The Olympics: Ethical Issues

Keywords: olympian drug taking, olympics ethics

Olympics is considered as one of the biggest international events in the history of sports. It stages athletes from countries all over the world. It is held every four years and the complete event would last for more than two and a half weeks. It is considered as one of most popular sporting event in the world, with over a thousand sportsmen taking part in more than twenty sporting events. The audience wide worlds which are viewing the Olympics are over a billion. The Olympics was started nearly 3000 years ago in Greece, this was done to honor the greek gods, athletes would train over a period of time to compete against other athletes to compete in Olympia where the winners are rewarded with a crown of olive eyes, which would bring fame, victory and respect. New events were introduced as time passed, and a huge range of sporting events came into place which encouraged more people to take part in the events. Despite earlier struggles, the Olympic Games have developed into one of the world’s most recognizable global brands, and a key event on the international sporting and events calendar, anticipated by athletes, sport enthusiasts and coach potatoes alike ( Amis and Cornwell , 2005)

Olympics is hosted once in every four years and its hosted by a specific city , not a country . Olympics are divided into special Olympics like Winter Olympics, Paralympics and the special Olympics , which are specifically designed for people with disabilities. The city in which the Olympics is hosted , it would have various sites in and around the city where different sporting events would be taking place, it also has to provide an Olympic Village where the competitors and their coaches would be living . Every country has its own Olympic organization which has the responsibility for looking after its team. Olympics which is seen as the biggest event with tremendous amount of time spent in planning and designing and the implementation.

Attributes most closely associated with the Olympic image are positive, aspirational and emotional; such as being the best, trustworthy, inspirational, peaceful, honorable, participation and striving (International Olympic Committee 2001, p. 9). One of the important powerful symbols for the Olympics is the Olympic torch, representing freedom, a lack of cultural barriers and harmony

Olympic Marketing

Marketing is one of the most powerful tool used in Olympics with the help of corporate sponsorship. Corporate sponsorship have been divided into various categories like the official sponsor, official license and the the official license which are given to sponsors who invest in this mega event for a month. The income which they earned was over 215 Million US dollars. Huge corporate sponsorship was seen during the event in 198 when the games where held in Los Angeles, that when Olympics was recognized as a competition which earned a multi million pound and everyone wanted to be a part of the event

DRUG USE – ETHICAL ISSUES IN OLYMPICS

The use of drug to enhance the performance in sports has been from long hisrory . In the greek society , the role of sports have prominent from 400 BC. Victory in ancient Olympics gave the winners lot of fame , money , house, exemptions from tax and army service. From those people have been taking enhancing drugs in form of plant extracts and mushroom , it was one of the major reason why dissolution of ancient Olympics happened. In roman empire chariot racers fed their horses with enhancing drugs so that they could run faster and gladiators were ‘doping’ to make the entertainment vigorous and bloody for the paying audience.

” it is relevant to note a recent initiative to better link sports management and ethical sustainable development. Industry bodies are encouraged to take up ethically considered action that will strengthen the field and enhance the use of sport for education and economic development purposes whilst safeguarding future generations from the identified threats existing in the sports environment ” ( T. Eleni,pp. 48 )

” Self regulating and incitemen mechanisms for athletes sponsors and the media must be established inorder o fight the lethal dangers in sports permitting sports to remain safe for those who practice it, for society in general and to serve harmonious human development everywhere , as the preample to the Olympic charter states” ( T. Eleni, pp. 48)

It has become more important to keep the notion of the sport which is supported by the slogan as ” safe “. In broader term which mean sports which is sustainable, which is addiction free, fair and ethical. It should be sustainable by which sports should not lead to construction of facilities which are inappropriate or organizing events which are gigantic which on the contrary helps the sports to create development which is balanced. Sports should be addiction free by which it avoids the use of all of enhancing drugs but instead promoting sports which in turn contributes towards better health. Sports should be fair by not allowing it to be turning into physical or moral violence, but making it more effective as an educational tool which is incomparable, and Ethics in sports should contribute towards sound and effective economy, by not allowing it to become corrupted or criminal in nature.

