Collaborating for Museum Innovation

This book is a fresh reflection on the study of museum innovation, with special attention paid to the enabling role of collaboration within the process. It sets out to capture the innovation dynamics of museums and explore to what extent and how collaborative arrangement can contribute to different types of innovative activities in the museum sector. The book presents a holistic review of museum innovation from multiple perspectives of, among others, economics, sociology, museology, and organisational study, while adopting an interdisciplinary approach to explore and analyse the innovation process and collaboration mechanism from the viewpoint of economics and sociology. The research presented is based on three interdependent aspects: first, a holistic definition and taxonomy of innovation in museum organisations; second, qualitative and quantitative analysis of the enabling role of collaboration in technological, cultural, and organisational innovation in museums; and third, multiple case studies for the identification and evaluation of effective collaboration models in different types of innovation. This is a problem-oriented study, which avoids focusing on those large and super museums that have been well-documented in prior studies; instead, it concentrates on small- and medium-sized museums, which account for more than 85% of museums in the world and have become the main resources of cultural tourism and the creative economy at a regional level. Primarily written for postgraduates, researchers, and academics interested in innovation study, innovation in cultural and creative sectors, and museum study, the findings may also have important implications on innovation management and policy for regional museums and public authorities.