Museum management research paper example

Museum Management

A museum is an establishment that preserves an assortment of artefacts and other items of cultural, artistic, scientific, or historical significance and avails them for open viewing through displays that may be permanent or provisional. It can also be described as a not-for-profit, lasting institution in the service of the society and of its development, and open to the public, which obtains, preserves, researches, communicates and shows off, for purposes of education, study, and enjoyment, material evidence of people and their environment (Richard, 2007).

Mission and vision Statement

A mission statement is a sentence or clause which explains, in straightforward and concise language, its reasons for being. It is intended to certify that very stakeholder is clear on the fundamental purpose of the concern so that everybody can be centred on similar aims and objectives. These statements help employees to stay focused on the responsibilities at hand, and they encourage them to discover innovative approaches of stirring towards an increasingly fruitful attainment of company goals (Brian, 2006). Ideally, mission statement should be a clear and to the point representation of the purpose of existence of an enterprise. An efficient mission statement is a reflection of the strategic thinking of the leaders of the organization in defining a suitable role for the organization. In this particular case, the mission statement discloses the museums understanding of the environment in which it exists, the significance of its role, and its relationship to its components (Lord and Gail, 2007).

On the hand, vision statement is a conceptualization of a future. In the case of a museum, vision statements look at how the entire community will benefit from the success of the museum in implementing its mission and propagating its values. It is also important to note that a vision plays a pivotal role in leadership.

Mission Statement for the University Art Museum

The purpose of the University Art Museum is to cultivate appreciation and pleasure in arts. The University Art Museum cultivates awareness of and admiration for the University’s cultural legacy and its current cultural framework. It also creates enthusiasm for learning through interactive discovery of the arts. Besides, the University Art Museum promotes innovation and brilliance as an educational resource.

The University Art Museum Vision

The University Art Museum’s Vision is to be a recognized world-class university museum exploring the country’s past, illuminating the present, and imagining the future.

Core Values

Core values are standards that direct the internal demeanour of an institution and its association with the outside world. Ideally, core values serve various functions including: governing personal relationships, articulating what an organization stands for, determines how decisions are made, and clarifies who the organization is.

Core Values for the University Art Museum

Effective knowledge and information management
Partnerships for collaborative advantage and synergies
Professionalism
Quality Services
Team spirit and team work
Other Values
Integrity
Openness creativity

Opinions on Mission Statement

In regard to the mission statement, there are different opinions among the faculty as to what the museum should be or should do. The economist known for his populism believes the late director was in the right track by trying to make the University Art Museum a community resource. The economist is of the opinion the museum should be open to the community, in order to make art accessible to broad masses of people.
The silent and polite senate member from the art history faculty believes first it makes no sense for the University Art Museum to become a community museum. This is because the city is home to the world’s finest and largest museums and it does precisely that and does it exceptionally well. Secondly, he is of the opinion that the Museum lacks the artistic and financial resources required to serve the community at large. He insists that the University Art Museum is a major education resource for all the students of the University. This is because all students in the university take art courses despite some of them not being all major or art historians. Students enjoy these courses more because they are scholarly and not just appreciation of art. He believes this is unique, and this is what the museum should do.

The chairman of the mathematics department believes that the museum is part of the graduate faculty. He recommends that it should give attention to educating art historians in its PhD program, on its academic work and its study. He robustly recommends that the museum be deemed an addition to graduate and in particular to PhD education, confine itself to this task and keep off of all efforts to be well-liked both on campus and outside of it. He deems that the glory of the campus is the academic catalogues generated by our faculty, and our PhD graduates who are wanted by art history faculties all through the country. He thinks this is the museum’s mission, which can only be impaired by attempting to be popular whether with the students or the public.

The old states man of the faculty is of the opinion that the University Art Museum does not face a personality problem; instead it is facing a management problem. He points out that the university has not taken responsibility to state the mission, direction and objectives of the museum He informs the university senate that the Museum cannot get a good director until they have developed the mission, direction and objectives of the museum.

These conflicting expectations can be accommodated in a mission statement through establishing the key elements that the various parties are highlighting. The next thing to do is to highlight the universal goals and objectives that are being presented by the stakeholders. Then establish a correlation between the key values presented along with how they can be realized in order to achieve the universal objective.

In the case of University Art Museum, the universal objectives are to impart knowledge through education and appreciation of art. This is because all the economists want art to be accessible to broad masses of people. The quiet and courteous senate associate from the art history faculty wants the university students to spend quality time in the Museum in order to learn and appreciate art. The chairman of the mathematics department wants the Museum to be used for the development of top notch graduates. These graduates are wanted after all through the country, and the only way to achieve this is through education and appreciation of art. With this in mind, the mission statement for the University Art Museum had to put into consideration both of students and the community.

The silent and polite senate member from the art history faculty believes first it makes no sense for the University Art Museum to become a community museum. This is because the city is home to the world’s finest and largest museums and it does precisely that and does it exceptionally well. This expectation was excluded from the mission statement because the University Art Museum should serve the community in which it belongs. The senate member’s expectation is not only selfish but also cantankerous. Such sentiments can cause discomposure and discomfiture of persons within the community.

