University of AmsterdamUniversity of AmsterdamUvA

  • Terms of use
  • Contact

UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository)

  • Home
  • Advanced Search
  • Browse
  • My selection

Search UvA-DARE

Author
F. Chiaravalloti
Year
2015
Title
Understanding artistic performance in its context: A case study of the practice of evaluation in a publicly funded opera company
Event
5th workshop on 'Managing Cultural Organisations', Bologna, Italy
Book/source title
5th workshop on 'Managing Cultural Organisations', Bologna, Italy, December 14-15, 2015: accepted papers
Publisher
Brussels: European Institute of Advanced Studies in Management
Document type
Conference contribution
Faculty
Faculty of Humanities (FGw)
Institute
Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA)
Abstract
This paper shows how the different groups of managers (administrative, artistic, and technical) of a publicly funded opera company evaluate the artistic performance of their organization.
Performance information of varied nature is exchanged between the internal and external stakeholders of the organization through a dense web of formally defined procedures and of naturally occurring activities. It is within this dense web that the managers make sense of different dimensions of performance, and of the opinions and expectations of different evaluators of performance.
In forming their judgments about artistic performance the interviewed managers share a common frame of reference in which the evaluators and the dimensions that are central (respectively: press, audience, peers, direction, staff and oneself; artistic and social dimensions of performance) are those which are closely related to the core artistic processes of the organization: opera creation (programming, production, reception) and opera distribution (audience development). The evaluators and dimensions that are largely absent from the common frame of reference used by the interviewed managers to form their judgments about artistic performance (respectively: government, cultural council, auditors/inspectors, sponsors, donors and supervisory board; organizational and financial dimensions of performance) are related to the supporting processes of the organization: financial and organization management.
The shared frame of reference stresses the distinction between core and supporting processes and does not seem to be influenced either by the individual profile of the managers, or by the procedures of evaluation inspired by NPM-oriented forms of accountability and imposed by funding and regulatory bodies. Rather, the common frame of reference of the interviewed managers seems to originate in the nature of work processes in opera.
The implications of these findings for the study of performance evaluation and for the understanding of accountability in arts and cultural organizations are discussed. In particular, I suggest that concepts from organization studies can enrich extant taxonomies of accountability forms and enhance our understanding of the nature of work and, consequently, of accountability relationships in arts and cultural organizations.
Link
Link
Language
English
Note
It is necessary to be a registered participant of the conference to open an EIASM account in order to access the article.
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/11245/1.507432

Disclaimer/Complaints regulations

If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library, or send a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible.

PrintPrint this pageShareShare via emailShare on facebookShare on linkedinShare on twitter
  • University library
  • About UvA-DARE
  • Disclaimer
Copyright UvA 2014