The impact of arts-based initiatives on people and organizations: research findings, challenges for evaluation and research, and caveats more

The impact of arts-based initiatives on people and organizations: research findings, challenges for evaluation and research, and caveats Brigitte Biehl-Missal (Aberystwyth University, bbb@aber.ac.uk) Ariane Berthoin Antal (Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, ABAntal@wzb.eu) Creative Partnerships – Culture in Business and Business in Culture, Narodowe Centrum Kultury, KEA – European Affairs, in Partnership with British Council: Giełda Papierów Wartościowych Warsaw Stock Exchange, Warsaw, Poland, December 3, 2011 An increasing number of 21st -century organizations are turning to the world of arts for creative partnerships. Artistic interventions in organizations, sometimes also called arts-based initiatives – which bring people, processes, and products from the world of arts into the workplace (Berthoin Antal 2009) – are a relatively new trend, and a consequence of wideranging economic and social developments. We are witnessing an increase in the complexity and social interconnectivity of the global marketplace and consequent rapid changes in the business environment. For competitive reasons, many organizations in both the private and public sectors are seeking new ways of responding effectively to such changes, and some are drawing on the world of arts to develop their operational and dynamic capabilities (BiehlMissal 2011). Arts-based methods, thanks to their ‘otherness,’ are seen as stimuli for new ways of thinking and doing things in the business world. For example, innovations in products and processes may result from fostering individual skills for heightened creativity and complex thinking (Darsø 2004). It is important to note that the trend is also driven by an interest on the part of artists, who are discovering organizations as a site for their own creative production, as well as an opportunity to influence society and to earn a living (Berthoin Antal 2009). This presentation illustrates the impacts, on people and organizations, which might be expected from artistic interventions in organizations. It needs to be emphasized that this area of research is still very young. Research findings are limited: in particular there is not much empirical evidence of the complex and indirect impacts of arts-based initiatives. However, there are a few studies which observe and describe a range of beneficial impacts that they have had at the organizational level and on the development of individual employees. It is also likely that arts-based interventions may lead to unforeseen results whose nature and genesis require further academic study. Arts-based interventions in organizations take a wide diversity of forms and involve all kinds of arts. There are short projects lasting only a few hours, as well as those lasting days, weeks or months. Among the possibilities, to mention just a few, are artists-in-residence; organizational theatre; theatre workshops; poetry workshops; art collections; workshops with painting or sculpture; music projects and presentations by orchestra conductors, jazz bands, or tango dancers. Researchers and practitioners typically expect that arts-based initiatives unfold their impact as a ‘spill-over’ effect (Schiuma 2011), or as interlinked and networked effects in organizations (Berthoin Antal 2009: 45). Research so far suggest that the effects start first of all with individual employees who participate in an artistic intervention; their experiences can lead to effects on teams of employees (group level); and they may then flow out as impacts on organizational assets and resources. Some arts-based initiatives can also have an impact on wider society in which the organization is embedded. Artists: Most studies of artistic interventions in organizations have focused on the consequences for organizations, but a few have addressed the value they can represent for the artists involved (e.g. Brellochs & Schrat 2005; Ferro-Thomson 2005; Berthoin Antal 2009; Berthoin Antal et al. 2011). These studies have found that artists involved with business expect both financial benefits (remuneration; new sources of funding) and artistic benefits and inspiration. The latter include the improvement of artistic abilities; inspirational impulse via mutual (arts-business) challenge; and feeling ‘enriched’ when problems are solved, behaviour is influenced positively and discussion is engendered. Individual employees have reported a variety of effects that they value after participating in artistic interventions, and their managers have often observed improvements in their work performance. These include the development of technical skills (communication; selfpresentation; writing; ‘aesthetic competence’); better understanding of one-self and colleagues; improved intrinsic motivation and commitment; greater “passion”; more energy; and enhanced creativity (Stockil 2004, Styhre & Eriksson 2008, Nissley 2010, Biehl-Missal 2011, Schiuma, 2011). Spencer (2010) provides an example of effects at all three levels. InterContinental Hotels & Resorts (InterContinental) wanted to create their own musical version of their brand’s profile. The starting premise was that the music played in the public spaces of their hotels could help to better position the brand. Employees worked on the music in a studio and, when participating, were challenged to think about brand identity. The expectation was that this process would develop their ‘aesthetic’ competence in understanding that the hotel consists not only of the building and service, but also of the aesthetic experience including music, atmosphere and emotional experience. At the employee group level, practitioners expect impacts such as improved communication, team building and bonding, and improved group identity. For example, mutual understanding and shared values can be developed by communicating about the artistic experience, work related issues