Ethical behaviour: the means for creating and maintaining better reputations in arts organisations

Arts organisations, unsure of the level of continued government funding available and confronted with the need ever to improve, are seeking new ideas upon which they can focus. At a time when leadership and governance in arts organisations have changed in line with cultural expectations, how is their ethical stance assessed? How does their ethical stance impact on reputation? The challenge to build a good reputation starts at the top of the organisation; however, traditionally, one type of arts organisation, art museums, has focused on the activities level. In an age of globalisation, economic restructuring and technological change, museums therefore may be seen as a contradiction. Traditionally seen as temples for the muses, today’s museums are being challenged to be ethical for society and to build their reputation. As a solution, proposes a cooperative model of cultural organisational ethics that attempts to provide a framework by which arts organisations can put in place ethical artefacts that enhance organisational reputation, rather than detract from it.

Entrepreneurship, marketing and leadership in non-profit performing arts organisations

This paper argues that the entrepreneurial leader in non-profit PAOs has received too little attention in literature pertaining to these organisations. This criticism also applies to museums. The paper explores how leaders in non-profit performing arts organisations balance the interests of the various funding sources and market opportunities to service their revenue requirements. It reviews a tension in non-profit performing arts organisations: the relationship between limited funding and the subsequent need to act entrepreneurially and innovatively among the various funding sources. Using longitudinal analysis of annual reports, the paper uncovers interplay essential to entrepreneurship. Hence, strategies and tensions are highlighted that non-profit leaders have used. Comparisons are made with non-profit art museums which previous research has shown have the same funding tensions.

Ethical behaviour: the foundation stone for entrepreneurial activity in arts organisations

Entrepreneurship is being touted as the way forward for arts organisations unsure of the level of continued government funding available and confronted with the need to ever improve. At a time when leadership and governance in cultural organisations have changed in line with cultural expectations, how is their ethical stance assessed? In an age of globalisation, economic restructuring and technological change, museums are sometimes seen to be something of a contradiction. Traditionally seen as temples for the muses, today's museums are being challenged to be ethical for society. As a solution, this paper proposes a Cooperative Model of Cultural Organisational Ethics that attempts to provide a framework by which arts organisations can put in place ethical artefacts that enhance organisational performance, rather than detract from it.

Entrepreneurship in the markets of nonprofit performing arts organisations

This paper explores how managers in nonprofit performing arts organizations balance the interests of the various funding sources and market opportunities to service their revenue requirements. It reviews a tension in nonprofit performing arts organizations: the relationship between limited funding and the subsequent need to act entrepreneurially and innovatively amongst the various funding sources. Using a longitudinal analysis of annual reports in six major nonprofit performing arts organisations in Australia since 1975, the paper uncovers some of the interplay essential to entrepreneurship. From this discussion, different strategies and tensions are highlighted that nonprofit general managers have used. Comparisons are made with nonprofit art museums which previous research has shown have the same funding tensions.

Location, location, location: exploring the importance of place for arts organisations

Many arts managers and marketers are looking intently at the importance of high-speed communication and other technologies for the creation of virtual places. These places in cyberspace can only be accessed via a computer terminal and high-speed telecommunications tools. This paper asserts that there is still much for managers and marketers to learn about the importance of physical spaces for the arts. We use a model of place and apply it to three Australian arts organisations located in heritage buildings. One organisation failed, the other changed ownership, the third moved location. The findings demonstrate the importance of place and of strategy in determining place. We note the tension between the strategy, the venue, the objects, and the essential task and call for further analysis of place(s) for the arts.

An initial classification of branding strategy in Australian arts organisations

This research examined the corporate branding approaches and strategies adopted by six prominent Australian arts and cultural organisations. The aim of this exploration was to identify patterns in branding across different arts and cultural organisations, and attempt to provide an initial classification for understanding how these organisations approach branding strategy. We found that three factors influenced branding strategy in the surveyed organisations, viz., the focus of branding process, the degree of consistency in branding communication, and the required level of customers’ involvement in the branded products. The organisations studied were then plotted on a continuum that considered each of these factors.

Considerations for performing arts organisations in a climate of transition to the open market context in Vietnam

The emergence of a global economy and culture has created a worldwide climate of change since the 1980s. These changes impact on the growth of a national economy and change the significance of sectors in society, for example the service sector, which increasingly accounts for an important part of the economy (Burbules & Torres, 2000). The arts have also been profoundly influenced by social changes, and technological development. While these changes pose new challenges for the arts, most of which struggle for financial viability in an era of globalisation, privatisation and reduced public funding, the developments also open new opportunities for arts companies/artists but require them to possess the capability to identify and adapt to change. This process underlines the necessary new capacities of arts management, arts marketing, arts leaders and artists.

Doi moi - Vietnamese economic reforms in 1986 - provided impetus for change in every sector, resulting in growth of the service sector in Vietnam (UNDP, 2002). Arts organisations in Vietnam found themselves operating in a more competitive environment, forcing them to adjust to this new economic structure. Improved Vietnamese living standards helped to create more demands for a diverse entertainment industry and allowed both the government and individuals to spend more on the arts. A new cultural policy - socialisation (somewhat equivalent to privatisation in Western countries) was implemented in the arts and cultural sector, producing for performing arts organisations (PAOs) as well as a broader cultural milieu in Vietnam, challenges of being self-sustaining but also more autonomy and greater funding diversity. Simultaneously, this led to upgraded artistic standards, improved infrastructure and higher musicians’ salaries; the latter having only experienced slow improvement during the subsidised era.

