OM in the News: From Lady Gaga to the Orlando Magic

What do Lady Gaga and the Orlando Magic have in common? As the Orlando Sentinel (April 15,2011) reports, Lady Gaga (if you don’t know who she is, don’t worry–your students do) performed her Monster Ball Tour on April 15th in the sparkling new Amway Center in downtown Orlando before 17,000 screaming fans. It took 42 trucks and busses to carry her massive concert set to town. The unloading and set building process began the night before and was only possible because the Amway Center has state-of-the-art technology and space for the show. The old Amway Arena had only half the number of loading bays, no freight elevators, and less sophisticated sound and lighting–hence missed out as a destination for major tours.

How is this an operations management issue? It’s because today (April 16th), the Orlando Magic open their first NBA Playoff game of the season against the Atlanta Hawks in the very same space. With ESPN providing national TV coverage in 3-D, Lady Gaga’s crew had just 3 hours to clear out-of-town (from 11:30pm yesterday till 2:30am today) to make room for the ESPN crew to set up, and to allow for the concert floor and seats to be converted to a basketball arena.

Precise scheduling,  excellent processes, and good communications make these change-overs possible. Whether its Lady Gaga to Magic, or NY Knicks to Ice Follies, OM is the key to success.

Discussion questions:

1. Name some other activities that require such perfect scheduling.

2.  Why are ultra-modern arenas so important to cities like Orlando?