The Value of Corporate Libraries

I read an article from Library Quarterly, titled "Corporate library impact: theoretical approach by William Edgar. It is about corporate libraries and their contribution to their parent firm and whether or not these libraries contribute to corporate wealth.
In one study, thirteen corporate libraries provided information on background, staff, collections, services, physical facilities, and financial resources but did not address how these libraries impacted their parent corporation. Another study found that over two-thirds of respondents did not answer when asked which corporate library services added the most value to the company. The value of the corporate library and its effects on the corporate environment needs to be determined.
What corporations want is savings in time and money. Professionals in corporations spend a lot of time reading information. Without a corporate library, getting that information would take time that could be spent reading. Having the information available would also improve their quality of work which could affect savings by the corporation.
Corporate libraries usually have specific services they provide such as research and product development. When these specific activities are changed, the library does not seem as important, especially to senior management. What is unfortunate for the libraries is that senior management are the ones less likely to be users of the library and are more likely to be the ones to cut costs by eliminating them. In these cases, it would be beneficial to corporations and their information centers to distribute the decision making process of eliminating libraries to management that actually use them.
Julie Krehbiel

Two conflicts

St. Louis Meto, the regional transit authority is in the process of constructing an extension to its’ existing light rail line. Its original perspective completion date was schedule for this spring. However complication have arose, and it became necessary for them to fire and sequence bring a lawsuit against the construction companies working on the project. The funding for this project came form a quarter cent sale tax. And while they are still in the black as yet the reserve is drying up after all the set backs has caused a budget increase of 100 million dollars while this is a 500 million dollar project that is still a big number. Due to this increase in the budget the state auditor of Missouri seeks the opportunity to audit the project to look for any discrepancy. There is a question of her authority to do an audit due to the fact that the transit authority has authority in two states Missouri and Illinois. The Organizational conflict theories point to a trial and error model with relationship to the transit authority and the construction group. They each have a clear goal, but the process is unclear. This is evidence in the fact that both sides argue that the project design was incomplete. Each side blames the other, claiming that one knew this fact and didn’t inform the other, which is a classic characteristic of the trial and error model: lack of information causing the conflict. With the increase in budget spending another theory has appeared, Vertical conflict. An organization that can influence the transit authority attempts to take over and put itself in the decision-making capacity. This is what examining the budget does. So as the transit authority seeks to complete its project it must deal with a conflict with the labor of construction while maintaining its own control as political organization seek to provide their own influence to the project. Library faces the same problems, communicating their needs to contractors, vendors, and other outsourcing groups. There are times that they come into conflict, when the needs of the library are not being met or blatant breach of contract. Action must be taken and while action is being taken, you must also deal with the political element trying to influence your decision through control over the budget. Anytime tax dollars are being used whether for collection development or a new building, different conflicts do arise and may attract the attention of government agencies. Who's agenda may be other then yours.
Graber S. (2005 March 19) MetroLink work will cost about 100 million more, should finish next year. St. Louis Dispatch. P 8.

Jorge B.

Influences of the physical structure of an organization’s image

In chapter 8 of our text Organization Theory, Hatch defines three basic aspects of organizational physical structures: organizational geography, layout, and design/décor. Hatch goes on to describe the importance of physical structure in the formation of the individual, group, and organizational identity by using elements (dramatic architectural features, product design, company logos, corporate literature and uniforms) of its physical structure to provide cues and communicate messages that remind people not only how they should behave or where they are, but who they are as an organization. Therefore as an organization it must consider the meanings and interpretations associated with its physical structure.

A great example of an organization trying to change its image via its physical structure is the Ford Motor Company. The great grandson of Henry Ford, Bill Ford Jr. decided in 1999 to totally redesign the entire Rouge Complex, located in Dearborn, Michigan. Bill Ford’s intention was to “lay the groundwork to transform a 20th century industrial icon into a model 21st century sustainable manufacturing.”

Some of the design aspects of this new sustainable industrial complex include:
· 500, 000 sq. ft. living roof
· Use of natural plants throughout the grounds to rid soil contaminants
· Improve storm management through the use of swales and porous pavings
· Vertical landscaping-use of flowering vines and other plants to shade
and help cool
· Renewable energy sources such as solar and fuel cells
· Planting of thousands of trees and plants for the purpose of attracting
songbirds and creating habitats.

These new design concepts have been recognized the U.S. Green Building Council. They awarded the Ford Motor Company the Gold certification based on the Council’s Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.

Now that you have seen how an organization can change its image via its physical structure, in what ways could the library as an organization change its image via the redesign of its physical structure?

Cory C.

References:

Hatch, M. J. (1997). Organization theory: Modern, symbolic, and postmodern perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press.

Schneider, Kieth. (2002, December 27). A new green coat for an old grey factory: Ford invests in jobs, nature and quality of life. Great Lakes Bulletin News Service. Retrieved March 13, 2005, from http://www.mlui.org/growthmanagement/fullarticle.asp?fileid=16373.

Groups Oppose Drastic GPO Reductions in Print Distribution

Today, I read an article on the American Library Association (2005) website concerning a proposed reduction (and near elimination) of government depository print distribution. This reduction would essentially restrict the print distribution to the 50 most essential titles, and allow for a small stipend available to select government depository libraries for additional items. Libraries would be responsible for purchasing any other materials out of their own budgets. Documents would continue to be available digitally.

I see this reduction of funds to be an abuse of the second face of power, as described by Peter Bacharach and Morton Baratz (Hatch, 1997). By limiting access to specific formats of materials, the government is limiting free and easy access to those persons unable or uncomfortable with the technological skills to use the Internet. A person can view this, at its basic level, as an attempt to create a barrier to the political process.

Peter Bacharach and Morton Baratz address the fields of sociology and political science with their theories (Hatch, 1997). As the Hatch (1997) text states, the theory of the two faces of power is aimed at a particular form of social organization, the community. In this community, the Government Printing Office would be the power-holding unit, and the citizenry of the United States would be the overall community. Our government depository libraries are also members of the community.

I invite your comments on this issue both as organization theorists and as librarians. If the GPO enacts this proposal, I see librarians filling a greater role in making sure that citizens understand the availability of government documents. I also wonder if the ALA or other organizations can stop this proposal.

American Library Association. (2005, February 2). Groups oppose drastic GPO reductions in print distribution. Retrieved March 20, 2005, from http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=News&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=86044
Hatch, M. J. (1997). Organization theory: modern, symbolic, and postmodern perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press.

Jeff B.

Participation in Organizations

I read an article in the Journal of Change Management describing participation in organization. The article states that participation is believed to have a number of positive effects on the strategy process. People who get involved with their organization are more invested. This will reduce organizational resistance to change and create a higher level of psychological commitment to new changes. The article looked at organizations before and after the change process occurred.

Without going into huge detail, the article discusses a study in which this hypothesis was tested. The outcomes of the study is what is important. The research supported the positivity of participation on the strategy process. The second most important fact gleaned from this study was that the results indicated that the collaborative climate generated by an authentic invitation to participate as a full member of the project team is the key mediating factor that link participation to implementation success.

