Shaping the event portfolio management field: premises and integration

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to examine how various academic disciplines shape the field of event portfolio management. Given the complex nature of portfolios comprising different genres that are studied separately from their respective disciplinary realms, the academic event portfolio landscape remains fragmented. This is against the nature of portfolios, which requires inter-disciplinarity and novel integration of genres, stakeholders and perspectives.Design/methodology/approachBased on a scoping literature review, this conceptual paper sets up a common ground for the academic study and industrial development of event portfolio management.FindingsA comprehensive view of event portfolio literature across disciplines reveals its hypostasis as a compound transdisciplinary field. The authors suggest a set of foundational premises whereby they identify 22 principal thematic areas that comprise this emerging field.Practical implicationsThe establishment of event portfolio management as a distinct field will help in the osmosis and diffusion of new ideas, models and best practices to run and leverage portfolios. The portfolio perspective highlights the need for cohesive learning to design comprehensive systems of events, implement joint strategies, solidify social networks, coordinate multiple stakeholders and develop methods of holistic evaluation.Originality/valueBy examining comprehensively event portfolio management as a transdisciplinary field, the authors have been able to identify principal research directions and priorities. This comprehensive analysis provides a synergistic ground, which at this embryonic stage of development, can be used to set out joint trajectories and reciprocal foci across the whole span of scholarship studying planned series of events.