Managing organisations

The environment in which cultural organisations operate is changing: boundaries between cultural forms are becoming increasingly blurred and technologies, funding and economic structures are shifting. These factors, and others, are contributing to new forms of creative and cultural work and organisations.

Cultural organisations face a major challenge in balancing their own objectives with the expectations of their funders and the public itself against (what are often) scarce resources. The module, therefore, aims to develop managers who will perform competently, if not competitively, in a changing environment.

Given the risks that they face, crucial issues for anyone managing a cultural organisation today include sustainability, the ability to foster solid management systems and ensure the delivery of high quality and successful cultural product. These affect all aspects of the organisation and its management. Strategic management requires that these are addressed through new forms of decision making, effective planning and ways of working.

Indicative content

• Creative and cultural organisations and their characteristics: product, organisation, organisational profile and size
• Project management
• Team work and related issues: communication, effective participation
• The process of decision-making and its potential impact on the organisation
• Structural issues e.g. sustainability, mission, business model, in cultural non-profit distributing organisations
• Organisation performance: criteria and assessment
• Business planning
• Applications and implications of the use of technology e.g. e- and m-commerce

Recommended reading

• Buchanan, D. and Huczynski, A. (2003). Organizational Behaviour: An Introductory Text. Harlow, Financial Times Prentice Hall
  
• Burnes, B. (2004). Managing Change: A Strategic Approach to Organisational Dynamics. Harlow, Financial Times Prentice Hall
  
• Byrnes, W. (2002). Management and the arts. Boston & London, Focal Press
  
• Hudson, M. (2003). Managing at the Leading Edge: New Challenges in Managing Nonprofit Organizations. London, Pfeiffer Wiley
  
• Leadbeater, C. and Oakley, K. (1999). The independents. Britain's new cultural entrepreneurs. London, Demos
  
• Letts, C., Ryan, W. P. and Grossman, A (1999). High performance nonprofit organisations. Managing upstream for greater impact. Chichester, John Wiley & Sons
  
• Mullins, L. J. (2004). Management and Organisational Behaviour. Harlow, Financial Times Prentice Hall
  
• Pedler, M., Burgoyne, J. and Boydell, T. (1996). Learning Company: A Strategy for Sustainable Development. Maidenhead, McGraw-Hill Publishing
  
• Selwood, S. (2001). Access, efficiency and excellence: measuring non-economic performance in the English subsidised sector in Selwood, S. ed. The UK cultural sector. London, Policy Studies Institute
  
• Senge, P. M. (2006). The Fifth Discipline. London, Random House Business Books.