The Olympic Games: Managerial and Strategic Dimensions

The Olympics are, without doubt, the largest and most significant mega-event in the world, taking in a multitude of sports at both Summer and Winter Games every two years. Planning for and staging the Olympics is one of the most complex tasks that event organizers and project management teams will ever undertake. The ambulatory nature of the Games, moving from one Olympic city to another every four years, means that there are context-specific challenges for hosts, as well as start-up knowledge required for each event. Given the scale, scope and complexity of all this, it is surprising that relatively little research has been published about the underlying logistics, organization and operation of the Olympic Games from event and project management perspectives. The planning and delivery of such a massive enterprise, several years in the making but only two weeks by way of performance, is of substantial interest to those vested with the responsibility of Olympic hosts. Beyond that, the planning and management of the Games is also important to those who analyse the Olympics, such as academics and journalists, as well as those with an interest in learning about how they are staged, such as teachers and students.