Exploring major sports events volunteering challenges

The research question/problem

What is the theme/topic that you will address? Why is it worth investigating? Who will benefit and in what ways

Sports events are organized from a mere school/institution level to international level. Intramurals, district championships, national & state-level competition, world championship and federation cups, summer and winter Olympics, run for unity/fun/fitness/cause, industrial/corporate sporting events, etc. All the genders and ages groups are covered throughout the world. Events like Paralympics and Deaflympics cover the strata of society which is differently able and adapted. However, seeking education dissertation help is going to alleviate some of the pressure, as it will allow students in place to excel both in their studies and athletic areas.

Organizational setup of any sporting festival depends upon the level of competition or number of competitors/participants. The task of planning is an intellectual process of thinking in advance, setting goals, developing strategies and their execution by various committees involves paid employees and volunteers (paid and unpaid) which gives final shape for successful completion of any sports festival.

The volunteers are the first person who meets, interact, resolve, and help any guest, participant, athlete coming to witness or compete in the event. Therefore they need excellent communication skills, strong interpersonal skills and ability to deal with a diverse range of people. The basic idea for organizational setup could be as follows: Director>Assistant Director>Executive Director>Mentors/Coordinators>Committees (technical, transport, reception, boarding and lodging, ground equipment, medical and first aid, protest, publicity, finance, refreshment, etc)

Selection of volunteers and allotment of duties is again a challenge for organizing a committee. Keeping the morals and sense of responsibility for volunteers during the course of competition/event is very important. The lack of motivation during events may result in loss of volunteers as human resource.

Arranging transport facility, refreshment, attendance record, making hierarchy, police verification, hospitality training, breaking language barrier (by teaching them the common language of communication), etc are some of the challenges faced by the organising committee.

Though there would be certain differences between developing and developed countries while conducting or hosting an event but the foundations for a team selection is same.

Every time from the opening ceremony to conduct of games and till closing ceremony the team of volunteers and committee members needs to be on toes. Every year a new host is praised for the better organization than the previous host. For Example, China hosted the XXIX Olympiad (Beijing 2008) were 10942 athletes participated. It was said that China didn’t lose its culture. They promoted games and sports along with their culture, tradition, tourism. They were said to be best for hosting a multi sport event. Now again they are all set for 2022 winter Olympics. China has a barrier of communication (English). They have started teaching English to locals and even natives of remote areas. India promoted (Atithi Devo Bhava) during commonwealth games 2010 and charged no extra fare or tickets with any of the foreigners or visitor. All the entry tickets to archeological monuments and places were the same for everyone. Even the number of volunteers was increased to 35% after witnessing a huge footfall of tourists and spectators.

The volunteers worked 14 hours without tiring and all the facilities from commuting to food were free for them. A semi-structured model stands for a flexible, dynamic, changeable or situational design of an interview, questionnaire or survey which could fit the basic and specific needs of the committee.

Background and context

One of the significant challenges before the organizations in event management sector is to acquire adequate human resources, which can be used to manage an event successfully in its business market. Various empirical studies indicate that there can be a limited workforce of an organization to plan for an event (Smith et al., 2014). However, along with the size and scale of the event; the need for human capital increases. This is one of the major reasons why companies operating in event industry of a country consider the approaches of volunteering. In this approach, organizations source people from the markets, which are supposed to take part in different activities associated with the event and contribute to organizational excellence (Benson and Wise, 2017). According to several studies and business analysts; volunteering is one of the most admirable approaches, which can be considered by organizations in the event industry. Volunteering allows the organizations to execute the work planning and event management within the given time frame.

However, the concept of volunteering in event management is new; but, it has acquired enough significance in current times. Organizations which are supposed to organize mega-events such as the Olympic Games and many others readily use the approaches of volunteering for successful management of the event (Parent and Chappelet, 2017). Various studies have shown that there are many other domestic as well as international events in which volunteers are invited and utilized. In the year 2018, Football World Cup Event was organized in Russia through which the country not only promoted its rich culture; but also gained considerable profitability, which resulted in an economic boost to the country. The study reveals that while organizing the event; there was intense use of volunteers by the organizers due to which successful execution of the event was possible (Taylor et al., 2015). It is analyzed from several studies that approaches are volunteering are increasing especially in the event industry and has immense contribution in determining the profitability and productivity.

