Accountability within selected Maltese heritage organisations

Abstract

Purpose: This dissertation focuses on selected Maltese organisations that help to maintain our culture and history, these being heritage organisations. These organisations are responsible for the significant amount of resources that are granted to them by all their stakeholders to achieve their objectives. The aims of this dissertation are therefore to analyse the accountability offered by a selected number of Maltese heritage organisations and the extent to which they depend on their stakeholders' trust. Design: The collection of primary data was crucial for conducting this research. In fact, the primary data in question was obtained from semi-structured interviews carried out with representatives of Heritage Malta, Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, Wirt Ghawdex and Din l-Art Helwa. Findings: Accountability in these organisations is satisfied differently with internal and external stakeholders. However, heritage organisations satisfy stakeholders' claims for justification by complying with the required rules and by being transparent in their operations through the use of internal controls. These organisations also rely on the trust of their stakeholders especially when it is not practical to give regular financial updates. Conclusions: As small heritage organisations possess limited resources, these organisations are constrained to economise on complying with laws and regulations and hugely depend on stakeholders' trust to satisfy their accountability claims. This proves that small and large heritage organisations satisfy their accountability claims in different ways from each other due to the availability of resources, mainly finances. Implications: As a result, large heritage organisations are able to offer a higher degree of accountability than smaller organisations and therefore this enables them to attract a larger volume of funding. It is therefore important that all heritage organisations improve their accountability as not only does it enhance trust in these organisations but it also attracts more resources to be made available to them.