'Exploring companies' support in heritage exploitation: which role may companies play?•

Objectives. Over the last decades, the need for cultural institutions (museums, theatres, libraries etc.) to acquire both financial resources and managerial skills has become increasingly crucial for their survival. At the same time, companies start to consider the cultural sector as a possible area to invest their resources. This paper investigates and classifies the relationships between cultural institutions and companies, increasingly occurring in the last years. Methodology. The adoption of a descriptive-normative approach enables to identify the possible kinds of collaboration, distinguished according to their intensity and duration over time. Findings. The possible partnerships between cultural institutions and companies are identified. For each relationship, mutual benefits and disadvantages are represented in detail, with the support of real case studies. Research limits. The results derive from a descriptive-normative approach and need to be confirmed and tested with further primary research. Practical implications. The clear classification of the possible relationships enable managers both from cultural institutions and businesses to have a clear and comprehensive picture of the ways in which to relate to and, ultimately, create value for the development of cultural heritage Originality of the study. The joint consideration of the various possible relationships aims to provide an overall view of the issue considered, which enables to differentiate this contribution from the literature so far produced.