Project Management Muluh A. Mokom A Critique on Sydney 2000 Olympic Games: A Project management perspective. Context of Case Sydney 2000 Olympic Games: a Project management perspective provides a general appraisal on the activities and events leading up to the successful hosting of the 26th modern Olympic Games in September 2000. The case presents the different stakeholders involved with the different aspects linked with the games.
There is the Sydney Olympics Bid Limited (SOBL) that was in-charged of preparing what was needed to win the bid. The New South Wales (NSW) government, with responsibility of providing the site for the hosting of the games. The Federal Government in-charge of the required infrastructure construction, Sydney Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) and Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) both overseeing the entire organization of the Olympic Games activities.
Sydney after winning the bid to host the games, there was therefore a lot of construction projects to be undertaken. With the Olympics plan based on commitment to provide the right conditions to perform at their optimum level, there was the need to have everything ready for at least a year before the beginning of the Olympic Games.
Apart from the infrastructure project linked directly or indirectly to hosting of the Olympic Games, the other projects envisaged for Olympic were broken down as follows: Events, Venues and facilities including accommodation, Transport, Media facilities and coordination, Telecommunication, security arrangements, medical car, Human Resources including Volunteers, Cultural Olympiad, Pre-Games training, Information Technology Projects, Opening and Closing ceremonies, public relations, financing and Test Games and trail events. Problems Faced. A) Environment
The International Olympics Committee in laying down the criteria for bidding for the Olympic Games host city for the 2000 Olympic Games had an environmental consideration. They had to ensure that the environment was respected. As for Sydney, they faced a major problem in this regard because the proposed site for the construction of the infrastructure was amidst one of Australia`s worst toxic waste dumps. B) Information sharing A second problem that the organizers of the Sydney 2000 Olympics faced was on the need to share information, most importantly across to all the divisions of the organizing committee.
C) Cost Another problem faced was that of Cost managing in the completions of all the different projects and activities to be staged during the Olympic Games. SOCOG faced uncertainties with the budget meant for events and ceremonies. The rapid change in technology was also a major source of cost escalation. One other aspect that was also indirectly linked to the cost factor was inflation or the increase in price for accommodation facilities. It suffices to note that the time dimension also has a great effect on the cost of the project especially in the escalation of the cost in the event of time slippage.
D) Quality Quality was also a big challenge that did not go without notice in the preparation of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. This as a matter of fact was to be one of the biggest challenges to be faced by the organizers and stakeholders of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. It was also to be seen as being one of the most difficult of a problem to be solved as will be analysed below. Decisions made as a Result. The environment was a big concern in winning the bid to host the Olympic Games.
So, SOBL in preparing for Sydney’s bid took the decision to include a comprehensive set of environmental guidelines recognizing the principle of ecologically sustainable development. This guideline promoted energy conservation, water conservation, waste avoidance and minimization, protection of air, water and soil from pollution and the protection of the natural and cultural environment. A media release from SOBL stated that “No other event at the beginning of the 21st Century will have a greater impact on protecting the environment than the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. ”
Information Sharing was also a problem faced by the organizers. SOCOG being the Project Manager of the hosting of the Olympic Games was managing approximately 27000 activities. So, in order to keep track of the progression of these activities within their milestone reporting schedule, a software program capable of showing the game’s progress and for the establishment of a database and as well for the dissemination of information was instituted. Decisions made to contain the cost factor included guarding against any slippage timing of the programming, training and testing of these activities which could lead to cost escalations.
There was also the policy undertaken by Sydney to implement procedures for accommodation price control and particularly in relation to hotel tariff. SOCOG in this respect negotiated with the hotel industry to ensure stable room rates for the period in time surrounding the games. As stated above, quality assurance was one of the most important challenge for the organizers. The International Olympics Committee in their contract with the host city specified a certain quality. The New South Wales government equally had their quality specifications and SOCOG herself laid down other qualities they needed to meet for the success of the games.
The complexity of the quality was compounded by the fact that each program and component had its own quality and standard. Generally, wherever there is the involvement of the public at large in a project of such a magnitude, it is generally not sufficient just to have a good quality. The public places a high demand for the highest possible quality standards. SOCOG in cognizance of such a demand had to ensure that their projects be measured by the absence of delays and clockwork precision. In the case of transportation, quality being judge through the lack of traffic jams and hold-ups.
With construction projects, quality was to be looked at from the point of view of conforming to strict environmental guidelines or being fit for the purpose. Critical Analysis of the Decisions and their impact. From the perspective of project management, and for a project to be deemed successful, the project needs to be completed within the specified time, should stay within the allocated cost and should meet the standard and quality required. There is also recognition that things sometimes do not always work as planned.
Uncertainties may occur that bring in a slippage in time or may drive up the cost of the project. These aspects notwithstanding, the final objective is always to get a deliverable that meets acceptable quality standards. Considering the enormity of the different projects and activities needed to be completed for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, in order for the organizers to achieve the time dimension, they had to adopt strategies such as holding frequent coordination meets with the different parties delivering other required item, setting target dates well in advance and as well designing test events.
So, it was crucial that the critical path method (CPM) and precedence block diagrams be adopted. The impact of this was that it provided them with a clear picture in viewing the progress of the different projects. The adoption of the Total Quality Management (TQM) technique was also very important decision that the Project Manager of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Game undertook. TQM ensures the quality of the product as the ultimate goal. The impact of adopting the TQM could be seen within the domain wherein it did llow ample time for thorough testing prior to the games and providing enough time for necessary adjustments especially for the activities and events that did not have clear specifications or well defined quality standards. In conclusion, the implementation of a strict project plan and developing the ability to communicate with all the divisions of the entire project could be considered so pivotal to the project’s success. If this mechanism is properly managed, it will as a whole govern the time, cost and quality elements of the project. It is in this premise that I consider the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games project to have been a success.
REFERENCES David Eager, Sydney 2000 Olympic Games: A Project Management Perspective. University of Technology, Sydney. Sharon Beder, Sydney Toxic Green Olympics. http://www. uow. edu. au/~sharonb/olympic. html SOBL, March 2003, Sydney 2000 Environment Guidelines. (Online excerpts). The Sydney Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games and Knowledge Management: Learning from Experience. (Online Excerpts).