This study fully supports Hatch's theory of strategy implementation within the rational model. Strategy implementation consists of the mobilization of allocated resources to achieve desired outcomes and involves three supporting rules. The rules are: resource allocation to support the selected alternative, the development of control systems to measure and assess performance and provide feedback to management, and the creating of structures and human resource policies with respect to training and rewards to support the chosen strategy.

Each person within the organization participates in the choosing of the strategy. From there, management decides on a course of action, and everyone works together to achieve the goal. The entire organization becomes invested in the change it is making. Often, implementation in practice is problematic because not everyone can agree on a chosen path to implementation. However, when a consensus is made, it is much more easy to fully participate in organizational change rather. Even if higher management chooses the ultimate path to implementation, it is acceptable as long as they listen to the other employees and discuss measures with them rather than without consultation.
An organization that chooses to listen to its employees and makes decisions with them instead of for them is an organization that will succeed.

Posted by Anne W.

Organization Theory: Modern, Symbolic, and Postmodern Perspectives, Mary Jo Hatch, Oxford University Press, 1997.

Lines, R. (2004). Influence of participation in strategic change: resistance, organizational commitment and change goal achievement. Journal of Change Management. 4(3), p. 193-215.

Honesty May Not Be The Best Policy

According to an anthropologist, Chris Jenks, culture is formed from the disciplines of sociology and anthropology. Culture is “the body of belief, behavior, knowledge…values, and goals that make up the way of life…” (Hatch, p. 204). Values are principles and standards held within a culture to have intrinsic worth. It constitutes the basis for making judgments about what is right and what is wrong, which is why they are also referred to as a moral or ethic code (Hatch, p. 214). However, the article that I stumbled in this month, “Corporate Culture Encourages Lying” from www.management-issues.com showed that not all businesses follow these values.

The article discusses how Britain’s employees feel they are obliged to lie due to lack of information and support they need to do their jobs properly. Not only the employees are lying to their customers, but also lies get passed up an organization’s hierarchy. One in five employees would lie to their boss or their colleagues. The Aziz Management Communications Index shows that company directors and managers believe it is wrong for their employees to lie to them. However, almost half are comfortable with those same employees telling untruths on their behalf to their customers (Corporate, p. 1).

Honesty may be not the best policy from a business point of view, because often times managers or even employees themselves give misinformation or not adequate information, in order, to gain power and control of each other. Lying is a form of mechanism of control. Nonetheless, managers should encourage amongst their staff to be honest with each other and also to their customers. Otherwise, customers who discover that they have been lied to will not return and the business's reputation is difficult to recover. This idea may be applied to librarianship, because if a librarian gives inaccurate information to a patron’s information need, he or she would not want to utilize the library after that.

In conclusion, oftentimes businesses feel they don’t have other options except to lie. They are often misleading their customers because they find themselves in an “expectation trap”. The customers will not do business with them unless they appear to be successful, yet they can’t be successful until people do business with them.

~Anne Tran~

Mechanistic Organization & Mad Cow Disease

I would like to discuss the disastrous effects of imposing a mechanistic organization onto an inherently organic one. I am speaking of the cattle industry. They have adopted the best practices of the manufacturing industry, which has historically been wildly successful. Some of these innovations include assembly line production, quotas, use of unskilled labor, etc. This has led to corporate ranching and the wholesale slaughter of millions of head of cattle every year. And it has also allowed the U.S. to create a surplus of products in this area for consumption and exportation. However the negatives of mechanistic organization far outweigh the positives in this particular industry. Contingency theory states that the organization's type should be determinant on its environmental situation. If it is a highly stable environment it is wise to adopt mechanistic practices to optimize performance. In a less stable environment, i.e. any industry that relies on Mother Nature for its success, one should take a more organic approach.

The dangers to the mechanistic operation of ranching and the meat processing industry are many. In order to keep costs down and production high this industry employs the unskilled and oftentimes illiterate. These employees do not always understand the proper safety and regulatory laws of the industry and in order to meet their quotas corners are often cut. This can lead to severe on the job injuries as well as the improper handling of meat. And since this industry is now large enough for a few dozen plants to supply the entire United States with meat, tainted meat from one plant could potentially harm hundreds of thousands of people. The mad cow scare of a few years back brought to light some of the unsavory practices of the meat industry. However there are many more food borne illnesses that could potentially harm us, some of the know culprits are E. coli, Campylobacter jejuni, Cryptosporidium parvum, Cyclospora cayetanensis, Listeria monocytogenes and salmonella. The mechanistic nature of today's cattle ranching and meat packing plants makes a perfect breeding ground for a future health epidemic.

Understanding organization theory is important in helping us to discover why certain organizations work better than others do and in what circumstances they should adopt changes. I realized (while reading the book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser) that in the case of the cattle industry it would be advantageous for the overall health of our nation if they would scale back their mechanistic output and implement some organic practices. But in order for the necessary changes to take place we need to challenge their social legitimacy.

A. Thompson

Organizational Culture & Physical Space

As I consider corporate culture, my view is through the lenses of a human resources professional. For 20+ years I have read/seen/applied techniques to understand/ enhance/repair/build corporate culture through HR policies and practices. This post reviews what I consider to be effective practices and introduces a new area of cultural influence, the physical environment. Read this from your perspective as a student, a manager, a specialist, a librarian, (a parent…). I believe you will find application both now and in your future career in information science.

First, two paraphrased definitions:
An organization’s attitudes and values regarding itself, its employees, customers and the general public. It encompasses the manner in which things are done within the organization based on defining policies and practices. (Society of Human Resources (SHRM) website glossary)
Modernists see culture as a tool of management, a variable to be manipulated to enhance the likelihood of achieving desired performance from members of the organization. (Hatch p 231)

This is where HR comes in.....

HR plays a primary role in assuring that core values are consistently communicated and demonstrated to members of the organization. A key opportunity is the employment process. Imagine an organizational structure that is decentralized/flat and utilizes teams for decision-making. Hiring and developing employees with team skills is a crucial role for HR. Beginning with the Help Wanted advertisement, teamwork is identified as a key core value. Next, the application and/or resume are reviewed for evidence of team training or experience. During the screening phase, interview questions are constructed to “test” for knowledge and skill in working with teams. References inquire of past employers/educators about team experience. An interview with the work team brings the team concept come to life. Presenting the position description, which identifies the responsibility for teamwork, and reaffirming core values during orientation, are the next steps. The true test of core values however, is in performance management. Including an expectation of teamwork in the evaluation process and providing training and coaching solidifies the message that the organization is serious about teams. Feedback in the form of rewards and consequences must also be consistent.

Some of the artifacts or symbols of core values would be printed documents and signage. Some organizations post core values where employees congregate; others print them on business cards, identification badges, and tee shirts. Other key symbols are titles, compensation, benefit and recognition programs.

