Impact of Event Management on the Organization - Essay Example

of the Management of the Concerned 15 February Evaluate the current level of understanding of Events Impact and Event Stakeholder Management and how it integrates into the events management process (EMP) Introduction Throughout the last two decades the event management industry has been going by the premise that if they manage to contrive a successful event venue, the customers will come on their own, without needing any special awareness drive, marketing activity, impact assessment and event stakeholder management. However, in the present context things do not stand to be the same. In the present context, managing events is not that simple as events have graduated from being local fun and adventure concepts to well managed and hugely sponsored activities that impact the society in a variety of ways (Sofield & Sivan 2003, p. 9). Events tend to have a range of social, cultural, political, economic and environmental impact on the regions and avenues where they are held and organized (Getz 2007). In that context, event management happens to be a large scale activity involving the processes and strategies as per which the events are planned, choreographed and presented. And, not to say, events do have the potential to have a positive or negative impact on the varied social, economic, cultural and political aspects of the environment amidst which an event is organized. The modern day events have a range of stakeholders associated with them and the events stakeholder management involves managing the expectations of any entity associated with an event or is bound to be impacted by the outputs or deliverables of an event (Business Tourism Partnership Mission 2007). Hence, event impact and events stakeholder management happen to be the integral aspects of events management process, taking care of which assures a seamless and viable management and delivery of any event. Event Impact Event impact in its scope tends to be a very broad based concept. Simply speaking event impact may be considered to be the consequences bore by the event environment including the human population in which any public or private event is held and the way in which an event alters the social life, economy, cultural aspects, political considerations and environment in which the event is organized and held (Maughan & Bianchini 2004). It goes without saying that any event always has an economic, social, cultural and environmental impact on the environment in which the event is organized (Dwyer, Forsyth & Spurr 2005). The ramifications of these impacts may be positive or negative. The present day events do not occur in isolation, but do tend to have interrelated interactions and links with a much larger picture involving leisure, hospitality industry, tourism, entertainment and environment (Lee & Taylor 2004). Events do tend to entice local and international visitors, who are either directly related to the production and organization of the event or tend to participate in a passive way as spectators (Small, Edwards & Sheridan 2005, pp. 67). Visitors affiliated to either of the two classifications may tend to consume and avail varied other industries and environments associated with an event, thereby having a direct impact on a variety of factors related to or associated with an event (Getz 2007b). Hence, it goes without saying that the contemporary events are replete with many associated impacts and consequences. Attendance tends to be the most visible and potent impact of an event that facilitates a direct assessment of an events popularity and coverage (Raj 2003). Besides, attendance is the entity that facilitates a basis for expecting and assessing a range of other impacts associated with any event (Raj 2003). Also, when it comes to the economic impact of any event, the organization of an event at a particular locale may give way to a range of economic impacts on the local and national economy (Connell & Page 2005, pp. 63). Thereby, economic impact of an event stands to be the critical measure that serves as a basis for securing local and international participations in the organization and management of an event (Connell & Page 2005). It does need to be mentioned that major and well attended events may also give way to a host of environmental impacts in terms of energy consumption, waste, carbon footprint and pollution (Prsebury & Edwards 2005, p. 35). Hence, in the arena of events management process, it is imperative for the organizers of any event to well understand and grasp the overall environmental impact of an event so as to be able to design systems and strategies aimed at diluting the net environmental impact. The social impact of an event pertains to the people and communities living in an event environment that may be local, national or spread across the globe (Wood 2005, p. 38). The media impact of an event pertains to the media coverage accrued by an event and the overall impact and influence this media coverage had on the viewers. By quantifying the media impact of an event it becomes possible for the professionals associated with the events management process to access the media associated commercial and financial attributes of an event (Getz, Andersson & Carlson 2010). Thereby, understanding the overall concept of event impact, there is no denying the fact that the events management processes simply do not afford to ignore any of the varied impacts of an event, if they intend to cash on the varied leverages associated with an event. Not to mention that the impact of an event has a lot to do with the actual size of the event. Events Stakeholder Management Simply speaking, a stakeholder may be any individual, group or an organization that may affect an event or gets affected by an event (Jafari 2001, p. 475). Hence, stakeholder management tends to be an important discipline that could be exploited by the managers associated with events management process to win and accrue support from others (Watt 2003, p. 48). Thereby, stakeholder identification happens to be the first important step in the larger discipline of stakeholder management (Watt 2003). Therefore, the events process managers need to engage in a lot of brainstorming to identify the individuals, groups and organizations that have a stake in the management and organization of an event. This entails coming out with a viable list of the people who are either directly affected by an event, or command influence and power in the management and organization of an event, or have a stake in the successful or unsuccessful execution and conclusion of an event (Canberg 2009, p. 31). Stakeholder analysis and management could have many favourable implications for the planning and management of any event (Canberg 2009). The identification and listing of the most powerful stakeholders could immensely help in the task of soliciting their support for an event, thereby having positive implications for the overall quality and coverage for the event. Gathering support for the most powerful stakeholders enables the