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1 – 10 of 34The purpose of this paper is to provide library administrators, library researchers and practitioners with an in‐depth review of the conceptual and practical tools required to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide library administrators, library researchers and practitioners with an in‐depth review of the conceptual and practical tools required to engage the creative potential of their staff members.
Design /methodology/approach
The paper reviews the important concepts involving employee creativity and its successful management in the organizational setting. This is accomplished by reviewing the relevant literature assembled from the social, psychological, management, organizational and library sciences.
Findings
Intrinsic motivation is the primary driver of individual creativity and drives organizational learning, transformation and innovation. Library administrators are directly responsible for creating and sustaining an organizational culture that facilitates the intrinsic‐motivation of all library staff members. Organizational democracy and employee participation may increase and sustain intrinsic‐motivation while coercive management behaviors tend to reduce this vital catalyst.
Research limitations/implications
The preponderance of the literature consulted for this article was assembled from sources outside the field of library management. Therefore, library administrators who would use this information to enhance the creative activities of their employees are cautioned to develop small pilot‐phase projects to gain practical experience with the concepts contained in this paper.
Originality/value
The paper provides a useful review of the appropriate literature related to employee creativity. This paper is among the first to relate the concepts of intrinsic‐motivation, managerial style and creativity to organizational learning and transformation in the library environment.
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This paper seeks to review the history, development and utilization of self‐managing work teams (SMWTs) in business and library work environments.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to review the history, development and utilization of self‐managing work teams (SMWTs) in business and library work environments.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a review of both the relevant management and library literature, this paper broadens the library literature related to SMWTs with the objective of finding relevant insights applicable to the management of SMWTs in the library environment.
Findings
The paper finds that the use of appropriately designed and implemented SMWTs has the potential to increase employee productivity and workplace satisfaction while reducing absenteeism and employee turnover. Organizational democracy and managerial support are the primary drivers of successful SMWTs. However, the use of SMWTs by library administrators appears to be underutilized.
Research limitations/implications
While the organizational and administrative benefits associated with the use of SMWTs are clear, the reasons why library administrators have not used this tool more frequently remains obscure. Additional research is required to understand the factors – both personal and institutional – that lead library administrators to either adopt or reject innovative managerial tools and techniques generally and SMWTs specifically.
Originality/value
This paper provides an important review of the library and management literature related to the use of SMWTs. The information is presented with the objective of increasing awareness, debate and additional research on the application of SMWTs in the library environment.
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This article aims to highlight important aspects of environmental scanning (ES). As a managerial tool of high utility, ES may assist library professionals – at all levels …
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to highlight important aspects of environmental scanning (ES). As a managerial tool of high utility, ES may assist library professionals – at all levels – proactively assess and respond to change in the technological, demographic, economic and social environments that may have a future impact on the library profession and stakeholder services.
Design/methodology/approach
This article deepens the library literature related to the methodology of ES with concepts and ideas derived from the relevant management literature.
Findings
Based on an in‐depth review of the library literature, the evidence suggests that librarians have not the used ES techniques consistently or systematically to manage change.
Research limitations/implications
While the results of this literature review imply that ES is underutilized as a tool to manage change in the library environment, it is entirely possible that practicing librarians actually utilize ES far more frequently than a review of the library literature suggests. Additional survey‐studies addressing this concern will be required to resolve this important question.
Originality/value
This article provides useful information related to the importance of ES and the related methodology required to build a comprehensive ES initiative. In addition, the paper introduces the reader to the innovative goal of coordinating ES initiatives on a global scale. This is presented with a view toward developing cooperative programs and approaches that may increase the viability of our profession and strengthen our collective ability to increase stakeholder satisfaction.
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The growing use of teams to accomplish work in libraries has brought qualitative changes to the nature of work and leadership in library organizations. Collaborative work in…
Abstract
The growing use of teams to accomplish work in libraries has brought qualitative changes to the nature of work and leadership in library organizations. Collaborative work in team-based organizations and the rise of distributed leadership require different skills from traditional, hierarchically structured workplaces. The literature on team skills provides insight and direction for library human resources management practices. Growing research on emotional intelligence in the workplace also provides new guidance for selection and personnel practices. The literature in these areas can help library organizations more effectively select those who have the attributes needed to be successful in this new environment. It can also help library organizations shape training and developmental opportunities to enhance these critically needed skills.
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Within the context of general systems theory (GST), this paper aims to review the literature on the potential for internet abuse and addiction among undergraduate university…
Abstract
Purpose
Within the context of general systems theory (GST), this paper aims to review the literature on the potential for internet abuse and addiction among undergraduate university students in the university and library environment.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on a review and synthesis of the relevant literature derived from the computer, education, medical and psychological sciences.
Findings
Anecdotal evidence has been accumulating for over a decade, suggesting that inappropriate use of the internet by college students may lead to adverse educational outcomes; however, very little empirical evidence is available to substantiate the phenomenon.
