Triple Bottom Line Evaluation of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne - Case Study Example

Student Name: Tutor: Title: Event Management Institution: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Triple Bottom Line Evaluation of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne 4 Triple Bottom Line (TBL) 7 The link between Event, EMP and TBL 9 Conclusion 11 Matheson, C. M. (2010) Legacy Planning, Regeneration and Events: The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, Local Economy 25(1), 10-23. 13 Appendix 16 Introduction Event is an organized activity that is planned in more conscious manner and conducted to attain specific goals and objectives. Hallmark, mega, Commonwealth games are some of the major examples of tourist events. In the contemporary economic, environmental and social climate, it has become important that event managers operate in a more efficient manner. Therefore, the ability to effectively multi-task as well as being well organized are the best practices that event managers are expected to develop and perfect as they increasingly become experts within the field of event management. The benefits of handling events in a more efficient manner are geared to time and cost savings as well as achieving enhanced event performance (Bowdin, et. al. 2010). In order to make a decision on the scale of an event, identification of the needs and resources of the hosting community as well as their appropriateness to particular situations becomes critical. From the management point of view, it is important to note that the key opportunity created through event management is an organization’s capability to act proactively. Thus, increasing the operational efficiency of the organization and reduces the unnecessary cost due to unnecessary service disruptions. Since strategic objectives can also be achieved through service operations, the proactive strength of event management is critical (Allen 2010). Event Various events have taken place through the principles of events management. For instance, Hallmark tourist events are the key fairs, cultural as well as sporting and exposition events of the global status held on regular and one-off basis. In managing the event, international reputation is gained, though with high social and environmental costs. Economic orientation is an important feature identified with the management of hallmark event. However, little attention is given on the value of social and physical impacts the event. On the other hand, mega-event management provides the influence of planning, urban and political contextual processes of event management. It is quite clear that the significant influence of the contextual societal change, non-rational planning as well as urban leadership determine the successful management of the event. Such factors are important in the assessment of event causation and the potentially changing ways of event policy-making. The triple bottom line evaluation of the 2006 Commonwealth games provides the basis for this report. Triple Bottom Line Evaluation of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne The 2006 Commonwealth Games was organized by Insight Economics and commissioned through the Office of Commonwealth Games Coordination (OCGC). Through the Event Management Process, Insight Economic aimed at producing a systematic, comprehensive and credible evaluation of how the government of Victoria initiated, planned, organized and implemented the Games. Therefore, the consultants scrutinized several documents and interviewed a number of stakeholders (O’Toole 2000). The 2006 Commonwealth Games event were successfully organized and managed which turned out to be a great pleasure to both the people of Victoria and Melbourne. Reports indicate that after the event, both visitors to Melbourne and the hosts highly valued the shared experience. It is apparent that the achieved objectives of the 2006 Commonwealth Games event were set based on the economic, environmental and social impact of the game on people, environment and economy of Melbourne and Victoria and were largely achieved. Based on the economics point of view, the Games were successfully managed under reasonable budget with economic benefits estimated to be higher than the costs to Melbourne and Victoria communities. Therefore, the report findings indicate that the objectives set by the government on the 2006 Commonwealth Games event were successfully achieved. However, some minor improvements should be made on the preparation and delivery of future special events. In order to deliver the Games, meticulous planning as well as good organization was considered a basic factor to make the event truly successful. It has been reported that the Melbourne Games planned in March 2006 were enjoyable due to the good fortunes of friendly environment. For instance, there were no incidences of terrorist threat, and thus the Melbournians gathered for the Games as the public transport system provided its normal services. Planning of the 2006 Commonwealth Games was strategically commissioned in March because it is the largely reliable month in regard to Melbourne’s weather. Therefore, substantial investment in the infrastructure and facilities was critical. Besides the economics impacts of the Games, the intangible effects may turn out to be negative. For instance, when the transport systems happen to break down or if the resident population, bad weather appear not to be supportive the event (Robinson, et. al. 2010). Events Management Process (EMP) Since event management is process through which an event is planned, organized, and executed, its sustainable management is handled like other forms of management. This involves the evaluation, definition, acquisition and allocation resources, direction and control of tasks, as well as analysis of time, people, products, finances and services in order to achieve the intended objectives (Monroe & Kates 2005). Therefore, it is the duty and responsibility of an event manager to direct and arrange all aspects of