Other studies carried out on event industry indicate that volunteers act as a prominent asset to the organizations in enhancing their productivity level and bringing success. However, this consideration is not accepted by business analysts and scholars around the world. Many business analysts argue that approaches of volunteering if considered by an organization can also pose several challenges before it (Qi et al., 2018). Since, volunteers are the external entities, which get associated with the organization for a limited duration; therefore, organizations have to face many difficulties in coping up with them and targeting the productivity at the same time. These challenges not only enhance the operating income of the companies in the event sector; but also affect the performances level. For this reason, the role of the volunteers become questionable in event organizations (Benson and Wise, 2017). It is argued that why event companies should consider volunteering when they are required to make additional efforts to acquire productivity during an event.

It can be understood that while organizing international events, companies cannot source the temporary employees from their home countries, which pose significant challenges of human capital resourcing before them (Smith et al., 2014). In order to resolve this issue, approaches are volunteering are prevalent in which people living in local areas are targeted as temporary employees. These approaches are accountable for reducing the operating cost to the company as they can easily negotiate with the volunteers over wages and payments. Despite making payments to the volunteers, organizations operating in the international event sector face challenges of dealing with volunteers (Benson and Wise, 2017). These may include language barriers, allocation of work and responsibilities and many more. The challenges can affect the overall progress of the events and pose difficulties before the organizers.

The purpose of the current research work will be to evaluate the significant challenges before the organizations operating in the event sector due to the approaches of volunteering while managing an event. The research study will be empirical in nature and will explore various facts related to volunteering in the event sector. There will be several areas relate to volunteering approaches in event management, which will be covered in the research work. These may include reasons behind consideration of volunteering approaches in the event sector, approaches of volunteering and many more. The research work will be particularly focusing on the challenges and difficulties faced by the event organizations while adopting the approaches of volunteering. Along with this, the final research study will also be explaining certain measures through which the identified difficulties and challenges can be managed. In the research work, there will be a focus on explaining the facts with real-time information on event management and volunteering approaches with examples. This way, the final study will be developing immense knowledge about the challenges related to volunteering in the event management sector.

Rationale of Research

The current research work will have high rationale and significance. The research work will be exploring the facts on volunteering approaches, which are considered by the organizations operating in the event industry. This information can be used as a guideline for the event companies about how to manage the volunteers. Not only this, but the research work can also be used in event organizations to acknowledge the challenges associated with volunteering, which may affect their productivity. This way, the study will be helpful in developing feasible and productive plans for event managers in organizations. Along with this, the research work will be providing recommendations and suggestions on managing the volunteers so that the identified challenges can be reduced. This information may help the companies to regulate their workplace practices and acquire high productivity while managing the events.

Further, it can also be said that the current research work will be developed primarily for academic purposes. Therefore, it can be considered as a valuable guide by the students and scholars who wish to carry out the further research study on the same or similar topic. Outcomes, drawn from this research work can be used as evidence to support the findings in future research. Therefore, the current research work is found to have many use and importance due to which it has high rationale and significance.

Research Aim and objectives

The aim of this research work will be to explore the major challenges, which are faced by the organizations managing sports events. The research work will be highlighting the difficulties due to the adoption of volunteering approaches by the event organizations.

Research Objectives

There are many research objectives, which will be considered for accomplishing the aim of the current research work. These research objectives include:

To analyze the approaches of volunteering considered by organizations and their influence on productivity while managing a sports event

To explore various challenges faced by the event organizations due to volunteering during sports events

To evaluate the impacts of the above-identified challenges on the productivity of sports events

To present and recommend ways through which challenges due to volunteering approaches can be reduced or minimized

Research questions

This chapter in the current research study will be providing an introduction to the topic of the research. Along with this, a research background on the topic will also be included in the chapter. Further, the chapter will also explain research aim, objectives and questions.

The purpose of this chapter in the current research work is to present the preliminary study in which existing literature have been evaluated. The chapter will include the prominent findings of the studies, which have been carried out by other scholars on the same or similar research topic.

