Managing Organisational Success in the Arts

The creative and cultural industries are a dynamic and rapidly expanding field of enterprise. Yet all too often the dominant narrative about arts organisations is one of crisis, collapse, and closure. This edited collection seeks to challenge that narrative through pursuing a focus on organisational success in the management of creative and cultural organisations. This book offers a robust and in-depth analysis of nine international case studies exploring how different organisations have achieved their objectives through effectively managing their resources. Spanning a broad cross section of the cultural sector including Theatres; Multi-Arts Venues; Performing Arts Companies; Museums and Galleries; and Festivals and Events, these cases highlight the importance of examining an individual organisation’s success in relation to its environmental context, revealing not only how arts organisations work in practice, but also providing inspiration and encouragement for those wishing to emulate such success. With an explicit focus on examining theory in practice, this unique collection will be of great interest to students, academics, and practitioners alike. While traditional approaches have often been overly theoretical, this pragmatic approach will help students to gain a richer understanding of how to manage cultural and creative organisations more effectively.

Introduction: In defence of good management in the arts, David Stevenson. 1. Feeding tomorrow: The Case of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati, USA, Travis Newton. 2. Taking charge of change: The Case of Sangre de Cristo Arts and Conference Center, Colorado, USA, Constance DeVereaux & Jim Richerson. 3. That’s all very well in practice, but what about the theory? The Case of Glasgow Life, Glasgow, Scotland, Mark O’Neill & Robert Rogerson. 4. Purpose, place, people and passion: The Case of the Lammermuir Festival, East Lothian, Scotland, David Stevenson. 5. Breaking ground without breaking stride: The Case of Mesa Arts Center and Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Mesa and Kansas City, USA, Patrick Donnelly. 6. Contingency and context in strategic planning for success: The Case of Northern Ireland Opera, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Steven Hadley. 7. Attractiveness through mystique: The Case of The Culture Yard, Helsingør, Denmark, Konstantinos Karatzias & Katja Lindqvist. 8. Global PR that works: The Case of the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Natalia Grincheva. 9. Episodic volunteer management at festivals: The case of Valletta Film Festival, Valetta, Malta, Lesley-Ann Dickson

David Stevenson is Head of the Division of Media, Communication and Performing Arts at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. Drawing on his academic research alongside 10 years of management experience in the public and private sector, David teaches at both undergraduate and postgraduate level in the fields of Arts Management and Cultural Policy.