A new arena for HR to embed core values is in the physical design of the organization. In “Space: Another HR Frontier: When HR Moves into Office Design, It Can Reap Big Rewards Regarding Culture, Morale and Productivity” Robert Grossman argues that HR should have a seat at the design table. He encourages HR professionals to use their analytical skills to identify design features that promote or hinder teamwork and collaboration. For example, having to travel cross town or jump through hoops to reserve a meeting room can kill spontaneity. A better design is to furnish offices or cubicles with white boards and conference tables so brainstorming sessions can occur while ideas are hot. Some academic libraries are designing “information commons” that include fully equipped computer stations, reference assistance and areas where teams can easily gather.

Despite what you may think of cubicles, this design can further team work because the identical structure eliminates rank. The lack of doors and minimal walls facilitate collaboration.

Another design idea is to place (collocate) professionals who depend on each other near each other; for example, rather then locating artists only with artists, consider moving the artist to the area where her project team works. It is becoming more and more common for the HR representative to be located where work occurs to be instantly accessible to the workers. (If this topic intrigues you, more information is available at www.shrm.org/hrmagazine/articles)

So how does this apply to libraries and information professionals? In several ways. Be consistent in your message or your culture will become very confused and your employees distrustful. Look outside your traditional area of responsibility for new areas to impact organizational culture. Finally, remember that members of your “team” bring their brains to work each day—tap into their ideas, ask what reinforces desired values, find out what recognition works for them.

References:
Organization Theory: Modern, Symbolic, and Postmodern Perspectives, Mary Jo Hatch, Oxford University Press, 1997.
“Space: Another HR Frontier” Robert Grossman, HR Magazine, September 2000.
“An Office Undivided: Corporate Flexibility is the Key to Cubicle Etiquette” Andrea C. Poe, HR Magazine, February 2000.
“A Humanistic Approach to Space”, Dominic Bencivenga, HR Magazine, March 1998.
http://shrm.org

Healthy organizations?

Describing her vision of the future organization, Hatches states that ideal organizations are flexible, adaptable to change, have relatively few levels of formal hierarchy, are responsive to the environment, have friendly relations with stakeholders and empower people working for them (Hatch, 1997, p.351). In the 1990s, I read the book Life and how to survive it by Robin Skynner and John Cleese. The book treated the concept of mental health, or particularly, the phenomenon of being exceptionally healthy. It focused on the mental health of individuals and groups operating from the smallest to the largest of scales: discussing healthy families, the behavior of business organizations and the conduct of the whole societies. The study of mental health has deeply resonated with me for a long time. Surprisingly enough, I encountered the same metaphor of an organization as a healthy family in a recent issue of Library Management. Maurice B. Line in writes in “Management musings: organizations as families, happy or otherwise” that comparing an organization with a family can be instructive (Line, 2005, p. 316).
1) Healthy families are as efficient as healthy organizations: they have friendly relations outside world, they are good at handling change and they empower their family members(p.317).
2)Another feature mentioned by Skynner, Cleese and Line is their tremendous respect for individuality and independence. Questions and ideas are encouraged and decision making entails a long mediation (p. 27).
3)Healthy organizations just as healthy families have rules concerning limits and responsibilities. Lines mentions that if a good family/organization is to be stress free, relations between Heads and Subjects, as she calls them, must be handled with care: there has to be a great deal of trust and some rules, explicit or implicit, to abide by (Line, 2005, p.316).
4)Similarly to good parents, the leadership in healthy organizations exercises very strict control over a small number of absolutely crucial issues—usually dealing with money—but gives as much freedom as possible apart from that. Thus decision making process is to a high degree de-centralized and implies a series of discussions with employees (Skynner & Cleese, 1994, p. 115).
5)The discussion of successful companies shows that their founders followed some religious and philosophical principles: they believe in ethics. The most successful individuals with high levels of mental health seem to be followers of a religious path (Skynner & Cleese, 1994, p.108).

The need for a change in management and, from the psychological perspective, towards a greater organizational health/effectiveness, has been observed in the West and particularly in the U.S.A. for awhile. I believe we have been facing a shift from modernist rational organizational management and decision-making towards symbolic-interpretative and postmodernist perspective in these areas. The mechanistic, hierarchical and “scientific” approach has been replaced by new methods that value social science and cultural anthropology tools of analysis. To a large extend, the cultural and historic analysis was also prompted by a growing competition from Japanese companies and products: Japanese products have been more popular and their ways of management more efficient. The need for cultural analysis and new ways of management became obvious.
When observed from the perspective of mental health, Japanese management seems to be “healthier” in several areas. While reading the article “Attitudes toward decision-making: North America and Japan” by Teruyuki Kume from the book Communication, culture and organizational process, I noticed that the described models of Japanese management actually resemble the features of healthy families/organizations. First, whereas the decision-making process in the West is a business of an individual making up his/her mind, usually based on an internal mental process, Japanese often are involved in information gathering, both horizontal and vertical, and consulting each other before arriving at any decision (Kume, 1985, p. 248). Japanese managers seem to be more egalitarian – just like caretakers. Second, Americans, whose major priorities are achievement and accomplishment, tend to make decisions impulsively and without regard to outcome. Japanese, similarly to good parents, are more patient (p.242). Third, Japanese handle conflict in a more harmonious way—an individual easily abandons his/her agenda for a general harmony within a group (p.240).
Skynner and Cleese state that psychology had experienced some kind of a stagnation due to the lack of recognition of what constitutes health and excessive focus on anomaly and then the study of health became a huge step forward (p.4). I believe that organizational theory could follow the same path. On a more basic level, we as managers should attempt to construct healthy environments, while having our cultural limitations in mind.
Elizabeth Nicol

Kume, T. (1985). Attitudes toward decision-making: North America and Japan. In W. Gudykunst, L. Stewart & S. Ting-Toomey (Eds.), Communication, culture, and organizational process. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Hatch, M. J. (1997). Organization theory. New York: Oxford University Press.
Line, M. B. (2005). Management musings: organisations as families, happy or otherwise. Library Management, 25, 316-317.
Skynner, R. & Cleese, J. (1994) Life and how to survive it. New York: Norton.

When Asda Employees Joined the Wal-Mart "Family"

Asda is a UK based supermarket merging with Wal-Mart. Joining the large family that is Wal-Mart is not a decision that is made lightly. What happens to your employees? Are they along for the merger? How will the change affect your organization? According to Asda, the most critical element to this entire merge is preparation. The company wanted to prepare its employees. The company also stresses that it has been up front and honest with employees, making a bond of trust.

In the beginning of this merger, not all people at Asda were on board. Many didn't want the company to change or be taken over, and certainly not by an American company, one of the world's largest retailers. However, the merger was not as threatening as some employees feared. One reason for that was the similarities between Asda and Wal-Mart. Their value systems and structure were very similar. Godfrey Owen, deputy chief executive of Brathay, a company that provides people-development solutions, explained, "It is important that when working through a change-management program that people work towards a common goal and that firms empower their employees to put them into action. If staff are not focused on the organization's objectives, the process is almost certain to fail."

