Application of Multi-Criteria Analysis on Theatres’ Efficiency – Czech and Polish Comparative Case Studies

Abstract

Culture is a means of transferring information between generations. We include the field of interpretive culture into a cultural branch that is usually non-profit in democratic states with a market-driven economy. The aim of this study is to identify the efficiency of 93 public theatres’ management in Poland and the Czech
Republic in 2015 using 5 technical and 6 financial indicators. The evaluated indicators are processed using the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), in combination with a chosen objective method for determining indicators’ importance, i.e. the Mean Weight method. Within the
paper, Czech theatres were evaluated first, then Polish theatres followed by an evaluation of both in one file. According to the results, it is evident that the bigger multi-genre theatres in the Czech Republic producing more genres of interpretive art (drama, opera, ballet, musical) with a bigger number of employees, had
the worst results. Most publicly established theatres are left to local authorities (municipalities and regions) in both states. Neither in Poland nor in the Czech Republic do optimal and uniform rules exist for fund redistribution between different theatres from public resources and within the professional public. It is still
discussed whether culture should be funded and founded by the local government or from the centre, i.e. at the level of states. In addition, despite the division between cultural institutions operated by state or local authorities (regions, municipalities), state founders did not provide better results. Fundamental differences
in the functioning of publicly established theatres in Poland and the Czech Republic were not proved in the evaluation.