Case Study: Analysis of Winter Olympics 2018 Event Lifecycle Stages

This case study analyzes the Winter Olympics 2018, examining its event lifecycle stages: formation, growth, and staging. The analysis covers the event's vision, mission, stakeholders, and planning processes, including the development of a Masterplan and the implementation of sustainability initiatives. The study highlights challenges such as the IOC scandal and health and safety issues, while also recognizing the event's successes in cost management and stakeholder satisfaction. The case study offers recommendations to improve athlete health and safety, achieve zero carbon emissions, and enhance overall event sustainability. References to relevant literature are also included.

Case study analysis
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Table of Contents
The analysis of event lifecycle stages..........................................................................................................2
Recommendations.......................................................................................................................................4
References...................................................................................................................................................5
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The analysis of event lifecycle stages
In the formation stage of an event, the strategic direction of the event and the organizing team is
developed (Masterman, 2014). Mission, vision, and objectives of an event will be also created
and developed at this stage. The vision of Winter Olympics 2018 is that the best athletes from
all over the world will compete and create a sustainable heritage for Gangwon Province and the
Republic of Korea. The mission of the Winter Olympics is to blend the culture of the country
with an international culture and promote the concept of green growth (Jones and Jones, 2014).
The organizing committee of the Winter Olympics 2018, consists of 134 members. National
Assembly of Korea, the government of Republic of Korea and the Gangwon has worked together
to host the Winter Olympics in the country. The sponsors, local and international community,
media, athletes and teams from different countries, and participating audience are identified as
the stakeholders who will affect by this event (Stoyanova-Bozhkova, 2017). In the formation
stage, a Masterplan is developed so that all the subsequent stages of event planning and
management can be performed with convenient ease. The long-term goal of the organizing
committee is to create a commercially and economically sustainable destination for winter sports
like alpine skiing and snowboarding. However, there are some issues which have affected the
planning process of the event (Holm and Breiter, 2017). These negative issues are IOC scandal,
cold and harsh environment etc.
In the next stage, known as the growth stage, planning of an event begins and main focus shifts
towards functional areas, clients, and stakeholders of an event (Ickman et al., 2016). In this stage,
the activities associated with events which are required to perform to deliver a successful event is
defined (Hampapur et al., 2016). The purpose of this event is to provide the best quality
environment for the athletes coming from various countries. The planning of Winter Olympics
was done in three phases to ensure the proper growth of the event. In the first stage, the basis of
the vent is established (Akutagawa and Myslinski, 2015). In the second stage, operational
planning is done to identify the required resources and establish the time for completion of the
event. This planning is conducted to increase the sustainability of the event. They have decided
to host a zero carbon emission Winter Olympics in South Korea. Various environmental agencies
will be affected in a positive way with the help of this effort (Johnson, 2015). A huge amount of
resources is invested to ensure the growth of the Games. To develop a sustainable environment
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they have successfully established sustainable management system. They have signed
agreements with all the legal and environmental agencies to promote the concept of sustainable
development. Despite all these measures, they have lacked in some of the initiatives (Viehoff and
Poynter, 2016). The health and safety measures of Winter Olympics is lacking and many athletes
were falling sick during the event.
The staging phase of event life cycle consists of processes which control activities and
communication among the stakeholders of an event (Essex and de Groot, 2016). The plans
identified and developed in the previous stages are put into action at this stage. The event
managers also take some appropriate measures to prevent some unforeseen events that might
hamper the success of the events. The organizers are able to sell the maximum amount of tickets,
although, some of the seats during the games remained empty for most of the competition
(Müller, 2015). They are able to keep the costs of hosting the Olympics low compared to other
Olympic hosting cities. They are able to keep up with the expectations of all of their
stakeholders. They have accomplished the mission of creating a sustainable environment for the
sportsperson visiting the country. They are able to achieve the vision, mission, and objectives of
the event, which is to blend the culture of the country with the international culture. They are
able to provide better quality services to their different stakeholders. They are able to meet the
legal and environmental legislation while hosting the event of Winter Olympics. Despite the
political problems in the country, they are able to stage the event efficiently. According to the
various stakeholders, the staging of the event is considered to be an excellent stage (Andersen et
al., 2015). They were prepared to make the event a grand success and increase their reputation
among their stakeholders. The venues and the infrastructure is designed according to the
guidelines set by the International Olympic Committee and other regulatory bodies. The
promotional activities conducted by them reveals the readiness of the organizing committee of
Winter Olympics, 2018. They are able to showcase their excellent staging skills among the
stakeholders of this event. They are successful in staging the event according to the event
management principles. They are able to stage the event despite the problems within the country.
