The role of museum policy is to create general principles and goals that the museum wishes to achieve in its relationship with the public. The Otago Museum’s plans for the periods studied, 2014 to 2020 and 2019 to 2024, reflect sets of goals from which meaningful conclusions can be drawn about the organization. The strategy outlined for the earlier period is reflected in the later period. However, some points were not developed in the new document. The analysis showed that the plan of the museum from 2014 was not implemented sufficiently, and on this basis, the new strategy should be finalized.
The management of this organization provides a detailed description of the goals for 2020, setting aside a separate chapter for each of them. The main areas of focus for this period include:
- creating a world-class collection;
- involvement of the community;
- ensuring business stability;
- maintaining an outward-looking and inclusive culture.
The main necessary actions in the first area are seen by museum managers as meeting standards of care for the existing exhibits, improving the quality of their maintenance, and developing programs to replenish the collection with valuable items. This goal is inextricably linked to the implementation of digital technology, allowing the museum to receive visitors from all over the world online. It is worth noting that this task is a very multifactorial issue and requires separate detailed consideration (Otago Museum, n.d.a). Computerization of the museum heritage and the debugging of online processes requires the inclusion of a team of IT specialists, as well as a significant financial investment (Wadhwa et al., 2020). On this basis, the developers of the plan made a mistake, as the steps of digitalization were not specified. Consequently, this deprives visitors of the opportunity to know on which Internet platforms access to exhibits will appear and also slows down the process of implementing this item. Finally, a digital reorganization of the museum should include ways to monetize since the return on investment is the most important condition for the existence of an online platform. Monetization can cover both permanently realized events, such as the work of museum studios, circles, and courses online, as well as periodic ones, such as virtual summer camps.
The next goal, involving the community, implies attracting new visitors to the museum and increasing their interest in cultural heritage. Among the key tasks in this direction, the creation of Internet programs, collaborations with local educational institutions, and cooperation with other regional museums were mentioned. The plan also mentioned the creation of interpretive content, which will increase awareness and interest in viewing the exhibits. These tasks are not formulated specifically enough because when you read them, you do not get a clear picture of the specific steps of this organization.
There is no logical connection between cooperation with regional museums and the creation of interpretive content. The question arises why the last step, as well as the creation of Internet programs, is not connected with digitalization as part of the creation of the world collection. Given that each goal of this plan is accompanied by an extensive list of tasks, a good solution would be to arrange them on a ribbon of time (Jung, 2021). Thus, the concept of museum development will look more concrete and visible.
The goal of business stability implies the fulfillment of many tasks related to internal organization. For example, the plan involves improving the quality of accounting and, in general, reporting on the work of departments. The authors also included in this section the tasks to find new sources of funding, as well as the development of charitable projects. Also included in the list of tasks was an environmental policy, which implies the reduction of environmental pollution caused by the activities of the museum. This item does not seem logical and appropriate since there is no information about how the work of this organization basically affects the deterioration of the state of nature. If such information had been studied, it should have been included to justify the need for this task.
The final goal of the plan is to create an outward-looking and inclusive culture. This direction implies providing quality feedback to the requests of visitors and museum staff. Among the objectives were the introduction of programs for scholarly collaboration with organizations in New Zealand and elsewhere and the encouragement of collaborative work among staff. Managers have formulated correct and important goals from a strategic point of view. However, the tasks in this section do not contain specific information. For example, the authors noted the need to consider the wishes of visitors, but the steps for customer feedback were not spelled out. A legitimate question arises as to how feedback data will be collected by staff.
The plan goes on to list projects and initiatives timed to specific years. For example, by 2017, managers plan to open a new gallery; by 2018, they anticipate opening a convenient driveway and parking space. Many of the projects listed are unrelated to the goals and objectives originally outlined in the plan. Large-scale projects such as the new Galleria require more clarification in terms of value and feasibility.
While looking at the 2020 plan compared to the 2024 strategic document, we can conclude that the inaccuracies made in the early period have been clearly reflected in the further development of the museum. Thus, many of the tasks mentioned are exactly or partially duplicated, including environmental policy, the creation of digital projects, and the search for new funding (Otago Museum, n.d.b). Since, in the previous stage, these tasks were not specific enough, their implementation was greatly hampered.
