Joining Forces with Businesses while Holding onto the Force of Culture: How the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision can enhance its Legitimacy through Culture and Business Partnerships

Being commissioned by the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision (B&G), this study explores how the Institute can engage in culture and business partnerships in order to enhance its legitimacy. The national media archive is a hybrid organization that combines features of a library, archive, and a museum. Making it a prominent LAM within the Dutch cultural sector. The exceptionally fast growth of digital media has however proven to be challenge for B&G at times. In order to adapt to a rapidly evolving external landscape, B&G has also attempted to restructure its own organization. Today B&G feels the need to stay relevant and in order to enhance its legitimacy, plans to partner up with businesses. Considering the size of this challenge and the Institute’s inexperience with the practice concerned, this study provides answers regarding the potential for B&G (and similar organizations in the Dutch cultural sector) to engage in partnerships with businesses in order to enhance its legitimacy. A case study research design forms the study’s basis, whereby it focuses on B&G and its existential context. By taking advantage of the Institute’s network, nineteen internal- and external knowledgeable professionals in the field were approached. The method of expert interviewing was used to uncover their perspectives on the relationship between B&G’s engagement in culture and business partnerships and their legitimacy, as well as their management of partnerships with businesses. A thematic analysis led to the discovery that B&G’s employees are confident about B&G repositioning and optimistic about the Institute engaging in partnerships with businesses, yet on the other hand speak negatively about B&G’s management of culture and business partnership and express hope in cultural entrepreneurship. Which led to the conclusion that culture and business partnerships can enhance the legitimacy of the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision if the business in question supports the Institute developing and implementing a new positioning that is expected to gain legitimacy in the Netherlands. In order to increase its chance of success, the Institute should professionalize and increase its organizational capacity in order to act like a true cultural entrepreneur.