This chapter in the final research work will develop an understanding of how the study has been accomplished. For this reason, information related to research philosophy, approach, design, methods of data collection and many others will be described.

philosophy. It is found that there are several research philosophies, which could be considered for accomplishing different research works such as positivism, interpretivism, pragmatic and many others. These research philosophies are suitable for different types of researches. For example, in positive research philosophy, one unique outcome of the study is considered. The current research work will be completed through interpretive research philosophy in which data and information will be collected from various sources. Further, suitable interpretations will be made on the analyzed data, which will be helpful in drawing suitable outcomes. It can be said that use of interpretive research philosophy will allow the researcher to gain credibility over the drawn outcomes and conclusions as the interpretations will be made considering different views on volunteering challenges in major sports events.

Research approach

Along with the research philosophy, the research approach is also considered as an integral part of the research methodology. The research approach can be understood as the set of actions and practices, which are taken by a researcher or scholar for the collection and analysis of the data and making suitable conclusions from it (Maxwell, 2012). For accomplishing the current research work, there are two research approaches, which include inductive and deductive research approach. The inductive research approach is found suitable for the studies in which a new theory, model or concept is being developed. On the other hand, the deductive approach includes analysis of the existing literature and presenting them as evidence for the drawn outcomes. It is found that there are many existing kinds of literature and research studies in which challenges associated with volunteering have been identified. For this reason, no new concept or theory could be developed due to which the deductive research approach is the most suitable for the current study. In this approach, pre-existing kinds of literature can be used for justification, which is also likely to enhance the credibility factor for the outcomes.

Research design

Research design can be explained as the structure, which is considered by a scholar to shape his or her research study (Creswell and Poth, 2017). It can be understood that in order to accomplish their research works, different scholars consider different research design and structure based on their needs and requirements. There can be many types of research design, which are suitable for executing the current research work. These designs may include exploratory research design, explanatory research design, case study research, comparative research, experimental research design and many more. Out of these research designs, exploratory and explanatory research designs will be used for accomplishing the current research work. The exploratory research design will be helpful in finding the challenges, which are faced by event organizations while managing a major sports event due to volunteering. On the other hand, explanatory design of the research will provide justifications to the findings. This way, the use of both the research designs is likely to enhance the validity of the outcomes, which will be drawn in the final research study. Not only this but, the chosen research design will also improve the efficiency of the research in presenting the topic to the readers and audiences.

Data collection

Data collection is one of the most important practices for executing a research study in a successful manner. Quality of the data may directly influence the quality of its outcomes (Palinkas et al., 2015). Therefore, it becomes essential for the researchers to collect the most relevant data for analysis. In order to accomplish the current research work, there will be a focus on collecting qualitative as well as quantitative data. Qualitative data will provide theoretical support to the research while quantitative data will provide statistical and real-time information. Along with this, primary as well as secondary data will be collected for executing the current research work. Primary data will be gathered from the real-time organizations active in the event industry, which use volunteering approaches for managing major sports events. For this purpose, a semi-structured interview will be organized. These people will be asked to provide their answers about the challenges due to volunteering in the event sector. Not only this but, secondary data will be collected from the literature and research papers, which have been executed previously on the same or similar topic. These may include books, journal articles, internet websites and many others (Englander, 2012). This way, there will be a focus on collecting the data from multiple sources while exhibiting the current research work.

Sampling is a technique which is used for the collection of primary data from the people taking part in a study. For completing the current research study, a sample of 100 participants will be taken, which will include various employees working in an event organization. For this purpose, organizing committee members of an event organization such as managers, permanent employees and volunteers will be considered as samples, who will be asked to take part in an interview and give their responses in the questionnaire.

Data analysis techniques

Since the current research work will be completed through primary data obtained through the interview questionnaire; therefore, many data analysis techniques will be used. All the responses given by the samples will be recorded in audio formats for proper analysis. Along with this, answers given by the samples will be categorized as per their designation in the event organization. Use of various calculating tools such as calculators, computers and many others will be observable in data analysis techniques. Further, multiple rounds of data analysis session will be considered to eliminate errors and mistakes.