an event which includes researching, preparing, organizing, executing, controlling, and evaluating the design of an event, activities involved, and execution. The event management process works through the four major phases which include definition, preparation, implementation and evaluation as illustrated below. The phases indicate the sequential nature of any event management, stressing on the criticality of time in an event project derived from the traditional project management concepts. Siebel Events Management is one of the best approaches used by event planners to define, prepare, implement as well as evaluate events. Throughout the event management process with a focus on the size and complexity of the event, the event manager may be required to track huge amounts of information on status of many tasks undertaken. However, in cases where the event is large and complex, it is apparent that the phases overlap. Thus, the changing circumstances will occasionally require the manager to redo the previously accomplished tasks. The EMP described can be appropriately used to small and local events or scaled up to more go-getting events which turnout to be flagships for the communities and regions hosted. It is important to argue that a good repeatable EMP provides the organization practicing it with the capability to detect Events and understand them as well as decide on the appropriate control actions to be taken so as to prevent a service interruption. A sound event management process should be repetitive enough to provide an organization with the opportunity or ability to rapidly detect events, clearly understand them as well as decide on the appropriate control action to prevent any emerging service interruption from taking place (O’Toole 2000). Triple Bottom Line (TBL) Triple Bottom Line (TBL) refers to economic prosperity, social justice and environmental quality as the key bottom lines in assessment of an event or situation. According to Elkington (2004) triple bottom line is a catchphrase that was coined to broaden the environmentalist agenda of individuals working towards the achievement of sustainability event management to more explicitly incorporate the social and economic dimensions. Although the TBL approach to event evaluation is valuable, it has been suggested that the fundamental principles of it be applied to the preparation stage of any special event management (Anne-Marie 2008). The concept of TBL is largely being applied by organizations in their efforts to achieve reports regarding how they respond to the issues of sustainability under the principles of environmental, economic and social performance. Through the formulation of sustainability-related objectives with a focus on the these three principles as well as matching the objectives with relevant indicators, organizations are capably monitoring and evaluating their actions to improve their capacity to act in response to a given event. The triple bottom line is not focused on its economic value or contributions, but also its environmental and social values and destructions (Collins, et. al. 2007). TBL is a new process that is used to report, evaluate and improve the organizational performance with regard to sustainability. The approach is also gaining recognition within the local government where it is applied as a means of providing feedback on the progress towards achieving or outside the sustainability context and incorporating its concepts into the management practices (Mitchell, et. al. 2007). Micro-finance is an example of the financial sector or industry that has applied the principles of Triple Bottom Line (TBL) through its well-organized micro-Capital Event known as the Triple Bottom Line Investing (TBLI) that promotes the awareness of the impact investing in the financial sector. Topics that are mainly addressed include the environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing. Advantages and disadvantages The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) is important because it provides key examples through which to prove any business case to work towards the achievement of sustainable development. This is enhanced through its easy to follow features or models that sow how the process works. The approach enables today’s companies whether big or small to evaluation how the information within the sustainable world is used as well as reinvent the best ways to become part of the TPL process. supporters of the "triple bottom line" paradigm largely encourage managers to not only think about the good old fashioned of the financial bottom line, but also in regard to the two additional "bottom lines," referred to as the social and environmental bottom line. However, it has been argued that the TBL paradigm is not a literal device and has very little substance. Thus, it can distract most managers such as event managers and investors away from the effective approaches to the environmental and social reporting as well as performance (Micro-capital-event-triple-bottom-line-investing-TBLI 2010). The link between Event, EMP and TBL In order to assess the linkage between the event of Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games, Event Management Process (EMP) and Triple Bottom Line (TBL), two major questions are addressed to determine whether or not the approaches have been applied successfully to deliver the Games to and the objectives set out by the government were achieved. Did the feedback from the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games attain the originally planned government objectives? How does the Victorian community at large perceive the investment in the Games implemented on their behalf, is it a pay off or not? The Event Management Process was reflected in Insight Economics’ tasks where a systematic, comprehensive and credible evaluation of how the government of Victoria initiated, planned, organized and implemented the Games was produced. Through the application of EMP, the consultants scrutinized several documents and interviewed a number of