Intermediate sport management (sport events) Essay

Intermediate sport management (sport events) - Essay Example Such dilemma has appeared in the case of Beijing Olympic Games of 2008. The findings of studies developed on this event seem to be controversial. The effectiveness of the above event is evaluated in this paper by referring to the literature and the empirical studies that have published in this field. The key finding of the study is that the specific event can be characterized as successful even if the problems appeared during the development of the event’s Strategic Plan have been many, as analyzed below. 2.0 Introduction The effectiveness of 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is reviewed in this paper. A qualitative research approach has been used for reviewing the various aspects of the specific event. A series of studies published in the academic literature has been reviewed in order to check whether the above sport event has been successful or not. Specific aspects of the particular event are set as priorities in this study: Marketing, Operations Quality and Performance, Legal and Ethical issues, Finance, Human Resources and Media. Certain articles published in the local and international press have been also employed, for providing additional information, where necessary, on the issue under examination. The main body of this study has been divided into two parts: Discussion and Findings. In the first of these parts, the Discussion part, the findings of the literature related to this study’s subject are presented, being categorized in order for the coherency of the study to be secured. These findings are then evaluated in the second part of the main body, the Findings section, in order to decide whether the management techniques used for managing the above sport event have been successful or not. The findings of the literature review are supported by graphs included in this study’s Appendix. Conclusions in regard to the issues discussed through the paper are provided in the Findings section; in this way, all conclusions are appropriately suppor ted while any gaps, as revealed through the literature, are highlighted. 3.0 Discussion 3.1 Marketing Marketing, as part of the 2008 Beijing Olympic games, can be evaluated by referring to two, different, facts: the popularity of the specific event as it was in progress and the popularity of the city after the end of the particular event. The Beijing Olympic Games of 2008 can be considered as a major event for China’s public image. In fact, since the end of the Olympics the number of tourists that have visited the region has reached impressive levels; in 2011 about 4.61 million people visited the city, a number that it is quite high (Blanchard and Fan 2012). Gibson, Qi and Zhang (2008) tried to identify the level at which a major sport event can be used as a tool for improving the image of the hosting country. The case of Beijing Olympics is used as an example. A survey was developed in Athens among college students during the Athens Olympic Games of 2004. The objective of th e survey was to show whether the intention to travel to China could be influenced by the Olympics in Beijing. It was proved that, indeed, a relationship could exist between the hosting of a major sport event and the intention to travel to the hosting country. The above relationship is presented in the graph included in Figure 1,