Ethical and Responsible Cultural Governance: A Public Value Framework for Museums Worldwide

Gouvernance culturelle éthique et responsable: un cadre de valeur publique muséale à l’échelle mondiale

Stephane Magne () and David Coelho
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Stephane Magne: PRISM Sorbonne - Pôle de recherche interdisciplinaire en sciences du management - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, LAREQUOI - Laboratoire de recherche en Management - UVSQ - Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
David Coelho: MNHI - Musée national de l'histoire de l'immigration

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Abstract: This conceptual chapter explores how cultural institutions can integrate ethics, responsibility, and sustainability into their governance and management models. Building on theories of Public Value (Moore, 1995; Osborne, 2018), Responsible Management (Laasch & Conway, 2015), and the Ethics of Care (Tronto, 2013), it proposes an integrated theoretical framework for Ethical and Responsible Cultural Governance. The approach emphasizes the interconnection between ethical deliberation, collective accountability, and the creation of shared meaning within cultural organizations. Focusing on museums worldwide as exemplary cases of public cultural responsibility, the chapter identifies seven guiding principles of Museal Public Value. These principles articulate how institutions can balance heritage preservation, social inclusion, and ethical accountability. They outline a managerial vision in which museums act as laboratories of responsibility — embedding empathy, reflexivity, and transparency into everyday governance practices. Beyond the museum field, the proposed framework offers a transferable foundation for rethinking governance across the broader cultural sector, including theatres, heritage sites, and performing arts organizations. It invites a paradigm shift toward institutions as ethical ecosystems, where public value creation becomes both a managerial and moral commitment.

Date: 2026
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Published in Responsible Management in Public Organizations, In press

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05522357

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