The new plan reiterates the idea that regional cooperation and the creation and funding of educational projects are necessary. Considering the fact that the data on the created projects in the previous time was not provided, and the wording of the tasks was repeated, we can conclude that in many of the goals, the management did not take the planned actions. The main reason that the plan worked ineffectively is the failure to set goals and divide them into objectives (Pearlson et al., 2019). The authors developed directions that are quite distant from practical activities, and it is impossible to specify them because they are inherently related to values.
A good example of a goal that could have been set in the original plan is the implementation of the digitalization of the museum activities, which would meet several values of the organization at once. Many of the steps mentioned in the plan can be included in the objectives, but it is important to place them sequentially, in chronological order. Editing and setting up the site can be a starting point, to which the creation of Internet projects, programs for interpreting information about the exhibits, and educational sections are added later (Ambrose & Paine, 2018). In the same direction should be considered the creation of a mobile application will be an effective tool in the development of a community and the creation of an inclusive culture.
It is also worth noting that in the construction of the strategic plans for both periods, there was a common inaccuracy, which probably greatly affected the effectiveness of the museum. Both documents do not provide, as a starting point, a map of the difficulties and shortcomings in the work of the organization from which any strategy is built. Moreover, it is important to provide data on which items from previous plans were not accomplished for one reason or another (Wadhwa et al., 2020). In this case, repeating the objectives in the document for 2024 would be logical and justified.
All of the above inaccuracies in the construction of the plan had an impact on the museum’s strategic position in the present. Based on the fact that many tasks were not accomplished, the new plan seems flawed, as it repeats the error of the previous one. Items have remained unspecified, and the authors have not developed a step-by-step framework for achieving many of their goals. Issues such as the development of regional cooperation and the development of an educational environment need to be covered in more detail. The list of organizations with which negotiations are planned should be listed, as well as the responsible structures and positions that deal with these issues.
The analysis of how the work on the first plan influenced the creation of the subsequent plan allows us to conclude that there are certain difficulties at the organizational level at the museum. Based on them, the new strategic document should be edited and supplemented. These problems include:
- unclear idea of the consumer of services in the museum sphere of the region;
- insufficiently diverse list of services;
- insufficiently mobile response to the requirements of the services market.
It is important to note that there are many favorable factors for work in the above areas. The latter include:
- relatively stable situation in the economy as compared with the previous decades;
- the growth of free leisure time of the population;
- growth of material security of part of the population;
- the development of tourism (Wadhwa et al., 2020).
Another area in need of refinement in the plan is the development of personnel policy, which was not mentioned in the second plan at all and was partially touched upon in the first document. In the near future, it is necessary to bring the system of training and retraining of specialists into line with the needs of modern museum activities. Along with strengthening the personnel of museums with professionals including historians, art historians, and biologists. An important factor contributing to attracting highly qualified specialists to museums should be an increase in the average salary of museum workers to a level not lower than the average in the region. Along with the traditional university training of museum specialists, acquiring postgraduate museum qualifications should become one of the important ways (Bryson, 2017). The state support of advanced training and professional retraining should play an important role in the growth of the professional level of museum workers (Simmons, 2017). Profile internships in the museums of different types should be introduced.
The key point, which was given much attention in the first plan, but which was practically not reflected in the subsequent document, is the modernization of museum activities. The concept of result-oriented management should be the basis for the improvement of the museum activity management system (Martin, 2022). It means focusing a set of management decisions not only on improving the efficiency of spending resources but also on achieving specific, measurable results corresponding to the objectives of the activity.
It is necessary to improve the quality of management at the level of each museum through the professionalization of general management, assimilation, the introduction of modern tools of personnel management, logistics, quality management, and others. It is also necessary to improve and bring the organizational structure of museums in line with the expanded range of activities (Bryson, 2017). The introduction of strategic planning will facilitate the concentration of efforts on the most promising areas in management practice.
