survey.
• Hampton, J., 2012. The Austerity Olympics: When the Games Came to London in 1948. Aurum Press.
• Poynter, G., and et. al., 2015. The London Olympics and Urban Development: The Mega-Event City. Routledge.

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