Abstract
The museum must be analyzed as an organization. Defining the museum as an organization renders its identity, evolution and complexity, much more than the “static” institution does. The paradigms of the museums have changed in time, becoming an open space for heritage communication; from the “privilege” of visiting a museum to the “satisfaction of the public’s needs”. The museums, as public institutions, are resistant to change – nothing happens, they don’t meet their objectives, but they have the “monopoly” in a certain area (both as geographical space and as heritage representation). The museum does not aim to obtain financial profit, but to meet the social expectations. The performance in museums can also be defined as an excellence result, not only as an achievement of some performance indicators showing its functionality at some point in time, to a particular standard. Therefore, we propose for museums the necessity to fulfill the requirements of the fourth E – excellence. A performing museum is: a) an organization which studies and proposes (through awareness and professionalism), assumes and meets quality objectives, additional standards apart from the functional ones (sufficient for survival), established on the basis of knowledge and learning; b) an organization which (re)positions itself on the touristic cultural offer market, becoming a space for heritage communication/ edutainment and defines its vision, mission and strategic objectives by keeping track of the common interest of the society; c) an organization which orientates itself towards the 3 Es in executing the “social contract” and which applies a strategic, oriented, concise management with a scientific basis as a method for obtaining its performance. The performing museum is “the organization which permanently studies and develops itself as a means for communicating its heritage adapted to our present times in order to meet the society needs for edutainment to the highest standards, on the basis of a strategic management oriented in this regard.
Keywords: museum – performing museum, performance – museum performance, performance management, exploratory research, strategy, Balanced Scorecard, vision, mission, heritage, public, learning organization.
Cuvinte-cheie: muzeu – muzeu performant, performanţă – performanţă muzeală, managementul performanţei, cercetare exploratorie, strategie, Balanced Scorecard, viziune, misiune, patrimoniu, public, organizaţie care învaţă.