The economist is of the opinion that the museum should be open to the community, in order to make art accessible to broad masses of people. The chairman of the mathematics department deems that the glory of the campus is the academic catalogues generated by the facility, and our PhD graduates who are wanted by art history faculties all through the country. These expectations were included in the mission statement because they consider both the students and the community in a positive manner.

Organizational Culture

Organizational culture is a composition of collective intellectual assumptions that direct interpretation and deeds in an institution by determining appropriate conduct for different situations. Organizational culture influences the manner persons and groups relate with one another, with customers, and with stakeholders.
There are also differing organisational cultures in this case. The faculty senate differed with the late director. This is because he organised popular exhibitions and promoted visits from public schools around the area via radio, newspapers and television interviews. The late manager also brought in travelling exhibitions from major museums and imported their catalogue. The senate faculty preferred the University Art Museum to confine itself to education and stay out of attempting to be popular both on campus, and outside of it. The senate are of the opinion that the glory of the campus is the scholarly catalogues produced by our faculty only.

The late director organized exhibitions around topics of general interest, and he promoted them vigorously on radio, television interviews and newspapers. As a result, what had been a busy but quiet place became full of school children. The students resented the situation, and they describe the environment inside the museum as excessively noisy and too exciting for students to benefit from the classes, and a chance to learn.

Management Structure

A management structure is stated and implied institutional regulations and policies intended to provide a configuration where an assortment of work roles and tasks are assigned, controlled and synchronized. There are four main types of organisation structure: flat organisation structure, functional organisation structure, product organisation structure and geographical organisation structure (Baligh, 2011).
A flat organizational structure entails a structure in which the middle management levels as well as their functions are abolished. In this case, the top management are directly connected to the lower level personnel. In a functional organization structure, the organization is structured according to the functions performed by various people within the organization. Particularly, employees are organized hierarchically, managed through obvious authority lines, and report in due course to one top person (Baligh, 2011). Product organization structure refers to a structure in which the main focus is on the product. On the other hand, geographical organizational structures refer to a structure that is embraced by companies that have multiple locations.

Management structure for the University Art Museum

Arguably, the best management structure for the University Arts Museum is the functional structure. It clearly indicates how the various departments are interconnected, and the role they play in the management of the museum (Richard, 2007). In most museums, at the top of the structure is the Board of Trustees, who is responsible for policy making and overall supervision of the museum. Below the board of directors is the President, who is answerable to the board. The President implements the policies, as well as undertaking other responsibilities as directed by the board. Below the President is the Director of the museum, who is the senior manager of the museum. He/she is responsible for managing other managers, and is answerable to the president. Below the Director are various managers including: Finance Manager, General Manager Curatorial, General Manager in charge of Education, and Public Relations Manager. At the bottom of the hierarchy is the Support Staff, who work in various departments to promote smooth running of the daily activities in the museum.

Recommended Management structure for the University Art Museum

The University Art Museum will have the following proposed functional organizational structure.

Diagram Showing University Arts Museum Structure

Academic Senate

The Academic senate shall make University Art Museum policy and shall include solitary duty for the administration of the dealings of the University Art Museum. The Academic Senate shall, consent and stop all appointments, consent financial plans, and expenditures, supervise bequest and plant assets, manage educational guidelines, and presume community management for the University. The Academic senate shall appoint the chairman of the search committee of the University who shall serve indefinitely with the discretion of the Academic Senate.

The Chairman of the Search Committee

The Chairman of the committee will be in charge of the University, will be reporting to the Board of Trustees, and will have influence, and tasks as may be assigned. The Chairman of the Committee of the University appoints the Director of the University Art Museum, subject to the approval of the Academic Senate.

Director of the University Art Museum

The Director is evidently in charge of the daily administration and processes of the Museum. This consists of growth and operation of a long-range institutional plan, and organization of activities within the museum.

Senior Management of the University Art Museum

The General Manager, Curatorial is responsible for categorizing and choosing displays and their custodians, permanent compilations management and procurement. The General Manager, Curatorial is answerable to the Director of the museum.

The Finance Manager is responsible for maintaining proper book of accounts, and financial planning for the museum. The Finance Manager is answerable to the Director of the museum.

The General Manager, Education she must be a faculty representative. He is in charge of the improvement, and operation of learning programs. The General Manager, Education is answerable to the Director of the museum.

The General Manager, Public Relations is responsible for building positive associations within the Museum society, making associations, and promoting dealings with local and provincial neighbourhood entities, as well as raising finances. The General Manager, Public Relations is answerable to the Director of the museum.

Support Staff

These are Museum staffs who work to facilitate the smooth running of the daily activities of the museum. The support staffs are answerable to the Director of the Museum and their respective heads of department.

Conclusion

It is imperative for an organisation to develop the mission statement, direction, and objectives of the organisation. This is because they capture the organization’s purpose for existence, the ideologies that are in use for governing the institution and objectives that the organisation wants to achieve. An understanding of the mission and the aims of the organisation facilitate effective decision making, and team work. This is because all the stakeholders are working towards the realisation of common goals.

References

Baligh, H. H. (2011). Organization Structures: Theory and Design, Analysis and Prescription. London: Springer

Brian, B. (2006). Mission Expert: Creating Effective Mission and Vision Statements. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Lord, B and Gail, D. L. (2007) The Manual of Museum Management. Boston: Rowman Altamira

Richard, S. (2007) Museum Management and Marketing. Oxford: Taylor and Francis.