Cheryl Dee
Fall 2001
... She specifically focuses on how to effectively manage change, including ways to improve communication and reduce resistance to change. ... Morale is adversely affected, staff turnover often increases, attitudes deteriorate, individuals often begin to rationalize why the change will never work, and outright resistance to the specific change increases.
Change is often difficult. But working people have perfectly legitimate reasons for refusing to leap gleefully onto any bandwagon that happens to rumble along. There are 7 key factors that play a role in any change effort, whether it involves technology, management policies or process re-engineering. The factors can be thought of as questions that need to be asked by proponents of any significant change in a workplace. These questions are: 1. Is this change a burden or a challenge? 2. Is the change clear, worthwhile and real? 3. Will the benefits of the change begin to appear quickly? 4. Is the change limited to one function or a few closely related functions? 5. What will be the impact on existing power and status relationships? 6. Will the change fit the existing organizational culture? 7.
It's not that managers in big companies can't see disruptive changes coming. Usually they can. One of the hallmarks of a great manager is the ability to identify the right person for the right job and to train employees to succeed at the jobs they're given. But unfortunately, most managers assume that if each person working on a project is well matched to the job, then the organization in which they work will be, too.
The corporate library has long been a backwater of modern business-an underused service department offering research assistance, reference information and historical archives. But now, mushrooming technological capabilities coupled with insatiable business needs for information are propelling libraries to a much more visible-and more strategic-role in corporate operations. Librarians themselves, retooled as information management specialists, serve an increasingly important function by providing access to essential information lurking both inside and outside their organizations.
As a professional community, we need to consider taking a more proactive tack that benefits the information-borne social transformation, fosters optimal institutional use of information resources, and keeps us at the center of dynamic change. This article suggests some potential actions for information professionals and the professional community as a whole.
It has been observed that ``the libraries of colleges and universities are changing faster than their respective parent institutions. Essentially everything in and around the library is changing: services, technologies, organizational constructs, ownership and access policies, values and most of the rest.” Invariably this intensity of change will cause conflict on different scales and levels and have serious implications for Library and Information Services.
How do you start moving and shaking? Motivation, patience, and self-knowledge will all help jump-start your career-or keep it steadily cruising along. This article addresses how to keep moving: up, out, and around in your career.
Special librarians can obtain general reference material without falling into space and budgetary problems. They only have to obtain the proper equipment, software and communications scheme.
Competitive intelligence -- once a matter of keeping files of articles about competitors and market trends -- is being transformed by technology. Not only are companies digging up information about competitors well before it becomes public, but they're also analyzing and communicating that information more quickly and clearly than ever before. Big companies are beginning to set up dedicated competitive intelligence departments.
Competitive intelligence (CI) -- the collection and analysis of information critical to your business strategy -- is increasingly used by smart businesses to give themselves an edge, ''The rules have changed, In business, it's information warfare, and intelligence is a weapons system,'' says Gary Dover, president of Merlin Global Inc., a Montreal-based CI training firm.
Competitive intelligence (CI) is a key discipline for IS managers who recognize the importance of information content as well as information technology. CI is both a product and a process. The product is actionable information--information used as the basis for a specific action (e.g. acquiring another company). The process is the systematic acquisition, analysis, and evaluation of information about known and potential competitors. A competitive intelligence resource, the Internet serves both as additional source of information and a cost-effective means of sharing and disseminating information to decision makers. The Internet is also a major force reshaping the business environment--giving rise to new kinds of revenue opportunities, creating incentives for collaboration with existing competitors, and providing niches for new kinds of competitors.
Tips on how to produce a good intelligence analysis are discussed. First, a competitive intelligence (CI) professional should develop a good intelligence mentality. This is the way pattern thinkers think, which enables them to easily examine parts, recognize the important relationships among them, and determine their use and likely effect on a firm's present operations and/or future programs. Second, they must also have a firm understanding of their operations and the primary intelligence systems. These include intelligence forecasting and human-resource gathering. Third, CI professionals should also be experts in both corporate and intelligence analytical strategies, such as Porter's 5-Forces analysis, Win/Loss assessment, and Blindspots. Fourth, with such skills, CI professionals require the support of their organizations and needed procedures to help them deliver actionable intelligence. Fifth, CI professionals must focus on the utilization of "intelligence analysis" throughout the intelligence cycle, instead of merely its function in delivering and disseminating completed intelligence to decision makers. Article includes a discussion on several definitions of competitive intelligence.