” By promoting, managing and financing a SAFE sport managers and planners can contribute to a harmonious human development everywhere and meet the needs of the present sportsmen/women, athletes and fans without further harming sport or compromising the ability of future generations to enjoy sport at its best” ( T. Eleni, pp. 49).The call for a social responsibility is a must, it ranges from responsibilities which is contractual, for stakeholders development and considerations of economic, ethical and legal have to be made. It is done for effective relationship between employees , customers, community, competitors, government and investors who have interest in the particular event or company.

” The use of drugs in sport has been widely reported by the media in recent years to the extent that many people consider it to be a modern day phenomenon. There is evidence , however , of a long history of the use of drugs in sport to enhance performance that can be tracked to Greek times

( Cahmore, 1996)

Political Scandals Surrounding the Olympics

As the Olympic Games were increasingly become popular, the games have become a tool of political nature. Most of the countries use special competitors as political ambassadors. One of the objectives in charter of Olympics, the IOC ( International Olympic Committee) is to oppose any abuse of political nature in sports and athletics. Over the years 3 major Olympics have been cancelled during the world wars and due to this in the year 1920 countries like Austria, Hungary, Germany and Turkey were not allowed to participate In the event due to their role in the world war I . Of all the Olympic games which took place, the Berlin Game which took place is 1936 was the most influenced game as the games were awarded to Berlin which was quite evident that Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany would have complete control over the Olympic Games, it was a total display of political strength . However Hitler failed in the proving the theory of superiority of race when he was frustrated over black athletes like Jesse Owens winning four gold medals in different events.

The Olympic Games are not new to criticism, controversy and negative connotations, most commonly relating to perceived commercialism and the politicising of the event itself (Roche 2002; Lenskyj 2000)

Another example of the Political events linked with the Olympics when a group of terrorists attacked the Israeli headquarters during the Olympics in Munich and killed two people instantly and murdered another 9 during a failed rescue attempt by the German police at the airport. All of these examples show how different countries use Olympics as a venue for making their Political stand

DRUG USE – A MORE CONTEMPORARY PHENOMENON

( Coakely , 1994) Use of amphetaminine abuse in 1960s which indicates how widespread drug abuse had become , which led the authorities to attempt to eradicate he problem. 1960s the use of widespread drugs was due to the following factors

More liberal approach to experimentation of drugs in the society which caused the attitudes of the drug users more socially acceptable

Advances in the medical science have made drugs more widely available

Since the event being commercialized and with huge increase in the media coverage which has resulted in higher financial rewards for participants which has paved the way for the change in the attitude among the athletes to attain victory through drug use.

Due to this widespread use of drugs in the modern era and the difficulty faced in controlling the use of drugs many people have raised a question as to why the purpose of sports or sporting events itself. The whole emphasis on winning a gold medal in the Olympics has completely lost the real values behind such a great sporting event. ” The fundamental principle of any sporting event is that it should promote fair play and there should no discrimination between different people . This is one of the highest ideals which they should follow. When the rules are followed, the sporting events become a human activity which is worthwhile , when this activity is just associated with goal for result than the process itself, that’s when it is simply corrupted.

The ethics of Olympics promotes ” equality and fair play ” . Participants who with the complete knowledge of the ethics use drugs then they use it which becomes a ethical and moral issue. Olympic motto which says that ‘ taking part is more important than the winning ‘. Many people in sports today considers ethics as integral part in the meaning of sports and they are unhappy about the degrading part about the sport. Professionalization and commercialization of sporting events in last 40 years have seen a gradual drop in the ethics of traditional sports and its replacement by upgraded new ethics which promotes winning by any means and not any more participation.

Use of Drugs in sporting event is justified by new sports ethics

Sacrifices made by athletes in the name of sport – Athletes in order to excel used deviant methods to succeed even if it means that they have to pay a price

Accepting any kind of risks which includes use of drugs to reach

excellence

Athlete accepts no limit to performance when the medical science and technology field has improved to such an extend

Sporting events in this modern era are so rewarding that many new athletes follow the new sporting ethics without questioning different risks associated with their health and safety without questions the actions morally. Sporting events have become so entertaining and expectations from the society are so high that expectations from the athletes are over the human performance.

