Managing Lean Projects: A Case Study of the FIFA World Cup 2018 Event

This case study examines the application of lean project management principles to the FIFA World Cup 2018. The assignment begins by identifying the Voice of the Customer (VOC) and then proceeds to determine Critical to Customer Requirements (CCR) and Critical to Quality (CTQ) parameters, crucial for event success from a lean perspective. It explores various ways to implement lean strategies, emphasizing the importance of customer value and eliminating non-value-added activities. The case study further analyzes relevant project management methodologies including PMBOK, PRINCE2, Organizational Project Management, Agile Practices, and Lean Six Sigma (DMAIC methodology) to support the lean project implementation. The study highlights the need for structural changes, employee training, and a customer-centric approach to ensure smooth operations and enhance user experiences. The overall aim is to provide a framework for managing large-scale events by optimizing processes and increasing stakeholder satisfaction.

CASE STUDY: MANAGING LEAN PROJECT

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Voice of Customer.....................................................................................................................2
Identification of Customers....................................................................................................3
Critical to Customer Requirements............................................................................................4
Critical to Quality Parameters....................................................................................................4
Implementation of Lean Project Management...........................................................................5
Ways to Apply Lean Changes in FIFA World Cup...............................................................6
Lean Management Processes.....................................................................................................8
PMBOK..................................................................................................................................8
PRINCE2................................................................................................................................8
Organizational Project Management......................................................................................9
Agile Practices.......................................................................................................................9
Lean Six Sigma......................................................................................................................9
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................11
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Introduction
FIFA World Cup 2018, held in Russia, has been one of the largest sports and entertainment
event, with an estimated cost of $14.2 billion (Matheson, Schwab & Koval, 2018). As it was
the first World Cup to be hosted in Eastern Europe, this event embraced a vast range of
audience, starting from sports lovers to entertainment seekers to exclusive football fans.
Organizing an event that caters to such a huge range of audience is not only a humongous
task, but also requires detailed expertise on the production processes, so as to add value to the
user experience and eliminate the undesired elements that do not add value to the same.
In this particular research we take up the event of FIFA World Cup 2018, from the
perspective of the production manager, as a case study to understand and discuss the concepts
of lean management and how it is extremely relevant, in case of organizing large scale events
like this one. One of the ruling theories of lean management is to eliminate all the
undesirable elements from the system, the ones that do not earn any value to the user
experience (Browning & Ramasesh, 2015). Therefore, the main emphasis of lean project
management is always is always on adding more value to the end-services in order to reap
enhanced user-experiences.
This research aims to critically analyze the various ways through which lean management can
be applied on the chosen event in order to add value to its user-experiences by focusing more
on customer values and expectations.
Voice of Customer
One of the most essential elements to consider, when thinking about adding value to user’s
experience, is to incorporate the voice of the customers in the production’s decision-making
processes. In order to add value to the customer’s experience, the primary requirement is to
know their expectations, demands and their nature, and place them in a hierarchal order so
that they can be listed according to their priorities with relevance to customer-need (Verzuh,
2015). Various tools and techniques can be used to capture the dynamic voices of customers,
which are changing with the change in other external and internal factors.
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Identification of Customers
The primary requirement of a production team is to identify their respective customers for the
kind of services they provide. The targeted customers not only include the existing audience
but also the ones, who can be incorporated in the list by serving their demands and adding
value for them (Hobbs & Besner, 2016). Customers of an organization or an event like the
FIFA World Cup 2018 can be divided into two major sections:
Internal Customers: The customers who are directly the stakeholders of the organization, or
the event in this case, can be recognized as the internal customers. The hosting of an event
involves the participation of various individuals and Companies, who together achieve the
objectives of the project. In this case, various stakeholders of the FIFA World Cup 2018, like
the Russian government, the International Football Association and the participating nations,
who collectively worked together for the success of the event, can be referred as the Internal
Customers.
