International Conference
The Museum as a ‘Firm’: from Conservation of Value to Creation of Values
University of Florence - November 6th -7th, 2003

University of Florence - Faculty of Economics - Department of Business Studies
Interuniversity Research Group on Nonprofit Organizations
and with the support of:
ICOM ITALIA - International Council of Museums Conseil International des Musées

CALL FOR PAPERS
Please contact: Barbara Sibilio <[log in to unmask]>
The museum sector, like more generally the whole cultural field, is 
involved in a deep process of renewal, in Italy and Europe.
In particular, museums are subject to relentless changes on both their 
characteristic operational areas of conservation and protection of 
heritage, and of culture promotion and
diffusion.
Relating to the former, an increasing number of initiatives allows more and 
more continuous and high quality care and protection of artistic and 
cultural heritage.
As to culture promotion and diffusion, a great development can be noticed 
in services addressed to a wide and diversified audience, to which the 
museums must make easy to enjoy the conserved heritage for purposes of 
education, culture, recreation, etc.
Such changes denote a growing “managerial culture” that can help turn the 
increased worth of the heritage to the creation of a set of values, of 
various kinds (ethical, cultural, social, educational, aesthetic, economic) 
and great importance.
The topical interest of these subjects has persuaded the Interuniversity 
Research Group on Nonprofit Organizations (formed by the Bocconi University 
of Milan, and the Universities of Bologna, Florence, Parma, Trento and 
Venice) to promote a wide debate on the underlying theoretical models, on 
the choices made by national and international museums, as well as on the 
challenges and roles predictable for public and private institutions 
belonging to this sector.
Issues covered in the Conference include:
a) museums’ institutional frameworks and governance structures;
b) mission and strategic decisions;
c) “internal” accountability: planning, programming and control,
d) “external” accountability: communication of results;
e) museum districts and museum clusters.
Papers on the above topics are invited. Contributions on more specific and 
related topics
are welcome, too. Both theoretical analyses and case studies will be 
appreciated.

a) Institutional frameworks and governance structures
The current process of change regards, among other aspects, museums’ legal 
and institutional frameworks and the identification of their 
control/governance groups. Within such a process, some formulae can be 
acknowledged as especially preferable, because of their consistency with 
the museum sector’s peculiarities. Analyses of first significant 
applications are expected.
Suggested in-depth investigations of this issue include:
·  the main legal-institutional forms adopted in Italy and in other 
countries and their strengths and weaknesses;
·  cases of excellence and benchmarking analyses;
·  problems of coherence between legal-institutional forms and 
organizational objectives;
·  multiplicity of stakeholders and governance systems.

b) Mission and strategic decisions
Museums appear to be highly complex institutions also because of  among 
other factors  the dominance, variety and variability of non economic 
features. Considering jointly all their characteristic component elements, 
museums define their own mission and, consistently with it, make the 
strategic choices that help them achieve their fundamental objectives. Such 
choices involve all the important dimensions (ethical, cultural, 
educational, social, aesthetic, financial, and economic). Possible points 
for further investigation of this issue include:
·  museums’ competitive arenas: context analysis;
·  characteristics of competitive advantage;
·  practicable and implemented strategies and policies;
·  “product systems” offered;
·  redefining museums’ relationships with other institutions, whether 
cultural or not.

c) “Internal” accountability: planning, programming and control
Museums are to be considered responsible for the creation of planning, 
programming and control systems suitable for keeping active communicational 
flows towards their personnel about their performance.
Suggested in-depth investigations of this issue include:
·  the sources of funds, and especially the ways they are acquired;
·  approaches and models for interpreting costs and revenues;
·  performance measures enabling to monitor the main quantitative and 
qualitative features of operations;
·  tools used for providing integrated representations of monetary and 
non-monetary dimensions of operations and their results;
·  valuation of artistic and cultural heritage: reasons, problems and criteria;
·  reporting systems.

d) “External” accountability: communication of results
Museums must complete their planning, programming and control systems by an 
adequate reporting on their activity and communication of their results to 
all the stakeholders. Suggested in-depth investigations of this issue 
include analyses of the process of designing the documents aiming at 
illustrating:
·  economic and financial trends;
·  results of the “institutional” activities;
·  effects produced in terms of “social and territorial impact”.

e) Museum districts and museum clusters.
The ongoing museums’ renewal process has given rise, among other things, to 
widespread “museum systems”, which demonstrate close interactions among 
cultural entities active in the same territory. A sense of belonging has 
often turned into relationships between museums and cultural clusters, made 
up of economic, non economic and institutional actors. This issue can be 
investigated by further study of:
·  relations between museums and their territory;
·  the economic and social exploitation of artistic and cultural heritage, 
and the roles played by museums in their environment;
·  individual actors and networks of actors, involved in the management of 
museums and of their internal and external relations;
·  the various types and interpretations of museum district form and their 
roles in economic development.

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