Olympic Marketing

Corporate Governance:-

It is defined as a system by which an organization is controlled and directed even the distribution of rights and responsibilities among participants of the organization .

Organizations who stage the sport and events also have the responsibility to ensure that they comply with requirements of legislation which is relevant. Legislation is in place to ensure that people should abide by standards of behavior which is ethical in nature and at the same time sporting events should become aware of the legislation applicable.

Ethical concept – An overview

Ethical approach is a concept which is a key factor in performance of organization, business or event. Ethics in the management is focused on the organizational and moral standards which exist in all situations. Decision making in any organization or event should consider the range and pressures which are of ethical nature. Assessment in an ethical focus will consider different interrelationship of activities, products and services of different ranges, and relationships between different community and environment. Ethical issues which concerns the business sectors and the public level organizations exist at three levels which is individual , macro and corporate level. At the individual level it basically deal with the behavioral pattern and actions pertaining to the certain individual within the organization. In the macro level , it is the role of the business in the international context of the society, in the corporate level , it deals with the corporate social responsibility which studies the ethical effect it has on individual and corporate entities.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN MAJOR EVENT: OLYMPICS

FAIR PLAY

Olympics which is seen as a large event promotes fair play as one of the ethics. “it refers to a certain conduct specifically for the individuals involved in the ethics of the game . It can be also defined as benchmark principle or value to be followed during and after an event, match or game. All the organizations involved with the sporting events should ensure that these principles and values are understood clearly by every individual and these values are promoted and understood by all the individuals involved in these sporting events and the consequences they have to face if they do not adhere to these ethics. Consistency is very vital as no individual because of their popularity or position in that particular sport would have an added advantage.

Fair play can be promoted through specific codes of conduct, a code which does clearly define the specific practices that captures ethical values of sports.

HUMAN RIGHTS

It’s in a major aspect in sporting events as it is in all the aspects of life that individuals do respect each other and they are aware about the rights they have. The human rights come under one of the ethical considerations as it covers main areas including freedom of thought, liberty, Protection of property and special requirements needed for the hearing procedures and tribunals. By identifying the diversity of those who are planning, competing and attending the event, it would be easier to meet the needs of those who are involved , avoid the legal challenges and ensuring fairness.

EQUITY

It is fundamental to the participation in the governance, delivery of sport and organization. Equity in sports protects all individuals equally and it basically upholds the social justice so as to ensure everyone is respected and their rights are being protected, it is a critical element in the diversity of sporting events and it is no longer acceptable for people to discriminate people or put down others on basis of difference in the name of religion , sex, ethnicity , culture, disability etc. Major event host have an important responsibility to provide access not only to athletes, but also to spectators, employees, service providers and volunteers . Access refers to aspects of events which are physical example, wheel chair access or signage being placed which is Braille. Creating a suitable environment in which people feel safe and free from any danger makes events accessible .

DISABILITY SPORT

As human beings , we often come across people of certain age group who are affected with certain illness, health problem or disability which hold them back from doing any activity or restrictions from full participations. As a result of their condition , they should be given special assistance to in order to participate in that particular environment. In major sporting events there are so many way in which assistance can be given to people with disabilities like changes made to buildings design , use of specialist equipment and training given to the members who would be providing them with special assistance. Helpful understanding staff ,volunteers as well as facilities which are modified which will make the event a memorable experience whatever the roles that they hold in these events.

ETHINCITY , RACE AND SPORTS

Racisim is very sensitive issue, it can be explained as discrimination against an individual in respect to their colour, racial origin ,ethnicity ,ancestry or even place of birth. Racism of any nature is not welcomed in any society and it should not be kept prolonged in any form of sport. The use of positive images in advertising or promoting the event in a specific way or translation of important information will keep away racism and ensure that environment is quite welcoming for different nationalities and communities.

STAKEHOLDERS THEORY APPLIED TO OLYMPICS

Everyone who comes into contact with the event assesses the event in one or other way. There is a list of people who would assess the success of an event

Staff – all the people employed for this event and this also applies to people who are sub contractors and other potential staffs.

