Case study

Objectives:

The FIFA World Cup has become one of the largest sporting events in the World to date. The
World Cup unites 32 nations from various continents around the World every four years in one
host country. The 2010 FIFA World Cup was held in South Africa who spent an astonishing £2.4
billion on hosting the tournament. The concept of legacy that surrounds a major sporting event
plays a huge role within the modern world. By hosting the FIFA World Cup and spending so
much money on creating the event, South Africa looked to reap the benefits that came with the
tournament.

South Africa hosted FIFA 2010 for three major reasons:

1) Job creation
2) Economy boost
3) Tourism

However, the indirect benefits from improved perceptions abroad could have an even greater,
longer-lasting impact, not only on South Africa and its development but on the continent as a
whole. A successful soccer World Cup will help change the perceptions that a large number of
foreign investors hold of Africa.

Issues:

 Collusion and corruption: With great exposure to foreign investors and huge inflow of
cash for the tournaments, it is important to ensure the proper accounting of funds and no
misuse for personal greed.
 Failure to engage key stakeholders
 Specification of expensive technical requirements that were often not used post-event
Lack of clarity about FIFA stadium requirements, under the broad contractual umbrella
of “FIFA compliance,” and an ignorant appreciation of its complexity
 Political shift
 A desire to win, within a competitive bidding environment, resulted in over-optimistic
bid submissions

Major findings:

This study set out to investigate how the management and organization of the South Africa 2010
FIFA World Cup stadium program shaped the current legacy of an over-supply of over-designed
and underutilized stadiums.
Finance Minister, Gordhan was of the opinion that it has increased the productivity of the people
of South Africa, and that all the investment is part of the development and long-term planning
for the country. It has earned us the reputation of a country that can actually deliver, and that is
good for future growth
An estimated 130 000 jobs, most of them leading up to the World Cup, were created in the
construction, roads and transport and hospitality industry. According to the economist Dr A
Saville some of the immediate positive results for South Africa were:

■ 66 000 jobs were created in construction alone earning an average of R10 000 per
month.
■ More than R2 billion went to low-income households as a result of job creation
■ Skills upliftment and more people in the formal sector
■ Increased economic growth in the preceding years

The 2010 capital projects such as stadia, airport terminals and transportations infrastructure were
exemplary and as good as counterparts anywhere in the world. Some of the biggest lessons learnt
came from trying to keep the projects aligned in a continuously shifting environment, both
internal and external. Internal constraints related to financial resources where requirements far
exceeded initial estimates and human resources were frequently stretched beyond required levels
of competency. A post-event survey conducted by FIFA confirmed their belief that hosting the
event in South Africa would be a huge success. The survey results indicated that 83% of the
tourists expressed an intention to return to the country and 94% said they would recommend a
visit to South Africa to their friends and family. Visitors commented positively on the
atmosphere in South Africa. This is a very positive outcome for the Tourism sector in South
Africa.

The final recommendations that would be made however include; Better planning for variance
conditions. These conditions include: working environments and severance, stability of the Rand
against currencies or then bulk buying. Incorporating FIFA changes into the national strategy in
order to retain the positives. Thirdly, Increased time for team development on different projects.
If projects were tendered and started earlier, strikes and delays may have been less severe.

There remains enormous scope for further research into the question of how to improve the
management and organization of mega-event venue programs in ways that ensure the imagined
positive legacy materializes. Such knowledge is likely to be of increasing importance, as
developing nations increasingly turn to mega-events in the hope of reaping much needed
investment and economic stimulus. Failure to improve knowledge and practice guarantees that
the world's sporting entertainment will be paid for by those least able to afford it.
Questions

Given two set of requirements, one for the FIFA games and other for after the games, what
would be an appropriate way to define “Quality”?

Quality is about making organisations perform for their stakeholders – from improving products,
services, systems and processes, to making sure that the whole organisation is fit and effective.
FIFA recognizes the men's national teams of 208 nations as well as the women's national teams
of 129 nations. The World Cup is perhaps second only to the Olympics when it comes to truly
global sporting events. It shows that the definition of quality has changed over time, and even
today some variance is found in how it is described. However, some commonality can still be
found. The common element of the business definitions is that the quality of a product or service
refers to the perception of the degree to which the product or service meets the customer's
expectations. Consumers may focus on the specification quality of a product/service, or how it
compares to competitors in the marketplace. Producers might measure the conformance quality,
or degree to which the product/service was produced correctly. Support personnel may measure
quality in the degree that a product is reliable, maintainable, or sustainable.

