Journal of Business Strategy

Harvey Seifter

2005 Journal of Business Strategy

doi: 10.1108/02756660510700483

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to give the reader a first‐hand view of why and how a major global corporation uses arts‐based learning, from the perspective of its Chairman and CEO. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is an interview with Harold (Terry) McGraw III, Chairman and CEO of The McGraw Hill Companies, discussing the value of arts‐based learning to his corporation. Findings – Mr McGraw characterizes creativity as a “business imperative,” and puts The McGraw Hill Companies’ successful experiences with arts‐based learning in a broad strategic context of “surfacing creativity” through engagement with the arts. Originality/value – The McGraw Hill Companies is a global pioneer in the use of arts‐based learning to train leaders, help employees solve problems creatively, and foster personal growth; and is one of America's leading corporate supporters of the arts. Mr McGraw is a leader of unique stature and credibility, and with this interview, he becomes perhaps the most senior business leader in the world to discuss arts‐based learning in business from a perspective of direct experience.

Lois Bartelme

2005 Journal of Business Strategy

doi: 10.1108/02756660510620716

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the viewpoints of two leaders in bridging the world of the arts and the world of business in order to enhance organizational success. Harvey Seifter from the Arts and Business Council and Tim Stockil, formerly a director of Creative Development for Arts & Business in the UK, discuss the history, development and current status of the relationships between businesspeople and artists. Design/methodology/approach – The author conducted separate interviews with Seifter and Stockil and summarizes their perspectives. Findings – The relationship between business and arts has changed from business sponsorship of the arts to include the application of knowledge and expertise in the creative process to the solutions of business problems. The scope of artistic skills and arts‐based applications is wide ranging and impacts culture change in organizations. The interviewees explain how skills utilized by artists such as team building, feedback and rehearsing contribute to success. They examine the barriers, such as concern for ROI and risk avoidance, impacting the transference of artistic knowledge to business endeavors. Stockil and Seifter conclude by examining the role of creativity in shaping the future of business. Practical implications – The paper should be of interest to corporate executives, organizational development professionals and human performance improvement specialists who are seeking new approaches to solving workplace issues. Originality/value – This paper describes insights from two of the primary leaders in building bridges between business and the arts. It provides descriptions and case studies that illustrate the creative application of artistic skills and processes to solving organizational problems.

Mary‐Ellen Boyle; Edward Ottensmeyer

2005 Journal of Business Strategy

doi: 10.1108/02756660510620725

Purpose – Business leaders, in increasing numbers, are looking to the creative power of the arts in their efforts to manage strategic change, to enhance innovation, or to strengthen corporate cultures. In this case study, we focus attention on what is widely regarded as one of the world's most extensive corporate arts‐based learning initiatives, the Catalyst program at Unilever. Design/methodology/approach – In a wide‐ranging interview with James Hill, now a group vice‐president and Catalyst's leading executive sponsor, this paper explores the origins, operations, and outcomes of this innovative program. Findings – Finds that Catalyst came about as a result of savvy leadership and a corporate willingness to take risks in developing an “enterprise culture;” it now flourishes in three divisions due to ownership at multiple levels of the organization as well as its ability to stimulate new product development, attract and retain creative people, and boost the company's marketing efforts; and it persists because its starting points are always actual business problems, the solutions to which improve financial performance and shareholder returns. Originality/value – To management scholars, this case provides an additional data point in the ongoing study of strategy implementation and organizational change. To corporate executives seeking fresh ideas, the Unilever/Catalyst story offers a novel and intuitively appealing approach to the vexing challenges of leading strategic change, told from the perspective of an experienced executive.