Ethical considerations for the research

Ethical considerations are the actions which are taken by a scholar to accomplish the research without breaching the standard research protocols (Miller et al., 2012). It is highly important for scholars to consider ethics while carrying out the research to gain credibility over the outcomes and conclusions. There are several ethical considerations, which will be made while completing the current research work. All the participants in the research will be ensured that their identity will be kept confidential. Under no circumstances, names and other crucial details will be revealed. Not only this but, a consent form will also be filled by the participants in which they will declare that they were not forced to take part in the study. Along with this, there will also be a focus on the authenticity of the data and information obtained from secondary sources. Any information or data, which can raise conspiracies or doubts, will not be included in the final research work. Further, it can also be said that all the real-time information obtained from the participants will be destroyed after the completion of the current research work. This way, the final research work will be accomplished considering many ethics, which will increase the quality of the study.

Risk assessment

Every research work is reported to have some risks, which can affect its quality and execution. The current research work on exploring the challenges due to volunteering in major sports events is also likely to have many risks and accessibility issues (Englander, 2012). There can be risks that the participants of the study might be unwilling to give the appropriate answers. For this purpose, all the participants will be ensured about the privacy and they will be asked for their surety over the answers. Along with this, the research will also have risks of data theft. Therefore, all the information acquired through the questionnaire and other sources will be kept in password-protected devices. This is how; risks of a privacy breach and data theft will be addressed while executing the final research work.

Time plan

There will be several approaches and practices, which will be considered for completing the current research work. These approaches along with the time allocated for them can be understood from the following g Gantt chart.

While executing the current research work, there will be a keen focus of the researcher that all the resources, which will be considered for the collection of the data, have high relevancy with the research topic. The information will be obtained from academic sources such as books and research papers. Along with this, it will be ensured that all the participants involved in the study belong to the organising committee of the organizations which operate in the event management sector. This way, the resources will be used for carrying out the research work properly.

The current research required the scholar to look at the facts and information about the challenges faced by the organizations operating in the event sector due to volunteering approaches while managing a major sports event. For proper conduction of the research work, a preliminary study has been carried out in which existing literature and sources have been evaluated. All the sources considered for the preliminary study have provided many facts and valuable information about the research topic. For evaluating the preliminary studies; the following analysis can be done.

Strengths of preliminary studies

Preliminary studies conducted are highly similar to the topic of the current research work and are helpful in understanding that organizations operating in event industry consider the approaches of volunteering to reduce their operating cost. With this approach, organizations are able to compete against their rival companies. Further, it is also found in preliminary studies that there are two types of volunteering considered in the event sector, which include paid and unpaid volunteers. Along with this, the preliminary study also provides information about the basic structure, which is followed in the event organization. This structure helps in understanding the position of volunteers and other professionals in the event industry. Many examples related to sports event were also described in the study, which develops a basic understanding of requirements in major sports events. In addition, the study has also highlighted some challenges with volunteering for the event organizations such as the development of records, need for hospitality training, language barriers and many others.

Weaknesses and limitations of preliminary studies

However, the preliminary study carried out above is providing immense knowledge about the sports events; but, information regarding the contribution of the volunteers in major sports events is missing. Along with this, there can be many other challenges which are faced by the event organizations due to volunteering approaches other than language barriers. Lack of proper information on the challenges has brought some limitations to the research works. These researches cannot be used to understand all the challenges. Therefore, organizations operating in the event sector cannot develop an effective plan for managing a major event successfully with volunteering approaches. Further, the preliminary researches do not target any specific event due to which have may have implication issues also. There is also very less statistical information available on volunteering challenge in sports events. Therefore, preliminary research works have many weaknesses and limitations.

Opportunities associated with preliminary studies

There are several opportunities associated with the preliminary studies, which have been conducted above. Since the study discusses the approaches of volunteering and sports events such as Olympic Games and many others; therefore, there is scope for further research work, which can be focused on challenges related to volunteering in major events. Along with this, preliminary studies can also be used for providing justification for the outcomes and conclusions in future research works. Further, it can also be said that preliminary studies can be used for providing references to future research works. Information about the Olympic games and many others can be used for this purpose.

