Assignment of me

Submitted By:- Ravindra Kumar (MBA/15004/13) 1
Assignment of Managerial Economics
Case Study on:
“Forward Planning at KIRKLEATHAM Old Hall Museum”
Submitted to: Submitted By:
P. C. Verma Ravindra Kumar
Faculty MBA/15004/13
Birla Institute of Technology 2nd
Semester
MESRA, Patna Campus
Department of Management
Birla Institute of Technology, MESRA
Patna Campus

Introduction: Good Practice Case Studies
This case study is one of a series of Good Practice Case Studies, researched and
written by the Collections Trust, and funded by Arts Council England. These case
studies illustrate how Accredited museums have developed their strategy and policy to
meet the needs of their own services, as well as to meet the Accreditation Standard.
The case studies focus on how the process of developing strategy and policy impacts
on the shape and quality of the service the case study museums deliver.
This case study focusses on the process of forward planning at Kirkleatham Museum,
North Yorkshire, and how that process has transformed the service that the museum
offers, and also supported the museum’s Accreditation Return. Although the
Accreditation Standard requires that every Accredited museum should have a Forward
Plan, it is not the intention of the scheme that the plan should be developed for the
purpose of achieving or maintaining Accredited status. Rather, the scheme supports
museums in a forward planning process, in which they will already be engaged; it
provides a focus and a framework which supports the planning process,
contextualising the plan with the museum’s other areas of practice.
Kirkleatham Museum’s Forward Plan as an exemplar of good practice:
‘The Kirkleatham Museum Forward Plan stood out for me as a pragmatic response to
a challenging local authority environment. It showed how the Accreditation forward
planning framework can be utilised and adapted in support of the organisation’s own
planning processes to help address changing service priorities. The Forward Plan
gives a sense that the museum is willing to undertake an honest review of its activities
and identify where improvements can be made. The return featured an excellent
review of the previous Forward Plan which clearly indicated the outcomes of key
tasks scheduled within the previous Forward Plan.
The new Forward Plan was open in acknowledging how the impact of reduced local
authority funding has necessitated a change of priorities by, for example, building the
museum’s volunteer base, promoting external hire and developing museum retail. A
SWOT analysis was incorporated and provided a useful insight into the changing
operational climate. The museum was able to demonstrate further evidence of
financial resource planning in support of identified aims and objectives in response to
assessment feedback. I felt the museum demonstrated responsibility in working to
resolve issues and used Accreditation effectively as a management tool to support
organisational planning and advocacy to the governing body.’

Kirkleatham Museum: Case Study
Kirkleatham Museum
This case study, explores how Kirkleatham Museum created their Forward Plan for
2012 - 2017, and the impact that the planning process has had on the services and
culture of the museum. The case study is the result of a series of conversations
between the museum staff and the Collections Trust during September/October 2013.
Kirkleatham Museum is located in an impressive building situated in its own grounds,
with a café, shop, play area, and parking. Staff are welcoming and the venue and the
exhibitions receive consistently positive reviews and comments from visitors. The
museum has a strong focus on the interpretation of local history, and a high profile
locally. It is notable that many visitors are returning locals, however the site is also
becoming a popular tourist destination.
The main purpose of the museum is to illustrate how people have lived in the locality
in the past, and the collections are drawn mainly from the communities of Redcar&
Cleveland. The Kirkleatham collections comprise art, social history, agricultural,
industrial objects which illustrate how both ordinary and distinguished people have
lived in the locality. The museum also holds a collection of national significance; the
finds from the nearby Street House Anglo-Saxon cemetery which was uncovered in
2005 and is the only known Anglo-Saxon royal burial site in north-east England.
Some of the pieces from the site are associated with a rare ‘bed burial’ in which a
female body is laid out on a decorated wooden bed accompanied by fine gold
jewellery, which in the case of Street House includes a gold pendant of exceptional
quality. The objects were declared treasure trove and purchased by Redcar&
Cleveland Borough Council with the aid of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant. They form
the focus of a high profile exhibition at the museum, The Anglo Saxon Princess,
which opened in 2011.
Kirkleatham Museum’s Forward Plan
As a result of a Local Authority Strategic Review by Redcar and Cleveland Borough
Council, in 2010-2011, Kirkleatham Museum had undergone a radical and
fundamental strategic shift which repositioned the museum and its services. This was
mirrored council wide, as the Local Authority redefined its purpose, and the budgets it
would need to deliver its objectives.