The audiences- who has the made event so lively by providing the active viewership

Local Communities- This relates to the staffs employed and people living in the local communities who have showed their esteem support by welcoming a huge crowd for this mega event

Sponsors- Major sponsors who has financially helped the event

Suppliers – suppliers relate to all people who provided material for staging different events at different arenas

Media- Whole event coverage has been done by the media and they would assess it in their own way by promoting the event in large scale all over the world.

Performance would be calculated according to each of these groups depending on their interests, it is therefore necessary to identify the group who has a genuine interest in the event and all the necessary steps should be taken to see that the stakeholder groups and parties interested in the event are well informed and satisfied with all the services being provided as far as possible.

Ethics have played an important role in the Olympics as it has laid down rules covering areas of subjects which has improved the games experience in a total way. Ethical guidelines are a must for such an event which covers a wide area of people from different regions of the world. As the Olympics have progressed over the years several issues affecting different classes of people and country as a whole have been eradicated and methods are devised to curb any area of the event which is ethically degrading the Olympic image. With all this commercialization in place and urge of the new media coverage reaching millions of viewers across the globe, Olympics should emerge as even a cleaner sporting events promoting true sportspeople and enhancing new technologies to curb the use of drugs and blocking the threat of terrorism attacks through further security screening in place.

References

Amis, J., and T. B. Cornwell. 2005. Global Sport Sponsorship: Berg Publishers.

Cashmore, E. ( 1996) Making sense of Sports, London : Routledge

Coakley , J . ( 1994) Sports in Society : Issues and Controversies, London : Mosby

Theodoraki, E (2007) Olympic event organization, Elsevier

International Olympic Committee. 2001. Olympic Marketing 1980 – 2001. Marketing Matters 19:

Roche, M. 2002. The Olympics and” Global Citizenship”. Citizenship Studies 6 (2): 165-181

REFLECTIONS

Business Ethics

Business ethics is shared norms of those who run a business , which is controlled by the social, cultural ,religious, philosophical, geographical , political, economic, legal norms . Business ethics change with the changing value system , moulding and recreating to fit the current need of the society. Though business relates to profit and ethics to morality, literally they contradict each other.With the business group gaining lots of money from the market, it needs to follow these ethics , which do have moral component . These ethics are there to please the individual and group morals in the society so as to win the market, otherwise business if only guided by profit motives can prove dangerous to the society so business group have to realise their social responsibility, through this social responsibility the businesscommunity share their profit for the wellbeing of society that is for educating youth, running awareness campaigns on social issues etc . The sense of right and wrong keep changing with change in:

Time : beliefs and ways of life change with changing time. Modern business is far more different from the past exchange system and had been changing till since then.

Place: different countries have different business ethics depending on their local scenario.

Political parties: the liberal , socialist, communist ideology of the political party in power would control the business scenario

Legal system: Business Ethics which are prescribed right by the state are strictly followed, their violation amounts to punishment.

Culture and religion believes : ethics change with change in culture eg Islamic culture believes that doing business for making money is moral prescription whereas Hindu culture believe that one has come with nothing and would go with nothing so profit making is not considered moral rather giving alms and donations are prescribes, whereas in USA Calvinism prescribes working for making money

S. Carmichael (1995) states that Business ethics is a wider concept , which not only includes ethics on product development and marketing but ethical issue such as ” Employee conflict of interest, inappropriate corporate gifts, sexual harassment,

Unauthorised payments, affirmative action, employee privacy, environmental issues, employee health screening, conflict between company’s ethics, foreign business practice, security of company ethics, workplace safety, advertising content, product safety standards, corporate contribution, shareholder’s interests, social issues raised by religious organisations, product pricing, executive salaries etc”

Thus Business ethics are important for the wellbeing of society on the whole and profit companies too. Profit of business ethics is sense of being right, which gives market reputation and confidence of the consumers. Thus better business locally and internationally.

REFERENCES

S. Carmichael (1995), Business ethics: the new bottom line, Demos, 1995

Sustainability

“Sustainable development is a development is that meets the needs of present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Martin . w. Holdgate, 1996)

Business has played a big role in the destruction of the environment and now it has become the responsibility of the business to curb its destructive practices and move towards revival of environment. Sustainability is a big challenge for the business community. Sustainability has social, economic and environmental parameters. That signifies that it’s a social responsibility that all the resources available on earth are to be preserved for future generations and the economical usage is need of the hour or resources would soon deplete.