The World Cup unites 32 nations from various continents around the World every four years in
one host country. The statistics below shows the bid book and the structure construction cost
respectively. The division and inclusion of the smallest of things tells us how important is the
quality of this legacy tournament. Good quality management can enhance your organisations
brand and reputation, protect it against risks, increase its efficiency, boost its profits and position
it to keep on growing. All while making staff and customers happier.
Quality is not just a box to be ticked. Failures resulting from poor governance, ineffective
assurance and resistance to change can, and do, have dire consequences for businesses,
individuals and society as a whole.

Quality factors to be taken in account for (in ascending order of importance)

FIFA Local Games

 Aesthetics  Durability
 Features  Reliability
 Conformance to FIFA standards  Serviceability
 Perceived Quality by stakeholders and  Features
customers.  Aesthetics
 Durability
As we can see above, cost of constructing a stadium according to FIFA requirements is
expensive and thus stadium or any infrastructure should be useful even after FIFA is over and
meet the local needs of the country. Thus constructing an overlay was an effective approach to
ensure quality for the FIFA games and for after the games.
List the Quality Management activities mentioned in the case.

Quality management ensures that an organization, product or service is consistent. It has four
main components: quality planning, quality assurance, quality control and quality improvement.
Quality also implies an absence of defects, which is why people often associate the terms quality
and defect. A defect is a nonconformity something other than what the customer had expected, a
problem or mistake. Quality management activities are those actions the quality team takes to
view the quality requirements, audit the results of control measurements and analyze quality
performance in order to ensure that appropriate quality standards and procedures are
appropriately implemented within the project. The goal of carrying out a project quality audit is
to reveal any missing or inefficient policies, procedures and/or processes that reduce quality
levels and increase the probability of project failure. The quality management activity allows
examining experienced problems, deviations in constraints, and any activities that provide a
value. It includes root cause analysis, fit analysis, methods for identifying and solving problems,
and techniques for developing corrective actions. A testing plan becomes a scenario for
analyzing, assuring and validating product quality.

Successful organizations have an ongoing focus on improvement. Improvement is essential for

an organization to maintain current levels of performance, to react to changes in its internal and
external conditions and to create new opportunities. Quality management activities make sure
that every year the quality of the tournament increases.
Quality Management Activities in the given case:

● Members of the LOC made several visits to Europe to learn from the 2006 FIFA World
Cup event held in Germany and the Euro 2008 event held in Austria and Switzerland
ensuring future quality control measures and making FIFA 2010 better. (Quality
Planning)
● Overlay were controlled by the Overlay contractor, while others, such as security, electric
power, back-up electricity, water supply and waste water drainage, were controlled by
others. (Quality Assurance)
● Once a stadium was nearly completed, a process was followed where all the relevant
stakeholders were required to attend an on-site inspection, with sign-off agreed by all of
them. (Quality Control)
● The FIFA publication, Football Stadiums Handbook, provides guidelines for planning
and executing FIFA events, and is updated after each FIFA World Cup event. (Quality
Planning)
● Efficient lighting systems and temperature control to reduce energy use, as well as ways
of using renewable energy sources such as solar panels. (Quality Improvement)
● Reducing fresh water use by improving sanitation systems, adapting cleaning schedules
and exploring options for collecting rainwater for specific activities such as watering the
pitch. (Quality Improvement)
● Responsible sourcing of the materials used in the stadium and for events, including the
definition of sustainability criteria in procurement processes. (Quality Assurance)
● Best practices and technologies for waste management to ensure appropriate destination
of waste, including recycling and reuse strategies and the use of sustainable cleaning
products. (Quality Improvement)
● Approaches on how to engage with communities in the vicinity of the stadium to address
their concerns and ensure their support. (Quality Control)
● Accessibility: how to ensure that disabled people can access the venue and that their
complex and multiple access requirements are met. (Quality Improvement)
Comment on the reporting structure and responsibility for audits and reviews.
Who should have provided quality guarantees?
What planning processes and techniques would have been helpful regarding the roles of the
various stakeholders?