External Customers: External Customers mainly consist of the end users of the services or
products produced, and majorly constitute the consumers, dealers, retailers and wholesalers.
In case of the chosen event, the audience from various cultures and nationalities, who have
their vested nationalist sentiments, or football fans or simply the consumers of the event can
be considered the External Customers.
Critical to Customer Requirements
In order to secure the specific expectations and needs of the customers, the next step after the
identification of the target customers would be to identify the objectives that are specific to
the customer needs. FIFA World Cup 2018 being a large-scale event involving various levels
of consumers and stakeholders from all over the world, requires a detailed analysis of the
needs and expectations, as reflected from their specific sets of customers (Bean, 2015). A
lean management approach specifically focuses on the various kinds of demands arising from
the varied nature of consumers, and finally segregating them into lists of priorities. This
process is known as the Critical sorting of Customer Requirements and is extremely essential
for analyzing the event production from a lean management perspective.
Some of the major requirements is this scenario could be proper maintenance of the stadium,
clean and comfortable seating arrangements, helpful-and co-operative voluntary and official
staffs on ground and many more. In order to ensure the success of the event from a lean
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management perspective, it is necessary to consider these factors and assure complete
customer satisfaction.
Critical to Quality Parameters
Based on the understandings of critical customer requirements a range of parameters can be
implied, which would determine the quality of the end-product with relation to the specific
requirements. A value intensive approach to dealing with consumer requirements sparks the
need to deal with the particular demands in a way most critical to the quality of the product
and the response of the consumers. These parameters essentially highlight on the internal
factors of the production team that play a vital role in the enhancement of value in their
service-providing. Though these quality intensive parameters are set in relation to the
consumer-demands, they are not the same as consumer requirements in itself.
In this occasion, quality ensuring parameters would include the ones that would make the
game for enjoyable and entertaining for their audience. Not only does it need a proper
management of the participating football teams, but also the skillful management of the
managerial teams. It is important to ensure that even in case of unexpected proceedings, the
organizers must be prepared to handle any amount of chaos in order to restore the attraction
and enjoyment of the audiences.
Implementation of Lean Project Management
The concept of Lean Project Management is not just an individual quality that can be
inculcated at once to assure the success of an event or production. Rather, it canonizes the
approach to ‘lean thinking’ and encourages a lean approach in all decision-making processes.
A lean approach essentially refers to the value-intensive approach to identifying customer
needs and fulfilling them by the systematic elimination of unnecessary elements. Therefore, it
directs us to a particular approach to taking up actions and managing responsibilities.
In order to implement lean management ideas on a project or event, the most essential
element is to bring about a structural change in the ways the internal employees or volunteers
look at activities. From a performance-driven or profit-driven perspective, the administrative
members need to internalize the basic elements of a customer-oriented value-intensive
approach. Hence, the organizers of FIFA and the employees working under them need to be
introduced to a new perspective altogether, primarily. In depth understanding of the concepts
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of lean management has to be imparted to all the employees of all levels and departments in
order to ensure that there is no miscommunication regarding what is expected from them. In
order to complete a huge production like FIFA 2018, all levels of the organizers must remain
in complete synchronization with one another, regarding their approach, means and target
objectives.
FIFA World Cup 2018 involves a large number of stakeholders, including the host, the
audience, the governments, the technical staff, sponsors, football enthusiasts, players and
individual football teams. The process of smooth delivery of actions and synchronization
amongst all the managerial and organizational levels require accurate understanding of the
organizational goals from a value-oriented perspective. Organizational Project Management
helps in carrying out the particular aims and objectives of an organization in a synchronized
and systematic manner. Therefore, it can be said that this case study is aiming at an
Organizational lean Project Management. According to (Poppendieck, 2011), the three major
requirements for the implementation of a lean perspective in an organizational setup are the
following:
 In-depth understanding and internalization of the concepts of lean. Being well-
acquainted with the five most essential principles that determine a lean approach.
