In the context of present-day development, modern society is capable of using all the advantages of medicine and innovations in this field. The fact that the life span has significantly increased during the past century, and the modern lifestyle has become considerably healthier cannot be denied. However, in cases of severe illnesses, individuals have to spend enormous sums of money in order to receive effective treatment. The examples could be batten disease, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, CANDLE Syndrome, childhood interstitial lung disease, Ehlers-Danlos syndromes, and others (List of 10 rare diseases affecting children, n. d.). It should be mentioned that these are illnesses, which cannot be cured successfully or it presents an ordeal to complete the treatment.
A significant number of the diseases mentioned earlier occur in children and appear to be genetic disorders. The majority of them cannot be predicted during pregnancy, and, for this reason, it becomes a disappointment for young parents. They are in need of significant sums of money in order to improve the living conditions of their children or provide them with essential medications. Therefore, the necessity of extra funding is evident, and Football Fundraising Tournament is intended to provide such parents with essential financial support. This tournament implies earning money via several means, and all the profit will be delivered to the families, whose children have serious illnesses, which are pricey to cure.
Objectives
Thus, it is possible to determine the primary objectives of the Football Fundraising Tournament. First of all, the primary aim is to organize a series of Charity Football Fundraising Tournaments and gather as much money as it is possible. In order to fulfill this intention, it is planned to adhere to various ways of earning money: donations for tickets from viewers, establishing advertisement, organizing fairs, and selling products (How to organize a football tournament fundraiser, n. d.). All the money received during the Tournament will be donated for the proved organization, which specialization implies helping children with various serious illnesses, which treatment requires significant financial support.
Main activities: Football Matches
As it has been mentioned earlier, the focus is to gather as much as possible money via organizing the tournament. Therefore, four primary sources of income were identified: football matches, fairs, selling products, and advertisement. As for the first one, namely the establishment of the tournament, it is planned to gain profit from selling tickets to see the match (Burke, n. d.). The price for the VIP or Fan zone is fixed and comprises from 70 to 100$ per seat. As for the other seats, which are usual ones, viewers are capable of donating the amount they consider appropriate. All the gathered money will be directly sent to the funds.
Main activities: Food, drinks, and fan attributes
It is apparent that viewers will be offered to buy food and drinks in case they want as usual. However, during Charity Football Fundraising Tournament, the money paid for the product be separated into two parts. 50% of each payment will be sent to the charity fund, and the rest is intended to compensate the expenses on production and realization (Fundraising ideas for football clubs, n. d.). The same conditions will be applied for fan stalls, which sell T-shirts, scarfs, and other garments with the title of football teams.
Main activities: Fairs
In order to increase the average income of the Tournament, there is an idea to conduct fairs before and after the football match. Local and small businessmen are attracted to sell their products there. In addition, some viewers are capable of introducing their incentive and attempt to sell hand-made crafts, clothes, food, and other things. However, they have to come to an agreement with the administration of the tournament in advance. Such an idea will not only increase the profit, but also allow local and novice brands to promote themselves. All the money earned during fairs will be donated to charity funds.
Main activities: Advertisement
A variety of advertisements during football matches has become a common sight in the context of the present-day developments. Therefore, it has been decided to sell advertisement places during Charity Football Fundraising Tournament. It is considered to be a major part of the general income, as a range of companies will be interested in this collaboration. This opportunity will be beneficial not only in the context of promoting products and services, but also in the context of improving the image of the brand among the broad public. All the money earned will be sent to the charity funds.
Project manager and team
As is evident from the description of the project, it appears to be a large one. Therefore, there is a team of administrators, who are interested in organizing the events. All the project managers divide their responsibilities in accordance with the major activities of the tournament. In addition, there is the fifth project manager, whose duty is to make an agreement on the stadium. The last member of the team is an accountant, who controls the profit and provides essential reports on sending money to the funds.
Main stakeholders of the project
As it has been described earlier, the Tournament implies advertising collaboration with a variety of brands. The same brands are encouraged to present their products during football matches. This way, they may provide valuable support for the project and significantly increase the final profit (McCathy, n. d.). The focus of this kind of collaboration implies the companies, which sell food and drinks. In addition, it is possible to contact sport wear clothes, as they are capable of creating limited editions of fan attributes, which will be sold during the tournaments.
A brief outline of the timeline
It is planned to conduct four Charity Football Fundraising Tournaments, and the time for the realization is one year. It is suggested to organize one match in a season (How to hold a football fundraiser, n. d.). The approximate date of the first match is 19th September, though this time may be changed and due to the pandemic conditions (How to hold a football fundraiser, n. d.). However, there is a high likelihood that it will be possible to gather a great number of people at this day.
A brief overview of the budget
The project implies the willingness of all the partners to make a contribution to charity. Therefore, the organization plan considers collaborating with the companies, who will agree to work free of charge in order to send as much as possible money to the funds (48 Fundraising Ideas for Sports and Teams, n. d.; Newton, 2017). This intention regards stadium, personnel, football clubs and etc. For this reason, there is no fixed budget for this charity project, as it is aimed to raise the determination to help those who need it without interested motives.
Identification of potential risks in project
There are numerous risks associated with organizing Charity Football Fundraising Tournament. The first and the most apparent one regards the possibility of stealing money instead of sending it to the funds. In order to prevent this problem, an accountant was attracted to the project team. She will be responsible for counting, dividing the profit, and publishing the reports in social network accounts (Tomakh, 2019). Secondly, due to the coronavirus pandemic, there is a likelihood of changing the date of tournaments. In order not to cancel the tournament, there is a plan of conducting matches with adherence to anticoronavirus measures.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the administration team is engaged in the project to a large extent and believes that it is possible to make a considerable contribution to the charity. In case the broad public is aware of the serious health problems of children, they will be willing to help as much as they can. The organizations are convinced that altruism is something, which will lead to significant changes in the modern world. They are willing to engage as many individuals as possible in charity activities and provide children with the necessary help.
Throughout world history, politicians have used sports to promote national and individual agendas. Further, their hold over the past few years has increased, which is evident in Argentina. Among the most popular sports in Argentina is football with Boca Juniors and River Plate as some of the best-performing clubs hailing from the country (Durán et al., 2021). Football serves as a major social outlet, especially for people who are part of Argentina’s diaspora like the United States. In an age of globalization, innovation, and commercialization, football fans can access matches from anywhere at any time. The sport reflects society’s essential aspects, thus, is of considerable relevance to scholars, including historians, sociologists, and political theorists. Most importantly, Argentina football reveals how the sport intertwines with nationalism. Football provides grounds for symbolic competition, which reflects cohesive national pride and identity.
History of Football in Argentina
Argentina is globally renowned for producing among the best football teams. The history of football in Argentina traces back to the nineteenth century (Papeliton, n.d.). Like other countries in South America, British sailors introduced football to Argentina while traveling to the Rio de la Plata basin in the 1860s (Bryce et al., 2022). The sport gradually developed in several British schools established in the country and rapidly spread across Argentina. Thus, football clubs were conceived from these schools and featured English names like Banfield, which persist (Durán et al., 2021). However, none of the clubs has attained success as Boca Juniors and River Plate. Both teams have won almost half of Argentina’s football titles and continue to battle in Buenos Aires to be ranked as the best team during the bi-annual Superclasico (Parrish, n.d.). Boca Juniors and River Plate have origins in La Boca, but the teams diverged when River Plate moved to Nunez in 1923 (Parrish, n.d.). While Boca Juniors remained the people’s team, River Plate represented opulent groups of Buenos Aires. Today, the rivalry between the teams is among the most intense in professional football.
Argentina clubs and their players set a precedent for world football and European leagues. Alfredo di Stefano is among Argentina’s early exports to Europe; he played for River Plate but his greatest debut was with Real Madrid. The success of Alfredo di Stefano and Real Madrid was followed by other wins among European clubs. Despite Argentina’s limited success in professional football, the country asserted itself politically as South America’s progressive nation. Ocampo (2020) mentioned that General Juan Peron’s 1946 election ushered in a new political climate. Peron’s tenure welcomed improved living and working conditions. However, Peron’s government failed to eliminate opposition by suppressing free expression by using political arsenals such as torture and imprisonment.
Moreover, Person’s supporters used football to rally, especially among Boka Junior fans. In 1955, a military coup exiled Peron and banned his supporters from seeking political positions Roniger et al., 2018). Although the populist strain and political regression continued, the military helped stimulate the economy. Peron forced the regime to allow free elections, which he won and his death left his wife, Isabel in the presidential seat (Pappas, 2019). Following a coup d’etat launched by the Argentina military, Isabel Person got unseated, leaving the country under the military’s control. Despite the country’s political climate, football remained a symbolic element for Argentines. However, the wake of General Jorge Videla brought with it the junta, a reign of fear and terror, which resulted in the murder of Argentines and lasted until 1983 (Crenzel, 2018; Module 2, 2021). Amid the political turmoil, the country prepared for the FIFA World Cup.
The Videla junta made significant efforts to eliminate political dissent in preparation for the Cup. An example of dissent came from the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (McFarland, 2018; Papeliton, n.d.). The group included mothers of disappeared or dead political dissidents under the junta. Days before the Cup, the mothers protested at the Plaza de Mayo. When the World Cup commenced on June 1, 1978, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo used the media showcase of the game to gain the world’s attention on the atrocities facing Argentines under Videla’s government (McFarland, 2018; Papeliton, n.d.). Nonetheless, the World Cup was welcomed with much energy with Argentina dominating most of the games. In the final match, Argentina faced the Dutch and won, awarding the country’s first World Cup. The victory articulated courage and capacity among Argentina players in a privileged arena.
Football and Nationalism
The country’s economy stagnated after staging the World Cup and Videla’s regime failed to find sustainable solutions. Under Videla’s rule, unemployment increased and major unions were banned for fear of opposing the government (Anderson, 2019). According to Adamian (n.d.), the reduction of tariffs and cheap imports further affected the Argentine economy. Consequently, the junta launched to invade Falklands to revamp their mandate but were defeated by the British marines, forcing their surrender and leading to free democratic elections in Argentina. During the invasion, Argentina’s football team lost to Belgium as its top player Diego Maradona struggled to help the team stay ahead but eventually failed to beat Brazil and Italy (Gupta 2021; Module 2, 2021). The reinstallation of a democratic government after the end of the dictatorship would bring Argentina back to its feet, particularly in professional football.