The reporting structures were divided in various levels. They were:

 Overlay Contractors, Stadium designers and host city professionals reported to the Local
Organizing Committee(LOC)
 Local Organizing Committee(LOC) reported to the Executive Committee and Board
 Local Organizing Committee(LOC) reported to the South African Football Association
(SAFA)
 South African Football Association (SAFA) reported to FIFA and the task team
appointed by South African Government.
 Task team appointed by the South African reported to The Government and FIFA

The responsibilities were clearly divided between these reporting structures. Such a hierarchy is
important in big projects even if it requires more co-ordination and higher chances of conflict
because:
 An effective organizational structure is maintained
 A sense of authority and unity
 Accountability
 A clear career path
 FIFA

South African
Stadium Owners
Governemnt

Task Team
appointed by
South African
Governemt

Executive
Local Organizing
Committee and
Committee(LOC)
Board

LOC Technical
Team

Stadium Host City Overlay

Designers Proffesionals Contractors

Hence generally there needs to be a management figure in place in order to make final decisions
and also to be held accountable for those decisions.

The responsibility of Audits and Reviews was not only on FIFA and the Technical Committee of
the LOC but also on the government agencies and all the stakeholders in general.
 •Ensured FIFA •Took updates on
compliance progress through
virtual meetings.
•Visited host cities to
help, assess and • Took charge of these
inform them about meetings
FIFA compliance
rules.
LOC Tecnical
FIFA
Committes

Host Cities
and their
Stakeholdders
technical
teams
•Updated progress to • Attended meetings to
Loc and FIfa understand
•Took part in meetings requirements and
to be fully aware of address the concerns.
requirements

Thus we see the responsibility of each member in the reviews and audit process. Characteristics
of the audit process were:
 Signed presence of all stakeholders taken
 Signed agreements of Onsite inspection
 Minutes of the meetings recorded
 Photographic recording of sites and meetings taken
 Virtual Tours by stakeholders and host cities

Quality guarantees should have been provided mainly by the LOC technical Teams with
directions from FIFA because:
 LOC teams were in the same country unlike FIFA officials and their regular visits to host
cities would help them meet the project requirements better.
 They were aware of the FIFA guidelines because of the FIFA handbook and several visits
to other European Countries where such events took placed
 They worked under the SAFA and were well aware of the financial constraints and
requirements of the project.
 They were well versed with the conditions and the difficulties of the area as the host city
professionals worked directly under them. Thus it would reduce conflict caused due to
geographical distances.
Quality planning practices followed by the project were:
 Benchmarking with 2006 FIFA
 Standards to be met were clearly stated.
 Responsibilities and authorities for
 Budgeting responsibilities were clearly stated

Not followed were:

 Project was not divided in phases and phases of each requirement to be completed to
reach the next phase were not clearly stated.
 Deadlines could have been kept to ensure proper progress.
 Could have done modelling and prototyping of the various stadiums to match the FIFA
requirements and standards and also help stadium designers figure out the construction of
other amenities near the stadium.
 Project master plan for procurement, risk, human resources, safety and communications
could have been made by LOC.
 Design reviews could have been conducted in a better way.
Comment on the problem of people from different organizations working in the same space
at the same time.

Problems faced when people from different organisations work at the same place at the same
time are:

 Absence of identity: Members don't feel mutually accountable to one another for the
objectives. There is a lack of commitment and effort, conflict between the organisational
goals and personal goals, or poor collaboration.

 Difficulty making decisions: Members may be rigidly adhering to their positions during
decision-making or making repeated arguments rather than introducing new information.
Ambiguity in authority can lead to difficulties in decision-making across the
[Link] process, formal or informal to follow in making decisions among are
different from one organisation to another and need to be clearly understood by the
members.

 Cultural Challenges: Culture is the long standing implicitly shared values, beliefs and
assumptions that influence the behaviour, attitudes and meaning in an organisation. It’s
difficult for two organisations working together to carry out its same culture because
employees seldom replace their underlying values and beliefs in the long run. There will
be shifts in management practices and strategies, which can have negative implications
on the people at the organisation. A sudden shift in these practices, brings disruption and
unease to a company.

 Lack of Understanding of Project Roles : When there are too many organisations that
are a part of a project, following a hierarchy becomes very difficult as people are unaware
of each other and there is general lack of trust.

 Issues of Accountability in Case of Errors: In case of mishaps or errors there can be

conflict among the various organisations in terms of who exactly is accountable for the
error. Thus clear responsibilities have to be defined and even people who are accountable
have to be decided before the execution of the project.
FIFA 2010 World Cup
South Africa

Arushi Agarwal I003

Abhirati Ghosh I011
Harshula Jhala I022