Latest Published Article - Dynamic Sublimes, Changing Plans, and the Legacy of a Megaproject: The Case of the 1966 Soccer World Cup

We are immensely proud to announce the publication of our latest research paper in Project Management Journal, official journal of the Project Management Institute.

The abstract is as follows:

Global sporting events such as the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) World Cup have been described as megaprojects. The motives of decision makers for undertaking megaprojects are summarized by Flyvbjerg’s (2012, 2014) “four sublimes,” which lack a temporal dimension. We utilize a case study of the 1966 FIFA World Cup in England, applying the three levels of project management identified by Morris and Geraldi (2011), refined through Flyvbjerg’s four sublimes, to analyze the shifting nature of stakeholders’ motives. We evidence that Flyvbjerg’s sublimes are dynamic in response to change during the project timeline, creating new insights into project development and opportunities for research into historic projects.

Kevin and Alex signing their author's agreements with PMJ

The paper will appear in the December 2017/January 2018 Special Issue on Megaprojects and is available to read and download for free by clicking on the following link:

http://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/learning/pmj/early-edition/dec-jan-2017/j20171293.pdf

Merry Christmas from the Soccer-Mad Boffins...we hope you enjoy this present!






Whilst on the subject of Christmas, we have also been busy organizing a Christmas party for our students at The York Management School, University of York.  Here is a photo of the fantastic spread that was provided.  It also gave us a chance to talk about our research to the students.  We had some great conversations about World Cups past, present and future.  Roll on 2018...

Soccer Mad Boffins Appear at University of Hull

On Thursday 30th November we travelled through the snow across Yorkshire, to Hull and back.

The occasion was a research lecture hosted by the Marketing and Business Strategy subject group of Hull Business School, all about our work on the FIFA World Cups of 1966 and 1994.

Entitled 'Opportunities for All the Team: The 1966 and 1994 FIFA World Cups' the lecture was based on a working paper which we are developing for publication in a forthcoming special issue of a well known sports history journal.

We thoroughly enjoyed presenting our work to our friends at Hull, and hope to be back soon.

Alex and Kevin with lecture slides