Argentina’s national team restored their pride with the 1986 World Cup. With Diego Maradona as its star player, Argentina stayed ahead in most of the matches for the 1986 World Cup. Argentina claimed the championship title after defeating Germany in the final match (Gupta 2021). The win unified Argentines, free from the influence of a military junta. Additionally, beating England in the quarterfinals appeased the military defeat at Falklands in 1982. A new generation of Argentine players took on after Maradona and the most prominent include Diego Simeone, Gabriel Batistuta, and Javier Mascherano. Thus far, the World Cup dominates conversations in national and global spheres. Argentines’ fascination with football transcends the sport itself; the game is much about politics and culture.
Specifically, football in Argentina can be differentiated in various contexts. For one, football is an expression of national identity and the wider world. According to Anderson, “the nation is always conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship. Ultimately it is this fraternity that makes it possible” (Module 2, 2021). Argentina assumed national identity through teams like Boka Juniors and River Plate, which mirror skillful professional players. For example, uniform kits usually carry national colors in stadiums across the world, with the country’s emblem on the chest, transcending racial differences. Matches bring together fans from fierce rivalries; Argentina’s Superliga is known for its hype and impact on public order. The most recent example is the 2018 Libertadores Cup or the final to end all finals, a match between River Plate and Boca Junior played in Madrid because of the commotion in Buenos Aires caused by the fans (Durán, 2021). The country takes pride in its football achievements as it has become part of its identity.
Furthermore, the most abstract is the effect of the World Cup Championships and its role in reifying Argentineans. In a contemporary world shaped by globalization, commercialization, mass migration, and dual citizenship, the Cup Championships embody national distinctiveness and global sportsmanship. Therefore, the World Cup serves as a contemporary concretization of nation-ness. Football game wins revolve around national pride as individual players like Diego Simeone and Gabriel Batistuta become global icons. When Argentina’s teams become victorious, they win for the home country. The 1986 World Cup-winning team in Argentina is still a national hero, with legendary figures like Diego Maradona. While the Videla junta led to the progressive disappearance of Argentine virtues of courage and capacity, the national team was determined to overcome the political turmoil (McFarland, 2018). The national team won the 1986 Cup title through those qualities that were essential in rebuilding national pride. Football has become an anchor of meaning for Argentines, an embodiment of national and past values.
Conclusion
Nationalism and football have gained important positions in the contemporary world. In particular, nationalism has particularly become more important than ever for Argentina. The importance of football lies in the creation of nation-ness and its role in a world where globalization, mass migration, innovation, dual citizenship, and commercialization have increased. Consequently, politicians widely use sports to influence socioeconomic and diplomatic relations. Despite political turmoil, Boca Juniors and River Plate transformed the face of football in Argentina. People often exercise sovereignty in the presence of solidarity dependent on shared customs and values. Overall, the premise of nationalism is that people’s loyalty to their country surpasses other groups or individual interests.
References
Adamian, Fionn. The Ideological Alignment of Free Market Liberals and Military Officials in the Argentinean Junta, 1976-1981. Clio’s Scroll: 72.
Anderson, Perry. 2019. Brazil Apart: 1964–2019. Verso Books.
Bryce, Benjamin, and David MK Sheinin, eds. 2022. Recasting the Nation in Twentieth-Century Argentina. Taylor & Francis.
Durán, Guillermo, Mario Guajardo, Facundo Gutiérrez, Javier Marenco, Denis Sauré, and Gonzalo Zamorano. 2021. Scheduling the Main Professional Football League of Argentina. INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics 51, no. 5: 361-372.
McFarland, Sam. 2018. Azucena Villaflor, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, and Struggle to End Disappearances. International Journal of Leadership and Change 6, no. 1: 7.
Module 2, LTCS2022. 2021. Football: The story of an Argentine passion [PowerPoint slides]. School of Languages & Cultures.
Ocampo, Emilio. 2020. The Populist Economic Policy Paradigm: Early Peronism as an Archetype. No. 731. Serie Documentos de Trabajo.
Pappas, Takis S. 2019. Populists in Power. Journal of Democracy 30, no. 2: 70-84.
Parrish, Charles. Superclásicos and Rivalry Antecedents: Exploring Soccer Club Rivalries in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico Charles Parrish and B. David Tyler Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina (USA).
In life, there are a number of things that can either be compared or contrasted. Comparing involves the drawing of similarities that may exist between two or more things. Contrasting, on the other hand, focuses on identifying the aspects that differentiates the things under consideration. The essay seeks to compare football and rugby. It will discuss the similarities that exist between them which include; the playing field, advancing the ball, and tackles and blocks.
As much as there may be some clear differences between football and rugby, there are obvious similarities. The first one is in the measurements of the playing field.
Football, especially in America, is usually played on a field measuring 110 meters which is equivalent to 120 yards long by 49 meters in width. On both extremes of the longer side is a goal line, separated by 100 yards. The scoring area is marked 10 yards from each of the goal line. The area is referred to as end zone. The yard lines cross the field at an interval of 5 yards.
Moreover, two rows are marked to run parallel to the side lines and are close to the middle of the field. Two goal posts are found beyond the end zones. The goal posts are usually 18.5 feet apart. However, they are 24 feet in the case of high school games. The two posts are connected by a cross bar which is 10 feet above the ground. In most cases, the goal posts may take the shape of letter ‘H’ or sometimes the letter ‘Y’.
Similarly, for a rugby field, it measures 131 yards (120 meters) in length and about 60 meters in width giving it a rectangular shape. There are lines drawn across the field at an interval of 10 meters. About 6 to 12 meters beyond the goal lines, there is an in-goal region. Just like in football, there are two goal posts at each end and normally takes the shape of letter ‘H’.
Secondly, football shares some similarity with rugby when it comes to the way of advancing the ball. In football, the team holding the ball (offense side) has 4 “downs”, to try and advance the ball 10 yards in the direction of the end zone. If the offense side manages to gain 10 yards, it qualifies for a set of 4 downs. When the offensive side fails to gain the 10 yards, then it looses possession.
Instances which lead to the end of a down include; the player holding the ball is tackled by the defensive side, an attempt to pass the ball forward goes beyond the lines or it touches the ground before it is caught 4 times (results in an incomplete pass), when the player with the ball is pushed out or goes out of the field boundaries, and also, a down ends when a team scores. The method of advancing the ball is closely related to the six-tackle rule in rugby.
The offensive team has 6 chances to tackle before it looses that ball possession. In football, the ball is advanced either by the player holding the ball running (rushing) with it or by passing the ball forwards to a colleague. While rushing, a player can opt to hand the ball over to another player. This is commonly known as a handoff. On the other hand, the ball in rugby is advanced by either running with it just like in football or kicking it to the front and going after it.
Thirdly, football and rugby have similar tactics of tackling and blocking opponents. Both games allow the bringing down of the player holding the ball in order to prevent any advancement towards scoring. Once the player is tackled, the play starts again on the following tackle or down.
Association football, sometimes called soccer to differentiate it from other leg sports, is the world’s most popular sport. The sport is frequently referred to as football by much of the English speaking world and has come a long way to become the most important sporting activity in the world. According to available scientific evidence, the earliest form of soccer was played at around the second or third centuries BC in China (Dunning, 1999).
The current rules and design of a football game were mainly developed in England. Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was formed in 1904 to oversee the organization of major international football events (Bridgewater, 2010). Today, football is played professionally by millions of people around the world.
Millions of people often flock to stadiums or sit in front of their TV sets to watch football. The popularity of the sport has facilitated its use as a political tool to foster both national and international agendas. This paper seeks to reflect on what has been studied in class to establish how governments and global processes influence football.
The development and growth of association football
As stated in the introductory part, association football was developed in England in the 18th and 19th centuries. The game was spread to the rest of the world through the movement of British nationals pursuing different interests. For instance, the game was introduced to South Americans by British workers, students and teachers.
In areas that were colonized by Britain such as Africa, Asia and the West Indies, football was introduced by missionaries and soldiers. This implies that various global processes, which will be discussed in next section, played a role in the growth of football.
Briefly, a football game is often played with a spherical ball between two teams of eleven players each (Dunning, 1999). Normally, football is played on a rectangular shaped grass field or a pitch fitted with a green artificial turf (Dunning, 1999).
Goal structures are typically located in the middle of the two opposite short ends, and are usually manned by a goalkeeper during a football match. The objective of each team is to score a ball in the opposing team’s goal in the cause of 90 minutes. Football has several rules that are observed by the referee and lines men.
Football’s popularity has something to do with its ability evoke great passions in the fans (Dunning, 1999). Different people identify with football teams from their regions, countries. Many other groups of fans identify with teams due to various reasons. For instance, the teams that play in the English premier league have fans from many parts of the world that identify with the teams through all sorts of reasons.
Such matches have audiences of millions of people with shared expectations (The Pilot, 2012). Losing a football match amounts to portraying a team as weaker than the one that wins. The effects of losing are felt harder by ardent fans and often generate division between the opposing sides. Research has shown that there are five areas that are show why domestic fans support their teams.
These areas include: team support- this includes attending matches and other activities that fans engage in when their teams are successful. Organizational values- these include the clubs management, governance and the role it plays in the community (Guttman, 1993).
History and symbols- Includes the clubs traditions, historic victories and the parent to child support inheritance. Entertainment- football offers entertainment to fans through Technological advancement and other global processes have played a major role in the growth of football as a sport.
FIFA is the internationally recognized governing body of football and other associated games such as beach soccer and futsal (Dunning, 1999). FIFA is based in Zurich and is associated with six confederations representing different continents. Individual countries have their national associations that run local football activities.
How governments influence football
Governments can be regarded as political institutions that are endowed with the power to make rules and enforce them in a particularly territory or collection of people. Football is a popular sport and therefore government involvement is inevitable.
The involvement of government in football activities basically seeks to: promote public order; maintain the health fitness through promotion of the sport; promote the prestige of a community or nation; create and promote a sense of identity and belonging and unity among citizens; reproduce values consistent with dominant ideology in the society; increase support for political leaders and the government; and to promote the economic and social development of the sport in the society (Moynagh & Worsley, 2008).
