The role of the manager in organisational culture and change management: an academic library perspective

Introduction

The continuous advancement of information and communication technology (ICT) has created an environment of rapid change for libraries and information organisations, and the professionals who work in them. As well as providing opportunities for innovation, an environment of fast-paced change presents challenges to information agencies as they attempt to adjust to new demands for service delivery from their users, remain relevant to their stakeholders, and fulfil their strategic goals and missions. The advancement of ICT has underpinned the most significant changes in the library sector in modern times and will continue to do so well into the 21st century and beyond (Gunapala, 2017, p. 40). Therefore, adapting to change and overcoming its challenges is necessary for the survival of information organisations in the 21^st century. Critically, the way an organisation deals with change will ultimately determine the success or failure of the organisation.

This paper will examine how the role of the manager can shape or influence organisational culture as an integral part of both corporate strategies and organisational change measures to enhance performance and innovation in an academic library setting. Examples will be provided from USQ Library, which has been undergoing significant change in the last five years across a number of change programs, including a large organisational restructure and new technology implementations. The change experience of the Library will be analysed through the functions of management, which are planning, organising, staffing, leading and controlling. When executed properly, these functions are important because they can ‘lead to organisational efficiency and effectiveness’ (Moran et al, 2018, p. 11). Ultimately, it will be argued that the role of the manager as a change leader is critical to the success of any change program, and through fostering an organisational culture of change readiness, including an open knowledge-sharing culture, and through effectively working with others, the manager can enable the organisation to be innovative and successful in achieving its goals.

Discussion

The University of Southern Queensland (USQ) is a regional university in Australia. The USQ Library operates on three campuses with approximately 68 library staff members serving a population of just over 14,000 EFTSL or 27,500 enrolments, and around 700 academic staff (Department of Education, Skills and Employment, 2018; CAUL, 2020). The structure at USQ Library is very narrow with a three-person executive, including the Director, Library Services, who has overall responsibility for the library and provides leadership and strategic direction (USQ Library, 2020). At the organisational level of the university, the Library sits within the Education portfolio. In an academic library, the executive management team are responsible for shaping ‘the strategic direction and future of the organisation and build the organisation’s capacity to embrace change’ (Bryson, 2016, p. 10). The Library is structured around three functional areas, which include: Library Experience, Content, and Learning and Research. According to Bryson (2016, p. 170), work teams, or functional teams, are important for achieving organisational and business outcomes (Bryson, 2016, p. 170).

In an academic library, the Library Director refers to the CEO of the library where the director is responsible for defining the library’s strategic direction and articulating its vision. The role is important for the success of the organisation, and due to the complex change environment, the library director ‘must ensure that the library is continually realigning strategies, innovating new products and services, and that it is sensitive to changes in client behaviours and expectations’ (Harland et al, 2017, p. 397).

Management can be described as ‘using organisational resources to achieve defined goals’ with the role of the manager being to ‘make decisions that enable the organisation to achieve its objectives’ by working with others to ‘reach these objectives effectively and efficiency’ (Moran et al, 2018, p. 9). This contrasts with leadership, which is ‘the capacity to get things done through others by changing people’s mindset and energising them to action’ (Tichy and Cohen as cited in Bradigan and Hartel, 2013, p. 13). In the library context, Olson and Singer (2004, p. xiii) describe leadership as

the capacity to develop ourselves and our organisations, partner with our stakeholders, and serve our constituents in ways that promote positive relationships, create meaningful work environments, foster new leaders, and deliver high-quality, innovative programs and services that are true to our mission.

Functions of management

A useful way for understanding the role of the manager is to examine the functions of management. These are a ‘set of common processes or functions that, when properly carried out, lead to organisational efficiency and effectiveness’, and include planning, organising, staffing, leading and controlling (Moran et al, 2018, p. 11).

Planning

The function of planning ‘allows managers to determine where the organisation wants to be in the future’ (Moran et al, 2018, p. 11). In particular, strategic planning can be ‘used to involve staff in developing a course of action that aligns with the vision’ (Bradigan and Hartel, 2013, p. 15). Planning can be seen in the example of the Vision 2022 initiative at USQ Library – a “sweeping change”, which resulted in an organisational restructure that affected all staff at all levels of the library (O’Sullivan and Partridge, 2016, p. 291).