They have been able to develop infrastructure and improve their transportation system for the
successful staging of the event.
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Recommendations
During Winter Olympics, the athletes participating in the game have to deal with the issues of
health and safety issues. Several of athletes have been sick due to the lack of proper measures
implemented by the authority. The athletes participating are considered to be major stakeholders
of this event, and this issue raises a concern regarding the successful hosting of the event. This
issue can be solved by implementing proper risk management plans during the hosting of the
event. They should have implemented an onsite emergency plan to avoid any safety and health
issues. The management should provide a safe environment to the participants of the Winter
Olympics as well as the staffs coordinating the event. They should be able to assess any kind of
hazards during the staging of the event. Despite their best efforts, they are not been able to
achieve zero carbon emission policy during the staging of Winter Olympics in 2018. This issue
can be solved by selecting appropriate destinations and promote the use of renewable energy.
This issue can also be solved by developing better transport system and creating a zero-waste
plan. Use of energy efficient vehicles is important to promote the idea of renewable energy and
energy saving.
These issues play a vital role in creating a negative impact on the stakeholders of an event. In the
case of Winter Olympics, identified stakeholders are the athletes and the environmental
organizations operating on both national and international level. However, it also creates a
negative impact on the major stakeholder of the event, the organizing committee of the event or
the host country. The organizing committee has to make sure that no one participating in an
event is falling sick or facing any other problems. They should also take appropriate measures to
reduce the level of carbon emission during the event, thus producing a green and clean Winter
Olympics. They must promote the idea of recycling and renewed use of products to increase the
sustainability of the event. Taking appropriate health and safety measures also will help the
organizing committee to increase the success and sustainability of the event. These measures
will also increase the efficiency of hosting the event along with increasing the sustainability of
the event. Thus the staging of the event can be improved by following these measures.
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References
Akutagawa, C.E. and Myslinski, L.J., 2015. Social networking event planning. U.S. Patent
Application 14/631,279.
Andersen, S.S., Hanstad, D.V. and Plejdrup-Skillestad, K., 2015. The Role of Test Events in
Major Sporting Events. Event Management, 19(2), pp.261-273.
Essex, S.J. and de Groot, J., 2016. The Winter Olympics: Driving Urban Change, 1924–2022.
In Olympic Cities (pp. 84-109). Routledge.
Hampapur, A., He, Q., Liu, X. and Xing, S., International Business Machines Corp,
2016. Traffic control agency deployment and signal optimization for event planning. U.S. Patent
9,342,982.
Holm, M.R., and Breiter, D., 2017. Communication and hands-on problem resolution: A case
study in event management.
Ickman, S., Cheng, L., MacLaurin, M.B., Colando, C.J., Anderson, E.S. and Raskino, D.A.,
Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC, 2016. Event planning within social networks. U.S. Patent
9,432,826.
Johnson, T., 2015. Event Planning and Promotion, Blog 3.
Jones, M.L. and Jones, M., 2014. Sustainable event management: A practical guide. Routledge.
Masterman, G., 2014. Strategic sports event management. Routledge.
Müller, M., 2015. What makes an event a mega-event? Definitions and sizes. Leisure
Studies, 34(6), pp.627-642.
Stoyanova-Bozhkova, S., 2017. Sustainable Event Management: a Practical Guide, M. Jones.
Routledge, Oxon and New York (2014), 394 pp.,(Pbk.),£ 42.99 ISBN 9780415840200,(Hbk.),£
100.00 9780415840194,(Ebk),£ 42.99 9780203768723.
Viehoff, V. and Poynter, G., 2016. Mega-event cities: Urban legacies of global sports events.
Routledge.
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