A multifaceted partnership should become an effective method of attracting resources and achieving socially significant results for museums. In addition to the functions of regulation, financing, and control, the main thing in the relationship between state authorities and museums must be the support and stimulation of modernization processes. This issue refers to the management of development or change management, which is carried out through various mechanisms: announcement of grant competitions, implementation of targeted programs, the introduction of standards, and various quality control systems (Ambrose & Paine, 2018). The sphere of application of program-project management and financing methods is expanding: various forms of state support apply to municipal, public and private museums if they implement social functions and provide museum services to the population.
The development of standards for museum activities is particularly important for the industry, taking into account global experience in this area. The standards are the recommended guidelines necessary to improve the quality of museum workers’ activity and its assessment. The development of professional standards should be conducted in a number of directions. First of all, the notion of qualified museum work should be formulated, and a list of museum professions with a brief description of requirements to the level of basic education, qualifications, and skills.
Then there should be formed standards and requirements for museum activities and developed criteria for assessing the effectiveness of museum workers’ activities. The result of museums’ activity is the impact on the museum audience and society as a whole (Szántó, 2021). Hence, one should take into account, along with their institutional functions, their ability to produce the highest quality products and services with optimal use of resources.
The effectiveness criteria of museum activities should be determined on the basis of standards. They should take into account its specific features and be developed on the basis of the recommendations of the museum community, taking into account Russian and world experiences. The criteria should be based not on quantitative indicators but on the quality of museum activities, primarily within the framework of the state order. It is necessary to develop criteria that allow assessing the economic success of a museum not by direct profit but by the increase in tourist flow, the number of investments attracted to the region, and the degree of popularity of the territory.
Quality control systems should be differentiated and take into account the profile and type of a museum, specifics of museum collections, conditions of organization functioning, and local specifics. It is also necessary to develop and implement the established procedure. Mandatory minimum legal and technical requirements to the parameters of storage facilities, storage and display equipment, technical means, and technologies are used to ensure the security of museum items and information about them.
The next important component which the managers consider more thoroughly in the palm is educational activity. The latter is one of the most intensively developing directions of museum work. It is formed as a system of interaction between the museum and the audience, including people of different ages and professions who are in the process of life-long learning (Bryson, 2017). The demand for information and educational services allows for building a system of museum communication, starting directly from the position and preferences of the visitor, influencing the formation of visitors’ value. The museum has an opportunity to transmit knowledge through the museum, educate visitors, and make them aware of the museum’s heritage.
The museum can transmit knowledge through direct contact with the original, which makes it a unique educational environment, superior in its qualities to a school classroom or university audience. Not being formally an educational institution, the museum acts as a permanent partner of educational institutions of all levels, implementing various projects in the sphere of basic and additional education or independently developing and offering educational services in the field of science, art, and museum business and creative industries. A special educational space is formed in the museum itself, one of the main goals of which is to motivate the visitor of any age to gain knowledge independently and excitingly.
Thus, the studied strategic plan, created based on the previous one, requires significant revision and editing process. It does not adequately address such global concepts as modernization, standardization, and educational policy of museums. Moreover, the managers have not made conclusions about the tasks that could not be accomplished in the previous period, so there is a lot of sentences from the old text without changes.
References
Ambrose, T., & Paine, C. (2018). Museum Basics (4th ed.). Routledge.
Bryson, J. M. (2017). Strategic planning for public and non-profit organizations: A guide to strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement (5th ed.). Wiley.
Jung, Y. (2021). Transforming museum management: Evidence-based change through open systems theory. Routledge.
Martin, R. L. (2022). A new way to think: your guide to superior management effectiveness. Harvard Business Review Press.
Simmons, J. E. (2017). Things great and small: collections management policies (2nd ed.). American Alliance of Museums.
Szántó, A. (2021). The future of the museum: 28 dialogues. Hatje Cantz.
Otago Museum. (n.d.a). Te Ara Hou: Otago Museum Strategic Plan 2019–2024. Otago Museum.
Otago Museum. (n.d.b). Te Ara Hou: The Road Ahead. Strategic Plan 2014–2020. Otago Museum.
Pearlson, K. E., Saunders, C. S., & Galletta, D. F. (2019). Managing and using information systems: a strategic approach (7th ed.). Wiley.
Wadhwa, V., Amla, I., & Salkever, A. (2020). From incremental to exponential: How large companies can see the future and rethink innovation. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.