In 2014, the USQ Library embarked on an organisational change process to better understand the future needs of the university. The result of this process was the Vision 2022 initiative, which was developed to be forward focused, and designed to be creative and inclusive (O’Sullivan and Partridge, 2016, p. 288). The initiative began with an external review and a consultant’s report, and an internal strategic visioning exercise, which included an environmental scan process that involved the participation of every library staff member (Howlett and Thorpe, 2018, p. 9; O’Sullivan and Partridge, 2016, p. 288).

According to Bell (2018), ‘environmental scanning, identifying trends, and planning for the future are all part of change readiness.’ Engaging with staff is also critical because a leader needs to ‘ensure that employees are a part of the processes of strategic development, planning and decision making’ as this inclusion helps to create ‘an open culture of knowledge sharing where employees can see the changes coming and be prepared for them’ (Yi, 2019, p. 597). Fostering a culture of knowledge sharing is critical for innovation and a vital component in achieving the organisation’s mission, goals and objectives, because it is essential for adapting to change (Yi, 2019, p. 598).

Organising

The function of organising establishes ‘the formal structure of authority through which work is divided among the employees’ (Moran et al, 2018, p. 11). This is where the manager matches individuals and their skill sets to the functions and structures to achieve the organisation’s objectives, and importantly, establishes the channels of communication among the work units (Moran et al, 2018, p. 11). For example, at USQ Library, due to the narrow structure of the executive group, a broader leadership team, which included 16% of the total staff, was established to enable ‘broader participation in decision making, and a more free flow of information’ (O’Sullivan and Partridge, 2016, p. 289). Shared leadership is important for achieving an organisation’s vision and goals as it helps grow the leadership capacity of all staff, so that everyone leads, and ‘promotes the full engagement of each staff member’s talents and energy in developing innovative services and solutions’ (Bradigan and Hartel, 2013, p. 13).

Staffing

The function of staffing, also called human resources, includes all the activities around hiring, training, compensating, and retaining the right people (Moran et al, 2018, p. 11). At USQ Library, this function is evident in the organisational restructure, which was one of the outcomes of the Vision 2022 initiative. In the new structure, employees would be provided with ‘clearer career paths, and enhanced opportunities for specialisation and leadership’ (O’Sullivan and Partridge, 2016, p. 291). Furthermore, the successful outcomes of this function can be seen in how USQ Library became an employer of choice attracting talent from within academia and other libraries who might not have otherwise considered working for the library. According to the director, there were two reasons for this: firstly, several of the staff had specifically expressed an interest to work at the library due to the leadership; and secondly, at the time of the restructure, the director re-wrote every position description, which included an element of evidence-based practice and a focus on excellence (O’Sullivan, personal communication, April 17, 2020). Staffing, therefore, is important for an organisation’s success, because when employees ‘share the same values, they also share the same vision, exhibit trust and collaboratively strengthen the competitive edge of the organization as both an employer of choice and leader in the field’ (Bryson, 2016, p. 135).

Leadership

The function of leadership ‘involves creating a shared culture and values within an organisation, communicating goals to its employees, and motivating people at all levels’ (Moran et al, 2018, p. 12). There are many definitions of organisational culture, however, the most cited definition is ‘the way we do things around here’ (Bradigan and Hartel, 2013, p. 8). In the library context, it is a ‘system of shared values, norms, rules, beliefs, behaviours, ways and assumptions that unite information professionals to provide high quality services and resources for clients’ (Bawden and Robinson, 2012, p. 257)

As a core function of management, leadership is an essential role of the manager. According to Bryson, 2016, p. 123), leadership and organisational culture are inextricably linked in ‘their influence on the dynamism and sustainability of the organisation.’ This is because the leader ‘plays a key role in shaping a group’s dynamics to reach its goals’ (Bartlett, 2014, p. 2). This can be seen in the following quote from the director at USQ Library, which clearly articulates the intent of the organisational culture: ‘we are compassionate, flexible, supportive, but also very unapologetic about striving for excellence…we are unashamed about seeking to be the best we can be, and to lead the way when we can’ (O’Sullivan, personal communication, April 17, 2020).

