Thesis
Crisis management planning and theatre organizations: responses and lessons from the COVID-19 crisis
Master of Science (M.S.), Drexel University
Dec 2020
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00000314
Abstract
Closures of theatre organizations due to COVID-19 have presented these organizations with a crisis - how to sustain an organization when the primary service of live performance is interrupted. This investigation uses qualitative research, focusing on case studies and semi-structured interviews with administrative officials of three theatre organizations in New Jersey, to provide a comparison of how each organization handles financial sustainability, employment, management, and communication. In addition, it examines how each of these companies engaged in the practice of crisis management planning - preemptively developing strategies and procedures for handling financial, public relations, and service-related crises. Research findings on financial sustainability, charitable giving, and crisis management planning, paired with the investigation, demonstrate multiple points of attention for theatre organizations during a crisis. Success in surviving a service-interruption crisis depends largely on leadership, organizational flexibility, willingness to explore new ventures, clear communication with its audience, and continued engagement in fundraising and revenue generation. However, this investigation also finds that crisis management planning is less-often engaged in by these organizations, with more focus placed upon maintaining organizational flexibility and reacting to changing circumstances. Theatre organizations that engage in financial sustainability practices - building reserve funds, endowments, and robust development - are better equipped to manage the challenges of service interruption, while smaller organizations that operate on thinner revenue margins are more likely to face closure.
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Details
- Title
- Crisis management planning and theatre organizations
- Creators
- Joseph Ryan Yow
- Contributors
- Justin Fithian (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Master of Science (M.S.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- vii, 77 pages
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Arts Administration; Arts and Entertainment Enterprise; Drexel University; Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design
- Other Identifier
- 991014833147304721