How universities institutionalize ‘good’ managerial practices? Some evidence on the Italian cultural sector

Abstract

Purpose of the paper:This study aims to analyze the role of Italian universities in the 'managerialization' process of the cultural heritage sector, which is under a major process of change, merged in the recent reform of the Italian museums' system.Methodology: This work adopts the new-institutionalism perspective to draw a quali-quantitative analysis of the offer of masters in Management (at both first and second level) of the Italian Universities. In particular, it presents a content analysis of the most recurrent profiles of masters activated by Italian Universities that are consistent with the issues of the cultural heritage sector.Findings: The main finding of the research is the presence of 'window dressing' in which the real contents of the master are not contextualized in the cultural sector.Research limits: This work gives only the results of a first step of analysis. The group wishes for an extended time of work aimed at developing a longitudinal analysis of processes of formation.Practical implications: This study, by bringing out the close interconnections between universities and the cultural heritage sector, reveals the necessity of a partnership that makes more coherent the educational path and the demands of the cultural sector.Originality of the paper: This study presents a content analysis on the most recurrent profiles of masters activated by Italian Universities that are consistent with the issues of the cultural heritage sector, in order to observe the presence of "normative isomorphism".

The Impact of the Sustainability Principles on the Strategic Planning and Reporting of Universities. An Exploratory Study on a Qualified Italian Sample

“…From a methodological point of view, we have conducted a content analysis to analyze text data through a systematic classification process, involving coding and identifying themes [8,64,65], in order to produce a qualitative content analysis of institutional communication documents [66,67].…”

“…Within this scenario, universities fulfil the socially important role of institutions that perform a public function in the service of the national community, and other social realities that operate in the same territorial area, "especially with regard to their institutional leadership role in promoting 2 of 21 sustainable development" [5]. Universities are also committed to playing the role of the central node in a dense network of relationships, configuring the European transnational system to orient it to the growth and sharing of knowledge, and the critical transmission of knowledge, with a view to quality and excellence [7][8][9][10].…”