Issues and Strategies Pertaining to the Canadian Governments' Coordination Efforts in Relation to the 2010 Olympic Games

Abstract

The purpose of this article was to understand the government stakeholder group's coordination issues and strategies in mega-events, here, the 2010 Olympic Games. The case study was built by means of archival material, interviews, and observations. All three levels of government were included (i.e., the two host municipalities, the host province, and the federal government). Findings highlight five contextual-based issues (time, geography, funding, other resources, and the political situation) and eleven other types of issues (accountability/authority, activation/leveraging, knowledge management, legal, operational, planning, power, relationships, social issues, structure, and turnover). Eight strategies were used to address these issues: communication processes, decision-making frames, engagement, flexibility, formalized agreements, human resource management procedures/principles, strategic planning, and structural framework. The relationships between issues and from issues to strategies are discussed, as are within-group stakeholder heterogeneity and the impact the findings have on public administration theory and practice.

Keywords:

• Mega-event
• government
• stakeholder management
• coordination
• Olympic Games
• public administration

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by grants from the 2010 Federal Secretariat, the University of Ottawa interdisciplinary fund and Faculty of Health Sciences initiation of research grant, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) grant # 410-2009-0523. The authors also wish to thank Benoit Séguin, François Rocher, and Jean-Loup Chappelet for their involvement with this research project, as well as the government partners and the International Olympic Committee for their support.