Safeguarding the public order
Football games are often characterized with several intense passions that have historically resulted into chaos. Potentially explosive are football encounters between rival communities. Additionally, there are certain safety requirements that are stipulated for players and match officials.
The government plays a major role in overseeing safety and order by providing the required football facilities, equipments, and creating the necessary mechanisms required to prevent the eruption chaos during domestic football competitions (Lasco, 2010). The government controlled football associations are therefore develop policies and rules that stipulate the safety requirements during football matches.
These include specific guidelines for team owners, promoters, sponsors, players and fans. Football is controlled by the different tiers of the government. Often the national government forms a football association that is represented at all levels of the government. Football associations or local governments provide the safety guidelines required for the use of football facilities within their areas of jurisdiction.
Maintaining health and fitness
Football is a very popular sport that is played by both genders. It therefore provides a very important avenue for governments to promote health and fitness among its citizens and citizens of other countries. Several governments have established funds to promote the development of football in their communities.
These include efforts to encourage youths to play football and make small teams to play in local tournaments. Thus playing football encourages active lifestyles that keep people health and thereby reducing the cost of healthcare. Schools are the best centers through which different governments promote football development t o keep the students healthy and fit, among other benefits.
Use of football to promote power and prestige of a nation or community
Governments often ride on the popularity of football to advance their quest for recognition and prestige (Colomer, 2003). This is often reflected at different levels which may include the local, national and global level (Held & McGrew, 2007). For instance, many governments provide intense training programs for their football teams so as to increase their chances of performing well during international tournaments.
Many countries also scramble for a chance to host an international football tournament so as to use the opportunity to showcase what they can offer to the world. For instance, the 2010 world cup held in South Africa was used to show the world that South Africa is an emerging economic power that provides different investment opportunities (Guttman, 1993).
Promotion of identity and unity
Often football has the power to evoke passion in its lovers. When a national team is playing in a major tournament, all the citizens of the given country often rally behind the team, regardless of their race, tribe, religion or social status (Colomer, 2003).
The emotional sense created fosters unit and enables the citizens of a nation to identify with its traditions. Football matches have also been used to defuse tensions between warring communities. However, this is not always the case as football matches between rival communities can result into tribalism and further division.
Use of football to reproduce values dominant with political ideology
Football success is not always based on the economic performance of a region or country and therefore it provides a good platform for governments to encourage citizens to remain disciplined and hardworking even if the face of hardships. For instance, the Croatian football team performed well in the 1998 world cup in spite of an ongoing civil war at home.
Promoting economic development
The professionalization of football has provided economic opportunities to many youth. For instance, any good player can play for an elite club in Europe and be paid a huge salary in return. Most governments are encouraging football talent development in order to provide citizens with an alternative source of income.
How global processes influence football
Globalization is a process that involves the creation of linkages or connections between countries (Held & McGrew, 2007). Usually, globalization entails the removal of cultural, political, economic and physical barriers that separate different nations.
Globalization stimulates the exchange of goods, services, people and money. Football has now developed to be a global sport, some analysts regard football as the most globalized profession. There are several factors that have contributed to the globalization of football. Each of the different factors will be discussed separately under this section.
Development of football into a global business
As noted earlier, among the advantages of globalization are the removal of economic barriers and the facilitation of free movement of people, goods and services. Throughout the years football has developed to become a multibillion global business. For instance, the annual total income of the five largest European football leagues surpasses $20 billion, with the English premier league accounting for the largest percentage.
Premier league football is attractive because it’s usually played by best players recruited from all over the world. Today, any good football player can play for any club that can afford him. For instance, all of the clubs that play in the European league have many foreign based players.
This in turn helps the clubs to draw support from their players’ home countries, further globalizing the sport. Football clubs and players have developed into unique brands as portrayed by the media, analysts and researchers.
Fans who buy tickets to watch football matches are considered to be the customers. The rapid technological advancement, particularly in regard to the internet and satellite TV has enabled fans to watch live football matches that are being played thousands of miles away.
International competitions
There are various international football tournaments that play an important role in the globalization of football. The most important international football tournament is the world cup. The world cup is played by best teams from different regions of the world. Each of the national teams represented at the world cup usually create a tribal sense of nationalism amongst their domestic supporters (Hughes, 2008).
Its common see fans wearing the football shirts and flying their national flags to express pride. Countries that are not represented in the international tournaments often support another team for various reasons. In most cases fans from such countries will support a regional representative or any of the top favorites that have a higher chance of winning the tournament.
For instance, in 2010, during the World cup held in South Africa, the local fans were dressed in team colors of a range of international teams, in addition to their own. Tournaments such as the FIFA world cup, the African Cup of Nations and the UEFA champions’ league are usually characterized by intense support from fans around the around the world, further contributing to the globalization of the sport (Kaufman & patterson, 2005).
Hosting an international competition enables countries to showcase different products that they can offer. Major tournaments such as the world cup benefit the locals through infrastructure development. Some tournaments result into loses as the countries fail to recoup the money that was used to build stadiums and other facilities required to host the tournament.
For instance, the 1994 US world cup resulted into a lose amounting to $9 billion. However, hosting a major tournament can be used to foster regional peace or advance a political agenda. For instance, when a country hosts the world cup it becomes the center of attention for an entire month.
The role of technology
Technological advancement has contributed a lot to the globalization of football. There are several aspects of the football that have been impacted by technological development. However, this section is more concerned with the technological developments that have impacted on the globalization of the sport.
Broadcasting of live matches is by far the largest technological aspect that is contributing to the globalization of football as it has done away with the need to be physically present in order to watch a football game. Major international tournaments such as the world cup and the UEFA champions’ league are often watched by millions of fans around the world, thanks to the development of satellite/cable TV.
Live broadcasting of football matches is benefits football clubs or associations, broadcasters and the fans (Dunning, 1999). Football clubs and associations benefit through the sale of broadcasting rights, broadcasters benefit through increased popularity while fans benefit through being able to watch their favorite matches at the comfort of their homes or in social places. The broadcasting writes are sold to broadcasters around the world to enable them televise the matches in their respective regions or countries.
Technology has also facilitated the development of state of the art football stadiums that are fitted with artificial turf, flood lights, cameras among other equipments (Hughes, 2008).
Conclusion
This paper sought to determine how governments and global processes influence football. It has been established that, as the world’s most popular and professionalized sport, football is greatly influenced by different global processes and governments. The global processes mainly relate to international competition, technology and the economic potential of the sport.
Governments mainly use football to promote public order; maintain the health fitness through promotion of the sport; promote the prestige of a community or nation; create and promote a sense of identity and belonging and unity among citizens; reproduce values consistent with dominant ideology in the society; increase support for political leaders and the government; and to promote the economic and social development of the sport in the society (The Pilot, 2012).
References
Bridgewater, S. (2010). Globalization of the premier League: A debate worth having. Warwick: Warwick Business School.
Colomer, J. (2003). Political Institutions. Oxford: Oxford University press.
Dunning, E. (1999). The development of soccer as a world game. London: Routledge.
Guttman, A. (1993). The Diffusion of Sports and the problem of Cultural Imperialism. New York: Human Kinetics.
Held, D., & McGrew, A. (2007). Globalization/ Anti-Globalization: Beyond the Great Divide. Cambridge: Polity.
Hughes, I. (2008). Premier League conquering Europe. London: BBC.
Kaufman, J., & patterson, O. (2005). Cross National Cultural Diffusion:Global spread of sports. American Sociological revie , 70(1) 10-25.
Lasco, J. (2010). Politics. New York : Mc Graw Hill.
Moynagh, M., & Worsley, R. (2008). Going Global: Key Questions for the 21st Century. London: A&C Black.
The Pilot. (2012). Sports and Politics have always been interwined. Retrieved from Pilot.com: https://www.thepilot.com/
With a long history and a very changed format, football plays an important role in the U.S. in many ways. From its humble beginnings as a physical outlet for college students to the financial titan that it is now, football has altered itself and society through economic, educational, racial, and political factors. To observe this, it is best to take a look at the current National Football League (NFL) system and how it became the most profitable sports league in the U.S.
The NFL changed the sporting economy as well as the general entertainment industry in a way that cannot be understated. The company generates over a billion dollars annually, not exclusively from ticket sales but due to a system of business methods. Because each event can cost over 200 million dollars, it is essential for the company to turn a profit (Ali, 2019). This is done through television broadcasting, fantasy football, partnerships, merchandise sales, and a myriad of other business incentives. All these factors affect society from an economic standpoint. Due to the expansion of the NFL into most media and even non-sport product sales, they have been seen by most people living in America. Even non-fans are subjected to NFL-related content while fans are encouraged to spend on their interests and favorite teams. The process also results in more infrastructure building and the creation of jobs.
Due to the size of the industry, profit and incentive for the competition are very high. This allows many teams, companies, and other involved parties to spend their capital where they see fit. This often results in scholarships, university spots, and other education-centered assistance being offered to students that are successful in sports. Because of the industry’s size, such scholarships have become incredibly common over the last decades and a sort of a staple of most colleges. In such a competitive and rewarding field, every college and football team aims to perform better and to become successful but stable.
Football also has a societal history of both incredible cases of racial disparity and discrimination and opposition to racism. The Los Angeles Ram became the first NFL team to integrate black players with Kenny Washington, and Woody Strode in the 1940s (“Black History, and American Professional Football, a story”, 2021). The journey towards full integration of professional football would take decades and be very tumultuous and troubling. However, by the 1970s, black players would finally emerge and be acknowledges as tops stars in the NFL, with the 1980s leading the way with black players gaining positions they were previously discouraged from (“Black History, and American Professional Football, a story”, 2021). Due to these successes, football slowly emerged as a game possible to anyone, completely irrelevant of race. Racism was not eradicated from the sport to this day, with heavy criticism coming from fans, managers, and other speakers targeting non-white players in some cases. Nevertheless, the policy progress made to create equality and opportunity for all still impacted society in a massive way.
For some time, football was considered apolitical, though that is not very true. Like most entertainment or industries in a country, football can reflect and become a platform for personal or communal values, beliefs, and politics. Football has changed many aspects of people’s lives significantly, but it also became changed itself through the values of people living in the U.S. The economic, educational, racial, societal, and political factors that that football used to impact society were also influential in the way the game exists in the current day.