The processes , material used and the waste produces by the industries can have direct link with environmental stability. The gases released by the industries is increasing the global temperature and thus participating in global warming. Air, water, soil pollution effecting the ecology and disturbing the whole ecosystem.

The principles of sustainability include keeping account of the needs of the people specially deprived and poor people, having a long term vision with corporate and government participation, integrated strategy with collective efforts ,keeping in view social, political, economic factors, financial resources should be chalked out in anticipation along with the plan of action, access l to information and putting it to practice, proper monitoring of the strategy, keeping up with the latest information and updating and modifying the sustainability plan according to need, good communication system , initiative should be taken by all countries to have their own action plan instead of working with international pressure, need is of strong commitment of the government and leading corporate groups ,capacity building, local and national integration and meaningful participation at all levels.

Problems faced in sustainable development is lack of financial backup, lack of public awareness, limited time and lack of up-to-date technology and infrastructure. The long term environmental health and store of resources for human consumption in future is the ultimate benefit.

References:-

Martin . w. Holdgate, 1996, From care to action: making a sustainable world,

Taylor & Francis

Conflicted Events

Conflict is a universal , conscious phenomenon in human relation. Gillin and Gillin says “Conflict is a social process in which individual or group seeks their ends by directly challenging the antagonists by violence or threat of violence”, Marx says conflict is a class phenomenon, there is conflict between upper class and economically poor class, where poor are exploited by rich, leading to frustration and finally class solidarity and conflict between these classes

Causes: Acording to Darwin “Struggle for exsistance and survival of the fittest ” is the cause of conflict. Frued says clash of interest within groups and societies leads to conflict. Other causes of conflict are individual differences, cultural differences, clash of interests and social change.

Effects of conflict:

Integrative Effects : It stiffens the morale and promote ingroup solidarity, redefines value system, resolves crisis, leads to new consensus, keeps group alert about members’ interests

Disintegrative effects: conflicts increase bitterness. It leads to destruction and bloodshed, it leads to tension, it disrupts normal channels of cooperation , it diverts members’ attention from group objectives.

Theories of conflict:

Marxian theory of conflict talks about the development of economically dominant class, which goes for accumulation of wealth and property by exploiting poor people. This resulted in wide economic gap i.e. polarisation of clases. The dominant class kept accumulating wealth on cost of poor leading to poor becoming still poorer, that is termed as pauperization, poor when work constantly like a machine without proper rewards and he did not get credit and name for the product he produces. This leads frustration. The frustrated deprived group develops common consciousness and they stand against the dominant class and finally revolution occurs, leading to strength in voice of poor. This is the start of the communist society.

Functional theory says conflict is universal and is useful for the society. Conflicting values lead to development of new value system, replacing the old one. Thus conflict becomes a basis for change. New believes replace the conflicting old believes and thus keep pace with the changing world.

Conflict in event management: Conflict between the government policies and the corporate policies, local conflicts affecting the event, internal conflicts of the firm, conflict on event ownership, conflicts in the crowd due to miscreants and other antisocial elements , the events related to minority group, religion, sensitive social issues etc are more prone to conflict.

Supply chain management

“Supply chain management is defined as asset of three or more companies linked by one or more of the upstream and downsteam flows of products, services, finances, and information from a source to a customer.” Or “supply chain management is defined as systemic, strategic coordination of traditional business functions within a particular company and across businesses within the supply chain, for the purpose of improving the long-term performance of the individual companies and supply chain as a whole.”

( John T.Mentzer,2001)

Main Purpose of supply chain management is to give contentment to the customer, to be placed higher in the competition, to be highly efficient via cost leadership.

Functions of supply chain management is to implement the plans, upgrade the system of purchasing and keep an account of all purchase , create supply sources, receive supply, facilitate movement of goods to the customers and control the transport and delivery, monitoring the whole supply chain.

