Lake County Library District Fiza

8/6/2019 Lake County Library District Fiza

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LAKE COUNTY LIBRARY DISTRICT

FRAMEWORK :

The mission and motto of LCLD is the county is served when we make time to

listen. LCLD has a fine reputation for community service. The retired Head

Librarian prided herself that there were more library cards issued per capita in

Lake County than any other county in the state. But there were some

imperceptive approach of the earlier management that raised certain eyebrows

and led to bring about change in management. The changes that needed to be

made were about:

1. Administration and2. Use of Technology.

In this case both the changes are being taken into consideration to meet the

county governments concern.

LCLD had certain problems to tackle to get a good accreditation from the

county government. They were:

The managements approach was traditional. The earlier Head Librariantook all the decisions herself and the mostly the employees had no say in

it, that is they werent proactive in management decision.

Lack of se of library interns. They were the inexpensive labor and workedas a force for improvement and revitalization.

LCLD had no computerization at all. Now it has to be implemented. Time limitation from the county to install and implement a computer

systems in just one year, with no increase in systems operations budget

for next few years.

Resistance of the employees to change because of the fear ofretrenchment.The employees fear that efforts of personal service will get diluted. Decrease in the efficiency of the staff because they feel that they have

neither the aptitude nor the interest to learn the extensive programming.


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1st Phase

Now that we know the pressing issues at hand at LCLD we are left with four

options to implement change:

A. Implement computerization as a top-down change. Prescribe to the

necessary direction ourselves.

B. Implement the change by involving all the employees in decisions about

how to put the system in place.

C. Implement the change by involving all employees in decisions whether or

not LCLD should implement a computer system.

D. Implement the change by involving a group of employees in decisions

about how to put the system in place.

Keeping all the factors in mind we have to choose the correct alternative thatwould lead to the successful implementation of change in this scenario. In this

case, it is evident that we would opt for option A.

Why option A

I choose option A because top down implementation is an ideal solution. The

time available to install and implement the change is limited that is only one

year. It means that the decision has to be implemented immediately. The Head

Librarian has been selected because he has the experience with computerized

library system. The location of the knowledge about the change is held with the

manager being more knowledgeable than the rest, this add support to ourdecision of top-down implementation. The approach of the management was

traditional, and employee participation was undermined, hence the employees

expect the Head Librarian to tell them exactly what to do, that is they expect

authoritative change. The Head Librarian is selected by the countys

government so it gives great power to bring about the change.

All these conditions are favorable for the top down implementation.

Why notoption B

Option B is not the appropriate answer because this option implies towardsdelegation. There are different opinions of different people. If we call all of them

to know about their opinions then it is possible that they may try to score of

their own and the ultimate goal will be left behind. They may start arguing

about what to implement and what not to, and this may create a rift between

employees. It is not possible to delegate because:

y The time is limited for the implementation of change


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selected number of employees in decisions about how to put the system in

place is not a very feasible option.

LCLD II.

You have collective decided that the top-down implementation is the best. You

now face several decisions about how to do this. Your first need is to decide

how to phase the change. Which would you choose?

A. Implement the change so that it is operational in the Live Oak branch

first and then in the main branch and finally in the Crystal Lake branch.

B. Implement the change so that it is operational in all the branches

simultaneously.

C. Implement the change so that it is operational in the main branch first

and then in the Live Oak branch and finally in the Crystal Lake branch.

PHASE 2

After analyzing the situation and the given options, I choose A option as the

appropriate choice on phasing the change.

Why option A

Live Oak branch has employees who are receptive to change and this will

create a smooth path for the implementation. When the staff will be receptive to

the computerization, the staff will try to learn and implement the new system;

since they are receptive the management will be able to make draw morepositive responses from them. These positive responses will be a sort of

stepping stone for the implementation of change in other branches. Whatever

results will be drawn from the Live Oak branch will make an impact on the

minds of other employees. Their suspicions will be put to rest and then

proceeding with the implementation will be easy. On the basis of the

interviews, Crystal Lake branch has maximum number of employees who are

having suspicion about the computerization. So the implementation should bedone there at the last. Once maximum numbers of doubts have been removed

from the employees minds only then the management should go with the

implementation at the Crystal Lake branch.

Why not option B

Implementing the change in phases gives more upper-hand for the change tobe successful. By implementing change in stages, employees find it easier to

change. Phasing allows the involvement of those most committed to change

early and delays the commitment of those who are initially more reluctant. It


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allows those initially less committed to observe the effect of the change and

reciprocate more favorable responses from them. It also allows those who are

unprepared to go about the change to plan the roll out more efficiently when it

approaches them.

Hence, we dont choose the option of implementing the change so that it isoperational in all the branches simultaneously as it will ruin us of a golden

opportunity of turning the tide in our favor, which is, making the change to be

accepted by the employees through observation or through successful

completion of the first and the following phases of implementation.

Why not option C

The main branch has certain almost 70% of employees who are either

suspicious of computerization or are totally unaware. This will become a

problem in implementation as they will have suspicion and doubt about every

minute thing, and they will consider themselves inefficient in learning anythingnew. They will hamper the progress with their suspicion and doubts, which will

further hamper the future of implementation of in any other branch. The mainbranch is also the most important branch in hierarchy of branches, any failure

in this will create uncertainty about the success of implementation of change.

