Australian Open and UNISA Open - Assignment Example

AUSTRALIAN OPEN AND UNISA OPEN By (Name) Name of Class (Course) Professor (Tutor) Name of the Institution (University) City and State The Date Q1. The Australian Open is a major tennis tournament usually held in Melbourne, Australia. It is the first of the four sequence of tennis events held annually since the year 1905. The tournament features exhibition events, men’s and women’s mixed doubles, junior championships, men’s and women’s singles, legends championships as well as wheelchair tennis tournaments (Tennis Australia, 1998). From its first tournament ever in 1905 to 1988, the games were being played on grass courts but after 1988, green colored Rebound Ace hardcourt surface was used till the year 2007 after which the blue Plexicushion was used to date. The tournament is managed by Tennis Australia and is played at Melbourne Park located in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct. Different categories of the tournament are held after which the final winners are get accolades. This tournament is open to participants from all over the world and the overall attendance constantly increases from over 100,000 in 1988 to over 700,000 in 2017 (Falk & Anwyl, 1973). It is also broadcasted in sports channels all over the world meaning the event is international in nature. UniSA Open day on the other hand is an opportunity for students who wish to join the University to visit the campuses in the city and talk to the staff and students. The UniSA open day is hosted and managed by the University of South Australia and it has been held since the formation of the university after the merger of two great universities i.e. the South Australian Institute of Technology and the College of Advanced Education in 1991 (University Of South Australia, 2001). All IT, Business, Engineering, Education, Environment, Social Sciences and Arts programs are held at the City West Campus while the City East Campus deals with Health Science programs. This event is more Australian in nature since it is mostly attended by Australian prospective students and parents. Q2. The Australian open was created with the aim of bringing together Australian Tennis players to compete and win prices. Over time, it attracted international players and became an international event. It was also an event held to make money for the main stakeholders, a marketing technique for most of the financiers and to most that go to watch the games, it is luxury event and a way to pass time. The two most important stakeholders of this event are the host organization, Tennis Australia Melbourne and the sponsors who are KIA, ANZ Bank, IBM and Jacob’s Creek. Organizing this event is a complex task and different parties have to come together for the event to be a success. For this event, the host organization had to come up with the event and decide how it would run and then they got sponsorship from the other four organizations. Without these two parties, the event would most likely not continue since it depends on the planners/organizers and the sponsors (Quinn, 2013). There are other stakeholders that do not have as much control as the two mentioned above and these are the host community, media and the participants and spectators. They are important to the event but do not hold much power to it and its continuation. The main aim of the UniSA open on the other hand is for prospective students to visit the university to learn about the programs offered and how the institution runs its processes. The two main stakeholders of this event are the host organization and the participants and the spectators. These two hold the most stakeholder salience since without them the event will most likely be unsuccessful. If the host organization, UniSA does not organize the event, it would not exist the same way that if there are no participants nor spectators who are the prospective students. The other stakeholders who are the host community, co-workers and media play important roles in the event but they do not hold as much importance as the two mentioned above. Their absence may be felt but the event would still take place. Q3. The only similarity there is between the two events is that in both, one of the main stakeholders is the host organization i.e. the organization that planned the event from the start. These are Tennis Australia for the Australian Open and the University of South Australia for the UniSA Open. This is because the initial event planners and organizers are always part of the most important stakeholders since without them, the event would not come into existence (Raj, & Musgrave, 2009). The differences in stakeholder relationship comes where in the Australian Open, the main stakeholders are between the host organization and the sponsors, who offer vital services and resources. The main stakeholders in UniSA open on the other hand are the host organization and the participants and spectators who give significant social and economic outcomes to the event organizers. They are the main reason why the event was planned. These differences come as a result of different goals of the events. The main goal of the Australian open is to bring tennis players and fans from all over the world to compete for accolades. The sponsors give the essential services and resources as a marketing strategy and also aim to get tangible or intangible benefits in return for their aid. Since there is the presence of spectators, participants and the media, they are able to increase their sales, brand awareness and even promote their companies’ public images. The UniSA Open on the other hand aims to encourage prospective students to join the institution and even attract others through word of mouth or the media. Therefore, the participants and spectators would be the most valuable stakeholders for the event. The spectators (prospective students and maybe their parents) give significant social and economic consequences to the event planners and the host community. They contribute economically through ticketed entry revenue and purchases, and if they get to join the institution, it results to more clientele. The participants who could be the existing students