Operations flexibility in events organization

Abstract

The aim of this study was to understand the interrelation between operations flexibility and the adverse impacts associated with risks in event organization during its execution. For this, a multiple case study was carried out among six Brazilian event-organizing entities. A qualitative study was conducted through structured interviews and deductive content analysis. Data triangulation was obtained by using the post-event reports of events organized by those entities. The study identified strategies used to deal with variability related to the risks present in the execution of events and the interrelation between adverse impacts associated with the risks and the types of operations flexibility used. Furthermore, the authors propose “internal infrastructure flexibility” since operations flexibility literature does not adequately explain the changes in the internal structure found in the field research.