Change Management Compulsion Or An Option British Airways Business Essay

Change Management Compulsion Or An Option British Airways Business Essay There is a famous saying stated by an unknown author The only thing that is constant is change (Berman, 2007). With the current changing customer requirements and external environment necessities, organisations which behave as closed systems and do not constantly change themselves to fit the market requirements and customer demands will fail in the long term (Harigopal, 2006). Organisational change is an ongoing process which brings the systems and procedures of the organisation in line with the factors prevailing in the external and internal environment of the organisation (Nemetz and Fry, 1998). As business management gurus argue, external forces of change require not only adaptive, flexible organisations and new management approaches but also competent managers able to adopt to changing times and to manage organisational change (Beckhard and Harris, 1987). It is essential to understand how organisations in the real world implement and deal with organisational change. One such organisation which has implemented various change methodologies in the past few years in response to the changing business environment is British Airways. British Airways is the UKs flag carrier and one of the largest airlines in the world. Like many large organisations, the airline has had to change its strategy, technology, structure and culture in order to achieve competitive advantage in todays rapidly changing global business world. 1.2 Aims Objectives of Research The main objective and strategic aim of this study is to explore the role and significance of Change Management in this era of globalization and changing market needs by taking the case study of British Airways in specific. Research Question- The primary research question of this research study is: To explore the extent to which change management is necessary for a firm to achieve sustainable competitive advantage? Additionally, the secondary research question is to examine the change management initiatives previously taken by British Airways to attain competitive advantage and profitability. 1.3 Literature Review This chapter will highlight the various aspects of change management. It will use academic research to understand the concept of change management by looking at its definition and determining the various approaches of change management. It will then describe the framework for change and various change management initiatives taken by organisations. The various change models will also be listed and analysed and the organisational background of British Airways will be provided along with a SWOT analysis of the organisation. 1.4 Methodology This chapter will determine the methodology used to conduct this research and the reasons for various data collection methods chosen. It will also look into the philosophical aspects of the research study. 1.5 Research Findings and Discussion During this chapter the researcher has analysed the findings and compared these with the literature review and methodology to establish the extent to which change management is necessary for an organisation to sustain competitive advantage and the role and significance of Change Management initiatives taken by British Airways to attain profitability. 1.6 Conclusion The last chapter is the Recommendations and Conclusion chapter. This chapter will list the recommendations generated from the research study findings while also bringing to light the limitations of the research study. The references used and the research related appendices will then be presented at the end of the research study. CHAPTER 2 Literature Review This chapter will review the existing literature on change management. It is important to understand current research on the subject area, to enable the reader to understand the nature of the existing knowledge of the subject (Denscombe 1998, p.15). Specifically, this literature review will focus on the following issues; Firstly, it will determine the definition of change and list the various types from the typology of change. Secondly it will describe the framework for the change process, generic model of change and the various change management diagnostic models are discussed. Thirdly the importance of communication in Change Management is explained. Fourthly the SWOT analysis is also described along with the various change initiatives taken by organisations in the aviation industry. 2.1 Typology of Change Change in academics is defined as the substitution or succession of one thing in place of another. As per research studies conducted, it is identified that the patterns of change repeats and is recurring in every industry. These patterns of change constitute of incremental and radical changes. The increasing frequency of these patterns of change in various industries over the past couple of decades has necessitated for organisations to predict the pattern of changes in their external industry environment so that they are better equipped with the resources and capabilities required to embark upon change and maintain their competitive advantage. A typology of change was developed by Nadler and Tushman to outline the various abilities of organisations to predict the patterns of change in the external industry environment. They have divided the ability to predict changes into two types of proactive and reactive while listing the scope of change as being transformational or incremental in nature. The typology of change is created by Nadler and Tushman by developing a matrix of the type and scope of change. They have differentiated the change strategy among organisations into four types of fine tuning, adaptation, re-orientation and re-creation. These strategies have been described in the following paragraphs (Hayes, 2007 and Chaffey, 2006). The first two changes of fine tuning and adaptation in organisations which occur are incremental changes. Fine tuning is the change process where organisations are proactive and will try to fill in the inefficiencies and gaps internal to the company when compared to the changing external environments which act as