Opportunities and Critical Points of the Introduction of Performance Measurement Systems in Theatres

In the last years, many cultural organisations have introduced and tested new management tools to achieve their institutional goals of efficiency, effectiveness and social cohesion. For cultural organisations in the public sector, this process has been widely linked to New Public Management, but the introduction of these tools has been an interesting process in private cultural organisations too. This paper aims at considering more specifically one kind of management tools: performance measurement systems. Their goal is to give to the management a set of indicators of quantitative and qualitative nature that could lead the strategic choices in the long-term. With this work, we will consider the real possibilities of application of a good performance measurement system in cultural organisations, with a particular focus on theatres. Our research starts with the analysis of the main literature references in the fields of performance measurement systems and theatres management. The theoretical approach is however supported by the analysis of a case study, the Municipal Theatre of Ferrara (Italy). In this way, we will try to verify and discuss opportunities and critical points for the introduction of a performance measurement system in theatres.