The admission by Oracle that it spied on lobbyists for Microsoft, its chief rival, has thrown the spotlight on the booming corporate intelligence industry that has become a part of business in America. Most big American companies have their own intelligence units and smaller firms hire one of the big six or seven companies devoted to corporate intelligence gathering
"Spies are the most important element in war," Sun Tzu wrote in "The Art of War," "because upon them depends an army's ability to move." The man in this story is one such spy, but his battlefield isn't a blood-soaked Third World country, and his army wears no uniforms and carries no guns. His battlefield is the grand panorama of world commerce, his army a well-known, high-tech company in North Jersey. This man -- he spoke on condition of anonymity -- for four years has been the company's director of competitor intelligence. His job is to study competitors and gather information his company can use to make strategic decisions on everything from mergers to new-product launches to pricing. Unlike covert operatives -- who engage in all sorts of skulduggery to gather information, from phone taps to undercover work -- he relies on public sources: the Internet, government documents, published reports, and trade shows. Beyond that, his greatest resource is the eyes and ears of company employees: the salesman who regularly encounters competitors on the plane, the executive who hobnobs with officers from other high-tech companies, the company spokesman who deals with the media, the secretary who answers the phone.
Getting a handle on CI doesn't require hiring expensive new staff so much as training and providing existing employees with a slightly different focus. For example, research analysts can scan the Internet for updates on competitors' announcements, job postings, quarterly reports and so on.
Yes, Virginia, there is a legal alternative to industrial espionage. The alternative is to develop competitive intelligence by expanding the scope of conventional information-gathering. The result -- a more complete picture of competitive context which can provide a base for improved strategic and tactical planning.
Competitive intelligence, known variously as CI and business intelligence, is more than just a buzzword thrown about by management consultants. Gathering information on rivals can be one key to success in the cutthroat corporate world. But some of the cloak-and-dagger may be giving way to the mouse and keyboardas an increasing number of resources become available on the World Wide Web.
This is the dirty side of corporate intelligence gathering: dumpster diving, posing as a competitor's employees, slinking through store aisles. But Man Jit Singh, chief executive of Boston upstart Compete Inc., wonders why companies bother with the seedy behavior when there is so much competitive information available on the Internet.
It took Paul Kaminski, literally, only a blink of an eye to accomplish his little piece of competitive industrial intelligence. But what Kaminski saw while touring the factory of one of his suppliers saved about $10,000 for his employer, Millipore Corp. of Bedford. While inside the factory of a resin supplier, he saw another customer's name on some goods. Recalling how the resin maker earlier had denied Millipore a discount, Kaminkski, a supply base manager, called the other customer, learned it was getting a discount, and then went back to the supplier and got a similar markdown for Millipore. Taking a minute to be observant "saved us about 10 percent of the purchase price, or well over $10,000," said Kaminski, who manages an annual purchasing budget of $200 million. "That's money moved back into our bottom line. Even small percentages can add up." Kaminski said he learned how to collect information from books and from seminars conducted by Leonard Fuld, the 46-year-old founder of Fuld & Co. of Cambridge. Fuld teaches competitive intelligence-gatherers how to get the inside goods on their rivals - and do so legally.
The right technology can help the growing army of 'knowledge workers' to make better use of company data Effective use of information is often the vital factor in determining whether a company will succeed, stagnate or die. Demand for new ways to strategically track, manage and manipulate corporate information - and maximise its use - has given birth to a whole new sector of the computer industry aimed squarely at providing such services to 'the enterprise'. It goes by any number of names, with the hottest acronym at the moment being ERP (enterprise resource planning)
Regular and active learning will remain an enduring and integral part of who we are as people. The key, then, to sustaining our learning from "cradle to grave" is to nurture our genuine commitment to learning.
Behind every hot management topic lies a pit full of snakes. Consultants, vendors and, yes, even the trade press are criticized for gleefully promoting the trend of the moment with little regard for its dark side. While it's true that many companies have reaped great rewards from their investments in knowledge management, outsourcing, customer satisfaction, benchmarking and organizational learning, success requires knowing where the dangers lie.* CIO's editors have collected a roster of pitfalls that can put at risk the manifest opportunities of these five leading management trends. You've heard the hype; here's the fine print.
Includes online resources, books, articles, and journals selected by an expert consultant.
KM sites, including the classic article by Tom Davenport “Some principles of knowledge management" in full-text.
The book discussed trends and future directions of knowledge management. It examined the information needs of businesses and their impact on librarians. It also profiled knowledge management approaches and programs successfully employed by librarians.
