Strategic Leadership in the Arts Industry: A Comparison between Australia and Canada

Scope of the Research:
The production and presentation of art in its various forms has become a large and growing industry in many parts of the industrialized world. Arts institutions have become important contributors to the national economy as generators of employment and an important segment of the tourism industry. Government bodies, charitable foundations and private individuals who contribute substantial funds for the production and display of artistic objects and performances have become more demanding in their assessment of organizational procedures. At the same time arts organizations have become more globalized, drawing on human and artistic resources from around the world in order to attract international recognition and patronage. This research project examines how arts managers from Australia and Canada deal with their various internal and external constituencies and how their actions impact on the success of their organizations.

Two of the most central managerial functions are leadership and strategic decision making. In this study senior managers will be asked about the leadership roles they play vis-à-vis the organization's various stakeholders. We are interested in how they relate to donors, artists, funding agencies, directors, employees and volunteers. Researchers in the field have identified several distinct styles of leadership. Which of these do arts managers employ? Are they consistent in the styles they choose or does it depend on the role they play? Do their styles match those in other industries or have the demands of the arts industry led to the development of distinct leadership models?

As arts organizations become more involved in raising and managing support, the strategic decisions they make, selecting exhibitions, setting programs, producing plays, making acquisitions, become ever more crucial. Very little is known about how these decisions are made. Again there are numerous models drawn from industry and government but there has been almost no work done in the arts sector. We suspect that arts organizations are subject to normal financial and administrative pressures but that artistic judgement will impinge on strategic decision processes in ways that are foreign to most other industries.

Project Details:
This study is designed to compare practices in Canada and Australia . We will be speaking to a selection of arts managers in both countries to understand their individual points of view. Since there is so little information about arts management, this will be an exploratory study which will seek to identify how these managers differ from their counterparts in other sectors. At the conclusion of our research we hope to provide a systematic assessment of the tasks that managers in the arts regard as crucial, how they handle them and how these are distinct. The research outcomes will be some practical suggestions as to how management techniques can be fruitfully applied to arts organizations as well as an extended research agenda to investigate more fully problem areas.

Outcomes:
Inglis, I., Cray, D. & Freeman, S. 2006. Leading arts organizations: traditional styles or different realities? In H. De Cieri, A. Bardoel, R. Barrett, D. Buttigieg, A. Rainnie & K. McLean (Eds.) Socially responsive, socially responsible approaches to employment and work. Proceedings of the ACREW/KCL Conference, Prato Italy, July 1-4.

Cray, D., Inglis, L. & Freeman, S. 2006. Strategic decision making in the arts: Topics and processes. In H. De Cieri, A. Bardoel, R. Barrett, D. Buttigieg, A. Rainnie & K. McLean (Eds.) Socially responsive, socially responsible approaches to employment and work. Proceedings of the ACREW/KCL Conference, Prato Italy, July 1-4.

Researchers:
Dr. David Cray (Carleton University)
Dr. Susan Freeman susan.freeman@buseco.monash.edu.au
Loretta Inglis Loretta.inglis@buseco.monash.edu.au