Works Cited
“Black History, and American Professional Football, a story”. African American Registry, 2021, Web.
Ali, Mazin. “How American Football Affects the Economy.” CyberBrooks, 2019, Web.
Emirian Football Fundraising Charity is a project that was organized by several employees from various departments to raise money for the Emirian Child Care Charity. The charity will provide a suitable platform for shedding light on Thalassemia genetic disorder, common among children. Radujković and Sjekavica (2017) reveal that the condition is considered a family of hereditary genetic conditions that limits the amount of hemoglobin an individual naturally produces. The condition is understood to inhibit the flow of oxygen throughout the body. The disease is expensive to treat, and patients need a blood transfusion and high-quality care.
The initiative of starting the charity was initiated by a group of employees with ideas on how to assist children with the condition and, therefore, help the Emirian child care to afford their treatment. The execution of the concept adopted a football fundraising charity match that would bring together various stakeholders and make the event successful. The match has the power of ensuring that people come together for a common purpose, such as fundraising for a charity.
Project Charter
The project included a charter that contains the objectives, its execution, and the project stakeholders. The charter gave documentation of the reasons, objectives and constraints, the main stakeholders, risks, benefits, and the general overview of the budget. Therefore, the creation of the project focuses on several considerations. First, the group should determine the goals and objectives of the project. Second, it is crucial to define the project organization by listing the essential roles for conducting the project. It includes the team members and stakeholders that play a significant role in organizing the project (Tri Mardiani, 2020).
Third, an effective project charter involves creating an implementation plan that provides a clear outline of significant milestones, timelines, and dependencies for the entire team and stakeholders (Radujković & Sjekavica, 2017). Last, it is also vital to create potential problem areas through realistic performance. Adding potential issues and risks associated with the project charter plays an essential role in helping people to think ahead and get solutions to potential challenges. Therefore, the project charter for the Emirian Football Fundraising charity project will cover the scope of the goals and the people that will be involved in meeting the project milestones.
The key focus will be on making the charter more effective by clearly formulating the objectives, proper alignment of stakeholders to the project, providing a single reference to the expectations, and helping the sponsors obtain the approval of stakeholders in making critical decisions (Tereso et al., 2018). The project charter will also serve an essential role in ensuring that projects do not fail due to miscommunication problems on important deadlines. It will ensure the plans for the Football Charity match are met with the set deadlines.
Reasons for Charity and Fundraising Match
The charity was a source of a better choice of extending kindness and love to Emirian Child care. Charity plays a vital role in providing better health to society. The increase in cases of Thalassemia among children caused alarm (Mucchetti, 2020). Therefore, the charity provided the opportunity to bring on board several members who could extend their hand of support to Child care. Contribution through charity is regarded as the most successful, and therefore, many people accept and recognize it. Donating through charity is associated with numerous financial benefits. Many people will be compelled to give through charity due to various reasons. First, people consider giving to charity in a way that makes them feel good. Donating to charity is regarded as a major booster of the mood (Tereso et al., 2018).
Giving to charity provides a link between making donations to the charity and increasing the mind’s activities. It is clear to prove that giving is much better than receiving (Radujković & Sjekavica, 2017). The second reason for the choice of charity is the fact that giving to charity strengthens personal values. Many people believe that giving to a charity is a moral duty in helping others. Some individuals consider the power to improve people s lives a privilege since it comes with a sense of obligation. Therefore, acting on the powerful feelings of responsibility provides an effective way of reinforcing people’s personal lives and, accordingly, making it possible to have the feeling to live in an authentic way that aligns with ethical beliefs.
The project also adopted charity because many people consider that giving is more impactful than ever. There is an increased concern that donations may be reduced by taxes and administrative costs, which prevents the total amount from reaching the people and the cause they are interested in helping (Tereso et al., 2018). Charities have tax reliefs that will enable making the most out of the amount received. The charity will ensure that the intended persons benefit from the project. The group of employees is also concerned that young people need to understand the need for generosity. Therefore, charity was considered an effective way of passing the message on the importance of generosity (Radujković & Sjekavica, 2017). The children will get the opportunity to share the experience of togetherness and generosity, thus making them have the desire to impact the world positively.
Nurturing the habit of helping one another is very important for the community. The choice of charity will encourage the community as a whole also to do the same. For instance, the group is also concerned with promoting habits at the family level. Family giving will help create strong bonds and bolster relationships on shared goals in raising money that an individual could otherwise extend. Many people miss the opportunity of expressing gratitude to others. Therefore, raising funds through a charity will provide a favorable opportunity for many people in understanding the suffering of the children in the care center (Radujković & Sjekavica, 2017). This will ensure that maximum funds are collected to support the costly treatment and care of Thalassemia. The charity also gets as much money as possible through the tournament itself, drinks, food, fan attributes, selling products, and advertisements. The fool match provides a great opportunity of selling tickets with the prices varying between VIP and ordinary.
The Emirian fundraising match provides a clear opportunity for collecting enough money. As mentioned earlier, football brings so many people together. Therefore, it will play a significant part in facilitating VIP sales and regular tickets for the game. The great audience also provides an opportunity for advertisement practices that are paid for. The match will also serve as a sense of responsibility that results from human interaction. Sometimes, football fans exhibit common characteristics. For instance, a decision to support the project will be embraced by many fans who will tend to show unity. Being part of the football family makes one responsible and take part in the exercise.
The football fundraising will also provide the necessary platform for expressing solidarity as employees from various departments and other stakeholders support the child care charity and those suffering from Thalassemia, which is considerably expensive to treat. The group has been active in supporting charitable organizations through several campaigns and financial support. However, the Football match will provide a unique platform for commitment in organizing such events aimed at making the sporting activities a source targeting a specific part of the population and creating awareness of the condition.
Objectives and Constraints
Emirian Football fundraising’s core objectives are to organize a successful event that will give room to the possibility of organizing a series of football fundraising tournaments to ensure the likelihood of gathering as much money as possible. To achieve the goal, the project team focuses on integrating several ideas to maximize the number of funds collected from the football event (Müller et al., 2019). First, the event requires that anyone willing to witness the football match pay for tickets that could be affordable for many people. The ticket prices will have varying prices between the ordinary and the VIP for guests. The other idea is to create a platform to allow for advertisements from various organizations. This will also provide a great source of money for the charity. The other practices include selling products and organizing fairs as a source of collecting money for the charity.
The project team also has the objective of mixing up sponsorship agreements with various established companies. Therefore, it is the team’s responsibility to come up with strategies that will bring the sponsors on board through attractive practices such as recognition of the support for community activities (Müller et al., 2019). The influx of viewers provides an attractive opportunity for companies selling products to engage in advertisements and marketing. In return, it gives a golden chance for maximum collection of reasonable amounts of money. The team’s other focus is to maximize the amount of money collected from food and beverages that form an essential makeup for watching football. Many people will buy the products, thus contributing to the charity kit. Therefore, the groups of project organizers are concerned with collecting a good amount of money from the tournament that would be donated to the Emirian childcare with the priority of assisting children with severe conditions such as Thalassemia, whose treatment requires significant financial support.
The other objective of the team is to raise awareness in the community regarding Thalassemia. Many people do not know that the condition exists in the first place. Therefore, it is essential to understand that Thalassemia is a blood disorder transmitted down through families in the form of inheritance, whereby the body makes an abnormal form or lacks enough Hemoglobin. The community will also get an opportunity to understand that Hemoglobin is the protein in the red blood cells that carries oxygen in the body. The disorder leads to the destruction of large numbers of red blood cells in the body, leading to anemia. Thus, the condition is inherited, meaning that a member of the family must be a carrier of the disorder. The situation is caused by genetic mutation or the deletion of various components of the gene.
However, some people might suffer from Thalassemia minor, which forms the disorder’s less severe form. The platform will enable the community to understand beta and alpha Thalassemia considering the two extreme conditions.
The project team is also seeking to teach about the state’s symptoms to encourage those with similar signs to seek early medical attention before it gets severe. Some of the common symptoms that will be discussed include facial bone deformities, delayed growth and development among children, dark urine, yellow or pale skin, and excessive fatigue and tiredness.
Therefore, the Football match will provide a suitable platform for people to visit hospitals for doctors to diagnose the condition by taking a blood sample. The sample will then be taken to the laboratory for testing for abnormal Hemoglobin and anemia. The abnormal-shaped red blood cell will then imply a sign of Thalassemia. A test of hemoglobin electrophoresis is also possible through a separation of different molecules in the red blood cells to identify the abnormal type. The event organizers also aim to suggest to the community various treatment options depending on the disease’s severity and style. The standard treatments include bone marrow transplants, blood transfusions, possible surgery aimed at removing the spleen, and medications, and the use of supplements. The doctors invited for the big day will be responsible for passing the message through detailed explanations to the football match viewers and the community. For instance, the doctors would advise on the need to avoid supplements containing iron and vitamins. Iron can lead to the building up of tissues that can result in fatal cases, especially blood transfusions.
The community will also be advised on the recommended diet for Thalassemia. For instance, plant-based and low-fat is considered the best choice for most people, including those already suffering from the condition. It is also essential to avoid fortified cereals, juices, and loaves of bread, considering that they contain high iron levels. The other objectives for organizing the fundraising football match are to generate increased revenues that support foundations and charities by providing hope, encouragement, and comfort to those battling the condition. The team is also aiming to organize a successful series of four charity fundraising matches to keep supporting those suffering from the disorder and encourage the need to have proper funding for researchers and scientists in investigating ways that can be employed in treating the condition using genetic techniques.
Project Constraints
Like other projects, Emirian fundraising football matches will suffer from limiting factors in performing the task that will significantly impact the quality and, overall, the success of the project (Shafie et al., 2019). The constraints of the project are categorized under resources, customer satisfaction, and methodology. Time is the first constraint that the project is likely to suffer from, considering that it provides a vital measure for the project’s success. Therefore, the project will have difficulty coming up with estimations through research and experience that should be as accurate as possible (Keers & van Fenema, 2018). The stakeholders need to be provided with proper estimates to avoid the risks of unrealistic promises. The fundraising day will be marked by a series of events and procedures that also demand proper time management. The project stakeholders will also be concerned about the cost of the project relative to its estimated value. Therefore, the core focus will be on providing accurate estimates through thorough market research for the related projects.