Many of the knowledge management systems offered today seem to provide elaborate document management rather than actual knowledge management. With a more real-time capture process in place, thoughts could be captured and synthesized before they manifested themselves in formal documents or presentations. This would assist the source of the thought or knowledge, who could then interact electronically with others in the firm that could bring their own knowledge to bear on the new idea. In a larger firm, where entrepreneurship often gives way under more difficult communication, barriers to sharing ideas would crumble. Two critical success factors that separate the stellar performers are process and information systems backbone. In both these areas, Information Resource Center staff can and should play a crucial role. Beyond implementation issues, however, lies the crucial question of content. The more exciting aspect of these systems is the potential for dissemination of ideas which have not yet been codified.
Knowledge management refers to the harnessing of intellectual capital within an organization. The theory recognizes that knowledge, not simply information, is the greatest asset to an institution. That the concept is making inroads into corporate ranks can be seen in new positions, such as Chief Knowledge Officer or CKO. The difference between information and knowledge is outlined, the use of corporate intranets as a medium through which knowledge sharing can flow is described, and suggestions are made as to how information professionals can influence the intranet decision-making process and participate in creating knowledge within their institutions.
Criteria for choosing the qualified chief knowledge officer or knowledge executive are presented. Knowledge must be equipped with skills, experiences and competencies concerning areas of information technology grounding, leadership and entrepreneurial approach.
As other public libraries begin to venture into the e-book lending arena, the issues surrounding access, privacy, copyright and fair use will become more and more important.
Who would choose to read an e-book rather than a printed book?
Highsmith Inc. uses a knowledge-management tool of extraordinary power to give employees all the information they need. The name of this tool is librarian Lisa Guedea Carreno. Each week, CEO Duncan Highsmith and Carreno scan newspaper, magazines, books, Web sites, ads, and TV and radio programs, and they meet weekly to share their impressions and pinpoint trends. This is part of an ambitious attempt to alert Highsmith's management to trends that could affect the company's fortunes. The CEO believes that if people at Highsmith have access to the right information, they can help the company anticipate and take advantage of changes.
This article briefly addresses the evolution of the role of an organization’s senior information officer as that role has evolved primarily in the last half of this century.
SLA’s Competencies for Special Librarians of the 21st Century (www.sla.org) identifies the ability to develop a business plan as a core professional competency.
Without peers to talk with, choosing an online catalog can seem to be an overwhelming task for the solo librarian.
An international project explored what roles and skills were required for the effective implementation of knowledge management and involved in-depth case studies, expert interviews, and consultation with approximately 500 organizations actively involved in implementing knowledge management activities.
Alternative workplace arrangements can increase productivity, decrease corporate costs, help companies retain valuable and talented employees and help companies avoid government sanctions. Different workplace arrangements can work for different kinds of organizations. Different ways to implement an alternative workplace initiative are presented.
To understand how the Internet might affect the information industry and information professionals, it is important to view it as both an enabler and a fundamental change to the business (and government) environment.
This demand for immediate access to relevant knowledge has given rise to a new business role: the internal infomediary, who creates or manages systems to connect employees with the knowledge they need. Infomediaries may bear any of a range of titles and may not be designated on the org chart as knowledge controllers; what matters is what they do.
Information technology was supposed to stimulate information flow and eliminate hierarchy. It has had just the opposite effect, argue the authors. As information has become the key organizational "currency," it has become too valuable for most managers to just give away. In order to make information-based organizations successful, companies need to harness the power of politics - that is, allow people to negotiate the use and definition of information, just as we negotiate the exchange of other currencies. The authors describe five models of information politics and discuss how companies can move from the less effective models, like feudalism and technocratic utopianism, and toward the more effective ones, like monarchy and federalism.
Every day brings new evidence about the importance of e-commerce, E-government, and the general shift to a digital economy. Information has assumed a new, central, creative and supportive role for business, government, and education. If this is the case, why aren't information professionals such as librarians, information center managers, records managers, and archivists thriving? Why are our confidence and optimism so often accompanied by anxiety and apprehension? Why are we so often exhorted in our professional journals to react, change, and reinvent ourselves?
Scores of articles and books extol the virtues of information audits. Consultants provide programs and seminars on the topic. However, corporate library situations where information audits have been conducted are rare. There is no consensus on whether there is a benefit to be gained through an audit. Semantics get in the way of a true definition, with some people using interchangeably the terms information audit, needs assessment, survey, and other designations. An information audit is an "onerous task," according to one library manager. Another savvy information professional deems it "not high profile enough" to warrant her time and attention.