 A critical understanding of how the principles of a lean perspective can be applied to
the existing organizational conditions of a producer or organizer. Determining the
particular values that are prioritized over others in order to retain the essential quality
of the production.
 Through the process of acknowledging the specific demands and requirements, the
extra or undesirable practices must also be recognized and eliminated in order to
retain a wholesome value-oriented outlook.
Ways to Apply Lean Changes in FIFA World Cup
As it has been identified above, the FIFA World Cup 2018 needs to be analyzed from an
Organizational Lean Project Management approach, given its nature of business, stakeholders
and audience. In order to successfully implement the lean approaches to carrying our
organizational processes, it is important to consider the following steps:
1. Specifying value in the eyes of the consumers is one of the primary steps to taking a
lean approach. Since the lean project management focuses majorly on the demands
and responses of the consumers, the value of the product is also heavily depended on
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the nature of consumers and their demands. Therefore, in case of FIFA World Cup, it
is important to set the value of productions in the eyes of the consumers so that they
are readily attracted to what is being offered. If the consumers are made aware of the
kinds of values the event might reflect, through the means of advertisements,
promotion or other tools and techniques, the end product would create more value for
all the stakeholders.
2. It is important to draw a fair sketch of all the organizational activities so that each can
be compared against the requirements of the consumers and analyzed according to
their value. Through this process various value-inducing practices can be recognized
simultaneously along with some extra activities, which do not add any value to the
organizational performance. In FIFA World Cup, it is essential to find out the
particular activities that add to the values of the stakeholders, like providing food
packets and energy drinks to players, arranging for medical equipments, etc.
Simultaneously, there might be certain elements, which can be rendered as ‘extras’
because they do not add any value to the functional unit or the end-product. For
example, unnecessarily complicated terms and policies amongst the managerial
levels, involvement of multiple levels of employees in decision-making processes, or
any other activities that do not add to enhancing consumer-satisfaction can be
eliminated.
3. The next most important step is to work towards creating more value for the kind of
service being produced. By elimination of all necessary distracting elements, it would
be easier to focus on the value enhancement by achieving consumer satisfaction. In
this case, a constant effort to keep the stadiums clean and under maintenance,
adequate payment of the football players, sufficient investment on building a culture
of watching and enjoying football games and many more, can be considered a
systematic adaption and implementation of lean perspectives.
Lean Management Processes
PMBOK
PMBOK refers to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, which can be considered a
standard or a set of guidelines for the management of projects with a lean perspective. The
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document incorporates the latest management technologies reflecting a value-oriented
outlook in organizational projects. PMBOK offers a critical understanding of the work-
process that is best suited for any kind of organization. In case of FIFA, the PMBOK
approach would help in breaking down the work process in various levels so that it is
relatively easier and systematic, considering the large number of production levels and
processes.
Figure 1: PMBOK v5
(Source: Bean, 2015)
PRINCE2
PRINCE2 is another method for project management, which lays its emphasis on breaking
down the activities and responsibilities into manageable groups and departments, so that it
becomes easier to perform the routine tasks in a synchronized fashion. This particular method
focuses on the nature and qualities of a project to determine the appropriate approach they
should undertake. It also investigates the methods in practice and analyzes their relevance or
justification for being in the system. In FIFA, this method can be used to analyze the break-
up of the various teams and departments that have been allocated respectively according to
their duties.
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Figure 2: PRINCE2 processes
(Source: Conforto et al. 2014)
Organizational Project Management
This is one of the most relevant management practices, especially in case of FIFA, as it
involves a large number of groups and teams to interact with one another in the process of
completion of objectives. This particular method aims at smooth delivery of actions that
fulfill the pre-decided aims and objectives of the organization. It looks after the appropriate
implementation of the business strategies. For example, in case of FIFA, if increasing the
value of football games in the eyes of the consumers is one of the strategies, the OPM
(Organizational Project Management) methods would undertake relevant actions like
promoting the game with the face of a popular celebrity, or making the tickets cheaper, in
order to fulfill the business strategies.
