SAM's Main Book List

Planning - Business; Projects; Strategic

The first titles are written specifically for arts management, then we need to look further afield for models of good practice that we can adopt or adapt, and those listed here from the voluntary sector are, we thought, particularly good. 

Thinking BIG! A guide to strategic marketing planning for arts organisations
By Stephen Cashman
Pub Arts Marketing Association 2003 ISBN 1903315069 £15 [£22.45 inc p&p}
Written to enable even the smallest arts organisation to create and implement a strategic marketing plan, this is a significant new publication. It is all there – SWOT, scanning the world outside for competitors and collaborators, sorting your dogs from your cash cows, matrices and segment grids. An impressive range of tools drawn from a wide range of sources and presented in an arts-friendly manner. Review

Through the Maze - A Do-It-Yourself Guide To Planning in the Arts
by Janet Summerton and Sue Kay
Pub: South West Arts 1995 free of charge - Available as an email attachment from SAM’s Books ISBN 1 874396 04 3
How to achieve the plan without the pain. A brilliant, step by step, DIY consultancy enabling you to achieve a worthwhile business plan and enjoy the process. Written from experience with small arts organisations. An excellent example of recycling best practice. Highly recommended.

Partnerships for Learning: A guide to evaluating arts education projects (Revised & Updated)
By Felicity Woolf
Pub: Arts Council England, 2nd edition 2003 free ISBN 0 72870791 8
Written to assist people involved in arts education projects understand evaluation clearly and to evaluate effectively, according to their particular needs. It divides evaluation into 5 stages - planning, collecting evidence, assembling and interpreting, reflecting and moving forward, reporting and sharing. Well-designed and with useful summaries, much of the information here could be very useful in other contexts too. There are reminders of pros and cons of various methods, and mini case studies of good practice. Excellent as an introduction or a refresher on the subject, this is a useful addition to the material available on evaluation, and particularly good on its respect for partners' differing measures of success. Recommended.

Art Management: Entrepreneurial Style
By Giep Hagoort
Eburon 2001 ISBN 90 5166 802 3  £19.50
Giep Hagoort runs the Master Programme of Art and Media Management at Utrecht School of the Arts.  The book is truly international in its examples and suggests that arts managers need to develop a 'glocal' attitude.  To let the start of Chapter 1 speak for itself:  'This book is about art management, entrepreneurial style.  It is intended to give practical, theoretical and conceptual insight into the management of profit and non-profit cultural organizations.  The combination of art, culture and management and of theory and practice will, we believe, provide a real aid to those who want to acquire knowledge about running cultural businesses. The readers we have in mind are people who are involved with educational programmes: students, participants, teachers and programme directors.  The reader will find a lot of practical cases, case studies and learning questions, which will aid the understanding of the complexity of art and cultural management.  We also aim to reach artists, leaders and team members of cultural projects, managers of cultural organizations and other professionals who are interested in linking general management issues to the art and cultural sector. Review

Planning Together
by George Gawlinski and Lois Graessle
Pub: Planning Together Associates £18.00 1988 ISBN 0 95528577 1 5
This book is a great favourite with many people. It is a practical workbook that presents a model for planning as a team, with a choice of activities at each stage. Highly recommended. Review

The Complete Guide to Business and Strategic Planning for Voluntary Organisations
By Alan Lawrie
Pub: Directory of Social Change, second edition 2001, ISBN 1900 260087X £12.50 [£15.59 inc p&p]
New edition of this practical guide to the planning process - looks even better than the first one - and we liked that lots.

Description of the first edition-

The Complete Guide to Business and Strategic Planning for Voluntary Organisations
by Alan Lawrie
Pub: DSC 1994 £10.95 ISBN 1 873860 61 7
An accessible guide based on the author's experience as trainer and consultant with voluntary sector and public organisations. With emphasis on planning as a process rather than a product, this book identifies six key stages, starting with clarification of the purpose and mission of the organisation, and takes you through checklists, exercises, and case study examples of the process in practice. Recommended.

Managing Without Profit: The Art of Managing Third Sector Organisations
by Mike Hudson
Pub: DSC 2nd edition 1999 £12.99 ISBN 0 14 023886 7
A serious management book for the voluntary sector in which the arts is visible. It is described by the author as a "how to" guide, but I found it just as interesting for its section on examining the shifting boundaries of the traditional three sectors (private, public and voluntary) and ideas on the role of the Board, and the relationship between Board and Chief Executive. It is particularly relevant to larger organisations. The second edition includes new chapters on change, and creating a learning organisation, building a strong senior management team and the role of the Chair. Review

Handbook of Project Management: A practical guide to Effective Policies and Procedures 2nd Edition
By Trevor L Young
Pub Kogan Page 2003 ISBN 0749439653 £24.95 [£27.05 inc p&p]

Complete Guide to Creating and Managing New Projects for Charities and Voluntary Organisations
by Alan Lawrie
Pub: DSC 2nd edition 2002 ISBN 1 903991 153 £12.50 [£15.80 inc p&p]
A clear, well written guide that takes you through all the necessary stages from idea to viable project. It covers innovation, mapping support, designing and structuring the project and seeing it through to implementation. Review

Writing at Work: How to create successful business documents
By Alan Barker
Pub Spiro Press 2003 ISBN 1844390039 £9.99 [£13.32 inc p&p]
Covering everything from formal letters, reports and minutes to brief emails and memos this considerate book will encourage us all to abandon jargon and write clearly and effectively.  It is effectively laid out and accessible with quick  ‘At a Glance’ reference boxes and checklists in every section.  So, now there is no excuse for dull prose or to use anything but Plain English.  A great book to share amongst colleagues, just in case…….!

See also General Management section

Back to the Main Book List

See the order form to order any books from the booklist.