In recent years, the arts, and in particular public sector arts organizations, have faced considerable changes as a result of shifting patterns of cultural consumption, new technologies and administrative processes. Based on extensive field research, this book explores the changes driven by the crisis of the welfare state and the privatization of public entities. It presents a critical analysis of the tensions between managerial rhetoric and professional practices that characterize the arts sector, and questions the extension of managerial rhetoric for the very survival of arts organizations. The book presents the British Museum as a paradigmatic example of the problematic relationship between arts and management. In addition, reference is made to various Italian arts institutions, offering useful insights to arts sector professionals throughout the world who are experiencing a similar transformation of the public sector, privatization, 'companization' and 'managerialisation'.