and existing conflicts. In the InterContinetal example (Spencer 2010) at participants were expected to learn to listen better to each other and to improve their team experience. Many of the artistic intervention projects conducted by TILLT in Sweden report similar kinds of effects of improved understanding of the connection between different jobs and departments (Berthoin Antal et al. 2011; Styhre & Eriksson 2008). On the organizational level, arts-based initiatives are expected to develop organizational assets and operational and dynamic capabilities (e.g. Schiuma 2011). Several types of tangible organizational assets may be enhanced, including: office space design; information and communication technological infrastructure; and other artful products such as an art collection. Intangible assets such as organizational culture, reputation, knowledge, skills and attitudes have been the focus of artistic interventions in organizations as well. Examples include: the use of theatrical presentation workshops to develop an employee’s confidence; poetry workshops to improve reading and writing skills; sculpture workshops to stimulate curiosity and imagination. Some arts-based initiatives (e.g. storytelling workshops) encourage employees to share knowledge better and to improve overall communication within and between groups at work. Artistic interventions in organizations are also expected to influence operational capabilities, the processes that are used to deploy assets effectively in the market place. As an example, service capability may be fostered by theatre workshops in which employees rehearse behaviours and language that contribute to customers’ experience of the service encounter. Arts-based initiatives may also have an impact on dynamic capabilities which create, extend or modify the resource base and thereby help sustain competitive advantage. Important dynamic capabilities are those that support organizational learning, innovation and change. For example, different arts-based initiatives can be used at various stages to unfreeze (e.g. organizational theatre), move (e.g. participative workshops) and re-freeze (e.g. theatrical rehearsals) organizational members. By contributing to capabilities at such a broad level, artsbased initiatives can help to enhance organizational performance and create value. In turn, by influencing organizational performance, artistic interventions can also have impacts on the public domain. For example they may foster the growth of community spirit in a neighbourhood, as has been shown by New Patrons projects in France (Berthoin Antal et al. 2011). The use of the arts within business may also help to develop new sources of funding for arts-based projects, to further develop public funding, and to strengthen stakeholder dialogues, for example via exhibitions that are accessible to the public (Darsø 2004). Along with all these suggestions of the beneficial effects that artistic interventions in organizations may have, a number of caveats also must be considered. First and foremost, artistic interventions--by the very nature of art--require freedom and trust, so they cannot be managed with the same kinds of tools and controls that are appropriate for other organizational projects and processes. This observation has two crucial implications for management: a) Appropriate forms of identifying the values-added of artistic intervention need to be developed. High corporate expectations and the lack of empirical studies have led to increased pressures on artists, intermediaries and researchers to provide “hard evidence” of impacts of these activities (Berthoin et al. 2011). However, it is difficult to measure and evaluate their impact because they are complex in nature, interact with other influential factors, and have outcomes that do not always fall within a clear time frame (weeks, months). Therefore, we cannot expect a transparent direct link from arts-based initiatives to measures which indicate financial performance (‘the bottom line’). Furthermore, direct connections to measures of, for example, ‘sick leave’ cannot be drawn. As managers have pointed out to us, numbers indicating that absenteeism is down do not necessarily indicate that art is keeping employees happier and healthier. They might be attributed, at least in part, to high unemployment in the wider economy, dissuading employees from being absent. One way of dealing with this current fog of uncertainty about the effectiveness of artistic interventions is to encourage organizations to co-operate further with independent researchers who are committed to gather and analyze data to find out about potential barriers and difficulties. We would hope to see in future more (self)critical research which uses a participative research methodology and a mix of methods: action-evaluation research; case studies; interviews (Berthoin Antal 2009); and other innovative arts-based methods. b) Management needs to develop its capacity to create working environments in which employees can develop by engaging with the arts. We should not forget that we are talking about art and not merely about a management tool (Biehl-Missal 2011). Given their often ambiguous and challenging nature, artistic process cannot be fully controlled. The instrumentalization of arts and artists in business may backfire and result in undesired and unintended effects for the individuals involved and, consequently for the organization. Employees might feel manipulated and might react by emotionally pulling back (e.g. when exposed to overtly persuasive theatre presentations). Such possibilities have been little explored and are not yet understood by researchers (an exception is Clark & Mangham 2004). It is important to seek to understand what all the stakeholders may value in artistic interventions, under what conditions, as well as the limitations. Literature Berthoin Antal, A., in cooperation with Gómez de la Iglesia, R. & Vives Almandoz, M. (2011). 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