This paper investigates how social changes affected organisational operations of selected PAOs in Vietnam and Australia. The analysis of how PAOs in each country adjusted to rapid changes will provide experience for learning from each other, particularly for the Vietnamese case. These analyses provide points of discussion, comparison and implications for development of arts management training in Vietnam. Case studies, personal interviews with key participants and policy actors have been used to discern which direction performing arts management should take in order to correspond with Vietnam’s present and future economic situation and its political position in the world.

Changes in arts organisations under the open market economy in Vietnam

The paper examines changes in arts organisations in Vietnam under the context of changes in the arts and culture sector in Vietnam and in the world.

Exploratory study into the use of the web as a marketing tool by arts organisations in Vietnam

This paper presents exploratory findings into the use of the web as a marketing tool by arts organisations in Vietnam. The websites of seventeen Vietnamese arts organisations were evaluated to determine current levels of marketing functionality. The findings were analysed from the perspective of the four elements of the marketing mix (price, place, product and promotion). The study found that arts organisations in Vietnam are less sophisticated in using the web as a marketing tool compared with Western counterparts, and that organisation's websites contained basic information catalogues and contact details but limited multimedia functionality. The implications to audience development will be explored through a survey with stakeholders of the seventeen arts organisations in Vietnam as a future research stream.

NB: The terms 'web' and 'Internet' are used interchangeably in this paper.

The use of the web as a marketing tool by selected arts organisations in Vietnam : a preliminary investigation

This paper presents exploratory findings into the use of the web as a marketing tool by arts organisations in Vietnam. The uniform resource locators (URLs) of Vietnamese arts organisations listed in the cultural profiles category of the directory of Vietnamese Cultural Organisations/Departments created by Visiting Arts (UK) for the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism, Vietnam (MCST) (formerly Ministry of Culture and Information – MOCI) were accessed. 17 of these websites were ‘live’ at the time of the study and were evaluated to determine current levels of marketing functionality utilised within the sites. The findings of the evaluation were analysed from the perspective of the four elements of marketing mix (price, place, product and promotion). The study found that all 17 Vietnamese arts organisations analysed were less sophisticated in the usage of the web as a marketing tool compared with their Western counterparts, and that such organisations’ websites contained basic information catalogues and contact details but had limited multimedia functionality. The implications to audience development will be explored further through a survey with stakeholders of the 17 arts organisations in Vietnam as a future research stream.

Power through influence : the evolution of arts management in Australia

The purpose of this paper is to frame effective models of arts management for Australia in the nineties and beyond based on an analysis of historical practices. The evolutionary process of government subvention of the arts through non-profit arts organisations provides a clear statement of the role of power and influence. In particular the ascendancy of arts organisations and their management constitute a background against which to study other non-profit corporations.

Creating Queensland, creative communities partnership - major Brisbane festival & Australia Council for the Arts

In March 2010, Brisbane Festival commissioned a Research Team, led by Dr Bree Hadley and Dr Sandra Gattenhof, Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, to conduct an evaluation of the Creating Queensland program, a new Creative Communities partnership between Brisbane Festival and the Australia Council for the Arts. This Final Report reviews and reports on the effectiveness of the program gathered during three phases throughout 2010: Phase 1, in which the research team analysed Brisbane Festival’s pre-existing data on the Creating Queensland events in 2009; Phase 2, in which the research team designed a new suite of instruments to gather data from producers, producing partners, artists and attendees involved in the Creating Queensland events in 2010; and Phase 3, in which the research team used content analysis of the narratives emerging in the data to establish how Brisbane Festival has adopted processes, activities or engagement protocols to operate as catalysts that produce experiences with specific impacts on individuals and communities. The Final Report finds that the Creating Queensland events concentrate on developing specific experiences for those involved – usually associated with storytelling, showcasing, and the valorisation or re-valorisation of neglected or forgotten cultural forms – in order to give communities a voice. It finds that the events prioritise accessibility – usually associated with allowing specific local communities or local artists to present material that is meaningful to them – and inclusivity – usually associated with using connections with producing partners (such as the Multicultural Development Association) to bring more and more people into the program. It finds that the events have a capacity-building effect, which allows local communities to increase their capacity to launch their own ideas, initiatives or events, allows individuals to increase their employability, or allows communities and individuals to increase their visibility within mainstream cultural practices and infrastructure. The Final Report further finds that Brisbane Festival has, throughout its years of commitment to community programming, developed specific techniques to enable events in the Creating Queensland program to have these effects, that these can be tracked, and, as a result, deployed or redeployed both by Brisbane Festival and other community arts organisations in the development of effective community arts programs. The data demonstrates that Creating Queensland is, by and large, having the desired effect on communities – people are actually participating, presenting work, and increasing their personal, professional and social skills in various ways, and this is valued by all stakeholders. The data also demonstrates that, as would be expected with any community arts program – particularly programs of this size and complexity – there are areas in which Creating Queensland is functioning exceptionally well and areas in which continuous improvement processes should be continued. Areas of excellence relate to Brisbane Festival’s longstanding commitment to community arts, and active community participation in the arts, as well as its ability to create well-known and loved programs that use effective techniques to have a positive impact on communities. Areas for improvement relate to Brisbane Festival’s potential to benefit from the following: clarifying relationships between community participants and professionals; increasing mentoring relationships between these groups; consolidating the discourses it uses to describe event aims across strategic, production, and publicity documents across the years; and re-considering the number of small events inside the larger Creating Queensland program.