Risk Management Strategies by Stakeholders in Canadian Major Sporting Events

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to identify and characterize the use of risk management strategies in major sporting events from the perspective of the organizing committee members and other stakeholders. Two Canadian sporting events—the ISU (International Skating Union) 2006 World Figure Skating Championships and the U-20 FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) World Cup Canada 2007—provided the platform for a comparative case study that was built using archival material and interviews. Key findings included a breakdown of risk management strategy types and an analysis of common strategies used across the various stakeholder groups. Seven risk strategy categories were identified by the various stakeholder groups: reduction, avoidance, reallocation, diffusion, prevention, legal, and relationship management. As a result, a strategic framework for dealing with risk management issues experienced at sporting events is provided.

Risk Management in Major Sporting Events: A Participating National Olympic Team's Perspective

“…Of special 196 HANSTAD interest in this study is the recent work by Leopkey and Parent (2009b). Among Leopkey and Parent's group of seven risk strategy categories three were seen as less relevant for the planning process and implementation of the Norwegian Vancouver project.…”

“…"The principal sub-activities of strategy formulation as a logical activity include identifying opportunities and threats in the company's environment and attaching some estimate of risk to the discernible alternatives" (Andrews, 1987, p. 18). Leopkey and Parent (2009b) stated that it is necessary to create strategies or tactics to deal with risk management issues. Based on reviews of previous research (Appenzeller, 2005;Berlonghi, 1990;Getz, 2005;Peterson & Hronek, 2003;Toohey et al, 2003) and their own study of two international sporting events in Canada they presented the various risk strategy categories and their specific subcomponents (Table 1).…”

“…This is a broad definition that is useful when analyzing which stakeholders may influence a national Olympic team before and during the Games. For example, Leopkey and Parent (2009b) identified these stakeholders: the sport organizations, organizing Leopkey and Parent (2009b). committee members, government representatives (municipal, provincial, and federal), security representatives (federal government and organizing committee), media (television and print), delegation representatives, and community members (sponsors and residents).…”

“…Chappelet (2001) stated that "due to its duration, cost and complexity, a major project [or sporting event] is inevitably subject to unforeseen events, to setbacks, and to numerous, major areas of uncertainty that are inevitable because of so many risks that exist" (p. 7). Topics that have been covered on risks include the effects of terrorism (Atkinson & Young, 2002;Giulianotti & Klauser, 2010;Taylor & Toohey, 2006Toohey, 2008;Toohey, Taylor, & Choong-Ki Lee, 2003), security (Giulianotti & Klauser, 2010), crowd control (Appenzeller, 2005), security for sporting facilities (Ammon, Southall, & Blair, 2004;Preuss, 2004;Walker & Stotlar, 1997), actual losses associated with the event (Chang & Singh, 1990), incidents (Fuller & Myerscough, 2001), injuries (Fuller & Drawer, 2004), and an overall impact on stakeholders, including risk management issues (Leopkey & Parent, 2009a) and strategies (Leopkey & Parent, 2009b). Even though delegations/participants have been treated as stakeholders in some of these studies (e.g., Fuller & Drawer, 2004;Leopkey & Parent 2009a, 2009b, little research has been carried out on how the participating teams manage risks in events.…”

“…The point of departure is the recent work of Leopkey and Parent, who have identified the risk management issues (Leopkey & Parent, 2009a) and strategies in a major sporting event (Leopkey & Parent, 2009b). Their concept of strategic management will be used in the analysis.…”