In regards to Paula's recent blog Module 3 Blogging I thought it very useful to post where I am currently at in my inquiry. Title: (Need some feedback on this as I fear it may be too long?)
How/why/can theatres survive the current downfall in the economy?What skills must an arts manager posess to manage a successful company?
How can artists successfully transition from stage to management?
Inquiry Questions and Topic
My Inquiry is looking into what led to the downfall of the theatre I worked at. What went wrong, or happened in management and how could this have been prevented. I hope to look at the current national and international scene in theatres and compare what happened to other theatres. To look at business failure and compare some of these issues with the issues the theatre faced. I plan to find out what skills an arts manager needs to run a successful theatre company. What skills do Dance managers need? To look into career transition from performer to manager and how you can make a smooth transition.
Ethical Issues
Due to some law suits I have decided to make all participants from the theatre anonymous in the interviews and surveys they complete. I had gained permission for my inquiry back in May, however now the theatre is closed I have no way of gaining permission for any further inquiry. May need to discuss this matter with Paula.
Literature Review
Should this be just one piece of literature when it comes to writing the inquiry? So far I have reviewed 2 articles that related to my inquiry. I have also order a book, which I think will be of interest. It is called 'Hermanisms: Axioms for Business and Life' by John L. Herman Jr. I found this through reading his blog Hermanisms. He has owned more than 20 companies and his book is about what you can learn from a business failure and how it may be of much value to you.
Gathering Data
So far I have done a survery using Survey Monkey for ex-employees of the theatre entitled Why small businesses fail and so far have 9 responses. I have conducted 2 interviews with ex-employees, that were videotaped for my own record to analyse. One was the accountant which was conducted at his house and one was with one of the lead performers at my house. It was interesting as already I have two very different perspectives from someone who worked in the office to someone who was onstage. I have some more interviews set up this coming week. I also have started a new Facebook page to discuss issues with ex-employees and my inquiry called Arts Management CMT.
Analysing Data
To analyse my interviews I will need to review the videotapes and make notes. I will present any comments in my inquiry with quotation makes and use the Harvard citation for the source of the quote. In order to ensure anonymity, I plan to identify each participant using a letter and number, E1 (employee 1) or P1 (participant 1) for those people not affiliated with the theatre.
Survey Monkey allows me to easily analyse my results. It shows me a summary of the results from my survey giving a number of respondants, percents and response counts for each questions. It presents the data using bar graphs or table formats depending on the question. As many of my questions are on a rating scale I am currently researching the best way to convert the results into statistics.
Hi Laura,
ReplyDeleteJust flying through the blogs!
Is that your current working title? Maybe you could just highlight your main area of research in your title and expand in your introduction.
'Theatre survival in uncertain times' or 'Transition from stage to management; skills and success'
Just suggestions.. I think short snappy titles are good
Joanna
The closure of this theatre flies in the face of 2010 being the most successful year in London West End - see extract of report
ReplyDeletehttp://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/servlet/file/store8/item115972/version1/BODR2010SUMMARY.pdf
It's valuable to place this in a wider context ....
Hi Joanna- thank you for your feedback on my title. Yes, I have been trying to come up with something short and like your suggestion 'Theatre survival in uncertain times'.
ReplyDeleteRosemary- interesting to find theatre doing well in other parts of the world. This raises the question whether this is an uncertain time for theatres if the West End had their most successful year in 2010. In my inquiry I aim to compare this theatre to the current national and International scene so thank you for pointing me to this.