stakeholders. The 2006 Commonwealth Games event were successfully organized and implemented, a task that turned out to be a great pleasure to both the people of Victoria and Melbourne (Matheson 2010). From the reports, it can be discovered that after the event, both visitors to Melbourne and the hosts highly valued the shared experience. From the perspective of economic impact, it is important to note that the Games were successfully managed under reasonable budget with economic benefits estimated to be higher than the costs to Melbourne and Victoria communities. Therefore, the report findings indicate that the objectives set by the government on the 2006 Commonwealth Games event were successfully achieved. Conversely, some minor improvements should be made on the preparation and delivery of future special events (Goldblatt 2000). Based on the Triple bottom line assessment of the event, it is relevant to argue that Government’s objectives for the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games were widely achieved. This is because the economic, environmental and social outcomes were positive. Earlier rollout of the business leveraging programs and improved recycling venues developed on Melbourne 2006 lessons are the emerging two main opportunities for improved delivery of special events. The social and environmental lasting benefits achieved from the Games are mainly behavioral change of volunteering legacy as well as greater awareness of the environmental issues affecting the Victorian community. On the other hand, economic lasting benefits included the development of lasting relationships which in turn increased local capability, economic relationships and promotion of the Melbourne city as the ‘can do’ place indicator of the future tourism as illustrate in the appendix (Van der 2002). Conclusion Generally, planning and organization of the activities of Melbourne 2006 Games made it a great event. Government expenditure on the event was kept within a reasonable budget. The Commonwealth Nations, Victorian as well as Australian communities at large attained lasting benefits from the 2006 Commonwealth Games. The ability to effectively multi-task as well as being well organized are the key practices that event managers are expected to develop and perfect as they execute their assigned event management tasks. Many organizations are struggling to achieve effectiveness and efficiency their service delivery events. It is apparent that a well-organized Event Management process is critical as it contributes more to the controlled and re-occurring operations of an organization. A sound event management process reflects repetitive capability to provide an organization with the opportunity or ability to rapidly detect events, clearly understand them and make the necessary decisions on the appropriate control action to prevent any emerging service interruption from taking place. Throughout the event management process and with a concentrate on the size and complexity of the event, the event manager tracks huge amounts of information concerning the status of the various tasks taken on. Triple Bottom Line (TBL) is a new process that is used to report, evaluate and improve the organizational performance with regard to sustainability. Bibliography Allen, J. (2010) Event Planning Ethics and Etiquette: A Principled Approach to the Business of Special Event Management. New York: Wiley. Anne-Marie, H. (2008) Event Management Managing Special Events in the New Era of the Triple Bottom Line, 11(1), 13-22. Bowdin, G., McDonnell, I., Allen, J & O’Toole, W. (2010) Events Management 3rd edition. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Collins, A, Flynn, A, Munday, M & Roberts, A. (2007) Assessing the environmental consequences of major sporting events: The 2003/04 FA Cup Final. Urban Studies 44: 457–476. Elkington, J. (2004) Enter the triple bottom line. In A. Henriques & J. Richardson (Eds) The triple bottom line, does it all add up? Assessing the sustainability of business and CSR (pp. 1-16). London: Earthscan Publications Ltd. Goldblatt, J. J. (2000) A future for event management: The analysis of major trends impacting the emerging profession. In J. Allen, R. Harris, L. K. Jago, & A. J. Veal (Eds.), Events beyond 2000: Setting the Agenda (pp. 1-9). Sydney: Australian Centre for Event Management. Insight Economics (2006) Triple bottom line assessment of the XVIII Commonwealth Games. Report to The Office of Commonwealth Games Coordination (2006) Melbourne, Insight Economics. Retrieved on 10 February 2012 from, Matheson, C. M. (2010) Legacy Planning, Regeneration and Events: The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, Local Economy 25(1), 10-23. Mitchell, M., Curtis, A., & Davidson, P. (2007). Evaluating the process of triple bottom line reporting: increasing the potential for change. Local Environment (accepted for publication March 2007). Monroe, J. & Kates, R. (2005) Art of the Event: Complete Guide to Designing and Decorating Special Events. New York: Wiley. Micro-capital-event-triple-bottom-line-investing-TBLI (2010). Retrieved 18 February 2012 from, Office of Commonwealth Games Coordination (2006) The 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games environment framework. Melbourne, Australia. Retrieved on 10 February 2012 from, O’Toole, W. (2000) Towards the integration of event management best practice by the project management process. In J. Allen, R. Harris, L. K. Jago, & A. J. Veal (Eds.), Events beyond 2000: Setting the Agenda ; Proceedings of Conference on Event Evaluation, Research and Education (pp. 86-92). Sydney: Australian Centre for Event Management. Robinson, P., Wale, D., Dickson, G. (2010) Events Management. CABI: Wallingford. Triple Bottom Line Assessment of the XVIII Commonwealth Games, (2006) Insight Economics.The Report to the Office of Commonwealth Games Coordination. Melbourne. Insight Economics. Van der Wagen, L. (2002) Event Management: For Tourism, Cultural, Business and Sporting Events. Melbourne: Hospitality Press. Appendix Read More