Venue contingency planning for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games

Identifies major issues of the contingency planning process covered by the Sydney Organizing Committee of Olympic Games (SOCOG) with regard to the various venues. For the evaluation of the findings the Australian Business Excellence Framework has been used. The methodology includes a literature review and five in-depth interviews with individuals who played an active role in the planning process. The results indicate that as far as the overall planning process is concerned, there has been: a lack of communication between the three levels of hierarchy within SOCOG 2000 (senior management, contingency planning project team and venue teams); a limited involvement of the venue management in the process in all levels; a poor follow up regarding the evaluation and the documentation of the contingency plans made; and a considerable inadequacy in terms of 'real life' exercises that would enable the venue teams' personnel to practice what has been planned.