The budget will also be estimated based on costs such as material, labor, factory, equipment, contractors, and administrative software. Cost management will demand accuracy in sticking to the proposed budget while making some changes to the project to avoid cost challenges (Demirkesen & Ozorhon, 2017). The other project constraint that the charity football match fundraiser’s stakeholders will be concerned about is the project scope. It provides a set of guaranteed deliverables expected from the project. Natural constraints will also affect the series of events as planned upon a change in weather conditions. Sometimes, it becomes difficult to manage the constraint, but practical pattern analysis will give correct estimates of probabilities of having favorable weather conditions. Otherwise, unfavorable weather conditions will affect time management and also disrupt the function as organized.
Stakeholders
The project stakeholders will include people like project sponsors, customers, football players, companies participating in the fair, advertising agencies, food and drink providers, and famous players and celebrities. The Football match fundraising for a child care charity will bring onboard project sponsors that involve business leaders that play a significant part in promoting, advocating, and shaping the project framework. They are responsible for overseeing various project programs and management functions through increased accountability in ensuring the realization of the specified benefits over a given period (Li & Lu, 2017). The sponsors are also expected to bring together various financial and non-financial support that will enable other stakeholders to have confidence in the project’s success.
Having adequate sponsorship and governance will ensure that the project delivers projects with justifiable business and increased integrity (Müller et al., 2019). Therefore, the event will identify sponsors that perform roles such as promotion, authorization, approving, funding, scoping, and informing. They will be considered the project champions that focus on keeping the project at the highest priority. The project sponsor will also play a significant part in providing the necessary funds for the entire project budget. They are also responsible for approving the process of project management plans (Radujković & Sjekavica, 2017). Therefore, it is essential to notify them about the progress of the project and its management. They should also be informed about updates on the project status received from the project manager and disseminating information to relevant executives. The success of the project also depends on the participation of players. They will be an exciting show for about an hour that pulls large crowds together, making the project a success.
The player forms an integral part of project stakeholders, and therefore, it is crucial to inform them about the project’s progress. Famous football players and celebrities form part of the stakeholders in conducting the project (Li & Lu, 2017). They have several supporters, thus involving them in the project will help attract a maximum number of people to attend the fundraising. The celebrities and players also have friends who can take part in the initiative upon realizing its benefit in supporting the children with the condition. The other stakeholders are advertising companies whose intention is to promote various goods and services to the stands. Involving them in the project will be a good source of income, considering that they have to pay for the services. Providers of foods and beverages should also be brought on board by giving them the required information in conducting the project.
Draft Statement of Work for the Project
Project introduction
The project will involve the mobilization of community members through various shows organized in favor of creating awareness. The proposal to conduct the Emirian Child Care Charity is the idea of employees from various departments that put the necessary strategies.
Vision
The aim of the idea was to generate enough resources through fundraising initiatives and partnerships with the community to gather enough resources for the project. The funds are meant to be used wisely to make an impact on the lives of children suffering from chronic conditions. The project vision as per the mission is to grant wishes that will give hope to children suffering from various conditions in the Charity.
Project Requirements
The project involves various tasks that require timely completion for the success of the initiative. They provide a clear picture of the work to ensure its alignment with the available resources in achieving the overall objectives. The requirements include setting the venue for the match, availing tickets, promoting the event and completing activities.
Scope
The scope of the Football charity fundraising involved the documentation and determination of specific goals, features, and deliverables that need to be achieved to deliver the project. The scope includes witnessing a football match, creating awareness to the public on the seriousness of conditions such as Thalassemia, collecting funds, and handing over the collected funds to the charity.
Deadline of the Project ‘timeline’
It provides the final time point when the project is targeted for completion. The charity project was scheduled to be completed after a period of 4 months. The duration is enough to allow for the completion of the activities.
Key Resources
The key resources to boosting the completion of the initiative include human resources, financial resources from stakeholders, and both physical and intellectual resources.
Special Requirements
The football match fundraising project require special requirements such as technology and customization of T-shirts to promote the charity event.
Benefits of the Project
Emirian football fundraising charity provides a good source of funds required for supporting children with severe conditions. The fundraising project will help in furthering the mission of the project organizers. For instance, it will form new volunteers of goodwill to help the child care in the long term. It will also help spread the burden of raising the enormous amount of cash among several people that could otherwise not be met by a small number of people. The strategies to bring on different board stakeholders such as the advertisements companies and participants in the exhibitions and fairs provided the best platform to sell their products and create awareness of various services that may be uncommon to people (Demirkesen & Ozorhon, 2017). The project will also develop a sense of togetherness in supporting one another when most needed. It will also provide a good platform for setting the charity’s goals and message apart from raising money. Clearly outlined and stipulated goals will ensure that future projects become successful. The fundraising will go beyond survival, considering that getting enough funds will help the charity spread across a wider area and gain global recognition. Therefore, the charity will get an opportunity to continue supporting and funding its course, such as research funding.
Risks and General Risk Management Plan
The process of organizing the Charity Football Fundraising Tournament is faced with various risks in performing the project. Examples of the risks include the possibility of theft of the collected money instead of sending it to the funds, the chance of lower turnout of fans and members that are supposed to provide the required audience, bad weather risks during the match such as rain, intense sun, and high humidity (Safire et al., 2018). The occurrence of the coronavirus is likely to change the dates of the tournament. Football match also faces the security risks such as fans storming the stadium to express their disagreement over the referee’s decisions. The players might also sustain injuries due to uneven surfaces, pitch loading, potholes, and extreme weather (Keers & van Fenema, 2018).
The risks demand an effective risk management plan that will help identify measures and strategies to help prevent and give solutions upon their occurrence. The risk of the management plan for money theft is addressed by a high level of transparency by confirming the figures of money collected. The risk of unfavorable weather conditions will involve a strategy where the weather patterns will be observed to identify a day that is likely to be favorable for the event. However, the organizers will also put in place temporary shades that would be used against strong sun and heavy rain in case they happen (Filo et al., 2020). Medical practitioners will be available to address any risk of player injuries and any emergency that might occur. The project will take into consideration all measures to combat the spread of the virus. Such efforts include wearing masks and installation of strategic water points to ensure that people wash their hands.
Overview and Statement of the Budget
The project has an estimated budget for various deliverables to ensure that the fundraising is successful. It will help the manager assess the amount of money and resources required for the project completion (Müller et al., 2019). It plays an instrumental role in controlling the costs of the activities. The budget will also allow the effective establishment of objectives for performing the task. Having the funding in place will enable effective monitoring and cost control, resulting in reduced cost reduction. The estimated budgets of cost and income for the project are as shown below in the table.
Cost
Estimated Cost
Marketing Cost
AED 50, 000
Cost renting the Football Stadium
AED 200, 000
Cost of managing and organizing the football stadium
AED 80, 000
Cost of marketing online tickets
AED 20, 000
Amount paid to players and celebrities
AED 550, 000
Staffing cost
AED 1, 400, 000
Total estimated input costs for the project
AED 2, 300, 000
Funds generated (Income from the project)
Ticket sales
AED 250 000/per match X4
Generated Revenue from YouTube live
AED 200 000/per match X4
Revenue from advertising companies
AED 500 000/per match X4
Revenue from fair
AED 100 000/per match X4
Total estimated income generated from the project
AED 4 200, 000
Work Breakdown Structure
WBS is a tool that utilizes the technique of breaking work into smaller unit tasks that make the work approachable and manageable. The tool integrates the scope, schedule, and cots baseline by ensuring proper alignment with the project plans. WBS is classified into phase-based and deliverable-based, with the rather being the most preferred approach (Radujković & Sjekavica, 2017a). Therefore, the WBS is essential as part of the project timeline and lifecycle. It provides a hierarchy of tasks that are significant in identifying the flow within the designated timeline.
The project will involve using a work breakdown structure that outlines a visual and deliverable-oriented work breakdown structure. The diagram will help the managers of the project, considering that it allows them to work backward from the project’s final deliverable. It identifies all the activities needed to make the project successful. The steps for performing the task are outlined in the work breakdown structure below.
Organizational Structure for the Project
The project organizational structure will facilitate the coordination and implementation of the activities of the project. The project management team will make the organizational structure, which is considered an important decision. The system will provide a critical framework that stipulates how the development effort will be accomplished.
Kind of Project
The project is categorized on the basis of the activities involved. The fundraising project falls under routine tasks considering that they demand time with specific goals and deadlines. The other characteristics include simple, precise scope definition and stable and straightforward WBS, milestones, public education and the use of simple cost estimates. It also involves an informal risk response plan and different goals and project deadlines.
Conclusion
The fundraising charity project was conducted properly, following all the guidelines for its success. It is clear that the fundraiser through the football match provided an opportunity to unite different stakeholders towards making the project successful. It will also serve as an encouragement to the community and individuals of goodwill on the need to organize such activities. The project provided a platform that proved beneficial to all participants, such as exhibitions and suppliers of various products. It was also necessary to create awareness and educate the public on the symptoms of the disease. The confidence of various players in the charity fundraiser was evident from the strategies to address possible risks.
The project provided a charter that contained a list of objectives for the execution of the deliverables. It gives a clear direction on how the study should be carried out. Among the reasons for the adoption of the study was to provide a better choice of extending kindness and love to Emirian Child care. In fulfilling the objectives, the project was faced with several constraints that are categorized under resources, customer satisfaction, and methodology. For instance, time constraints were likely to arise given that it constitutes a crucial measure for the success of projects. It could accrue benefits such as a good source of funds required for supporting children with severe conditions and strategies to different stakeholders such as exhibitions and fairs for advertisement companies. Similar to other projects, it faced risks that demanded a risk management plan. Examples of the anticipated risks include harsh weather risks, low turnouts, and COVID-19 effects.
References
Demirkesen, S., & Ozorhon, B. (2017). Impact of integration management on construction project management performance. International Journal of Project Management, 35(8), 1639-1654. Web.