Asda prides itself on being a company their employees can trust. The employees have to trust that the decisions made by the business are for the best, not only for the customers but also for the people. With this said, Marie Gill, head of Asda's organizational development, remarked," People do not usually resist change -- they resist being changed." In her book, Organization Theory, Hatch discusses organizational change in Chapter 12.

The overview of Chapter 12 describes organizational change as dynamic and processual. Classical theorists want to focus on how to make organizations stable and routine. When merging companies, this is usually unattainable for awhile. Postmodern theorists want to describe organizational change in terms of environmental change and want to predict change in products, markets, technology, and society. In this day and time, with our changing worlds and our merging companies, theorists need to develop and shift the focus from static models to dynamic models of organizational change.

Change theory is something that has evolved over time. Looking at Lewin's model of change, I can see the simplicity of the theory. A company is 'frozen' in its routine. It must be unfrozen for the change to occur, then after the change, the company is then 'refrozen' into the new routine it has established. There is no dynamic processes occurring, nothing to constantly keep the company new and inventive. Most theorists did not care for the model, describing it as 'quaintly linear and of static conception' and began to look for new models.

Today, change theory has evolved into many different elements. Many theorists are constantly looking for new ways to describe organizational change. It is wonderful to see that change can occur in change theory. For example, culture has become a large part of change theory with many cultures coming together, such as Asda's UK based company and Wal-mart's U.S. based company. Theories occasionally have the tendency to be static and unchanging. It is nice to see that issues and themes in organization theory can broaden and change with the world's changing markets and mergers.

Posted by Anne W.

References
Hatch, M.J. (2001). Organization Theory. New York: Oxford University Press.

Pollitt, D. (2004). When Asda employees joined the Wal-mart 'family'. Human Resource Management International Digest. 12(6), p. 18-20.

Social construction theory and the library environment

In her book, Organization Theory, Hatch discusses Karl Weick thoughts on social construction theory. Weick is an American Social Psychologist who wrote the book, The Social Psychology of Organizing. He asserts an organization determines the environment in which it operates by analysis and decision making. Decisions based on the analysis generate activities and programs that meet the needs of specific populations who then become the organization’s environment. A social construction theorist would argue that an organization “socially constructs the reality of their environment and enact what they take to be the objective world.” (Hatch, 2001, p. 42)
Libraries base decisions on needs assessments of the community in which it resides. Decisions on services and programs are based in part on these assessments. These decisions determine which patrons will use the services and become the social environment of the library. Use of the social construction theory allows a librarian to understand the process of limiting or expanding the social environment of the library. With limited resources such as money, time and physical space a library must choose and choose wisely. Decisions based on the use of a social construction theory are not static. If further analysis indicates resources are better used for different programs, the resources can be allocated differently. This creates a new social environment in which the library operates. Libraries have broadened their social environment with the advent of computers and the internet. The decision to provide computers for the use of patrons greatly changed the social environment of libraries. Since computers are costly, decisions to provide computers to library patrons limit the money available for other programs. Patrons wanting these unaffordable programs may be left out of the library’s environment.
Hatch quotes Weick, a social psychologist, during her discussion of social construction theory. Psychologists are concerned with the behavior of humans. A social psychologist is interested in theories regarding the relationships among individuals. They are more attuned to group dynamics or social interactions than other areas of psychology. Social construction theorists naturally draw on knowledge from this discipline to study the interactions between an organization and the individuals within the organization’s environment. Social Psychologists are more attuned to subjective areas found in symbolic-interpretive research. They also are less disturbed by the fluidity found in postmodern theories since social relationships are not static and constantly redefine the needs of the relationship.
Here is an interesting link to a website describing social psychology.
http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/socpsy.html
The author, Dr. George Boeree, notes that psychologists can not agree on one theory from which to base their research. This allows us to experience richness from many psychological theories in partnership with organization theories. Since organizations are individuals collectively working together for an end result, organization theories easily partnership with the field of psychology.

Reference
Hatch, M.J. (2001). Organization Theory. New York: Oxford University Press.
Submitted by Ann H.

HP head resigns: What does it mean for organizational theory?

Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina stepped down on February 9, 2005, after a dispute with the board about the direction of the company. Patricia Dunn, an HP director, was named chairman of the board, and Robert P. Wayman, current CFO, was named interim CEO (Boulton, 2005).

The firing (or resignation) was reportedly not due to a change in strategy, but simply a desire to accelerate the company's current strategy. Though Dunn praised Fiorina for revitalizing the company, she also implied that Fiorina was not as active as she could have been during her stint as CEO. Dunn and Wayman stated that the move did not have anything to do with earnings. Rumor has it that it was due to “fundamental disagreements between Fiorina and the board over how the multi-billion-dollar company should be run” (Boulton, 2005, ¶ 16). Sources have said that the company is frustrated by its second-billing to IBM, inconsistent earnings, and unclear goals. HP is not planning on making any more big structural or executive changes in the near future.

Strategy will be a major consideration when looking for new a CEO, but company officials claim that there will not be a requirement that a new CEO will have to follow a board-specified strategy. Wayman says that the new chief must have excellent strategic skills and the ability to execute that strategy (Boulton, 2005), something that Fiorina was likely missing.

Fiorina was “one of the most powerful women in corporate America” (La Monica, 2005, ¶ 1), and was cited in the Sunday Times as being “possibly the most powerful businesswoman in the world ” (Times Online, 2005, ¶ 1). She was the only female CEO of a company in the Dow Jones industrial average.

The top prospects for the position of CEO are Vyomesh (“VJ”) Joshi, the current head of HP's printing and imaging division, and former Compaq (now merged with HP) head Michael Capellas. The decision depends on whether the board wants someone that is currently with the company, or if they decide to hire an outsider with fresh ideas (La Monica, 2005).

This event relates to organizational theory in the area of strategic decision-making. Strategy is very important for a big company like HP, and having all employees in agreement about that strategy is even more critical. When one person dissents, and especially someone in a position of power like Fiorina, things can go downhill quickly. In this situation, the board acted in the role of top management in order to force Fiorina from power and allow them to implement their strategy in the way that they wanted.

In terms of the actual decision-making process, the board seems to have attempted to act rationally. They had a shared goal in mind and thought that giving Fiorina the axe would be the best way to accomplish that goal. When deciding on a new CEO, the board will again need to decide on a goal and a way of achieving it; if they agree, the hiring will once again be a rational decision. If not, the situation could deteriorate and run the gamut from a coalition model of decision-making, all the way down to the garbage can model. These models make decision-making more difficult, because there is often more ambiguity and uncertainty than when making a rational decision.

Although modern theorists generally think that the rational process is the best way to make a decision, Swedish organization theorist Nils Brunsson believes otherwise. He promotes the idea that irrationality is a useful way to make big decisions. He describes decision irrationality as a process that analyzes few alternatives, only positive consequences, and avoids the planning of objectives. The positive focus of this method allows for the optimism that any decision would be a good one, and therefore deciding on one option is easier (Hatch, 1997). HP could already be employing decision irrationality in hiring a new CEO, because they have unofficially narrowed the choice down to only Joshi, Capellas, and perhaps a few others.