Research limitations/implications
A lack of empirical evidence limits the conclusions one may draw on the nature and extent of the internet‐related difficulties that students may be experiencing. However, the accumulating anecdotal evidence and commentary suggests that near‐term and long‐term problems for both the individual and society are indeed possible. Therefore, a robust, international research program, designed to generate the empirical evidence required to clarify this issue, is absolutely essential.
Originality/value
A timely review of the internet abuse/addiction phenomenon is presented with the objective of increasing awareness, debate and additional empirical research.
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This paper aims to provide librarians with an in‐depth review of transformational management and its relation to organizational learning and adaptation.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide librarians with an in‐depth review of transformational management and its relation to organizational learning and adaptation.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper broadens the library literature related to management style, organizational learning and transformation, with concepts derived from the relevant management literature.
Findings
Librarians are experimenting with organizational learning and new management styles in an attempt to cope with rapid change. Transformational management styles can be learned and applied by library administrators. The extent to which library administrators are using transformational management techniques to cope with change remains obscured by the fact that appropriate surveys have not been conducted.
Research limitations/implications
The self‐assessment tool is based on an adaptation of the multifactor leadership questionnaire (MLQ), developed by Bass and Avolio to study leadership styles in business, industry and the military. Relevance of the assessment tool to the library environment must be clarified by “factor analysis” before the questionnaire is used in formal statistical studies assessing management style and organizational learning.
Originality/value
The paper provides a useful review of the library and management literature relating organizational learning and management style. This information is presented with the objective of increasing awareness, debate and additional research. A self‐assessment tool accompanies the paper. This tool will allow library professionals to determine informally the degree to which their organizational culture is either transformational or transactional in nature.
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This paper seeks to provide librarians and library administrators with the necessary information to begin thinking about and perhaps preparing for the large number of retirements…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to provide librarians and library administrators with the necessary information to begin thinking about and perhaps preparing for the large number of retirements that are projected to take place in the library profession over the coming decade.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper broadens the library literature related to the retention and recruitment of older employees with concepts derived from the relevant demographic, management, medical and personnel literature.
Findings
The profession has not given this problem the time and research attention that is required to successfully manage through the projected “labor gap”. Librarians possess transferable skills and work habits that would be welcomed by corporations attempting to cope with their own labor shortages that are projected to cut across industry and occupational classes over the next decade. Therefore, library administrators should consider developing satisfactory bridge employment options that retain and attract the older or retired library employee.
Research limitations/implications
The preponderance of the literature consulted for this article was assembled from sources outside of the field of library management. Therefore, library administrators who would use the information contained in this paper to develop viable bridge employment options, are cautioned to develop programs that reflect the unique operational realities of the library they work for and the post‐retirement needs of their employees.
Originality/value
The paper provides a useful review of the library and management literature related to the establishment of bridge employment options in the library environment. The paper concludes by introducing the importance of utilizing mathematical and statistical modeling techniques to determine, where possible, the economic value of the services to the stakeholders served. This information is presented with the objective of increasing awareness, debate and additional research in this neglected but critically important area of “value analysis” and its possible impact on the development of sustainable, long‐term solutions to the problems associated with recruitment and retention.
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Michelle Chaotzu Wang and James Quo-Ping Lin
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a progressive strategy of the National Palace Museum (NPM) using new media art exhibitions as a creative marketing tool to interpret its…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a progressive strategy of the National Palace Museum (NPM) using new media art exhibitions as a creative marketing tool to interpret its collection, generate cultural value and navigate the greater global context.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of museum marketing literature and the challenges presented by Taiwan’s sociopolitical situation contextualize discussions on marketing activities and the emergence of museum-commissioned new media art at the NPM within the past two decades.
Findings
Democratic potency inherent in the digital medium has enabled the NPM to transcend the conflicting cultural perceptions surrounding its collection and fulfill the function of market expansion and cultural transmission.
Originality/value
Specialized heritage museums, such as the NPM, do not traditionally create or collect contemporary artworks that engage in ongoing cultural dialogues. This paper brings into view the novelty of using the digital medium to generate cultural value as exemplified in the new media art commissioned by the NPM.
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The contemporary social capital discourse is ‘probably less than twenty or so years old’ (Castiglione, 2008, p. 1), and its meaning remains elusive and contested (Castiglione, Van…
Abstract
The contemporary social capital discourse is ‘probably less than twenty or so years old’ (Castiglione, 2008, p. 1), and its meaning remains elusive and contested (Castiglione, Van Deth, & Wolleb, 2008, pp. 2–21). However, this section develops the view that the returns of social capital can be understood in terms of two sets of intangible assets. First, intangible assets concerned with identity intangibles such as credibility, goodwill and reputation, and second, in terms of intangible assets to do with knowledge management. This section also contends that social capital is context dependent and in its economic context is framed by background assumptions taken from Coleman's rationalist theoretical treatment (1988, 1990). Furthermore, the relevance of the socio-economic perspective is discussed in terms of fraudster's exploitation of the socially embedded nature of all economic activity, including that of the market.