managers associated with the events process management to have access to a larger pool of resources, directly translating into a salubrious impact on the event (Thomas & Adams 2005, p. 102). Frequent communication and interaction with the stakeholders assures that they well understand the varied aspects related to the progress and planning of an event, thereby leading to the avoidance of a mismatch of expectations and aspirations and the setting in place of misapprehensions and doubts (Thomas & Adams 2005). This assures that the stakeholders support the event in a more proactive way. By managing the event stakeholders in a positive way, the managers could understand in advance as to the positive and negative consequences of an event. This enables them to cash on the positive attributes of an event and allows them to dilute the negative implications, leading to a dwindling of the stakeholder support and participation. This also allows for an identification of the conflicts and frictions in the stakeholder and events management process objectives, thereby leading to the identification of strategies aimed at curtailing these conflicts. When it comes to events management process, it is eventually the quality of stakeholder management that determines as to how good or bad an event is (Armstrong 2001, p. 162). It really behoves an event manager to understand the role and dynamics of varied stakeholders related to an event. It gets really important to understand that each and every event has different stakeholders associated with it and hence it calls for different stakeholder management strategies (Armstrong 2001). For instance a local cultural festival may involve different stakeholders as compared to a corporate meeting. It is necessary to understand the particular individuals and groups associated with an event and their specific needs and drives. It is necessary to understand as to what they expect from an event. Prioritizing stakeholders may turn out to be a really complicated aspect of an event however it could be achieved by calculating the power and influence a particular stakeholder commands in the eventual success of an event (Johnston & Zawawi 2009, p. 13). When it comes to stakeholder management, it is a must to understand the power and role of the communities. Communities not only consume an event, but could also contribute much to the planning and organization of an event. Understanding the power of the communities and respecting the environmental concerns could eventually contribute much to the events management process. Relationship with Events Management Process The correlation of any concept with the discipline of events management process needs to be understood in the light of the emerging challenges being faced by the event management industry in the current scenario. The visitor aspirations pertaining to events are fast altering in an emerging flat world (Roche 2000). Besides, the influx of media interest has added more economies and financial considerations to the task of event management (Roche 2000). The primary challenge that is being faced by the events management industry is the ability to make decisions in a fast altering scenario and environment. The influx of project management approach in the area of business management has necessitated a change in the business practices associated with events management process (Roche 2000). Besides, events have indeed emerged as a social tool for engineering corporate, social and political change. The biggest challenge before the managers associated with events management process is to assure that the overall planning and organization of an event turns out to be seamless and simple (Roche 2000). However, with the burgeoning scale of the events and the immense resources requisite for the organization of modern day events, managing event impact constitutes and integral aspect of the event management process. Hence the events management process simply cannot afford to ignore the imminent event impacts in all the aspects of event planning and management like budgeting, development of contingency plans, establishment of timelines, risk management, selection and reservation of event venues, arranging facilities and equipments, acquisition of permits, theme development, coordination of transport (Smith 2003). The varied types of salient event impacts like cultural, political, social, and economic and media are today intricately intertwined with the varied aspects of event management and directly get translated into the budget and eventual success of an event. Considering the enhanced quantum of the nature and scope of the modern day events, there is no denying the fact that the modern day events have a plethora and range of stakeholders associated with them (Smith 2003). These stakeholders may include the state, local communities, local businesses, media houses, event related visitors, political and ideological pressure groups, sponsors, financers, organizers, PR agencies, advertisers, etc. Hence, events management process has emerged to be a complex and intricate task that needs to look into the aspirations and needs of the range of stakeholders associated with an event. Going by the augmented list of event associated stakeholders, the increasing intricacy of the stakeholder aspirations and needs and the soaring complexity of the intertwining between the events management processes and the stakeholder management imperatives, the task of managing the event impact and the possible contribution that the stakeholders could extend to an event, stakeholder management is an aspect of event management that is an innate aspect of the overall discipline of events management process (Smith 2003). Conclusion Owing to varied factors like the extension of digital media to the third world economies, the ongoing IT revolution, the enhancing economic and political scope of the contemporary events, event management industry is bound to see much expansion in the coming times. Event impact management and stakeholder management have emerged to be two vital aspects of the task of events management process, considering the augmenting economic possibilities associated with events and their direct impact on varied local, national and international stakeholders. Reference List ‘An Overview of the UK’s Business Visits and Event Industry’ 2007, Business Tourism Partnership Mission, pp. 1-81. Armstrong, JS 2001, Planning Special Events, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. Canberg, AS 2009, ‘Event Management: An Experiential Learning Approach’, Schole: A Journal of Leisure Studies and Recreation Education, Vol. 24, pp. 131-135. Connell, J & Page, SJ 2005, ‘Evaluating the Economic and Spatial Impact of an Event: The Case of the World Medical and Health Games’, Tourism Geographies, Vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 63-85. Dwyer, L, Forsyth, P & Spurr, R 2005, ‘Estimating the Impacts of Special Events on an Economy’, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 43, pp. 351-359. 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