Filo, K., Fechner, D., & Inoue, Y. (2020). Charity sport event participants and fundraising: An examination of constraints and negotiation strategies. Sport Management Review, 23(3), 387-400. Web.
Keers, B. B., & van Fenema, P. C. (2018). Managing risks in public-private partnership formation projects. International Journal of Project Management, 36(6), 861-875. Web.
Li, D., & Lu, M. (2017). Automated generation of work breakdown structure and project network model for earthworks project planning: A flow network-based optimization approach. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 143(1), 04016086. Web.
Müller, R., Drouin, N., & Sankaran, S. (2019). Modeling organizational project management. Project Management Journal, 50(4), 499-513. Web.
Mucchetti, M. (2020). Sample Project Charter. In BigQuery for Data Warehousing (pp. 509-513). Apress, Berkeley, CA. Web.
Radujković, M., & Sjekavica, M. (2017a). Project management success factors. Procedia Engineering, 196, 607-615. Web.
Radujković, M., & Sjekavica, M. (2017b). Development of a project management performance enhancement model by analyzing risks, changes, and limitations. Građevinar, 69(02.), 105-120. Web.
Shafie, F. A., Omar, D., & Karuppanan, S. (2018). Environmental risk evaluation of a sanitary landfill using life cycle analysis approach. Asian Journal of Environment-Behaviour Studies, 3(8), 89-95. Web.
Tereso, A., Ribeiro, P., Fernandes, G., Loureiro, I., & Ferreira, M. (2019). Project management practices in private organizations. Project Management Journal, 50(1), 6-22. Web.
Arsenal Football Club, otherwise known as “The Gunners” has had an outstanding history since its inception. In fact, the club has become a formidable force in English professional football by winning innumerable Premier League titles and several FA Cups in recent times (Soar and Tyler, 2000). It is on record that the Club has been famed for being the first London club to reach the UEFA Champions League Final in history. However, this successful performance has been attributed to the enabling environment the Club has been enjoying in addition to the unmatched dedication shown by the various managers who have ever worked for the Club. This fact can be confirmed by performing a PESTEL analysis of the Premier League football club Arsenal.
A PESTEL analysis of a company entails critically looking at the political, economic, socio-cultural and technological factors surrounding the operational environment of the said company. For this reason, the political factors surrounding Arsenal Football Club have been found to be very acceptable. Just as it is the case elsewhere in the world, football is a very electric game in the United Kingdom and attracts a wide range of spectators. The international community participates in the world cup convention after every four years clearly indicating the kind of commitment attached to the sport by various governments all over the world (Myron, 1993). The amount of money spent in organizing and planning for football fixtures particularly in the UEFA Champions League also demonstrates the popularity of the sport. Studies indicate that government policies have not been restrictive regarding the operations of Arsenal Football Club. According to Maidment (2006), Arsenal Football Club has been involved in charity work in the community particularly through “Arsenal in the Community” with full government support. The Club assists the less fortunate in society by providing sporting services, educational and charitable projects (Soar and Tyler, 2000). Additionally, it is noteworthy to mention that Arsenal Football Club has been contracting both players and managers in a free and fair manner devoid of any political interference. This is evidenced by the appointment of the current long-serving manager; outsider Arsène Wenger who has demonstrated outstanding performance since 1996 (Spurling, 2004). Finally, the government’s position on marketing ethics has allowed the Club to conduct advertisements without any restrictions insisting that the Club is a big contributor to the economy (Maidment, 2006).
Economic factors on the other hand have been the most enabling for the club and the sporting sector in general. Interest rates levied by the government on the club’s operations at a rate of 22.3 % have not been considered punitive at all. This argument is supported by reports presented by Wisely (2009) which show that the club made a pre-tax operating profit of £62.7m in the year ending 31 May 2009. Furthermore, the same reports show that Arsenal is ranked “the third most valuable football team in the world after Manchester United and Real Madrid at a value of £605m, excluding debts” according to a 2008 Forbes business magazine report. Similarly, “accountants Deloitte rated Arsenal sixth in the 2009 Deloitte Football Money League, a ranking of the world’s football clubs in terms of revenue, with the club earning £209.3m in the 2007–2008 season” according to the club’s chairman (Wisely, 2009). big portion of this revenue is attributed to have come from the gate and match day collections (Wisely, 2009) and the sale of Thierry Henry realizing close to about £116.1m for that season. The fact that American sports tycoon Stan Kroenke is the largest shareholder on the board is also a clear indication that the club is economically stable (Maidment, 2006). This has improved investor confidence with more investors demanding Arsenal’s shares which incidentally are not sold in any of the international stock markets.
The sociocultural factors in my view are very strong contributors to the success of Arsenal Football Club. As shown by numerous reports globally, football is a very popular game amongst people of all ages regardless of gender and status (Myron, 1993). Football attracts more youth in schools compared to any other sporting activity offered in the school curriculum. The sport draws the highest number of supporters and is voted as the most entertaining and well-paying of all the sports in the world (Myron, 1993). This argument can be supported by reports that indicate soccer fans particularly those who support Arsenal have gone fanatical whenever the team is playing a crucial match (Spurling, 2004). This observation is underscored by the fact that Arsenal Football Club has an estimated global fan base of about 27 million, becoming the third-largest in the world according to a 2005 report (Maidment, 2006). In addition, a 2002 report has indicated that Arsenal Football Club has the highest percentage of black supporters among all the clubs in English football (Spurling, 2004). In regard to this status, analysts explain that Arsenal has developed a number of rivalries with several other clubs, like Tottenham Hotspur (Maidment, 2006). From the foregoing, it has been demonstrated that the sociocultural factors surrounding Arsenal Football Club have presented a very enabling environment. Moreover, no religious or cultural beliefs have been found to frustrate Arsenal’s efforts to become the leading club in the football arena.
Technological factors are very crucial in any business enterprise and are considered fundamental in the globalization of businesses (Maidment, 2006). In view of this, Arsenal Football Club has been at the forefront in embracing technology-based operations. This fact is illustrated by the transformation of the club’s current stadium, the Emirates into a very safe and pleasant environment for supporters and all other users as reported by Wisely (2009). The Club has undertaken concerted efforts to ensure that the stadium is renovated to the highest standards possible with the installation of CCTV cameras and other surveillance equipment to prevent soccer hooliganism during matches. In addition to this, Soar and Tyler (2000) explain that Arsenal has adopted the use of match filming as well as video shows when conducting training sessions for their players. Additionally, the club has embraced technology in conducting a spirited branding exercise of their new stadium using the Club’s memorable matches in a bid to personalize the Emirates Stadium as explained by the board’s chairman. Finally, advertising using the new technologies in the market has helped Arsenal Football Club to reach a large portion of football fans. The fact that the Club has opened a website for fans to access crucial information about the Club is a bold move in the right direction. Fans are capable of watching crucial matches anytime, anywhere because of current advancements in technology (Maidment, 2006).
List of references
Maidment, Jem., 2006. The Official Arsenal Encyclopedia. Hamlyn.
Myron, Smith J., 1993. The College Football Bibliography. New York: Greenwood Press.
Soar, Phil and Tyler, Martin., 2000. The Official Illustrated History of Arsenal. Hamlyn.
Spurling, Jon., 2004. Rebels for the Cause: The Alternative History of Arsenal Football Club. Mainstream.
Wisely, S., 2009. Arsenal Holdings plc, consolidated profit and loss account for the year ended. Web.
The main purpose of the project is to construct a high-tech football pitch for use of the students at Coventry University, which shall minimize the cost of renting playgrounds and avail easy access of the facility for the students. Currently, the university students experiences inadequate football and pitch facilities provided by Coventry University.
In addition, the existing facility does not provide modernized services that attract greater participation of the students. To achieve the objective of ensuring maximum student participation with an estimated 60%, Coventry University projects to install excellent sports and football facility with an extensive practice and seating capacity.
The project shall be solely funded by Coventry University obtained from its available resources. The university shall outsource the construction and consultancy services from the external providers. However, the University building and human resources departments shall serve to fill the labor and expertise gaps with a view of reducing the project costs.
Statement of requirements
The underlying problems projected for solution by the project
The project shall address the challenges facing students at Coventry University. These issues include the following:
The students have continuously lacked adequate and modern football pitch and facilities supplied by Coventry University. This situation has since resulted in low or poor university ranking based on student survey results to assess their satisfaction levels with respect to service delivery of the Coventry University.
High costs for students wishing to access modern and efficient football pitch facilities remain an eminent problem. Surveys indicate that although a relatively large number of students seek out external services to practice; therefore the establishment of the football grounds within the university shall minimize the dangers associated with externally uncontrolled risks.
Deterioration of football and associated talent in the University following lack o properly constituted playing and field facilities. The university participation in football games has remained minimal with poor performance due to lack of talent growth.
The existing poor playing and practice facility has led to low student participation. Therefore, the University’s realization of this impending situation necessitates the construction of the football pitch the meets the current and future demands for students and the world’s football requirements at large.
Needs of the project
The underlying problems identified by the project allows for a critical examination of the needs pertinent to solving them. Below is a list of needs that the project must address with an aim of solving the problems:
The project for the construction of the football pitch facility must be located near the University premises for easy access of the students.
The project must provide more advanced and quality football pitch that shall reduce strain on the existing facility provided by Coventry University.
The proposed construction should offer affordable extra facilities for the students than those provided by the municipal and private investors around. This aims at ensuring a return on investment within the feasible investment period.
The project Opportunities
The project can provide numerous opportunities to the stakeholders, including the users, sponsors and the client if well completed as per the feasibility study conducted by the project lead team. Some of the opportunities anticipated after the successful completion of the project include the following:
Judges and Sons construction shall be highly accredited if they complete the project within the three fundamental aspects of quality, timeframe, and budget. In this case, the company shall benefit from future developments within the university and outside constructions. This opportunity shall distinguish its service from the rest of the players in the construction industry given the fierce completion currently experienced by the company.
The project shall boost the quality of University ranking based on improved student survey results because of increased satisfaction levels.
Upon realizing a return on the investment, Coventry University can channel the proceeds into other investment projects to boost its financial capacity for increased development.
The project shall result in growth of football talent at the University because of increased participation of students.