A look into the corporate mind that is very interesting, educational, historical, at least partially true, and hysterical all at the same time.
One major move that I see for all our profession is transitioning out of the academic cocoon of our university training and into the world of the businesses we serve, making our only basis for action the question of whether it serves our corporation.
Provides a rationale for the excellence of management support by providing case studies on specific corporate libraries. Users are asked what about the library contributes to the excellence of the corporate library. Managers are asked why they are willing to support an excellent corporate library. Library managers are asked to share their opinions. Matarazzo shares his “thoughts on corporate library excellence.” Some of Matarazzo’s “Thoughts” are summarized on the class web page under Course Documents.
We must find ways to make ourselves known if we are to network successfully.
What roles and skills were required for the effective implementation of knowledge management?
Information professional goals have evolved from coping with change to managing change to, now, leading change and, as this decade begins, to leading the knowledge revolution.
Success can depend on the ability to exercise good political skills to ensure that our profession is at the table when decisions in our area of expertise are made. Yet, many in our profession cringe when the 'p-word" is mentioned.
"The fear of self-promotion consists of all behavioral habits, thoughts, actions, or feelings, which conspire to keep competent people of all walks of like from being able to stand up and take credit for who they are and what they do well."
In an interview, Eugenie Prime, manager of Hewlett-Packard's corporate libraries, discusses her ideas on leadership.
Six Propositions For the next Generation. ONE: People Circulate. Institutions Learn. TWO: It's All In the Connections. THREE: Managers Build Institutional Wealth FOUR: Employees Are Engaged As Individuals. FIVE: Combine and Innovate SIX: The Individual's Work is Essential.
What drives the organization? What internal factors make the organizational clock tick? Includes core ideology from several major international companies.
White discusses the lack of leadership among many library managers when it comes to their role in determining priorites and strategies.
You are a busy person and you may be asking the question "Why should I volunteer?" SLA's current leadership has provided these answers which may help you explain "What's in it for me?"
Information professionals particularly librarians need to brush up their skills in the age of information if they do not want to be casualties of corporate reengineering. Reengineering should be taken as an opportunity to prove their worth.
What is relationship marketing? It is a mutual interest between company and customer.
Marketing ideas from participating libraries. Page is just developing but hopefully it will soon have more participants.
The literature on total quality management (TQM) serves as fertile ground for identifying value-discerning techniques useful in the near term. The full TQM model includes measuring quality as defined by the customer, ensuring error-free work processes, involving employees in decision-making, and continuing quality improvement. Specific TQM approaches such as benchmarking, which compares other library and information services as a basis for identifying best practices, are worthy of exploration.
ACRL is launching an ambitious new initiative, the ACRL New Member Mentoring Program. The program enables new members to engage in a sustained, yearlong mentoring relationship with a veteran ACRL member, who can provide advice, direction, and the perspective gained from experience. In keeping with President Larry Hardesty's theme, "Celebrating our successes, confronting our challenges," the program also actively supports ACRL's goal to provide members with more opportunities for professional growth and development. TEACHING, LEARNING, AND EXPANDING YOUR CONTACTSAs academic and research library professionals, our primary goals are supporting the missions of educational institutions and helping our patrons fulfill their academic, professional, and life goals.
Much has been written on mentoring and the role it plays in career advancement, both in the business world and in the field of librarianship. Yet many librarians are unaware of the benefits derived from participation in a mentoring program and do not understand what is involved as a mentor or as a protege. The articles in this bibliography were selected for content that provides helpful information about mentoring and the mentoring relationship (what it is; benefits for the mentor, protege, and institution or organization; why mentor/be mentored) or a unique perspective, application or opinion about some aspect of mentoring.
Last spring, in recognition of the essential role that mentors play in recruiting and retaining new librarians, ACRL launched the New Member Mentoring Program. This initiative seeks to introduce new librarians to ACRL and prepares them for leadership roles in both the association and the profession at large by pairing them with experienced librarians.
In June 1997, the College Library Directors Mentor Program completed its fifth year of operation. During these five years, 69 first-year college library directors and 53 experienced college library directors participated in the program. In this past year, after four years of financial support from the Council on Library Resources, the program became self-supporting. The program remains the under the general aegis of the College Leadership Committee(FN1) of the College Libraries Section (CLS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), and I continue to direct it, as I have done since the inception of the program. In 1995, Austin College assumed responsibility for the financial administration of the program. Now seems the appropriate juncture at which to reflect on its accomplishments and to consider its future.