and staff are also important to the success of the event (Mehndiratta, 2008). The behaviors and values they display can have either a positive or negative influence to the spectators, their comportments would determine the overall decisions of the potential students. Another reason for the difference in stakeholder relationship stems from financial differences. The Australian Open is international in nature and since there is the expectation of accolades and a lot of spectators, there is need for sufficient capital for the planning and organization of the event. This therefor calls for the help of the sponsors who in return would still gain from promotion of their brands. The UniSA Open is more of national in nature as much as there is the existence of international students, their aim is to advertise their programs to prepare already interested potential learners. As such, they do not require much capital for planning and organizing the event since most of what is needed is already in the institution, there is just need for good showcasing and performances from the participants for the goal to be achieved. There is a difference in the way information is delivered for the two events. This is where the media comes in. The media helps in creating awareness of the event to the public. Their performance can result into either more or less audience. The media for the Australian Open are mostly Radio and Television stations, telegraph and the internet. This is because the event is for a larger audience of international levels. The media for the UniSA Open is the University’s Facebook page, its website and the students themselves. This is because the event has been organized for those students who may be interested in joining the institution and as such they can easily find the information by searching for it over the internet. They look for the information as opposed to the Australian Open where the information finds the audience. Q.4 Dependence on stakeholders arises when one of them has a high need and the other party is in control of the specific resources that gratify that particular need. These needs could be tangible like money, equipment and space for the event or intangible like knowledge and the existing reputation. The Australian Open is highly dependent on Tennis Australia for the overall planning and organization, the event would not be in existence if not for them. However, Tennis Australia would require resources and services from the sponsors for the event to be a success. This is where the ANZ Bank, KIA, IBM and Jacob’s Creek come in. These Companies either provide monetary support or support in terms of equipment, knowledge and skills or even volunteers to help with the routine operations of the event (Allen, 2011). Most times, these sponsor companies are the ones that provide the rewards for the winners. The UniSA Open on the other hand significantly depends on the host organization and the participants and spectators. Just like the Australian Open, without the host organization to plan and organize the event, it would not exist. However, the event will have to have participants and spectators for it to be termed as successful. The participants are the University students and the staff who will be the ones to explain the programs and what the institution has to offer, their behaviors and values they exhibit would greatly affect the outcome of the event. The spectators on the other hand are the reason why the event was organized. They contribute through purchases in this case joining the university and ticketed entry receipts. The two events would most likely not take place at all or be unsuccessful without these two events because of very high dependency levels. The Australian Open is of international level and as such, it would need a lot of resources for it to be a success. The event organizers usually do not have all the required resources for the event and as such the sponsors become vital to the event. These sponsors however pose the risk of exerting influence or even permanent withdrawal if their requirements are not met and this has to be managed. The UniSA Open also depends on the participants and spectators since they are the reason why the event has been organized; they are the potential customers but if their behaviors and values are not managed, they can have a negative influence on the potential customers and the host community who may eventually oppose the occurrence of the event (Goldblatt, 2002). Q5. Having to involve stakeholders in planning and development may be difficult and time consuming but can greatly reduce costs and positively influence the capabilities of the host organizers. However, their influence on the success of the event has to be managed. The event organizers should attempt to become institutions in their resource environments. Apart from employing strategies to reduce resource dependency, they should strive to become so important to the community that the event would not be abandoned even in the worst financial failure cases. This includes coming up with an exclusive support network that is exceptionally powerful and committed that they themselves take ownership. Reference list Allen, J., 2011. Festival & special event management. (2nd Edn). Milton: Wiley publishers. Falk, B. & Anwyl, J., 1973. The desirability and feasibility of an Australian open Type University. Melbourne Journal for Higher Education, 33 (8), pp 34-77. Goldblatt, J. J., 2002. Special events: best practices in modern event management. An events management Journal, 23(6), pp 89-104. Mehndiratta, V., 2008. Event management. [Online]. Available at: http://site.ebrary.com/id/10416533 [Accessed 31 Mar 2016] Quinn, B., 2013. Key concepts in event management. [Online]. Available at: http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=1191093. [Accessed 31 Mar 2016] Raj, R., & Musgrave, J. 2009. Event management and sustainability. (13th Edn). Wallingford: CABI Publications. Tennis Australia, 1998. Australian Open. (6th Edn). Hawks burn: Nicholson Media Group for Tennis Australia. University Of South Australia, 1991. University of South Australia news. (3rd Edn). Adelaide: University of South Australia. Read More