Project objectives
Studies show that any project or activity must be guided by properly neatens objectives. These objectives should comply with the qualities such as measurability, preciseness, time-frame, and achievability. The project anticipates fulfilling numerous objectives after its completion of the construction. These objectives include the following:
To increase the current number of student participation in football activities at Coventry University by at least 60% by the end of December 2013.
To provide a high-quality playing facility for the students by the end of December 2013
To ensure efficient management of time during the entire project period
To maintain high standards of sustainable environmental safety throughout the project period
To ensure high safety at the construction site at all times to minimize site injuries
To develop and publish the construction designs and plans within the first 5 months of the planning period
To ensure that the project cost is within the budgeted amount of 3 million pounds
To ensure proper accountability and management of project funds
Project Sponsor, client and project manager
Project Client
Coventry University shall own the project under proposed construction thus, the Coventry University shall be the client to the project
Project Sponsor
Coventry University shall fund the project solely from its available resources. Although the client shall outsource services from the external construction company, it shall provide some substantial labor from its building and design department. The project sponsor and the project manager shall conduct review meetings within which they shall deliberate on the project objectives, deliverables, and budget.
Project manager
The project manger shall remain the overall manager of the project throughout the duration of the project. The project manager shall successfully plan, implement, monitor, evaluate, and control the project aspects. The project manger shall be the coordinator between the project and the sponsor through preparation of the weekly progress reports in the best interest of the client and in line with the project standards.
Project Scope
The project shall entail the requisite planning and design of the construction of the football pitch. The closure of the project shall be subject to proper completion inspection and revision where necessary to ensure compliance with the set deliverables. The project shall include stages within which to accomplish specific deliverables discussed below.
Project Deliverables
To provide playing ground and facility that is cheaper by at least 15% compared to facilities provided by the nearby private grounds.
To provide a project Gannt chart that outlines the project schedule of activities and their completion time.
To deliver sustainable environmental safety during the project duration
To incorporate multiple security measures that include CCTV and other automated access procedures.
To design the best methodology that can determine and produce the safest and hygienic conditions
Project Stakeholders
Budget
The project proposes a total spending of approximately 3 million pounds. These amounts have been subdivided into specific work packages with a view of maintaining consistency and accountability of the funds. The project proposes a 15% incremental budget amount due to anticipated changes in the spending based on the assumed factors such as inflation and rising costs of labor.
However, the adjustments and additional utilization shall be subject critical evaluation and approval from the project manager. The projected budget variation shall be within the range of positive or negative 15% of the total project value (+or – 15%).
Projected project Budget
Amount (£)
Planning and design
630,000
materials and labor supplies
900,000
Site construction requirements
1,100,000
Pre and post construction Monitoring and inspections
300,000
Closure of the project
70,000
Total Spending
3,000,000
Total plus additional leeway spending (15%)
3,450,000
Organizational Breakdown Structure
Project Risks
The project team shall seek to identify potential risks by carefully checking the essential project components. This process aims at ensuring that stopgap measures are established to avoid the risk losses or mitigate the risks through contingency measures. The table below summarizes the potential project risks during the project duration.
Potential Risks
Actions to mitigate the Identified Risks
Insufficient Funding
The project shall utilize the services of the lead project accountants and financial controllers to ensure effective and efficient utilization and accountability for funds. Strict budget regulations shall be set in place to ensure minimal or no variation from the pre-planned budget estimates.
The project Officer and manager proposes to utilize efficient communication as a strategy for proper comprehension of the progress. In addition, the project Gannt charts shall assist in scheduling
Lack of appropriate skills and expertise
The project shall undertake a skills analysis prior to the commencement of the project, where in outsourcing shall serve to fill the identified skill gaps
Environmental hazards
Analysis of risks should be established to minimize the occurrence of hazards. Effective and efficient risk plans to ascertain the safety and healthy situation of the project participants and the environment remains essential.
Supplies delays by the contracted suppliers
Judges and Sons shall create a legally binding contract agreement that demonstrates punitive financial penalties for failure to comply with supply requirements.
Misinterpretation of the project requirements
The client and the project facilitators shall sign the requirements agreement. Additionally the project shall utilize project diagrams, schedules, charts, and documentation to ensure proper understanding of the project demands.
Withdrawal of the client
There shall be a design of a client confirmation agreement that shall bind the client to remain committed to the project up to its completion stage.
Project Assumptions
The project shall work under some specific assumptions and factors in which they shall be assumed as constant. These assumptions include;
The project funds have fully been channeled toward material completion of the project
The construction site for the proposed football pitch has been successfully identified by the University management
Approval for the project plan has been granted
The number of football funs and participants remains on an increasing trend over time
Project Control Procedures
During the commencement of the project, the University Management shall organize a lead team for the completion of the project. In this process, the University management has established a monitoring committee that shall oversee the project progress whose main purpose shall be in line with the approved project standards.
The monitoring committee shall constantly undertake to evaluate the progress and report the outcome to the project manager. The evaluation report shall serve as the basis for remedial action where appropriate with an aim of addressing the key project problems.
Progress and financial reports
The project architect shall be charged with the responsibility of ensuring daily management of the project design and costs. The selected architect shall remain the chief or lead consultant personality in the Design and Technical Team (DTT). The project team shall, in line with the standards set forth organize and deliver monthly progress reports. The Project Officer (PO) or the project manger shall chair these meetings.
Construction Stage
During this phase, Judges & Sons Construction Company shall carry out the monitoring on quality on a regular basis with a view to maintain the best-of-breed outcome. The project proposes a weekly quality and design review plan carried out at the construction site.
During this practice, the Lead Design Team, the Project Officer, and the Project Manager shall be present. This is to ensure that all the project issues identified are dealt with immediately while gaining firsthand experience with the ground rules.
Communication Process
Effective communication is critical and essential for any successful and efficient decision-making. Therefore, it is important that a smooth flow of information to ensure efficient communication channels during the project period.
The project lead team under the communication department shall ensure smooth transfer and dissemination of information to all departments and project stakeholders on a regular basis and often as may be necessitated by the project circumstances.
Throughout this process, project meetings held weekly and monthly shall help to facilitate efficient communication and clarify issues in the light of the project requirements. The communication shall be aided by efficient channels, including electronic media such as email, telephone calls, and conferences to ensure dissemination of key project information.
All the departments relevant to the project should come up with a uniform communication strategy that harmonizes the communication process to ensure effective delivery of information. The project shall implement a mixed form of communication that shall include open door, vertical and horizontal plans.
The most interesting and entertaining activities in the world are sports. Sports have billions of fans all over the world who are specifically obsessed with different types of games. Football is one of the most interesting and entertaining types of games with billions of fans across the world, from the youngest to the oldest. I have seen participation of many countries, multinational companies and billions of fans in world cup, thus depicting the extent of football obsession.
The successfulness of the world cup demands enormous amount of money, great talents of footballers and mammoth crowd of fans to cheer up and get entertained. Due to the interesting and entertaining nature of football, I have developed great obsession in that I cannot help missing even a single game especially world cup and National Football leagues. Football is harmless obsession because it is very entertaining, and enhances socialization, but it is has manipulative obsession as well.
Entertaining nature of football gives a lot of fun not only to the fans but also to the players themselves. As I am one of the many fans, I derive a lot of pleasure in cheering, yelling and watching tactical skills that players demonstrate in the field. Field is the only place where I can shout or yell as loud as I want without interfering or attracting unnecessary attention from the public.
The yells and shouts are forms of pleasure because they reduce my stress and enhance breathing mechanism of my lungs. Having gone through a stressful week, watching football on a screen or going into the field reduces stress and increases blood circulation in my body thus enabling me to feel good both physically and mentally.
For instance, whenever I have stress, I always watch a football match on the screen or go into the field where I can have freedom of shouting and yelling, and at the end of the day, I feel good and happy. As a fan of football, I derive more pleasure in watching, shouting and yelling, since these experiences reduce stresses in the mind attributed to too much reading or boredom. I am deeply obsessed with football to the extent that, if I do not play the game twice a week, I feel tired and weary.
Football enhances socialization because of its huge following. For me to watch a football match on the screen or in the field, I need fans so that I can competitively cheer up my team and make the match lively; otherwise, watching the match alone or with very few fans is very boring and disinteresting.
Football enhances socialization because no one can watch a football match alone without getting bored and therefore watching football match demands large crowd of fans, for the pleasure comes from the competitive cheering and company of friends.
I feel good when I am competitively cheering and in the company of many friends who are exciting and entertaining. Socialization aspects of football overwhelm and compel me to leave my comfortable room and go out in search of preferred theater where I can meet friendly fans and experience great pleasure of football that accompanies cheering and socializing with fans.
Overindulgence in football pleasure is manipulative, as I cannot do without watching football no matter the circumstances. Football pleasures have manipulated my priorities and daily timetable.
As a football fan, I no longer follow my personal timetable for I usually find myself tossed up and down by the influence of football pleasures and friends. Overindulgence in football pleasure has made me lose self-control and misplace my daily priorities. For instance, manipulative capacity of football game is so grave in that I can prefer to watch it than read for the imminent exams or tests.
For my case, it is easy to adjust my timetable in order to watch a football match in spite of impending exams but I feel guilty for neglecting priorities and consenting to the manipulations of football pleasure and friends. Moreover, overindulgence in football may result into gambling, which is very addictive and manipulative. When I wanted to demonstrate my prowess in football analysis, I would bet using a lot of money by predicting a probable winning team in a given match or the smartest player to score a goal.
Eventually, I develop sense of guilty and remorse in response to unnecessary loss of self-control and money due to the manipulative and compulsive nature of football pleasures. With great obsession of football, I am always bracing myself to cope with inevitable manipulations that can potentially make me lose self-control.
From experience, I can confirm that football is the most interesting and entertaining game with great pleasure and guilty as well. I derive a lot of pleasure from fans’ activities such as competitive cheering, objective watching of the playing tactics and socialization. These pleasures are very important, as they have helped me in reducing stress, getting physical fitness and effective socialization.
On the other hand, when I overindulge in football pleasures, I lose my self-control due to the manipulative and compulsive obsession of football. The loss of both self-control and money trigger a sense of guilty and remorse in me; therefore, football is a guilty pleasure game.