So option C is also not accepted because of these reasons.

LCLD III.

You are correct in phasing the implementation. This will enable you to

demonstrate a small victory which would add to the momentum of the change

effort. Choosing the Live Oak branch as your test site is also correct for thepersonnel. They seem to be least resistant from the onset.

Now, if you face the decision about how to announce the change. It occurs to

you that you could introduce it with different levels of visibility and fanfare,

which of the following you would choose:

A. High Visibility: Call a meeting of all personnel and announce your plan

for the implementation of the computer system. Simultaneously send out a

press release to county newspapers that details the plan and promise better

services after the system is operational. Solicit invitations to speak at

community services about the change.

B. Moderate Visibility: Call a meeting of all the personnel and announce

your plan for the implementation of the computer system.


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C. Low Visibility: Tell the professional librarians your plan and ask them to

communicate this to their aides and assistants.

PHASE 3

On going through the options and the given situation, I find that option A is the

appropriate way in announcing the change

Why option A

While introducing the change, all the employees must be addressed in careful

fashion. What is said or not said during the introduction can have a dramatic

impact on the success change effort. The current Librarian must point out to

the employees what is wrong with the present situation and what advantages

will be offered by the new system. He/she should be able to explain why and

what has caused the change and what benefits will be derived from the change.

Sending out press release to county newspapers that details the plan andpromise better services after the system is operational, will make the employees

understand the gravity of the situation and also the people associated with the

library will be informed about the changes. This will increase the interest of the

people in the library works. Soliciting the invitations about the change at the

community services will help the change to facilitate with great ease. As it has

a fine reputation for community service, while speaking about the change,

people will be positively influenced about this big change. hence option a is

most relevant.

Why not option B

If only the employees are informed and no one else is told about the change,

the employees will feel that they can simply reject the idea and will not go on

with the change as they feel that they are incompetent and fear the

retrenchment of jobs. So they will simply not accept it as they will feel that is

change is unimportant. Only calling a meeting with the employees is not

sufficient. It needs a mass movement to make a change successful. The people

who are involved with the library works like the patrons and donators, are not

told, then the change may come to them as a shock. As they havent been

informed about the change in the library, the library may lose them as they will

see the change as betrayal on behalf of the management of the library. So

option B doesnt hold.

Why not option C

Informing only the professional librarians is not going to help because though

50% is receptive to computerization, but most of the employees working under

them are not. It will create confusion and more doubts will emerge. It wold be


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difficult for the professional librarians to explain the change when they

themselves are unaware of the importance and benefits of compterisation.

Hence this option is also not valid.

LCLD IV.

A highly visible campaign of announcing your intensions leaves little doubt as

to your resolve for getting the system up and operational in a year. Anything

less than this and people may be apt to test your resolve or underestimate it.

You choose option A correctly.

You now need to decide what to do with the position of Community Service

Director. Recall that this position was vacated by Mrs. Bs husband when the

both of them retired. One option is to fill the position with a person who will

continue to serve as the primary liaison between the LCLD and the community.

Thus, the new person would spearhead such efforts as the Toy ofReading

program and the Childrens Story Home program.

This individual would also be responsible for arranging new co-operative

ventures with other libraries in the county being linked by an integrated

information resource system. Another way of dealing with the position is to

change it to a position to Director of Library Information Systems.

This will require a change in civil service classification but you have good

reason to believe that this could be done without delay or opposition. The

implications of these two options are as follows:

1.R

eplace Mrs. Bs husband with a new director of CommunityR

elations.You will need to ask Alice Bishop to serve as primary details of the BIBLIOTEK

system, so she possesses the necessary technical skills to act in this capacity.However you will have to be very involved with the change to the point of

having the delegate almost all responsibility for community service to the new

director. This option will enable the LCLD to maintain a high profile in its

concern for community service.

2. Change the position to Director of Library Information Systems and fill it

with a professional. This will enable you to bring in an expert on librarycomputer systems. He/She will be prepared to handle the details of the change

and the linkage to other library systems. This will free you to be more visible in

the community and allow you more flexibility in dealing with your

responsibilities.


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PHASE 4

Why not option 1

If this option is chosen then the current Librarian will have to delegate almost

all the responsibility for community service to the new director. But we have

chosen top-down implementation and that implementation consists of high

visibility and phase implementation. We have less time on our hands and more

power and knowledge. Delegation requires a lot of time and that is not possible

in this case.The person will serve as the primary liaison between the LCLD and

the community, so a professional is definitely needed to be hired. If the

professional is not hired then the chaos will pursue. As the professional will be

hired, that will increase the value of the library in the eyes of the patrons anddonators who will feel that the library id doing everything to recreate its

reputation. Hence option 1 stands nullified.

Why option 2

When a professional is brought in, he/she will be prepared to handle the

details of the change and the linkage to other library systems because of thecomputerization.This individual would also be responsible for arranging new

co-operative ventures with other libraries in the county being linked by an

integrated information resource system. There will be no need for delegation

and all the implementation of change will be on the same footing. This will free

the current Librarian to be more visible in the community and allow him/her

more flexibility in dealing with responsibilities. Therefore changing the position

to Director of Library Information Systems and filling it with a professional is

the appropriate answer.


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Lake County Library District Fiza

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