In an environment of  constant change, ‘leaders need to do more than manage change, they need to create a change-ready culture’ through change leadership (Bell, 2018). This can be achieved by demonstrating strong leadership skills, whereby the manager can encourage a change ready mindset that supports and actively encourages people to think differently and bring their creative talents and ideas to work. Furthermore, this objective can be achieved through a shared vision, where good managers ‘exhibit leadership and build total commitment, enabling everyone to identify personally with and own the vision, working as a team to achieve it’ (Bryson, 2016, p. 5).

For example, at USQ Library, through the Vision 2022 initiative, the leadership team engaged staff at all levels using a variety of methods, including workshops, research and writing projects, and professional development opportunities, which allowed staff to ‘fully understand and participate in the change process’ (O’Sullivan and Partridge, 2016, p. 288). These engagement efforts successfully resulted in positive buy-in from staff to the process of change, and reduced resistance to change, which can be a destabilising force in any change initiative. Indeed, Moran et al (2018, p. 72), note that when staff have the opportunity to engage and participate in the change process in an ongoing manner, not only will it reduce resistance to change, but it ‘will produce significant increases in motivation, satisfaction and performance.’

Controlling

Finally, the function of controlling, involves ‘monitoring an organisation’s activities to be sure it is on the right path to meet its goals’ and ‘requires analysing the organisation’s operations and then using that information to inform the planning process’ (Moran et al, 2018, p. 11). This function can be clearly seen at USQ Library in the adoption of evidence-based library and information practice (EBLIP) as a way of working. EBLIP is ‘a structured process of articulating questions or problems, collecting, interpreting and applying valid and reliable evidence to support decision making and continuous service improvement in professional practice’ (Howlett and Thorpe, 2018, p. 3). In the Vision 2022 initiative, focusing on EBLIP methods, library staff ‘were able to proactively identify future directions for USQ Library, rather than have new ideas and changes imposed upon them’ (O’Sullivan and Partridge, 2016, p. 288). Importantly, taking an evidence-based approach where staff were engaged and an active part of the process ‘enabled staff to move toward a state of self-confidence and self-efficacy and enabled them to push the process in directions they identified as important for USQ’ (O’Sullivan and Partridge, 2016, p. 288). In relation to the library system project, EBLIP, which had become part of the organisation’s language and way of working, by becoming an ingrained part of the organisational culture, fostering this mindset enabled the library to “question how we’d always done things”. This resulted in the implementation of innovative changes that other universities hadn’t necessarily tried (O’Sullivan, personal communication, April 17, 2020).

Conclusion

This essay has provided a discussion on how the role of the manager can shape or influence organisational culture as an integral part of both corporate strategies and organisational change measures to enhance performance and innovation in an academic library setting. This was achieved by analysing the functions of management, which were applied to examples from the  USQ Library’s change experience over the last five years. These examples demonstrated how through influencing organisational culture, and fostering a mindset of change readiness, in performing the functions of management, the library director can have a profound impact on organisational performance and the capacity to innovate (Jantz, 2012). Finally, it can be argued that the role of the manager is critical to the success and performance of the organisation, because as has been shown, when the functions of management are executed properly the organisation can harness its potential to identify opportunities for innovation, and in being a state of change readiness, quickly adapt and overcome the challenges of a constantly changing environment.

List of references

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Bradigan, P. S. & Hartel, L. J. (2013). Organizational culture and leadership: exploring perceptions and relationships. In. K. Blessinger & P. Hrycaj (Eds.), Workplace Culture in Academic Libraries: The Early 21^st Century (pp. 7-19). Elsevier Science & Technology. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csuau/detail.action?docID=1574989

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O’Sullivan, C. & Partridge, H. (2016). Organizational change and renewal: Can strategic communication methods ease the pain? A case study from the University of Southern Queensland. New Review of Academic Librarianship, 22(2-3), 282-293. https://doi.org/10.1080/13614533.2016.1195418

Olson, C. A. & Singer, P. M. (2004). Winning with library leadership: enhancing services though with connection, contribution, and collaboration. American Library Association. https://portal-igpublish-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/iglibrary/obj/ALAB0000056

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Yi, Z. (2019). A leader’s approaches to fostering a culture of knowledge sharing in an information organization. Library Management, 40(8/9), 593-600.