ABSTRACT
Before we start to learn how to manage organisations we must look at how to organise and describe, or categorise, the different types of organisation. Here we will look at the structure, function and performance of organisations, and the behaviour of groups and individuals within them. Organisation theory has rarely been applied to museums, so I hope to demonstrate how the historic and contemporary thoughts of organisation theorists can be applied to museums and galleries. Thus far we have concentrated predominantly on the application of techniques of management to individuals or groups and the financial aspects of running museums. Whilst there are considerable similarities, and genuine overlaps between management and organisation theory, in this book I have separated them in the hope that the reader will gain a greater understanding of the differences. The study of organisation theory has evolved in one or other of the supporting disciplines of anthropology, sociology, psychology or social psychology; inevitably the theoretical perspectives of academics in these non-management areas, and their overall research training, has coloured approaches to the problems of organisations. In this chapter we will explore management and organisation theory in order to discover generalisations applicable to museums and galleries. Every act of a manager rests on assumptions about what has happened and conjectures about what will happen; the totality of the manager’s action tends to rest on theory. Theory and practice are inseparable; there is a necessity continually to examine, criticise and update thinking about the organisation and how it functions; museums and galleries are organisations so if we wish to be effective managers we must learn and develop the theories appropriate to them.
