Central City Museum

Read this case study and answer these questions.

Central City Museum The recently completed new building to house the exhibits and staff of the Central City Museum was located adjacent to the campus of a private univer- sity. The new building was financed by the generos- ity of local donors. The university provided the land and would cover the annual operating expenses with the understanding that the museum would provide a resource for student education. The new govern- ing board would be made up of key donors, as well as selected university administrators and faculty members. The planning committee of the governing board hired two business students to interview vari- ous stakeholders about the future direction of the museum in its new relationship with the university These interviews were conducted in person, and the interviewees seemed uniformly interested and eager to help. The major questions pertained to the future mission and goals of the museum. Some excerpts from the interviews are listed here: Americans. This approach would entail bringing in traveling exhibitions from major museums, wbich tould save the administrative costs and our bead of producing our own exhibits. Head of the art history department: The key thing is that the museum will not have the artistic resources or the financial resources to serve the com- munity at large. We have a wonderful opportunity to integrate the museum with the academic faculty and make it a teaching institution. It can be a major re- source for both undergraduate and graduate students in art education and art history. We can also work with engineering students, architecture students, and liberal arts students. This is a unique opportunity that will distinguish our art history department's teaching mission from others in the country A faculty member in the art history depart- ment: The best use of the museum's relationship with the university is to concentrate on training Ph.D.-Il/udents in art bistory and to support scholarly research. I strongly urge the museum to focus on graduate education, which would increase the stature of the university nationally. Graduate students toould be involved in the design of exbib- its that would fit their research. Trying to make the muse popular on campus or in the community will waste our limited resources. Our Ph.D. gradu ates will be sought after by art bistory departments throughout the country The reason that you have been given this infor- mation from the interviews is that you have been invited to interview for the position of museum director. The previous director retired with the understanding that a new director would be hired upon the completion of fund-raising and construc- tion of the new building. You are thinking about what you would do if you took the job. A major donor: I think the museum should be a major community resource. My toife and I gave money for the new building with the expolation that the museum would promote visits from the public schools in the area, and particularly serve the inner-city children who don't have access to art exbibits. We don't want the new to be sobib or eirist. The focus should definitely be local A university administrator: The important thing is to baw ludly contemporary exhibits that will attract both university students and community adults and provide new insight and dialogue about current events. We can bring attention to the museum by having an occasional controversial exbibit, such as on Islamic art, and exhibits that appeal to Hispanics and African 2 Part 3 Planning Questions 3. Review Director's Toolkit on coalitions earlier in the chapter on page 190. Do you think that building a coalition and working out stakeholder differences in goal preferences is an important part of a manager's job? Why? 1. What goal or mission for the Central City Museum do you personally prefer? As director, would you try to implement your preferred direc- tion? Explain. 2. How would you resolve the underlying conflicts among key stakeholders about museum direction and goals? What actions would you take