Managing Transport during the Olympic Games

Kassens-Noor, E. (2015). Managing Transport during the World Cup. In S. Frawley and D. Adair (eds) Managing the Olympic Games. Sydney: Palgrave Macmillan

Kassens-Noor, E. (2013). The Transport Legacy of the Olympic Games, 1992-2012. Journal of Urban Affairs Vol 35 Iss 4, pp. 393-416 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9906.2012.00626.x Legacy planning in preparation for the Olympic Games has significantly grown in importance for host cities and the IOC because of the wasteful investments for some previous Games. Since the late 1990’s, the IOC has actively sought to prevent such over-spending through a transfer of knowledge program, in which valuable lessons are passed from one host city to the next. This paper analyzes the transport legacies of the Olympic Games, using original archive material and interviews with key decision-makers in five cities. While previous research into the effects of the Olympic Games on host cities suggests that infrastructural legacies are place-specific, the main argument of this paper is that the transport legacies of the Olympic Games are much more uniform across the host cities. Even though the host cities’ transport systems were intrinsically different pre-Olympics, the author finds similar features of the Olympic Transport System, which were developed through the Transfer of Knowledge program, produced similar legacies. In explaining the creation of transport legacies through Olympically motivated drivers, the author suggests the Olympics might trigger similar transport developments in future host cities. Therefore, city planners can use Olympic transport features as powerful catalysts to accelerate their urban and transport plans.

Kassens-Noor, E. (2015). The legacy of the 2004 Olympics for Athens’ transport system. In R. Holt and D. Ruta (eds) The Routledge Handbook of Sport and Legacy: Meeting the Challenge of Major Sports Events. Oxford: Routledge http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415675819/

2010

International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 2006

Purpose -This paper aims to focus on the design of the organization, processes, and systems of Olympic logistics. Design/methodology/approach -A systematic methodology has been developed to design the strategy and tactics of logistics operations for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. This methodology considers Olympic-specific characteristics, host country characteristics, as well as lessons learned from previous games. It comprises the generation, analysis and evaluation of strategic alternatives, the development of core business processes and the prediction of resource requirements. Furthermore, the proposed method provides guidelines to complement the experiential knowledge that has been used exclusively in the past to plan the logistics operations of the games and similar large-scale events. Findings -Successful design principles, such as model venue planning, standardization of materials, the establishment of the Logistics Command Center (LCC), as well as establishment of an independent administration function, can be applied regardless of the specific characteristics of the host country. However, there are principles such as outsourcing, warehousing, or just-in-time (JIT) deliveries, that are based on certain specific characteristics (constraints/advantages) of the host country, such as a mature 3PL market, the existence and availability of large warehouses, and the completion of the venues in sufficient time prior to the beginning of the games. Practical implications -The proposed design process provides generic rules that may be applied to guide the set up of operations for future games. Furthermore, the paper offers some useful insights applicable to the logistics of large events. Originality/value -It is the first time that a systematic view of Olympic logistics is dealt with, as opposed to experiential knowledge with local applicability that has been used in the past to plan similar operations.

2013

The Olympics Games are the biggest and most significant mega-sport event in the world. Planning and then staging the Olympic Games is a highly complex task which is exasperated by the fact that the Games are continually moving and not held consecutively in the same city. This means that start-up knowledge is required for each Olympics. Given the massive scale, scope and complexity of the Games it is surprising that very little research has been published that explores how the event is managed and organised. While the Games themselves are held over two weeks, the planning and preparation from bid stage to completion can be more than a decade in the making. The express purpose of this volume is to critically examine the planning, management and operation of the Olympic Games as the world's premier mega-sport event. The authors analyse and discuss how Olympic organisers and related stakeholders might effectively manage and deliver the Games, taking into account what has been learned from previous Olympics as well as the emergence of models of best practice from the management, project management and sport management literature.

Applications of OR and MS in sports comprise quantitative support tools for measuring and improving players and teams performance, analyzing leagues strategy and assessing social and economic values of professional sports. One typical application is to help sports teams choose the best available players in a sports league [1]. A collection of papers that best represents the sports research using Statistics and Operational Research can be found respectively in [2] and [3]. What distinguish Olympic Games and characterize OR/MS specific applicable techniques is to be seen in the sequence. The Olympic Games were named after the place they were held, in a sanctuary site for the Greek deities in Olympia near the towns of Elis and Pisa, in Southern Greece. Since ancient Greece, though designed for individual contests, the cities from where the winners originated would grant them numerous prerogatives, showing that the city felt it had won as well. The modern Games, initiated in 1896 by Baron Coubertin, intended to preserve the initial spirit of individual competition. Until 1908, athletes entered as individuals rather than as members of a national team. However, the scenario preceding Second World War contributed to reverse this view, when the Third Reich had tried to show the supremacy of the Arian race in the Games of 1936, although the results were quite different from those Hitler had expected. During the Cold War, the national character of the contest became even more noticeable and developed into a true battle between East and West. Not the individual performance but the national performance was in the focal point of attention. Nowadays the results at country levels are disclosed trough the Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (OCOG) reports and in the popular media, playing an important role on the self esteem of an entire nation as a symbolism for achievement. Therefore the first distinguishing requirement of applied quantitative methods in Olympic Games is to help explaining results and setting targets for contestant countries consistent with available resources. A second important issue brought about by Olympic Games concerns the capacity of shaping and projecting images of the host country, both domestically and globally. The event fosters an enhanced sense of national pride and makes the venue and host country highly attractive for political and economic elites [4]. OR applications also aim to help the host country providing successful integrated planning and execution of activities. This is in consonance with the broaden perspective of OR formulated by Ackoff [5] and Rosenhead [6], among others, encompassing both the structuring and solution of real

Managing the Olympics, 2013

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 ...

Transportation Planning and Technology, 2009