As the situation at Hewlett-Packard shows, it is clear that strategy and decision-making are critical parts of any successful organization. Carly Fiorina, though often touted as a powerful businesswoman, differed from the board in her strategy to run HP, and she is now paying the price. Ensuring that everyone in the company is behind goals and values is the best way to avoid another fiasco like the one at HP.

Katy H.

References

Boulton, C. (2005, February 9). HP CEO Carly Fiorina steps down. Internetnews.com. Retrieved February 13, 2005, from http://www.internetnews.com/busnews/article.php/3481866.

Hatch, M. J. (1997). Organization theory: Modern, symbolic, and postmodern perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press.

La Monica, P. R. (2005, February 10). Fiorina out, stock price soars. CNN Money. Retrieved February 13, 2005, from http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/09/technology/hp_fiorina/.

Times Online. (2005, February 9). Fiorina 'stands down' from H-P. Times Online. Retrieved March 15, 2005, from htp://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9075-1476889,00.html.

By: Katy H.

Social Legitimacy and the World Bank

According to the Institutional Theory, organizations must have social legitimacy. It is defined by Hatch as being "the acceptance of the society in which they operate" (Hatch, 85). This social legitimacy is what allows the organization to continue to use resources provided by the environment. Hatch points out that this is especially true of organizations that receive public funds.

There was an interesting chance to see the process by which an organization tries to gain social legitimacy. President George W. Bush appointed his choice of nominee for the head of the World Bank. The World Bank is a multi-nation organization that provides funding to help developing countries and to alleviate the suffering of poverty. The United States appoints the head of the World Bank, but it must be approved by a board consisting of representitives from many member nations. The White House has launched a campaign to gain global social legitimacy for his choice, Paul Wolfowitz. President Bush called the French President as well as other European leaders to argue for his choice. Editorials have appeared in all major news sources across the globe as the legitimacy of this choice is discussed. Some allies such as the British and the Japanese have heartily accepted it, while others such as the French and some members within the UN do not. Each part of the environment is affected differently by this choice and thus worry about different aspects of it. Aljazeera is primarily concerned that Wolfowitz would be too pro-Israel. The trick with gaining social legitimacy for this choice of the leader of an organization is satisfying a number of different needs and desires by diverse parts of the environment. Since the environment is the entire global community, this is an extremely difficult, if not downright impossible task. The choice may gain institutional approval, that is to say Wolfowitz would be approved by the board, without ever gaining social legitimacy. If Wolfowitz fails to gain social legitmacy as an individual than that could have major implications for the social legitimacy of the World Bank as he assumes its leadership.

Wolfowitz and the White House have been stressing his experience and his strong belief in the nobility of the mission of the World Bank. This can be seen as a form of "rationalized myth". Paul Wolfowitz is primarily known as one of the leading advocates of the Iraqi war during his tenure as Deputy Secretary of Defense. This war, which is such a divisive issue throughout the world, is one of the reasons that it is such an uphill battle to gain social legitimacy for Wolfowitz. Rationalized myths can be used to justify intellectually a choice that is primarily based in emotional reasoning. His supporters will use rationalized myths as will he to show his experience and his belief in the work of the World Bank. Even if he were being rewarded for his support of the Iraqi war (and that is pure speculation on my part), they would mention other reasons for his appointment - this is the definition of a rationalized myth. Of course those who would defeat or oppose his appointment will use the same process. They may primarily oppose him because of his role in the Second Gulf War (and this is also largely based on speculation), but they will use other reasons when they voice their opposition. In order to deny him social legitimacy, those outside the organization will have to use their own rationalized myths.

This will be a fascinating process to watch in the next few weeks and see how those on both sides of the issues attempt to gain or deny social legitimacy for Paul Wolfowitz and ultimately in the next few years how this affects the social legitimacy of the World Bank, an organization that depends heavily on global social legitimacy.

Articles about Wolfowitz's appointment:

CNN (United States):
Bush's Wolfowitz's nod draws fire
Hostility, support for Wolfowitz

Financial Times (United Kingdom):
Europeans resigned to Wolfowitz appointment

London Times (United Kingdom):
Bush selects Iraq war architect to be new head of World Bank

Aljazeera (Middle East):
Choosing Wolfowitz definitely benefits Israel

International Herald Tribune:
European leaders grudgingly accept appointment

There are many more, but that is a small sampling.

Elizabeth Moreau

The Role of the Genealogy Library in a Technological Environment

During the last two years as a volunteer for the genealogy department of my local library, I have noticed that technology has changed the form of information. Popular genealogical records are now available online. Fewer people want to take the time to manually roll microfilm onto the readers. As these technological trends continue, I have been brainstorming as to how the genealogical department can remain a useful tool for genealogists. Currently, the genealogy department is a very mechanistic, hierarchical organization and has no long term plan for change. According to modernist organizational theory, the routine operations of a library work well in this format (Hatch, 1997). However, the environment of the organization is changing, and according to the modernists’ population ecology theory created by organizational theorists, organizations must adapt in order to survive (Hatch).

Organization theory is a tool that the library can use to adapt to its changing environment. According to Hatch (1997), organizations viewed from the postmodern perspective are seen “…as a collage of decisions that have been made in the past and exist today as a sedimented history” (p. 279). I believe the current genealogy library collection can be viewed in this way, for it was created incrementally with the knowledge and the funding available at the time. When designing the library collection, decision makers did not know that the internet would be a future genealogical tool. Consequently, a significant part of the collection is dedicated to records that are now available online. Our current knowledge of the internet, however, does not clearly shape our goals for the future. Hatch explained this problem when she said that an increase in information decreases uncertainty and increases ambiguity of organizational goals. Herbert Simon (as cited in Hatch) described these hindrances to problem solving as bounded rationality. Simon received the Nobel Prize in economics for his contributions in this area in 1978 (as cited in http://www.stanford.edu/group/SHR/4-1/text/simon-bio.html ).

One example of how the goals for the genealogy library vary is that some people believe that we should continue to purchase physical copies of materials even if digitized versions of them are available online. They believe that the library might not always be able to afford the costly subscription fees necessary to access some genealogical websites. A differing view is that the genealogy department should only collect and digitize local records. According to Herring (2001), if all libraries would offer internet access to the parts of their collections that patrons cannot access elsewhere, the combined effort would be useful to patrons, and it would not drain resources by offering services that other libraries offer. This is an example of using strategic contingency theory to produce the long term plan. Strategic contingency theory, formulated by sociologists and organizational theorists, states that power is derived from the ability to provide a service that no one else can provide (Hatch, 1997). There are many more ways in which the genealogy library can adapt to the technological changes of the environment. By using organization theory to detach from the situation and create a vision for the future, the genealogy library will remain a useful tool for patrons.

king

Hatch, M. J. (1997). Organization theory. New York: Oxford University Press.