Agile Practices
Agile Practices exclusively focus on value based practices like trust, loyalty, flexibility and
empowerment. It emphasizes on iterative delivery of actions and undertaking responsibilities
incrementally with the flow of the particular project. This approach challenges the traditional
ideas and cultures and brings a change in working system (Conforto, Salum, Amaral, da
Silva & de Almeida, 2014). Not only does it update the work procedures with the current
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dynamic times, but also makes it more relevant with the aims and objectives of the
organization. In case of FIFA, adopting Agile practices would help in revising all the other
practices that are out of date and irrelevant, so that they can be eliminated from the system.
Lean Six Sigma
This process essentially upholds the lean perspective of project management. The Lean Six
Sigma approach essentially focuses on the collaborative team effort to achieve the aims and
objectives by adding value to the user’s experience of end product and reduction of potential
wastes or valueless practices. According to (Tenera & Luís Carneiro, 2014), this method
identifies eight kinds of wastes including, production defects, over-production, delays,
unrecognized skills, increased investment on transportation, stocking of the inventory,
undesired motion in processes and extra-processing. Amongst these, quite a few can be
recognized as wastes from the conducted case study. Eliminating these undesirable elements
from the organizational processes would help in bringing about a lean approach to
functioning.
Figure 3: Lean Six Sigma
(Source: Tenera & Luís Carneiro, 2014)
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Conclusion
To conclude, analyzing the success of FIFA World Cup 2018, as a business event is a
complex procedure as it takes into account the participation of a varied range of stakeholders
—starting from football players to their audiences. Applying a Lean Project Management
approach to analyze the particular event resulted in an in-depth understanding of the lean
perspective, its main aims and how they can be applied on large-scale events like the FIFA
World Cup in order to bring about a value-oriented outlook, focusing on the specific demands
and expectations of the consumers or audiences.
In order to have a better understanding of the functioning process of the Lean Project
Management approach, their respective elements have been discussed—the voice of the
customer, critical understanding of consumer’s requirements, and critical understanding of
quality parameters related to the specific consumer-demands, and more. The research
explores the various aspects of implementing Lean Project Management theories on the FIFA
World Cup 2018 even and analyzes their impacts on the respective areas.
Along with that, brief discussions about the various method of Project Management and their
respective specialties have been provided for a wholesome understanding of the concept and
its impacts on practical environments.
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References
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Need for International Corporate Governance Standards at FIFA. ILSA J. Int'l &
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Browning, T. R., & Ramasesh, R. V. (2015). Reducing unwelcome surprises in project
management. MIT Sloan Management Review, 56(3), 53. Retrieved from
http://ilp.mit.edu
Conforto, E. C., Salum, F., Amaral, D. C., da Silva, S. L., & de Almeida, L. F. M. (2014).
Can agile project management be adopted by industries other than software
development?. Project Management Journal, 45(3), 21-34. DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1002/pmj.21410
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investigation of variation in practice. International Journal of Project
Management, 34(4), 675-687. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2016.02.010
Matheson, V. A., Schwab, D., & Koval, P. (2018). Corruption in the Bidding, Construction
and Organisation of Mega-Events: An Analysis of the Olympics and World Cup.
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Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com
Poppendieck, M. (2011). Principles of lean thinking. IT Management Select, 18, 1-7.
Retrieved from http://www.sel.unsl.edu.ar
Tenera, A. M. B. R., & Luís Carneiro, P. (2014). A Lean Six Sigma (LSS) project
management improvement model. SELECTED PAPERS FROM THE 27TH IPMA
(INTERNATIONAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION), 912-920. DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.102
Verzuh, E. (2015). The fast forward MBA in project management. John Wiley & Sons.
Retrieved from https://books.google.co.in
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