The need for a comfortable measure of certainty in the outcomes of human endeavors underscores the drive towards formulating strategy. Strategy involves allocating resources for achieving predetermined goals in the most efficient manner. Strategy has widespread application and is usually the responsibility of leadership. Military strategy applies to the management and deployment of armies to achieve certain goals. Various teams, sporting or otherwise, use strategy to improve their chances of getting the best results.
Business strategy is about maximisation of profits by arranging all the input factors in the most productive pattern. ‘Strategy creation is about doing the right things and is a primary concern of senior executives and business owners’ (Havard, 2005, p. xi). Mintzberg et al. (1998, p15) do not give a unified definition of strategy; rather they postulate that, ‘there may not be one simple definition of strategy but there are now some general areas of agreement about the nature of strategy.’
They proceed to identify five components of strategy in their 5ps of strategy. They say, ‘strategy is a plan’ (Mintzberg, et al.1998, p.9) to mean, ‘a direction, a guide or course of action into the future, a path to get from here to there’. In their statement of the second P they say, ‘strategy is a pattern, that is, consistency in behavior over time’ (Mintzberg, et al.1998, p.12).
In the third P they state, ‘strategy is a position, namely the locating of particular products in particular markets’ (Mintzberg, et al.1998, p.12). They say on the fourth P, ‘strategy is perspective, namely an organizations fundamental way of doing things’ (Mintzberg, et al.1998, p.13), and finally, they present the last P as follows; ‘strategy is a ploy, that is a specific ‘maneuver’ intended to outwit an opponent or competitor’ (Mintzberg, et al.1998, p.13).
Tour de France and Chelsea Football Club offers us a useful perspective in the study of various facets of strategy. The first Tour de France took place in 1903, where sixty riders participated.
It has evolved over time with each tour currently taking three weeks and including twenty stages, up from the initial six, and now covers much of France’s countryside including its mountains and some neighbouring countries. The total course distance exceeds 2000 miles. ‘The cyclist who completes a strenous and often perilous course of more than 2000 miles in the lowest total time wins’ (Dummies.com, 2010).
A key feature of the Tour is the different colours of special jerseys used by various riders. ‘Throughout the race, the reigning World Champion wears his team colors, but on a special jersey with horizontal stripes’ (Dummies.com, 2010). Individual riders participate in the Tour as part of a team, with any winner receiving support from teammates based on the team’s strategy.
Since the tour comprises several competitions and stages, team goals define the team’s efforts. Tour de France 2010 (2009) reports that, ‘different teams have different tour objectives, and so adopt different strategies’. It goes on to say that, ‘During the flatter stages, teams with outstanding sprinters like Tom Boonen, Mark Cavendish, and Thor Hushovd, are likely to work to reel in any breakaway, setting up a sprint finish that favors their fast men’ Tour de France 2010 (2009).
The other sports strategy case study is Chelsea Football Club. Chelsea Football Club, established in 1905, became English champions twice in its one hundred year history, between 1905 and 2005. Gus Mears founded Chelsea Football Club at a time when London had failed to send any team to the first division of the football league. ‘Mears had spotted the potential for a football club to play at an old athletics ground at Stamford Bridge, an open piece of land in West London’ (Chelaseafc Team History, 2010).
An interesting note on Chelsea’s formation is that ‘in contrast to the history of so many clubs, Mears decided to build a team for a stadium, rather than the other way round’ (Chelseafc Team History, 2010). Another first for Chelsea was that, because of Mears associate, Parker, who ‘proved persuasive’, at the football league AGM so that Chelsea, ‘became the first club ever to make the League without having kicked a ball’ (Chelseafc Team History, 2010).
Chelsea Football Club and the Tour de France will provide us with the analogy to use for an analysis of various aspects of strategy. Teams in the Tour de France, and in the football leagues work hard towards attaining success. To Succed in the Tour de France, teams of riders must have coordinated action, which is normally determined by the team’s objectives. ‘Different teams have different tour objectives, and so adopt different strategies’ (Tour de France 2010).
This compares well with the football leagues that Chelsea football club plays such as the English premier league. In both cases, each team must define a strategy for achieving its goals in each season or Tour.
Evidence of strategy in the Tour emerges as different teams take certain deliberate actions to leverage on opportunities. This is exemplified by the Tour de France (2010) report that, ‘As the race progresses, responsibility for chasing down breakaways typically falls to the team of the leader, or sometimes to teams who will see a rider in the breakaway as a threat to their well-placed riders’.
In a similar way, Chelsea football club strategises to win leagues and tournaments through various actions. This typically includes getting the best football talent, and having a futuristic view when signing up new players. An instance comparing two chelsea players, newly signed Sidwell and the veteran Ballack illustrates this point.
The Soccer Lens, the Best in Football (2007) says, ‘To state that Sidwell will out-perform Ballack in the upcoming season would be laughable, however to say that in two years time Sidwell will be competing with Ballack for a place in Chelsea as midfield would be realistic. In other words, the young midfielder is one for the future at the Bridge’ (Soccer Lens, the Best in Football, 2007). This shows that Chelsea signed up Sidwell as a strategic measure.
These stategies presuppose strategic planning by the Tour de France participants and by Chelsea Football club. They expose the forethough that goes into organising for a desired outcome during a strategic planning exercise. This sufficiently describes the thrust of strategic planning. The common strategy for winning a Tour de France is to, ‘conserve energy as much as possible for the times when it is needed most. (Tour de France 2010, 2009)
Elements of strategic management in the conduct of the Tour de France emerge in the selection of the team members and in the conduct of the race. A competitive team will usually have riders with certain skills and are able to provide the team with a competitive advantage. This makes it possible for the team to adapt to emerging situations either to expand its winning odds or to consolidate a commanding position. New developments emerge as the race takes shape, which may require adjustment to the original strategy.
Part of strategy may be working with your opponent to minimize a common threat by another participant. These serve to excite the “tour de France. ‘It’s the adhoc alliances and shifting rider and team strategies that make a stage race fascinating.’ (Tour de France, 2010. In addition, strategic options consideration and use take place depending on the prospects of good results. The teams are constantly on the lookout for, ‘stages that might favor their best climber’ (Tour de France 2010).
It aslo looks out for, ‘breaks where they can get a disproportionate number of riders from their own team, or a chance to launch a climbing specialist on a day-long solo expedition, where he can collect a jerseyful of King of the Mountain points’ ( Tour de France, 2010). The decisions to take these moves demonstrate strategic management by the teams in the Tour de France.
However, Grant (2005, p.9) warns that, ‘without effective implementation, the best-laid strategies are of little use’. This rings true in both the Tour de France and in the pursuit of the football championship by Chealsea Football Club, It is one thing to determine actions required to attain a goal and yet another to implement these actions effectively.
Moreover, goals dictate tactics and poor tactics can cause failure. Tactics are operational measures that are felxible to change and adjustments. Not changing ones tactics may prove fatal. If Chelsea ‘decides to stick to the tactics they have used in this past season, they might have a hard time achieving their main goal of winning the champions league’ (Soccer Lens, the Best in Football, 2007).
Resource constraints and availability affects strategy in several ways. Resources in the context of strategy will be specific to the set goals. Resources include finances, people, and time. The amount of resources available affect outcomes. Grant (2005, p.29) argues that, ‘Resource scarcity may engender ambition, innovation, and a ‘success-against-the-odds’ culture, while resource abundance may engender complacency and sloth.’ Chelsea seems to verify this argument.
When Chelsea signed in Shevchenko, ‘most football fans expected a goal scoring machine to arrive’ (Soccer Lens, The Best in Football, 2007). The upping of human resource for the club did not seem to pay dividends for the club. ‘The high expectations resulted in sheer pressure on the shoulders of Chelsea’s new striker; as a result he failed to settle in his first season at the Bridge and his performances have been generally criticized’ (Soccer Lens, The Best in Football, 2007).
The human resource in the Tour de France depends on strategy, Tour de France 2010 (2009) reports, ‘Many teams carry specialist sprinters, sometimes with one or more ‘lead-out men,’ who are fairly strong sprinters themselves, and give their all to put a team-mate at the front of a bunch in the last 200-300 meters of a stage’.
This kind of outlay seeks to insure competitive advantage for a team. Financial resources continue to determine which players Chelsea buys to meet its strategic needs and which riders a Tour de France team employs to have the best shot at the titles.
Sports provide an interesting analogy in the understanding of strategy. Most sporting activities have very clear goals and objectives hence lend themselves easily to strategic approaches.
Leagues, tournaments and other wide based organisational sporting events such as the Tour de France magnify this posibility. It is insufficient to look at Skill only in executing the sport, as a sucessfactor. Rather, many factors to do with what patterns to follow in the execution of the sport come into play. It is not just about winning a match or winning a stage, it is about winning the overall title.
The demands on individuals and teams alike, and their management take centre stage. Sports is also useful since it is much easier to tell whether a team had the best mix of strategy and resources, by the results it posts.in football, a teams strategy is immediately visible when its formation ismade public. Football coaches will create formations to meet the team’s greatest need, which could be defensive play or offensive play.
A big limitation with sports as an analogy for understanding strategy is that it does not provide an objective benchmark for a wide spectrum analysis of strategy. Winning a championship is a relative issue of being relatively better than your oponents who may have equally sound if not similar strategies. The scoreline is not the best parameter to use to judge good strategy. In sports too, great execution of an average stretegy may deliver results compared to poor execution of good strategy.
Another limitation is that most sporting activities take place in very controlled environments where penalties and reward are very clear, unlike business or military situations where the enviroment keeps changing and new trends and factors come into play effecting the execution of strategy. This makes sports insufficient for understanding dynamic elements of strategy and change management.
In conclusion, sports provide an easy to understand model for the application of strategy, but it does not provide the best analogy for most of the applications of strategic approach in dynamic environments. This limits its usefulness for advanced learning.
Grant, R. M., 2005. Contemporary Strategy Analysis. 5th ed. Malden, Ma: Blackwell Publishing.
Great Moments, 2010. Great Moments in the History of the Tour. Web.
Havard, 2005. Strategy- Create and Implement the Best Strategy for Your Business. Boston, Massachusetts: Havard Business School Publishing Corporation.
Mintzberg, H., Lampel, J., Ahlstrand, B., 1998. Strategy Safari. New York: The free press.
