Dancing in a Winter Wonderland Managing Stakeholders - Case Study Example

Dancing in a Winter Wonderland Managing Stakeholders Introduction Events organized for the purpose of celebrating sport, business and fun have been found to be originating from time immemorial (Getz 2002) Events have always been considered to be the catalysts for the performance of other activities like investments in infrastructure, businesses on tourism and destination marketing. According to Larsson Mossberg (2000) events are responsible for bringing in several societal effects. These societal effects encompass social, cultural, marketing, infrastructural, environmental, organizational, economic and touristic features. Such events have a strong connection to the society socially and symbolically (Falassi 1987, Sahleh & Ryan, 1993) Theoretical Approaches to the Stakeholder Management There are different theoretical approaches to the stakeholder management in an organizational context. They are; agency theory, transaction cost economics, competitive theory, institutional theory, stakeholder theory and network theory. In the context of event management it is worth considering the stakeholder theory and the network theory. The stakeholder approach deals basically with groups or individuals who can affect the performance of an organization and whose interests are taken care of by the management (Freeman, 1984; Frooman 1999) Power, legitimacy and urgency are identified as the basic attributes of stakeholders (Mitchell et al 1997) The network approach talks about the positions of different actors created by the links among them. (Thorelli, 1986) A different kind of social relationship among actors is assumed in the network analysis (Galakiewicz, 1996) Thus actors, activities and resources are the basic concepts in a network (Johanson and Associates 1994) The actors in the network own and control resources and carry out activities by combining resources (Sharma, 1993) While stakeholder theory is mainly static the network theory deals with the dynamic process involved in changing the network. Thus event management encompasses the basic elements of both of these theoretical approaches. Role of Stockholders Event Management Knowledge on successful event management serves the interests of the organizers as well as other stakeholders. A successful event creates a lot of value to the business sector of the location where the event is being conducted. Therefore it becomes important that event is conducted skillfully so that it becomes valuable to all the stakeholders. One of the most cited reasons for the failure of any event is the lack of resources. Lack of resources can be identified by the inability of the event management to attract more sponsors and donors. Thus the success of the events depends largely on the support from stakeholders. This adds to the proposition that the event managers should manage the relationship with the stakeholders more efficiently. The literature on event management has established the relationships between the management of events and the stakeholders (e.g. Getz, 1997; Watt 1998; Long, 2000; Lövendahl, 2000) However it needs to be mentioned that there are no documented evidence of the application of the stakeholder theory in the event management contexts (Reid & Acordia 2002) Event Stakeholders There are different stakeholders whose interests are to be taken care of while managing any event. These shareholders include: Visitors to the event Musicians and artists performing in the event Public authorities like the local authorities and public organizations Sponsors covering the organizations using the event as one of their marketing tools Volunteers helping the different stakeholders of the events Associations and clubs involved in the event Eatery owners and their salesmen Local trade and industry and The Media Visitors to the Events Visitors who pay the entrance fees and participate in the events like ice skating are the important class of shareholders for ‘dancing in a winter wonderland’ event (shortly called as ‘event’ in the rest of this paper). A large number of visitors really substantiate other stakeholders’ interests. An estimated 12000 visitors mostly from the student community is expected to visit the event. A nominal entrance fees and fees for other events have been fixed to attract more visitors. An absolute ice bar experience also awaits the visitors. Elaborate arrangements for the meeting the health and safety needs of the visitors have been made to make the event a pleasurable moment for all the visitors. Musicians and Artists Live music forms an important part of any event and at the same time it serves as marketing platform for the musicians and artists. It is possible for the organizers to adopt a commercial policy in booking the artists (Bjorkegren 1994). Thus the event will also present a live rock band in addition to the events like snow boarding and ski shows to enthrall the audience. A nicely decorated dance floor is an added attraction which will provide the opportunity for the dancing enthusiasts to dance according to the band. Public Authorities and Local Organizations Public authorities who are concerned with the event are the Manchester city council, police, rescue services including the fire brigade, the medical team, guards, the county council and the water and electricity providers. The local authority – the Manchester city council – is an irreplaceable stakeholder as they hold the absolute source of power. However it is important to consider that the local authority represents the citizens of the local community, and hence such sort of events increase the power and popularity of the county council. Here the event management considers the ‘University of Manchester’ and the ‘Manchester Metropolitan University’ as the most important shareholders which provide all the necessary moral support for the conduct of this event. Though there will be no direct financial benefit accruing to the Universities by lending moral support to the event the Universities also gain popularity among the visitors. Sponsors to the Event By providing the financial support to the conduct of the events the sponsors become the most important stakeholders of the event. The sponsorship may be obtained by making the commercial organizations pay for specific events like the orchestra or by getting donations for conducting the