Circus Oz(A)

January 23, 2017

Group 4

About company
Circus Oz is a premier international circus that has existed for more
than 23 years
Performed in 26 countries on five continents
First circus in history to perform on three continents in one year
Success factors :
Cutting edge acts, with their natural drama and
inherent risk
Wide range of tradition and performance forms
Australian combination of social satire,
inclusiveness, strident egalitarianism, and selfdeprecating humor

Circus Ozs Culture and mission :

Encourage individual creative expression and establish an
environment that is open to new ideas
Provide a working environment that enables each of the groups
member to contribute to decisions affecting their work
Conduct the company as a joint enterprise, with all members
sharing a vision, acknowledging, with trust and respect, each
persons role
Conduct training and workshop programs in the skills required
Pay award, or better, wages to all employees, and pay core
employees as much as circus Oz can afford

Inquiry By Cultural Ministers Council (CMC)

In December 1996, a meeting was conducted by CMC to address
concerns over the financial pressures faced by major performing
arts companies
Inquiry findings: Three challenges faced by Australian arts
companies:

Artistic innovation

Access

Financial Viability

Inquiry Recommendations

Create a Receptive environment - work with Australian Foundation for Culture and the
Humanities, and the Commonwealth and State Governments to support initiatives to
build a better understanding among corporate Australia of the value of arts
sponsorship

Build the Required skills - Take advantage of Inquirys initiative to fund development
staff for up to two years to encourage the growth of private sector income ( In US it is
30-50% of total income, whereas, in Australia, it is just 6-15% for an art or music
company)

Send development staff to high quality training programs

The board of each company should have:

Number of board members with high level corporate connections

At least one board member with marketing and/or development experience

Paul Mcgill
Linda Mickleborough, general manager, had to decide how to
respond to an offer by its major government sponsor ( the
Australian council) to fund the creation of a new position of director
of development
Paul Mcgill is an Ideal candidate, has worked as an consultant in
DEloitte and Touche in the past
Problems:

Competitive salary close to twice what highest paid performers or managers get could affect companys morale and culture of egalitarianism

Fit to companys bohemian culture egalitarian wage structure

Tradition of consensus building - decisions approved by board of directors

Recommendations

Recommend Paul Mcgills hiring to the board

Pay him a fixed + variable compensation

Fixed component should be equal to that paid to directors

Variable component dependent on how much sponsorship he can get

Explain to rest of the employees:

About the grant that government is giving for the new employee's salary

The possible increase in everyone's salary if more income is generated through

sponsorships

Need for such a hire - Sponsorships were only 1.5% of total income in 2001

Educate Paul Mcgill about companys culture

THANK YOU