Ted Buswick

2005 Journal of Business Strategy

doi: 10.1108/02756660510700492

Purpose – To convey the potential of hidden benefits in well‐selected arts‐based training – in this particular instance, theatrically‐based training. Design/methodology/approach – A leading international consultancy put numerous vice presidents through training with The Actors Institute (TAI) over about ten years. This paper is an interview with a leading consultant who frequently gives presentations that had been consistently rated highly by his audiences before he began attending. After ten years, he still periodically returns to TAI for assistance. Findings – The original intent was to improve presentations. In fact, participants gained a better sense for dealing with all kinds of audiences, extending to client engagements and personal situations. Practical implications – Many executives don't feel the need for training when they hit a certain level. When the training is based on developmental skills and is over an extended period rather than a brief one‐time experience, and the training organization wisely chosen, there can be long‐term benefits that go beyond expectations. Originality/value – George Stalk is highly respected. He has not previously spoken out on this topic. His first‐hand experiences can influence many other businesspeople to potential benefits of arts‐based training that they had not recognized.

Maxwell Anderson

2005 Journal of Business Strategy

doi: 10.1108/02756660510700500

Purpose – This paper was written to help the lay reader understand how learning to look at art can be helpful in learning to evaluate business decisions. The lessons of sorting out the best from the very good in art are directly applicable to decisions in everything from product design to evaluating goods that are designed, manufactured, displayed, or sold. Design/methodology/approach – The approach to honing a “quality instinct” involves developing visual literacy – learning to look at art – and moving on to learning to discern differences in the quality of art objects. Findings – Consumers are growing more visually sophisticated, and it behooves business leaders to be one step ahead of their competitors and their target markets. Visual literacy is achieved through a combination of study and practice. Seeing past the different ways artists tackle the same subject to discover both their intention and your reaction can train you to look at mass‐manufactured goods with a discerning eye. Value – Visual communication cuts across cultures, unlike the spoken word. It's immediate and visceral. Expanding visual literacy is necessary for effective communication in a global marketplace, and gives you an advantage in a market where competitors may come up short. By developing visual literacy from spending time looking at art and learning about it, you'll improve your instincts in making visual judgments – about product design, marketing strategies, business environments, and your company's overall image.

John Osburn, PhD; Richard Stock, PhD

2005 Journal of Business Strategy

doi: 10.1108/02756660510700519

Purpose – Aims to assess the effectiveness of arts‐based learning for technical trainees. Design/methodology/approach – Considers the CONNECT Program in the Engineering School of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. The Program has been running since 1997. Findings – Communicating with an audience is essentially a social skill, behavioral in basis, a fact that becomes all too apparent when one's audience has a divergent set of expectations. Failing to meet an audience's expectations opens up what is called an “audience gap.” Originality/value – Of value to anyone, particularly technical personnel and trainers, interested in closing the audience gap and learning how to communicate effectively with those with a less technical background, be they internal or external customers.

Michael Gold; Steve Hirshfeld

2005 Journal of Business Strategy

doi: 10.1108/02756660510700528

Purpose – To provide a metaphorical language, a contextual framework, and a specific set of social behaviors to help business executives and managers envision, discuss and implement changes to encourage flexibility and creative freedom and allow the immediate absorption and rapid integration of new and different ideas. Design/methodology/approach – The paper combines experiential and theoretical knowledge in innovation, change management, and strategy formation. It uses existing research and case studies in which the concept of jazz as a model for organizational improvisation is applied through organizational interventions. The scope of the paper ranges from theoretical argument and description of new idea processes, to multiple industry examples of innovative companies, to specific case studies. Findings – Applications of the concepts were effective in giving people a way to understand the flexibility and creativity needed to improvise within the structured environments of most corporate cultures. Through the use of live music, experiential exercises in enhanced listening skills, spontaneous rotation between leading and supporting roles, and the use of collaborative creative thinking in solving real‐time problems, corporate cultures were able to understand new ways of collaborating and adapting to change through organized improvisation. Originality/value – Experiential evidence suggests that teaching organizations to improvise is a catalyst for positive change. Using the model of the jazz ensemble in conjunction with specific cooperative behaviors as a tool to teach organizational improvisation is highly effective when integrated with a well conceived strategy vision and a passionate belief in its potential and a commitment to bringing it to a business reality.