The opportunities for mentorship fall into two main categories: mentorship programs, which are formalized and structured; and personal mentorship, in which participants are self-selected and the relationships often occur naturally.
According to Stanley Wilder's 1995 analysis of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) members' professional employees, the age demographics and retirement projections indicate that between 2000 and 2010 a compounded 40% of the current ARL professional library workforce will have retired, and that the rate of retirement between 2010 and 2020 will be an additional 27%.(FN1) This reflects the converging retirement of academic librarians trained in the 1960s with the retirement of the baby boomers as a demographic group. This unprecedented trend presents three distinct personnel needs for academic libraries: the replacement of many incumbent library directors, the redeployment of position vacancies, and the recruitment of new professionals. These personnel needs can be eased, in part, by instituting effective relationships and programs that go beyond mentoring toward engineering the library workforce of the future.
Mentoring is fast becoming the new catch phrase of the library world. It cannot be said, however, that mentoring is a new concept... Mentoring is an excellent method of helping new librarians develop and attain their full potential. The gentle art of mentoring harnesses the knowledge, skills, and institutional memories of experienced librarians and passes them along to novices. Hopefully, these attributes will inspire new librarians to accept increasing responsibility for their own career management and become acquainted with new facets of librarianship. This nodding acquaintance with other aspects and facets in the library field can widen career paths for the neophyte.
Mentoring in academic libraries is not new; however, there are heightened interests in helping colleagues succeed in a constantly changing work environment that also places increased demands on librarians to be more productive in their service and research activities. A 1997 article in the New Review of Academic Librarianship provided a graphic illustration of the exponential growth of the literature on mentoring as searched in a management abstracting service (ABI Inform) and a librarianship and information studies service (LISA) from 1980-1997.(FN1).
Founded in 1993, The Outsourcing Institute (OI), a professional association, is a marketplace and executive advisory network.
Can Technology Democratize the Workplace? Does It Give Employees More of a Voice? Does It Provide Equal Access to Information for all. Employees?
How Can We Hire and Retain Good Information Workers in Today's Marketplace?
One objective develops a taxonomy of value-in-use of library and information services based on users assessments and to propose methods and instruments for similar studies of library and information services in general. In the, the second part, we deal with the study: importance of a taxonomy; the method used for gathering data on user assessments of value in five research libraries, involving 18 services and 528 interviews with users. We conclude the paper with suggestions for applications in practice, particularly in evaluation of services, and general discussions regarding the principles of taxonomic development.
Imagine yourself in a carnival funhouse where your only choices are to go straight, left or right, while encountering startling or confusing diversions along the way. How long might it take to find your way to your destination? Now imagine a building lobby. There’s a marquee that tells you where the office you seek is located. There’s a bank of elevators marked for different floors. When you get to the suite, someone greets you and tells you where to go next. For doing your job, which course would you prefer?
The Special Libraries Association has long been concerned with the knowledge requirements of new entrants to the field. The Association’s members have explored and shared their vision of the competencies and skills required for special librarianship in many forums over the years.
The Information Resource Center (IRC) service personality is discussed. The ways in which the IRC conducts its business and produces value are the keys to its success. To develop that knowledge, IRC managers should examine the IRC organization's service personality and compare that assessment with what their internal customers say. A mismatch serves as common ground for identifying customer value points and ultimately tying service personality to IRC funding and costs. There are 4 types of IRC personalities: the pretender personality, the service provider personality, the counselor personality, and the value provider personality. Each is described in detail.
At GE Capital Services Structured Finance Group, all employees have access to the Internet. The Information Resource Center is also delivering some subscription-based products via the Internet. In addition, online services - including Dow Jones News/Retrieval and Reuters Business Briefing, among others - are made available directly to end-users. As a result, employees spend less time looking up straightforward items like stock prices and exchange rates. Instead, they handle the requests for information that is hard to track down. They also spend a lot more time on research assistance and training end-users how to search. Customers are told that if they do have not located the information needed in 15 minutes (or made significant progress), they need to call an information professional.
The future of special libraries lies in end-user searching. Special librarians must adapt to the changes that end-user searching will bring, while libraries should be careful in their efforts to reduce costs and staffing.
The intranet is a strategic corporate weapon today. All too often, though, it is not a controlled knowledge environment that helps users venturing beyond the corporate firewall to find precisely the information they seek. Weeding through a morass of Web sites, separating relevant from irrelevant information and ultimately providing efficient access to valuable research is the next frontier for intranet builders.