event. Since the events are treated as one of their marketing tools the sponsors expect the event to provide them enough coverage to present their products and services to the visitors to enhance the sale of their products and services. Hence it becomes important for the organizers to take care of the interests of these stakeholders. Banners placed at strategic locations improve the visibility of the sponsors. The important stakeholders representing the sponsors for the event are Quick Silver, Roxy, and North Face. Quick Silver is one of the renowned suppliers of all kinds of men, ladies and boys accessories including shorts, tee shirts, footwear, head wear, sweat shirts and other apparels. Quick silver is a recognized brand name in the UK market and they also supply luggage articles and watches. Roxy is another popular brand of accessory supplier mainly dealing in ladies accessories. Roxy also markets all the items being marketed by Quick silver. With the established market presence Quick silver and Roxy are the fittest sponsors for the event ‘dancing in a winter wonderland’. North Face is another popular brand which supplies outerwear, packs/luggage, camping gear, footwear and hats and gloves. They are also one of the other important sponsors for the event. The event is expected to provide equal visibility for these sponsors as each of them would like to promote their products among the visitors. Specially decorated stalls of these sponsors are going to be another highlight of the event. Volunteers Volunteers are an extremely important segment of stakeholders in the success of any event. Guiding the visitors, taking care of the interests of the sponsors, providing medial and other assistance to the visitors in needs of them are the important functions of volunteers. There are back stage volunteers who take part in preparing the venue and the stage for the event. The role of volunteers as one of the stakeholders is highly essential and it contributes more to the success of the event. Eatery Owners and Their Salesmen Any event without satisfying the drinking and eating needs of the visitors can not be regarded as a complete one. Therefore the restaurants and other eateries in the venue of the event including their owners and salesmen become another major class of stakeholder as far as the event is concerned. Providing drinks and tasty food at affordable prices should be the main motto of this stakeholder. At the same time they should also try to make some profit out of the venture. For ‘dancing in the winter wonderland’ event Radisson Edwardian Hotels are the official caterers and they represent another important stakeholder. By establishing their presence in all major cities and locations of UK Radisson Edwardian Hotels are quite popular among the local residents of Manchester also. Having specialized in conducting business and social events the Radisson is expected to fill up the position of the restaurant stakeholder efficiently and to the admiration of all the visitors. Media In order to make the local residents aware of the event and also for the event to gain popularity among them the local media like television and radio is of immense use. The role of media as an important stakeholder cannot be ignored in conducting any social or business event. Media represent the most important stakeholder as the success of any event in drawing more number of visitors depends on the extensive coverage the media provides before the event. Print media representing newspapers and magazines which carry advertisements about the events and their venues and timings are very important for drawing more visitors. For the event ‘dancing in a winter wonderland, the organizers have decided to use the services of ‘Sub. TV’ and ‘Itv.com’ as the television media and ‘Key 103’ shall be the radio media. ‘The Independent’ shall be the official newspaper covering the event. All these media are quite popular among the local residents of Manchester and therefore can be expected to draw the attention of a larger number of people to the event. Local Trade and Industry Another class of stakeholders most likely to get benefitted from the event is the local trade and industry. By facilitating them to place their stalls in the events the chances of increasing their business is provided by these events. It gives them some extra sales and income in addition to the normal sales during the time the events are on. Therefore the local trade and industry can also be considered as one of the stakeholders of the event. Associations and Clubs It is usual for several social and Non-governmental organizations promoting social causes to take part in events like these. It is important for the organizers to take care of the interests of these associations and clubs as they mostly act in the public interest. Sometimes they distribute pamphlets or other materials propagating the ideals for which they stand for to the visitors at the event. They also become one of the classes of stakeholders connected with the event. Conclusion The success of events depends on different stakeholders holding critical resources. It is for the organizers to develop and maintain long-term relationship with the stakeholders like artists, hotel owners, local trade and industry, associations and clubs and the public organizations to produce different parts of the events and with the sponsors to increase the revenues. The Manchester City Council is a vital stakeholder as they hold the power to decide how the event needs to be organized. The media is another group of stakeholder who can contribute both negatively and positively to the promotion of the event. Volunteers represent another stakeholder group for an orderly conduct of the event. Last but not the least the visitors are the most important stakeholders for whose enjoyment the event is being organized. “Legitimacy is defined as a generalized perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable, proper, or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values, beliefs, and definitions” (Suchman, 1995) Therefore an event can be regarded as having a high degree of legitimacy if it can be regarded as desirable, proper or appropriate among the various stakeholders. Similarly an event having a high legitimacy would be regarded as successful and would survive in the future also. 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