Herring, M.Y. (2001). Our times they are a-changin’, but are we? The dean of Library Services at Winthrop University indicts the profession at large for ceding the library future to dot-commers and others [Electronic version]. Library Journal, 126(17), 42-44. Retrieved January 20, 2005, from the Expanded Academic ASAP database.
Response by E. Nicol.

Adapting to the Changing Environment

Contingency theory seeks to explain the influences of internal and external constraints in organizations and the nature of the environment in which they operate, whether they operate in a stable or rapidly changing environment. The digital age has no doubt changed the library from a stable organization to an organic organization and the learning organization theory explains how it has managed to survive and succeed. Garvin (1993) defined a learning organization as an organization skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insight. A learning organization facilitates innovations and learning for all its members and thereby continuously transforms itself. The transformation enables organizations to search for new ideas, new problems and new opportunity for learning from which competitive advantage can be culled in an increasingly competitive world (Rowley, 1997)

The driving forces for any organization are the individuals in it, as Senge stated in Hatch (1998), “the organizations that will truly excel in the future will be the organizations that discover how to tap people’s commitment and capacity to learn at all level in an organization”. Andretti (1997) in agreement with Senge, also noted that “commitment and responsibility for continuous learning activity rest on the shoulders of nearly all library employees”. In this dynamic information age, the information professional must make deliberate effort to constantly learn and retool to be an essential ingredient in the learning organization. Retooling is essential in the evaluation of existing procedures for the purpose of improving them or in the design of new endeavors. The Library administration is responsible for setting the stage, provide leadership and making the necessary resources available for the learning organization. The management must strive to provide a learning organization which Pedler (1988) identify as, one which:

1. has a climate in which individual members are encouraged to learn and to develop their full potentials;


2. extends this learning culture to include customers, suppliers and other significant stakeholders;


3. makes human resource development strategy central to business policy;


4. is in a continuous process of organizational transformation.

Reference
Andretti M.(1997). A Commitment to Making the library a learning organization. College and Research Libraries Vol. 58(4)
Garvin D.A.(1993). Building a learning organization. Harvard Business review 71.
Hatch M.J. (1997). Organization Theory; Modern symbolic and post modern
perspectives. Oxford university press Inc. New York
Pedler, M. Boydell, T and Burgoyne, J (1988), Learning Company Project, Training Agency, Sheffield.

- Gbaje E.S

If The Shoe Doesn't Fit, Don't Wear It

British organizational sociologist Joan Woodward asked "What organizational arrangements produce the highest level of performance?" She was taking an early Modernist approach to reexamine the Classical model's assumption that there is one best way to organize, an Occam's Razor of organization, if you'd like. She actually found, not surprisingly, that there is no "one best way" but rather that there are three typologies at work, dependent on what is being produced. The three typologies are unit and small batch production, large batch or mass production, and continuous processing. Chapter Five of Mary Jo Hatch's Organization Theory discusses Woodward's Typology in depth (pp. 134-137) but I was especially struck by the mass production typology, in which "highly routinized...procedures" produce "great quantities of identical products"(Hatch, p.136).

This typology is most often used in a manufacturing setting (think assembly line) but it occurred to me to wonder what would happen if this model were mistakenly applied to a facet of library services. In 1996, the Hawaii State Public Library System decided to react to a budget shortfall by taking collection development and all of the attendant activities of cataloging, purchasing, processing and even basic selection away from the individual libraries in the system and give the task to a vendor. There are, of course, other issues of power and authority, Marxist alienation, and differentiation and integration at work here (and I'd like to hear others' thoughts on these issues). But I'd like to suggest that one way to approach the uproar that took place in Hawaii is to see this as a misapplication of Woodward's mass production typology.

The Hawaii System's directors seem to have proceeded from the assumption that collection development was a routine process designed to provide identical products throughout the system. One size could fit all, in other words. I think there was an unfortunate extrapolation of the fact that some aspects of collection development are routinized (i.e. most processing) to the idea that all aspects could be.

But, as Rebecca Knuth and Donna G. Bair-Mundy point out on page 109 of "Revolt over Outsourcing: Hawaii's Librarians Speak Out about Contracted Selection" (Collection Management 23, no. 12 (1998): 81-112), the Hawaii System's move to routinize collection development was actually seen as causing "commodification, commercialization and homogenization of books, information materials, and libraries." I'm all for applying Woodward's mass production typology when it comes to the car I drive. In this instance, routinizations and standards keep me safe. When it comes to treating the libraries our society needs as similar commodities, however, I'd have to say "not so much." And, as the Postscript shows, I'm not alone in this opinion.

Postscript: The Hawaii System backed down and allowed individual libraries' collection development officers to return to exercising their professional judgement in service to the specific, not one-size-fits-all, communities that they served.

Becky H.

Rationalizing Migrant Education

Recent research for an upcoming conference presentation led me to information on current practices and new programs for teaching migrant students. For those of you unfamiliar with this concept, migrant workers are those workers that travel from one state to the next, depending on the season and crop. These workers often have children that were born in the United States, thus making them citizens entitled to an education. However, due to child labor and the family structure of these people, the child’s education is often given a low priority rating. This dismissal of importance is one of the key factors in the propulsion of these ill-paid and ill-managed jobs, which are also some of the most dangerous jobs in America.

While researching the education of migrant children, I came across an article in Education World titled Meeting the Educational Needs of Migrant Students located at http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr347.shtml This article told of a rare occurrence – the migrant school. Though well meaning, this type of school is not surviving, and I believe if we take a closer look at the organizational model of the school we may be able to understand why this failure is occurring.

The migrant school in this article was called San Jose School (La Escuela de San Jose). Sister Gaye Moorhead was the director of this school and of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. The school accompanies the families as they migrate from Ohio to Florida. The children’s attendance at school was sometimes sporadic depending on demands of the children, which can be caused by a need for translating for parents, taking care of siblings, or working in the fields.

Clearly the foundations of education have been set in the Rational Model. Education has also always been a very fixed mechanistic organization with a hierarchical, centralized, and formalized component. When applying this type of model to an organic and unstable organization in an ever-changing environment, such as that of migrant education, a disconnect occurs. These migrant educators are clearly able to define the SWOT, which is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (Hatch, p.107) that accompanies the Rational Model, and they are more than capable of using success factors and competence to derive a possible strategy for educating these children. However, in such a fluid organization as that of the migrant works, the social responsibility of these workers and the managerial values of the educators do not flow through to an implementation because one set strategy can never be agreed upon. Most of these workers do not understand the need for education. Instead they see education as a source for lost income that the child could be earning for the family. The social responsibility of the parent to educate their child is lost in cultural differences between the organization of educators and the organization of workers.

Perhaps these educators should take a closer look at the emergent strategies researcher James Brian Quinn has labeled logical incrementalism (Hatch, p. 113). This theory would enable educators to take proposals from the parents regarding their child’s education and transform those into broad goals and policies that could be guided to suit the purposes of the educators. As Hatch states, “In Quinn’s view, strategy emerges within the general outline of a strategic plan, but from a foundation of activity taking place throughout the organization and according to a pattern of trail-and-error learning.” (Hatch, p. 113).