‘We realised that the council had new priorities and we needed to position the
museum so that it could work with the council to deliver those priorities.’
By the time that the museum was invited to prepare its Accreditation Return in 2012,
staff and staff structure at the museum had changed, and thoughts had already turned
to how the museum could align itself with the council’s objectives. Staff describe a
situation where they were already in the process of a ‘root and branch’ review of the
services and activities of the museum, which was taking place in the context of an
ongoing cycle of forward planning, but which also provided a strong lead in to the
preparation of their Accreditation Return. For Kirkleatham, Accreditation was not the
driver of their Forward Plan. They were already working within a planning and review
cycle, however the preparation of their Accreditation Return provided a mechanism
for focussing on their plans as a priority and within a limited time frame.
Staff at the museum realised that central to their planning was the need to place
sustainability of the museum service at the heart of their vision, at a challenging time
when the council as a whole had to make savings. A strategy towards planning
evolved which aimed to place the museum at the centre of the council’s thinking and
priorities. This was achieved by a planning process which:
• Raised the profile of the museum within the council, and with stakeholders
• Maximised the use of the collections and the venue to reach out to new audiences,
and forge new partnerships
‘We knew that the museum was doing good things, but we needed to let the world
know, and at the same time place ourselves at the centre of what the local authority is
about’
‘We have to make sure that the museum service is relevant, affordable and gives good
value’
Throughout this process it was recognised that this new museum strategy needed to be
balanced with the continued need to maintain appropriate and high standards in the
care and use of the collections.
The museum had been placed within the Cultural Services section of Redcar &
Cleveland’s Directorate of Regeneration. The new museum team had a strong Arts
background; the head of the team, the Cultural Services Manager, had responsibility
for Arts Development and Tourism, which placed the museum in a new space within
the council. This provided 6

Accreditation and Kirkleatham’s planning process
Kirkleatham Museum’s Forward Plan, provided a catalyst for a wide ranging review
of the museum and its services, at a time when, as a non-statutory service to the Local
Authority, savings needed to be made. Staff at Kirkleatham Museum were already
engaged in the forward planning process when they were invited to submit their
Accreditation Return in spring of 2012, however, the framework that Accreditation
provided for staff at the museum provided an impetus to the process at the museum.
‘If we hadn’t had the end goal of achieving Accreditation, we might not have been so
focussed. Accreditation wasn’t the driver, but it made forward planning a high priority
for the team’
Staff at the museum also found that because Accreditation is an overarching standard
it was an excellent way to identify appropriate curatorial standards and maintain
performance in collections care and development. This was particularly important for
new museum staff, who were able to sustain good curatorial practice as defined by the
standard, at a time of change and uncertainty. Within the council the museum is now
recognised as having achieved a high standard in curatorial practice, combined with
an ambitious programme of development.
After the Forward Plan
The forward planning process has been hugely beneficial to the museum and its users,
providing a renewed sense of purpose to drive forward an ambitious arts-focussed
programme, which aligns with the purpose and direction of the Local Authority. There
is a strong sense that the museum profile has been raised internally and externally, and
that the council now ‘owns’ the museum in a way which was not recognised before.
This is evidenced by a new council initiative, known as ‘The Kirkleatham Project’,
which will bring together the story of the local family which built Kirkleatham Old
Hall and played an instrumental part in the history of Kirkleatham village and the
surrounding area.
The project will provide a strong cultural focus for the area, and will contribute
towards the regeneration of the area. It will benefit from the lessons learned by the
museum team during the forward planning process, and from the resulting re-
positioning of the museum as a key contributor to the cultural life of the area. It will
also refer back to the standards for museum management and collections care which
are embedded in the museum service as a result of its participation in the
Accreditation Scheme. Without the planning process, and the rigorous re-alignment of
the museum and its services, it is unlikely that the service would now be key to a
regeneration project which will transform the interpretation of the area’s local history.

An opportunity to leverage new initiatives, forge links with communities and partners
and renew the museum’s contribution to the cultural agenda.
As a result of the planning process the museum produced a Forward Plan which
defined the strategy and operation of the museum. In addition the museum was able to
use the plan as part of their Accreditation Return in 2012. However, they found the
process of planning had more wide reaching benefits. It had:
• Integrated the museum into the wider cultural/arts/tourism agenda of the council
• Synchronised the museum’s vision and activity with that of the Local Authority
• Identified museum champions within the council
• Provided an advocacy tool within the council on behalf of the museum, and raised
the profile of the museum internally
• Enabled the museum to call on a wider skill set which will provide them with
expertise in marketing and promotion
‘The planning process is as important as the plan itself. The process is powerful, and
will encourage staff to buy into a shared vision, and act as an advocacy tool at an
organisational level. Think about who your stakeholders are, and involve them in the
planning process.’
‘Good forward planning encourages you to move from the organisational purpose to
specific activities which will deliver the purpose. For Kirkleatham the ‘fit’ between
strategy, objectives and actions is essential, as is the need to align their own plans with
the objectives of the Local Authority.’

That’s all
Thanks You
So Much

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