Managing a Phenomenon

Applying Fayol’s 5 elements of Classical Management to competitive tournament structures

Cody Martell

Article Review• FFG released an article back in November about their 2017

World-Wide tournament bracket. It was simply an announcement and something to wet the player base’s appetite.

• It was the first step however in planning and organizing a major event. Something that takes countless days of preparation and organizing.

• FFG hosting the System Open Series 2017 (from here on referred to as SOS 17’) is no small feat, and one they couldn’t do without Fayol’s 5 Elements of Classical Management.

Fayol’s 5 Elements of Classical Management

• Since the early 1900’s, Fayol’s method of Classical Management has been utilized by many people. It consists of what is necessary to operating and managing a business smoothly and efficiently.

• The 5 Elements being: Planning, Organizing, Commanding, Coordinating, and Controlling. These serve as the backbone of efficient task management and in a proper order.

• While FFG is a major company, operating a World-Class tournament requires these 5 Elements all on its own

1. Planning

• In order for a world-wide tournament to be held, it goes without saying that a thorough plan is needed. There are many factors that weigh into that plan going through. Some basic things being:• Scheduling• Prize Support• Recruitment• ‘Hype’

The planning phase of Fayol’s elements is rather self-explanatory, but must still be held to the same regard as the rest in terms of importance. If not more so.

More Planning• The System Open Series takes place in

eight venues around the world. FFG took the time to find prime locations for each of these for the 2017 season.

• For example the ‘Hoth Open’ takes place later this month from March 23 – 26 at Adepticon in Chicago. Adepticon being one of the biggest annual board-gaming convention on the planet. (I’ll be in attendance this year)

Even More Planning• Simply scheduling the event doesn’t “seal the

deal”. The tournament organizers (from here on referred to as T/O’s) always need to come up with prizes and reasons for players to want to attend. While many play for glory, the prize support is key for many other players.

• In the case of the SOS 17’ event, they decided to select prizes that would be relevant to the current popular things in the game. A wise decision.

2. Organizing

• Once the basic plan of anything is set, organizing the actual activity is what comes next. In the case of SOS 17’ this included officially releasing more information, as well as getting official judges for the events.

• Putting together the materials and labor required is the first real step in progress. For FFG, the material and labor are information and judges.

Placing the Pieces• “Division of Work” is one of the principles of Fayol’s Theory, essentially

that different kinds of workers are needed for different jobs. FFG takes note of this by remotely hiring a diverse staff for each event.

• Some people will work as judges for rule calls, some people are equipment technicians for the live-streaming of the event and matches, and some are data collectors to keep everything moving smoothly.

• Every worker is independent of other evetns, only working one job, rather than being a year-round employee. For example, last year at the Mid-West Regional I was hired to be a judge for the event.

3. Commanding• Commanding in management can be explained

as the flow of information and authority throughout the (in this case) tournament. For the Hoth Open, some individuals will have more authority than others. Some will have reign over the actions of others.

• This is to keep things moving smoothly and so that judges all act on the same level. Rule callings remain linear across the event and not changeable from match-to-match.

The Flow of Power

• The structure of a tournament is the same no matter where you go, but that doesn’t mean everyone is necessarily on the same page. Having an order of power and information keeps the events moving. For FFG events, the flow looks like this:• Players Judges Data Collectors

T/O’s Event ChiefWhen everyone in attendance understand who has say over what, everything can run smoother. Players are monitored by judges, who pass info to data collectors, who report to the T/O’s, who are overseen by the Even Chief.

4. Coordinate• While Commanding serves as the chain of

information and power within the structure, real coordination is what happens at each checkpoint in that structure.

• This applies both in the tournament scene as it happens and in the overall organization of the entire SOS 17’.

• Each interaction that takes place must understand where the outcome the interaction is going. Much like workers on a production line.

Coordinating at a Larger Scale

• The flow of information displayed two slides ago described the happenings of just one event. But coordinating applies at higher levels as well. While one event carries about its business, others are in the works and organically reacting to the events taking place.

• During the run time of the SOS 17’, more information still released about the overall structure of the tournament.

5. Controlling• Decisions made before and during the

SOS 17’ are all in attempt to keep things moving according to the original plan and goal. Each step carries out its purpose and relays that information appropriately to its superior.

• Eventually that information reaches a point where the individuals who make big decisions will utilize for any number of reasons.

According to Plan• The initial goal of SOS 17’ was purely for FFG to run the biggest X-

Wing tournament ever over the course of four months. But the game itself never changed. The game still holds its mission statement of allowing players to have fun.

• So once information had reached developers about how the current state of the game was in the middle of a major tournament season, a decision was made to alter and errata some parts of the game.

• This was done to uphold the game’s mission statement and continue with SOS 17’ being a big deal on more than one level.

How is it Now?

• The System Open Series 2017 is still underway. The first of the eight preliminary events took place in late January, with the eighth being later this month. After that, the winners of each event move onto the final event.

• It’s been a bit of a rocky journey, given that a new wave of content released in the middle of the season, and some major changes had been made.

• Overall, players seem to be happy. But could things have gone a little smoother?

Timing. Is Key

• Although it’s not over yet, FFG can still reflect on how SOS 17’ has been running. There have been some hiccups as mentioned previously. How can they avoid these issues for SOS 18’?

• Going back to the Planning and Organizing elements, having a plan and arranging it to come into fruition is vital. FFG could have pushed up or even delayed the release of some content in order for all eight events to have the same advantages.

Realizing Potential• Another issue FFG had with the

organization of when SOS 17’ took place was how spread out it has been. At a glance, running eight tournaments seems like a lot, even over four months. But since FFG operates these events by remotely hiring individuals per event, it shouldn’t be quite as difficult.

Knowing When to Ask for Help• Most any large game can house an SOS

tournament, and any would be happy to do it for the business alone. It might be fun for events to take place at things like Adepticon, but if FFG wants quality tournaments they need to look at the even as a whole and not just its location.

• There are countless local game stores in any region. All of which are fully staffed and love to do business with game creators. Rather than always pushing for a shiny venue, FFG could easily reach out and offer family owned businesses the opportunity to run them, with remote assistance.

Recap

• The System Open Series is a major world-wide tournament bracket held each year by FFG. Given its size and ambition, clear and concise management needs to be in place.

• FFG does a fine job upholding Fayol’s 5 Elements of Classical Management in order to execute its tournament, but does falter in some areas.

• None the less, the System Open Series is a fine example of Classical Management being the ideal structure for most any complex scenarios.

Works Cited

• FFG. "A Shadow Across the Galaxy." Fantasy Flight Games. FFG, 2 Feb. 2017. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

• FFG. "Bringing Balance to the Force." Fantasy Flight Games. FFG, 6 Mar. 2017. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

• FFG. "2017 Open Briefing." Fantasy Flight Games. FFG, 8 Nov. 2016. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

• FFG. "2017 System Open Spoils." Fantasy Flight Games. FFG, 6 Jan. 2017. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.