IJAM Volume 10 Number 2 (PRINT)

EDITOR’S NOTE

The management problems facing certain players in the cultural sector have prompted governments to focus on the improvement of corporate governance, considered a key element among the range of measures necessary to improve the financial situation and performance of arts organizations. However, support for this trend is not unanimous. Indeed, our first article (Turbide et al.) asks whether governance should not be regarded as the cause of the illness rather than the cure. The second article (Camarero and Garrido) has ties with the first, in that the authors analyse the respective roles of product orientation and market orientation on the performance of museums. The authors’ research is based on a study of 182 Spanish museums.

The third article deals with a different topic altogether. Perrini et al. are interested in the value of works of art, with a focus on Surrealist painters. The authors compare the different methods of price forecasting used and analyse the role of investment in art works in a balanced investment portfolio.

Several factors play a key role in a person’s decision to repurchase any product. There is no doubt that the repeat purchase of a seat in a given performing arts venue is influenced by the emotions triggered by the performances attended at that venue. In her article, however, Hume clearly demonstrates the strategic importance of customer service in influencing such decisions. We can thus safely assume that, in choosing between two theatres that provoke the same level of positive emotions, the customer will make his or her decision based on the quality of the customer service offered. 

The fifth article looks at museum admission fees. More specifically, the author reports on the findings of a study on the practice of offering free admission to low-income people in certain neighbourhoods in Taiwan.

Finally, Philippe Ravanas presents the case of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which managed to emerge from a period of financial crisis and declining attendance through a clever combination of renewed programming, improved customer service and a new price policy based on dynamic pricing.

Happy reading!

François Colbert
Editor