I truly believe that only by amending a flexible emergent strategy with a trail-and-error learning approach such as Quinn’s logical incrementalism will a migrant school like San Jose survive. I also believe that if we are striving towards the metaphoric collage of the Post-Modernist we must be sure to include such diverse information dissemination tactics as that of the migrant school.

It is important to consider how, as information professionals, we might impact this organization in the future. Emerging technologies might provide us the opportunity to put information stations with digital library access along the paths of these migrant workers in an attempt to help support these educators. We must be open to new ideas that will allow us to bridge the cultural gap so that we can provide a true service to our nation’s newest and perhaps most hard working members.

Discourse of Course

According to Hatch (1997), discourse or dialogue, builds on belief in the powers of collective thought-that human minds in interaction are capable of transcending individual limitations and empowering new ideas. (p. 368)

Simply stated, the voices of many are louder and more effective than a single person who is trying to be their own advocate. In the context of organizational theory, discourse would very likely be taking place in work environment. Employees who collaborate to share thoughts, ideas, and perspective are more effective and creative than a single employee.

Peter Senge, an American systems theorist and management consultant, discusses discourse in his book titled The Fifth Discipline. Senge’s book is on the topic of discourse. In his book, Senge claims that, through discussion, people become observers of their own thinking. This collaborative thinking can lead itself into organizational change.

As I was reflecting on the idea of discourse, and how effective discourse can be, I started thinking of examples of organizations that encourage and rely on discourse as vital component of their mission and core values. A type of organization that functions around the idea of discourse is that of worker unions. Over the course of our second LI 805 weekend, the topic of unions arose, which prompted my reflection on the organizations.

Certainly the structure of unions is a prime example of what Hatch described discourse to be. Collective thought is in action, advocating for individuals through a group. According to the United Steelworkers Union of America website, http://www.uswa.org/uswa/program/content/291.php , unions have evolved through their history. Unions began in the mid 1880’s to battle worker abuse and poverty. Today’s unions are no longer fighting for an end to child labor, vacation pay, and 40-hour workweeks. These are all issues that were successfully resolved through discourse. Current issues are on the table, such as retirement plans, healthcare issues, and respectful treatment.

Unions are just one example discourse at work in an organization. Organizations need discourse in order to grow and thrive. Organizations need discourse in order to collaborate for personal and professional growth. Most organizations are facing the fact that isolation is not beneficial for individuals or organizations. Growth is directly linked to discourse.
-Mary Ann S.

The Influence of Work on Organizational Subcultures

Hatch states in her discussion of culture "employees have already been influenced by multiple cultural institutions such as family, community, nation, state, church, educational systems, and other work organizations, and these associations shape their attitudes, behavior and identity." (p. 200) I think she has missed one important influence: the kind of work that a person does.

Paul Glen wrote a book named Leading Geeks [0], in which he describes how geeks, whom he defines as "the knowledge workers who specialize in the creation, maintenance, or support of high technology", think, work, and interact with other people in their organization. Essentially, he's describing a geek subculture, where it comes from, and how geeks can be managed in ways to increase innovation and decrease conflicts with other parts of their organization.

On page 12 of Leading Geeks Glen says, "Not only are geeks different from other employees, but their work is quite different as well. Although it may not be obvious at first, the nature of geekwork imprints itself on the relationship between the leader and geeks just as much as the personality of geeks and leaders does.... The structure of day-to-day tasks imposes its own patterns of thinking on those who engage with them on an ongoing basis, and the assumptions induced by the work permeate the relationship among manager, leader, and follower. All are affected by the influence of the work. And in this case, geekwork imparts its own unique behavioral and cognitive patterns on the leadership relationship."

Glen describes "geekwork" as being characterized by creative problem solving, a high occurrence of ambiguity and failure, the work is all about what you don't know rather than what you do, and subordinates know more than their superiors. The work, in turn, helps create a geek subculture that values creativity and play, technical skills, a cavalier attitude toward policies and procedures, loyalty to the profession rather than the company, and a desire to organize along democratic and meritocratic lines. This is in direct conflict with classical styles of management, and can cause a great deal of misunderstanding and argument.

The idea that work influences culture has profound implications for organization theory. Our world is one where innovation is seen as a primary competitive advantage. Geeks are not the only creative, innovative workers; perhaps it is in geeks that the subcultural differences between creative and innovative workers and command-and-control-style managers is most obvious. What we learn from managing geeks we can then apply to bringing artists and other creative, independent personalities into the organization. Creativity enables innovation, which can mean the survival of the organization.

What are the implications for libraries? For one, librarians are people who enjoy dealing with information, and we should consider how that affects our personalities and values. It seems obvious to us that free access to information is a fundamental human right, that the first place to look for information is the library or bookstore, and that people are generally pretty smart. It can be difficult for us to realize that lots of other people don't share those assumptions.

Another way this helps libraries is that it opens up a way for us to bring more creative people into the library organization. Libraries are pretty conservative organizations, dedicated to peace and order. This has hurt us because we are less open to creativity and innovation than we need to be. Librarians need to bring more creative people into our profession; even the ones whose subcultures appear weird, frightening, or flat-out incompatible with ours. Instead of forcing these people into our way of thinking, we can figure out how to carve out a cultural niche within the library for them to thrive. The library will be much richer for it.

Aspen Junge

[0] Glen, Paul. (2003). Leading Geeks: How to Manage and Lead People Who Deliver Technology. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

Diversity Creed

During our first weekend of class, we devoted a great amount of time discussing different types of organizations and many of the theories that have been introduced to explain how these organizations function. Throughout this entire process, the concept of “diversity” has been mentioned on multiple occasions. Corporate and organizational diversity has been a popular topic in many different areas (business, academics, non-profit, etc) during most of the past decade.

Diversity is critical because it introduces organizations to a vast amount of perspectives and solutions relating to critical decisions that can have a significant impact on the success or failure of the organization as a whole. As Hatch states “one of the most promising sources of innovation being predicted for the future is the growing diversity in the workforce” (p. 319).

Because diversity is currently the flavor of the day, some organizations may have diversity initiatives in place that are not actually being practiced at all levels within the organization. In my opinion, organizations that fail to implement and practice diversity initiatives are going miss out on some of the creative and innovative ideas that a diverse group can offer. This can limit the ability of the organization to make well informed decisions. A diversity initiative is useless if it is not being utilized.

In researching the topic of diversity, I ran across the writings of B. Eugene Griessman, Ph.D., an internationally known author and professional speaker on high achievers, time management, and trends in society. I would like to leave you with Griessman’s Diversity Creed. It was first published in a university textbook authored by Griessman (Diversity: Images And Opportunities, HarperCollins, 1993, ISBN 0065018451):

The Diversity Creed

I believe that diversity is a part of the natural order of things – as natural as the trillion shapes and shades of the flowers of spring or the leaves of autumn. I believe that diversity brings new solutions to an ever changing environment, and that sameness is not only uninteresting but limiting.