Robert Steed

2005 Journal of Business Strategy

doi: 10.1108/02756660510700537

Purpose – This paper was written to help practitioners in the field of arts‐based learning understand the impact that training with its roots in theatre can have and has had on business executives – and the causes of that impact. Design/methodology/approach – The paper was developed by examining the 17‐year experience of Performance Plus… in delivering theatre‐based training to a wide range of large US businesses. It examines the way that drama can affect people in the audience and then, more particularly, how theatre based training affected the behaviors and actions of key management participants. The article then connected those results to the work of philosopher E.F. Schumacher and social scientist Daniel Goleman. Findings – The fundamental conclusion of the paper is that drama is an extremely effective tool for helping people learn skills and behaviors they can apply in the everyday routine of business. Originality/value – Because so little has been written about theatre‐based training, the primary value of this paper is to open readers’ eyes to a new and powerful way to train business executive – and to outlines a few of the many ways that approach can be taken to ensure that management participants in training programs are actively involved and engaged in the programs being presented and as a result embrace the learning from the program in a lasting way.

Kevin Daum

2005 Journal of Business Strategy

doi: 10.1108/02756660510700546

Purpose – This paper relates the connection and influence of arts‐based training and practical experience to entrepreneurial endeavors. Design/methodology/approach – The paper was based upon anecdotal examples as well as author‐performed surveys and inquiries examining entrepreneurs who have arts backgrounds and use arts practices in their businesses. Findings – Many entrepreneurs have backgrounds in the arts and apply those practices in their businesses. Universities separately teach related arts practices and business practices in their respective departments but rarely combine the efforts in an interdisciplinary manner. Practical implications – By creating interdisciplinary approaches between arts and entrepreneurship, benefits can be achieved in both areas in the universities, small businesses and large‐scale corporate arenas. Originality/value – This paper is possibly the first to suggest a direct correlation between arts training and entrepreneurial endeavors. Businesspeople may be inspired to examine the arts world as a resource for training in entrepreneurship and initiative. Entrepreneurs may be inspired to explore the arts for training.

Lotte Darsø

2005 Journal of Business Strategy

doi: 10.1108/02756660510620734

Purpose – Arts‐based learning in business is a young field. Few businesspeople are aware of the opportunities to learn about it. This article takes an international look at the most prominent programs that bring together businesspeople, artists, and academics in various combinations. Design/methodology/approach – Over the past several years, the author has interviewed people active in the field in the USA and Europe. This survey article brings together her findings. Findings – There are many opportunities for learning. Some bring artists and businesspeople together; some combine academics, artists, and businesspeople; and within the academic community there are many opportunities for artists and academics. Practical implications – Businesspeople will learn and take advantage of learning opportunities. Originality/value – The author has not seen such a survey published elsewhere.

Michael Spencer

2005 Journal of Business Strategy

doi: 10.1108/02756660510620743

Purpose – Increasingly the arts are being considered as having valuable lessons that can be transferred to a business context. This paper explores ways in which the assumed gap between the two cultures can be bridged effectively. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing upon a wide and practical knowledge of arts education and facilitation practices across a broad and diverse constituency, the author uses his experiences gained as both a performer and practitioner to identify areas of divergence in thinking and methods by which these can be closer aligned in order to establish more effective and sustainable relationships. Findings – There are important and far reaching implications for integrating arts practices within a business context, however the process of building the relationship between artist and business person from initial meeting through planning, delivery and final evaluation requires careful and informed nurturing. Practical implications – It gives accessible and practical proposals for identifying potential problem areas whilst offering suggestions for ways in which to start and continue successful associations between artists and business people. Originality/value – The paper is of considerable value to all potential stakeholders who hold the intention to meld together arts and business processes into a training model of good practice.