Green governance: understanding the greening of a leading business event from the perspective of value chain governance

Abstract

In contribution to limited research on ways to be greener in the events industry, this paper demonstrates the importance of cross-organization coordination in implementing green events. In a case study on China Import and Export Fair, we examined the interplay of stakeholders in the process of greening from the perspective of value chain governance. The results revealed that (1) key stakeholders formed a profit-driven value chain that inhibited the promotion of green booth, (2) the fair used institutional power and bargaining power to engage key stakeholders, and (3) developed a governance model to encourage greening by using multiple instruments of governance (i.e., green booth standards, knowledge transfer, and a green booth competition). In light of those results, this paper expands the scope of literature on green events by offering novel insights into governance along value chains and highlighting their managerial implications for promoting green events.

Keywords:

• Green events
• sustainable development
• governance
• value chain
• stakeholder engagement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant [number 41971176]. The authors would like to thank Dr. Mingsheng Wang, Dr. Junchuan Wang, Ms. Shiheng Zeng and other project members for their help in data collection. The authors are grateful for the comments of anonymous reviewers and the editor who appreciably improved the article.

Notes on contributors

Dixi Zhong

Dixi Zhong, Ph.D., Associate Researcher, School of Tourism Management, South China Normal University. She graduated from School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University. Main research fields: business events, e-tourism, social media in tourism.

Qiuju Luo

Qiuju Luo, Ph.D., Professor, Associate Dean, School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University. Main research fields: convention & exhibition economy, mega-events, tourism events.

Wanxin Chen

Wanxin Chen, doctoral student of UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney. Main research fields: industry-university collaborations, social impacts of business events.