Benefits of supply chain management is the manufacture can upgrade the product according to the demand of the market. The feedback from the customer, the team work of the company and regular communication at both ends result in better customer services and satisfaction of customer. The skill on the manufacturing end, requirement design , ideas from within the company brings a novel product. Regular contact with the supplier would keep manufacturer informed about the time and mode of availability of raw material, this helps company to plan accordingly saving time and avoiding undue delay in delivery of goods to the customer. Coordination of different parts via supply chain management would result in enhanced efficiency.

Strategies of supply chain management: lean, agile and integration strategies. Lean strategy cuts on waste procedures, curbs delays, eases the movement, simplifies procedures, use latest technology, reduces cost and provides services close to the customer’s location. Lack of flexibility, ow customer satisfaction and inability to stand market competition are possible limitations. Agile strategy on the other hand brings complete customer satisfaction with adjustability and flexibility in response to market demands, its stands high in the competition, communication between the customer, supplier and the competitors is maintained.

Scope: supply chain management has functional scope and organisational scope as well. The functional scope is the wide range of traditional business and the relationship with the other companies working in coordination with the firm denotes organisational scope.

Thus supply chain management is significant to bridge the gap between supplier and manufacturer, manufacturer and customer and manufacturer and changing market demands. It enhances customer satisfaction and help producing up-to-date products.

Reference:

Â· John T.Mentzer, ( 2001) Supply chain management,second edition, Sage publications, India Ltd

Â· Sunil chopra, P. meindl,(2000) Supply chain management strategy, planning and operations, third edition.

ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE

Environmental change with global warming is an issue of international concern. Rising levels of gases like carbon dioxide of temperature leading to melting of ice, resulting in increase in water level in the oceans, affecting climate zones all over the world. Change in climate zone would lead to extinction of numerous plants and animals, disturbing the food chain, floods and droughts in different parts of world, soil erosion, scarcity of drinking water, submergence of coastal areas and islands in ocean, etc. Countries like Maldives are worried about submergence of their island countries in water due to increasing water level in ocean. Event management market is to take in account the green issues while conducting events as it has direct and indirect relation environmental change. Environmental concern goes parallel to all planning and implementation of all events. From choosing location to the choice of various constituent material and energy usage is of done with utmost care because everybody -consumer, supplier, legal system, non government organisations etc are aware of environmental affects. Beyond the incentives for behaving green, punishment for violation of environmental norms is another reason to be sensitive about it.

Nature protection can be done by using eco friendly methods in all spheres related to the event.

For being eco-friendly one needs to reduce waste production, recycling waste, reuse as far as possible, do online communications, e- bookings, -ticketing, online payment system, minimum printing and if printing usage of paper on both sides and usage of vegetable ink, limiting the use of handouts, usage of recycled and biodegradable material, keep separate boxes for storing waste which can be recycled, avoiding wastage, using electric appliances judiciously, scheduling day time events to save electricity consumption at night, turning off all electric appliance when not in use, making everyone aware of environmental change and reminding everyone about one’s responsibility towards ecology, choosing location such that it does not destroy the surrounding ecology, avoid usage of disposable glasses and jugs , car pooling, choosing place such that it reduces time of travelling and booking economy class as it has les emission per seat

GLOBAL EVENT AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGES

In this new era there are no boundaries for organizations. Technological changes in the recent times like satellite, computer network and the internet , all of this technologies have changed the way organizations contact each other, now it all provided fast transmission of large quantities of data which have shortened distances among organizations and this has removed boundaries between organizations placed far away . ” Information technology is no longer a business resource , it is the business environment ” It is evident that technology is changing organizational ecology. ( John Browning , 1990).

In the events context technological changes have importance , as different stages of hosting the events from planning to implementation has been technologically influences. People coming to the events need everything to be quick and in place, so technology has grown along with the need for such a swift order , For example, most of ticketing in the olden days were done through the ticketing counter earlier which resulted in long queue and many people have been disappointed after long waits, due to the technological changes, ticketing software are placed in the website and people can buy tickets before hands without any issues. Most event can be well planned days ago before the final event , for example. Weather conditions of that particular event day could be found out using the weather department help thereby avoiding chaos and confusion during the event.

As the demand of bigger events are growing day by day , technological advancements will keep updating , with effective staff in place who would have an ample experience using these modern gadgets will keep the events business in the days to come.

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