A Study on the Trends of Corporate Museums that Deal with Entrepreneurs

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to create a framework for organizing what corporate museums should be, based on the discussions regarding corporate museums that have been accumulated to date. Based on this framework, we will also examine trends and changes in corporate museums that deal with entrepreneurs. In creating a framework for organizing what corporate museums should be, this paper first focuses on the expectations of companies and society regarding corporate museums. Although in recent years there has been a movement to treat these as compatible, in discussions about the nature of corporate museums, they are relatively often seen as contradictory. Furthermore, in order to meet either of these expectations, it is necessary to consider the balance between providing “culture （including contributions to education and research）” and “entertainment （including tourism）”. This paper also focuses on this point when creating a framework for organizing the nature of corporate museums. When considering the trends of corporate museums that deal with entrepreneurs based on the framework created with attention to the above points, the first thing that can be observed is that a relatively large number of corporate museums respond to expectations of contributing to corporate image strategies. This type of organization provides knowledge and education to people inside and outside the company. There are also types of companies that provide games and other highly entertaining experiential content that contribute to corporate image strategies. In the sense that these types of facilities end up playing a role as tourism resources that attract people to the area, they can also be seen as responding to society’s expectations by providing entertainment. On the other hand, since corporate museums that deal with entrepreneurs deal with private individuals such as founders and managers, it is difficult for them to meet society’s expectations that they play the role of museums that deal with public property. This paper argues that there is a solution to this problem by creating a situation in which the ideas and materials of a company’s founders and managers are recognized as public property through the activities of corporate museums and academic research.