A virtuous circle: the positive evaluation phenomenon in arts audience research
Arts impact evaluation is the subject of widespread criticism, ranging from a detailed critique of methodology to a wholesale rejection of the very purpose of the endeavour. In particular, it is often identified that audience evaluations are almost always positive. Yet whatever the critique, arts impact evaluation is becoming more and not less prevalent as a condition of public and philanthropic funding. This article explores both the methodological and conceptual problems that contribute to the perceived positive character of social impact research, in two parts: (1) an investigation of the critical literature on audience evaluation, particularly in relation to the argument that evaluation is inevitably positive and as such leads to a confusion between the goals of evaluation and arts advocacy; (2) a reflection on our practices as audience researchers in the performing arts and the practical factors that contribute to the dominance of the positive in audience evaluation.
Deep hanging out in the arts: an anthropological approach to capturing cultural value
This article presents the findings of an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded project carried out from September 2013 to March 2014 by five researchers at the University of Leeds (UK), who paired off with five audience-participants and engaged in a process of ‘deep hanging out’ at events curated as part of Leeds’ annual LoveArts festival. As part of AHRC’s Cultural Value project, the overarching aim of the research was to produce a rich, polyvocal, evocative and complex account of cultural value by co-investigating arts engagement with audience–participants. Findings suggested that both the methods and purpose of knowing about cultural value impact significantly on any exploration of cultural experience. Fieldwork culminated in the apparent paradox that we know, and yet still don’t seem to know, the value and impact of the arts. Protracted discussions with the participants suggested that this paradox stemmed from a misplaced focus on knowledge; that instead of striving to understand and rationalize the value of the arts, we should instead aim to feel and experience it. During a process of deep hanging out, our participants revealed the limitations of language in capturing the value of the arts, yet confirmed perceptions of the arts as a vehicle for developing self-identity and -expression and for living a better life. These findings suggest that the Cultural Value debate needs to be reframed from what is currently an interminable epistemological obsession (that seeks to prove and evidence the value of culture) into a more complex phenomenological question, which asks how people experience the arts and culture and why people want to understand its value. This in turn implies a re-conceptualization of the relationships between artists or arts organisations and their publics, based on a more relational form of engagement and on a more anthropological approach to capturing and co-creating cultural value.
Managerial Economics and Organizational Architecture
PART 1: Basic Concepts Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Economists' View of Behavior Chapter 3: Markets, Organizations, and the Role of Knowledge PART 2: Managerial Economics Chapter 4: Demand Chapter 5: Production and Cost Chapter 6: Market Structure Chapter 7: Pricing with Market Power Chapter 8: Economics of Strategy: Creating and Capturing Value Chapter 9: Economics of Strategy: Game Theory Chapter 10: Incentive Conflicts and Contracts PART 3: Designing Organizational Architecture Chapter 11: Organizational Architecture Chapter 12: Decision Rights: The Level of Empowerment Chapter 13: Decision Rights: Bundling Tasks into Jobs and Subunits Chapter 14: Attracting and Retaining Qualified Employees Chapter 15: Incentive Compensation Chapter 16: Individual Performance Evaluation Chapter 17: Divisional Performance Evaluation Capstone Case Study on Organizational Architecture: Arthur Andersen LLP PART 4: Applications of Organizational Architecture Chapter 18: Corporate Governance Chapter 19: Vertical Integration and Outsourcing Chapter 20: Leadership: Motivating Change within Organizations Chapter 21: Understanding the Business Environment: The Economics of Regulation Chapter 22: Ethics and Organizational Architecture Chapter 23: Organizational Architecture and the Process of Management Innovation Glossary Index