To deny diversity is to deny life – with all its richness and manifold opportunities. Thus, I affirm my citizenship in a world of diversity, and with it the responsibility to…

• Be tolerant. Live and let live. Understand that those who cause no harm
should not be feared, ridiculed, or harmed – even if they are different.
• Look for the best in others
• Be just in my dealings with poor and rich, weak and strong, and whenever possible to defend the young, the old, the frail, and the defenseless.
• Avoid needless conflicts and diversions, but be always willing to change for the better that which can be changed.
• Seek knowledge in order to know what can be changed, as well as what cannot be changed.
• Forge alliances with others who love liberty and justice
• Be kind, remembering how fragile the human spirit is.
• Live the examined life, subjecting my motives and actions to the scrutiny of mind and heart so to rise above prejudice and hatred.
• Care.

Karl F.

Conflict as a Part of Organizations

While conflict is usually viewed negatively and most people try to avoid the discomfort it can bring, Hatch shows the benefits it can bring and how it is a natural part of any organization.

The attitude of conflict has changed over time as it moved from being seen as "dysfunctional" to a "natural and inevitable" part of organizations. Hatch states (p. 303) "The natural view of conflict helped managers confront conflicts they could not alter or avoid by suggesting that conflict is not a sign of mismanagement, but is rather an unavoidable aspect of organization." Library Media Specialists work with a large number of people either within the organization or with the library users. People come with different views and needs and overcoming the conflicts that arise when dealing with different situations only strengthens the library.

While "both too little and too much conflict result in poor performance" (p. 304) a certain amount of conflict will improve the services and resources a library provides. Libraries are only beneficial when they are being used and if there is very little conflict occurring, the amount of use of the library may be questioned. Hatch gives an example of some organizations creating competition between units to maximize productivity but this over use of conflict may result in "poor cooperation and communication between groups."

Conflict may also occur that can be resolved through physical changes. Hatch gives with the example of the wall between the cooks and the waitress staff and a way for them to turn in orders on the metal wheel rather than causing conflict by the wait staff giving orders to the cooks (p. 303). The library may have separate areas or even small rooms for quiet study so users won’t be disturbed from noisy activities such as story hour for younger patrons.

Library Media Specialist must examine conflict when it occurs and look for ways to overcome it. The results may lead to a stronger system that provides better services to their users.

M. Lambert

Diversity in Organizations

Karl Marx argued that the divisions between capitalists and workers resulted in organizational conflict. He believed that one form of domination was replaced with another. New classes and, therefore, new conditions of oppression, created new forms of struggle to replace the old ones. Doeringer and Piore’s dual labor market theory offers similar views. They separate the labor market into primary and secondary sectors. The primary sector is dominated by white males who get paid more and have better career prospects, and the secondary sector is made up of women, ethnic minorities, and youth who receive low pay and little job security. Critics argue that economic reasons do not explain the inequitable distribution between the sectors. They do not believe that divisions between capitalists and workers are the only bases for class conflict. “Conflict must also be explained along gender, race, ethnicity, and age-related lines which form the bases for different classes of employees in contemporary work organizations” (Hatch, 1997, p. 319).
[Contributing Disciplines: Sociology and Economics]

Diversity in organizations (including libraries) has benefits that include increased creativity and innovation in daily decision-making practices. Hatch (1997) writes that diversity’s benefits come from greater levels and more varieties of the aforementioned class conflicts. She thinks the expression of these conflicts will result in more minority voices being heard. Diversity is important to organizations that are becoming increasingly global. They must adapt to the global environment in order to survive (as we discussed with population ecology theory).

Diversity in libraries is especially beneficial. The existence of diverse users means the need for a diverse workforce, diverse collections, and diverse services. In her article “This Trend Called Diversity” Sandra Rios Balderrama indicates that librarianship mirrors the lack of diversity reflected nationally and that everyone in the organization shares accountability for making change. She also writes, “Longer-range effectiveness of the work will involve a required interplay between all employees at every level of the organization” (Balderrama, 2000, p. 201).

Melissa Doebele

The Balderrama article can be found in v.49 #1 of Library Trends, Summer 2000

Conflict's role in Organizations

Most people probably regard conflict as negative and something to be avoided at all costs. However, Hatch sees conflict as being functional and beneficial for organizations. On page 304, she says that "conflict can stimulate innovation and adaptability". This view was reinforced by an article I read in this month's issue of The Harvard Business Review. Jeff Weiss and Jonathan Hughes write about how conflict can help companies achieve higher levels of collaboration in their article “Want Collaboration? Accept--and Actively Manage—Conflict”.
There are many ways that companies try to improve collaboration among the various departments of the organization. Some of these include incentive initiatives to promote cooperation across units, restructuring the organization itself, and group training to foster teamwork. Sometimes these initiatives do generate success, but most produce only some degree of impact on the dissolution of “organizational silos” and promoting collaboration. So what is the problem? The problem is that most companies focus on the symptoms ("Sales and delivery do not work together as closely as they should") rather than on what is the main cause of failure in cooperation: conflict. Collaboration can't be improved until the issue of conflict is addressed. The authors offer six strategies for effectively managing conflict. The first three strategies focus on the point of conflict. This is what Hatch calls “horizontal conflict” (p. 305). They suggest:
1. devise and implement a common method for resolving conflict
2. furnish workers with criteria for making trade-offs
3. use the escalation of conflict as an opportunity for coaching
The second three strategies focus on escalation of conflict up the management chain which would be what Hatch calls “vertical conflict” (p. 306). These strategies attempt to
1. insist on joint escalation
2. make sure that managers resolve escalated conflicts directly with their counterparts instead of allowing it to escalate up the line
3. make the practice of escalated conflict-resolution transparent
Used together, these six strategies provide an agenda to effectively manage conflict in daily managerial decisions. A barrier to cross-organizational collaboration will be removed and the organization will prosper.
jane

Power and Authority Within Organizations

Power and Authority Within Organizations

Hatch (1997) distinguishes between power and authority in organizations. Referring to Pfeffer, Hatch states that authority is directed downward in the organizational hierarchy while power can exist regardless of authority and is dependant more on social relationships than hierarchy. Hatch goes on to point out that power exists in mutually respectful relationships.

We, as information professionals should always keep this power/authority relationship in mind, not only for management issues but also when conducting library services. Any power a librarian wields when providing services is another truly reciprocal relationship. Without the knowledge seeker to provide service for, the information professional would be obsolete. Conversely, without the information professional the patron would most likely not be provided with a plethora of information on any given topic.

Recognizing and acknowledging these relationships can lead to the break down of the environmental stereotypical images that continue to surround libraries as church-like tombs only to be entered by the bravest of souls who know the rules of conduct. By acknowledging that without information seekers information professionals would not exist, we begin to change the culture of libraries. By releasing the roles expected of us and becoming interdependent upon each other, we become a truly collaborative field and change the structure of the organization.

To move toward a postmodern perspective, information professionals must embrace the idea that true power comes in the recognition that we are more powerful together, relying on each other and appreciating the power that each holds, than we ever will be alone.

Tammie B.

Our class photo.