The organisation as artist’s palette: arts-based interventions

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on arts-based interventions as a management tool for personal, team and organisational development. How have management teams implemented art in their organisations, and toward what end? The literature has focused predominantly on a single case, creating many possibilities of constructing arts-based interventions. Yet, a typology is still missing. This paper examines various arts-based interventions and their underlying principles from a business perspective. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a systematic review of the literature in English and German, with special consideration for articles and books within the field of business. Findings – The typology presented in this paper, based on a mapping of the field, should contribute to a more coherent understanding of arts-based interventions. My goal is to provide researchers with a more structured perspective for approaching this academic area. Furthermore, the findings suggest that over and above the various types of arts that can be introduced to organisations, there are three basic principles for the achievement of this goal. Research limitations/implications – This paper presents a mapping of the cases in literature on arts-based interventions and presents a coherent understanding of ways of bringing art into organisations. Practical implications – The three underlying principles presented in this paper should assist practitioners in designing arts-based interventions for specific problems. Originality/value – This paper provides assistance to consultants, business executives, leaders, managers, researchers and students for understanding the basics of arts-based interventions. Furthermore, it provides a structure for the body of literature on cases of arts-based interventions.