Sustaining the Arts by Means of Business Model Innovation

Donna S. Finley, Vijay Sathe

Donna S. Finley is founder and Principal Strategist of Finley & Associates Ltd., a management consulting firm. With close to 40 years of business experience, she has held transitional leadership positions and has led consulting assignments in multiple sectors. As Interim Executive Director of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and Project Leader at Alberta Ballet, she was the driving force behind each organization’s renewal and its emergence from the threat of bankruptcy.

Vijay Sathe is the C.S. & D.J. Davidson Chair and Professor in the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University in California. He has published numerous articles and six books, including Corporate Entrepreneurship and Manage Your Career. He has advised and coached leaders and managers in all sectors of society.  

ABSTRACT
Two prominent Canadian arts organizations, facing imminent collapse, underwent organizational renewal via business model innovation (BMI). The authors examine the forces that led to failure, the process for revisioning work, the key elements of the new business model that created an informed, adaptive and fiscally responsible organization, and the leadership required to conceive and implement BMI.

KEYWORDS
Business model innovation, sustaining the arts, leadership, governance, role of the board, dynamic capabilities