Threats associated with preliminary studies

This way, it can be said that there are many strengthening as well as limiting factors associated with the preliminary research on volunteering challenges in the major event sector.

Implications of the main study

Based on the preliminary studies carried out above, a proposal for the main study on “Exploring the major sports events volunteering challenges” are made. The main study will have many implications, which are described in the following manner.

The study can be used by academic researchers and scholars in the future, which will have interests in carrying out research on the same topic. Various facts and information described in the report may guide the researchers to carry out the research work successfully. The research work will also be explaining many other topics, which are directly related to volunteering such as the development of event plans and many others. These considerations may allow students and scholars to carry out research works effectively.

Since the main study will be statistical in nature; therefore, it can be utilized by the organizations operating in the event sector to shape up their strategies to cope up with the challenges of volunteering. The research work will include many recommendations, which could be used by the organizations to optimize their productivity while managing an international or major sports event. Organizations in the event sector may develop effective business plans considering the recommendations and information described in the main research to manage the successful major sports events.

Further, the research work will be carried out through primary data, which will correspond to the real-time organizations operating in the event industry. Therefore, the main research could be used to analyze the real-time situations related to the challenges associated with volunteering. This information can be helpful in determining whether the volunteering approaches used by the organizations are likely to raise challenges before the companies.

This way, the main research work will have several implications, which is likely to make it significant and important for academic as well as organizational use.

Development of the researcher’s skills

As far as implications of the main research work on “Exploring the major sports events volunteering challenges” are considered; it can be said that the main research will have immense contribution in enhancing the skills of the researcher. This can be understood from the following facts.

Development of communication skills: During the main research work, the researcher will be communicating with the professionals in the event industry for acquiring answers to the answers during the interview. These practices are likely to enhance the communication skills of the researcher. The researcher will analyze the professional communication used by the members of the organising committee. These approaches are likely to educate the researcher and make him or she learn the ways to use communication as a potential tool to convince others and seek desired outcomes (Van Driel and Berry, 2012). This way, communication skills can be acquired by the researcher by conduction the current research work.

Development of analytical skills: Along with the development of communication skills, the researcher is also likely to enhance his or her analytical skills. It can be said that while executing the current research work; the researcher will be required to collect the data from different sources and analyze it further (Schunk and Zimmerman, 2012). For this reason, the researcher is likely to acquire the skills of qualitative and quantitative analysis. Not only this but, interpretations likely to be made by the researcher on a research topic from different perspectives will also develop the abilities of rational vision for the researcher. Therefore, analytical skills are also prominent skills with the main research work.

Development of information search and management skills: It can be said that while executing the final research work, the researcher will be collecting data and relevant information to the topic from various sources. For this purpose, many rounds of data search will be carried out. These approaches are likely to enhance the abilities of the researcher to collect suitable data, which may contribute to the successful execution of studies in further (Zuber-Skerritt, 2013). Along with this, the researcher will also acknowledge the ways about how to protect, manage and use the data in the most effective way. These skills are likely to enhance the prospects of employment for the researcher.

Development of professional attitude: The final research work will allow the researcher to present it in a professional manner. Along with this, interaction with the respondents involved in the research and many others will develop professionalism for the researcher. With these skills, the researcher may acquire a suitable job opportunity in the future (Chipman et al., 2013). Not only this but, demonstration of professional skills will also enhance the growth of the researcher during his or her tenure.

Development of time management skills: The current research work will be executed by the researcher within a limited time frame. Since there are many activities associated with research work; therefore, it will be essential for the researcher to manage them within time. Practices of time allocation and completion of tasks will be effective in developing time management skills for the researcher (Schunk and Zimmerman, 2012).

Knowledge about volunteering in the event sector: The current research work will be focused particularly on the volunteering challenges in the context of the event sector. Successful completion of the research work will allow the researcher to acquire adequate knowledge about the event industry. With this knowledge, the researcher can enhance his or her performance in the event sector and manage the challenges due to volunteering.

This way, it can be said that the current research work is likely to develop a number of skills for the researcher.

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