Shifting Gear. The daily deliberation between arts and economics in cultural and creative organisations in Utrecht, 2010–2012

This research analyses strategic practice and discourse in ten cultural and for-profit creative organisations in the Dutch city of Utrecht, between 2010 and 2012. The main question of this research is how deliberations on culture, creativity and business structure strategic discourse and practice in cultural and creative organisations in the midst of current institutional change. The methodological framework is based on structuration theory as developed by Anthony Giddens, applied in a discourse analysis of strategic organisational practice. From the analysis of one case, four categories of strategic conduct are extracted, each typifying an organisational-strategic dimension/domain in which the relation between artistic / creative and economic considerations in daily practice is played out or expressed. These four themes structure the analyis of the full sample of organisations. The four categories include: Artistic / creative identity narrative in a changing context. The value given in all observed organisations to their artistic-creative identity and knowledge position in a cultural-creative network is based on their understanding that achieving economic success is somehow linked to (developments in) a distinctive artistic or creative profile. Organisational actors experience that this connection can be created through a strategy of sharing information, and investing in narratively explaining / developing organisational identity. Actors in cultural organisations reflect on how their network position in the past could be experienced as static and bounding. The process observed in non-profits indicates a sensitive practice of scanning possibilities. Relation between local administration and cultural organisations. For the benefit of larger culture-political goals this relationship is reframed as a partnership. The administration leaves the artistic interpretation of the partnership to the organisations. Organisations are seen to keep artistic identity and political agenda separate. Organisations pragmatically deliberate on the tension between artistic freedom on the one hand and connection to the political ambition on the other. Organisational culture and agency. Respondents from cultural organisations reflect on the necessity of unilateral leadership in achieving strategic change. The leader is envisioned with artistic credibility without embodying an artistic identity. Actors in cultural organisations reflect on how artistic identity of an organisation in the past could be experienced as fixed bounding in developing new relationships or artistic opportunities, whereas now it can be understood as an enabler of economic success. In observed for-profit teams, members instantiate collective leadership in routine reflection on the cultural / economic relation, in order to maintain commitment and support for decisions. Growth and development. Observed cultural organisations experience organisational growth as part of a continuous artistic innovation. Notions of growth become an issue when organisations attempt to relate to the term (cultural) entrepreneurship, which in its dominant interpretation marginalises values of curiosity and experimentation, even though these values are central to the interaction on government support. Observed for profits understand growth qualitatively in terms of an improvement of the creative network position. Professionalisation is understood as developing ways to better connect the creative core to customers’ questions. Quantitative growth is experienced as a hasard for the creative profile and the manageability of the organisation.