reducing agents to the effective performance of the business processes of the organisation. Adaptation is a reactive change process where the organisations have to make changes to their internal processes after they have felt a threat in their competitive position due to the changes made in the organisation. These changes are limited and do not affect the core functions or business processes of the organisation but are targeted towards reducing or removing the threats from the external environment and competition in an effective manner (Cook, Macaulay Coldicott, 2004). The two changes although occur for a long duration, are only basic changes and do not impact the fundament al aspects in which the organisations operations work (Hayes, 2007). The change processes of re-orientation and re-creation are both transformational in nature since they impact the fundamental operations of change. They occur when the need for change is vital to survive (Poole Van de Ven, 2004). The re-orientation change process in organisations basically requires organisations to change or re-define their existing corporate or business strategy (Chaffey, 2006 and Hayes, 2007). This change is conducted for two reasons. The first is to pro-actively prepare the organisation for the future changing external environment or to change the external environment itself by innovation such that the core competency of the organisation is increased over its competitors (Hayes, 2007 Potter, 2004). In Re-orientation, since there is no external threat to the organisation and it is being pro-active, it is difficult for the employee workforce to understand the need for such a drastic radical change. This change process requires the management of the organisation to create a sense of urgency and a necessity for change among the organisational employees so that the change process can be enforced. Otherwise it is difficult for organisations to implement this change. The last type of change process is Re-creation. This is a forced change and is transformational in nature. This type of change is implemented by organisations when they feel they need to change their core operations in order to sustain in the changed external environment. In most scenarios, the success of these re-creation changes can determine the survival of the organisation. These changes however are high risk changes since the organisations do not plan these changes ahead and do not, in most scenarios, have the required time and resources for their successful implementation. The change impact is mostly lower than expected for many reasons such as low involvement and motivation among employees, inadequate readiness in management etc. This change if not tackled effectively can lead to employee resistance and de-motivations (Chaffey, 2006 and Hayes, 2007). 2.2 Framework of Change The framework of change as developed by Lewin (1951) constitutes of the same three steps in all change processes. These steps are unfreeze, change and refreeze. Unfreeze is where the organisation tries to create an urgency for change so that the employees and the management are ready for change. Change, as the name indicates, is the second stage where the change occurs. Freeze is the final stage where the change made is now ensured to become part of the organisation. As per the framework, every change process has a higher level of uncertainty leading to resistance among employees. However, certain techniques can be adopted in order to avoid this resistance. One of these techniques is to introduce additional steps such as identifying the future state prior to implementing the framework of change (Weick Quinn, 1999). There have been many new models which have evolved in the past few years which have tried to add more steps or make modifications to this model. One of them is the generi c model of change created by (Hayes and Hyde, 1998) however, the general concept and baseline in all these change models is still the same. The generic model of change signifies the change process to be continuous in nature. It states that the change results of one process act as the triggering factor for some new required changes. Change process begins by determining the internal inefficiencies and improper capabilities of the internal organisation and the external environment in the industry the organisation operates in and using this gathered information to develop the new organisations strategy. This new strategy will now automatically implement the new anticipated change in the organisation (Johnson, Scholes Whittington, 2008). The ability to determine the correct strategy is the most crucial step in any change process since an incorrect change strategy can also be implemented successfully however it will not deliver the same benefits and fill in the required market inefficiencies as required and the overall change process can in turn be a failure (Buttrick, 2005). After looking at the above studies, the change process is modified as below. The initial aspect of the change process is now moved to identifying the resources required to implement the change process and the various techniques which can be used further to begin unfreezing the organisation. While this is being done, the organisations inefficiencies and gaps with the external environment are determined in order to develop the change strategy. This change strategy is designed that such that it achieves the anticipated future state of the organisation and reviewed to make any modification such that it is aligned towards realising the future state. The next step is to create a change plan before directly implementing the change. This change plan is implemented on a step by step basis and upon completion of each step, it is reviewed to determine if it is still aligned or the future state and rectify any identified deviations. Once this is completed and the future state is realised by the organisation, new techniques in order to merge this change with the organisations culture will be implemented. This is when the final stage of refreezing appears and the success or failure of the change process and the involved resources is determined. It is also used to collect feedback of the change process and reward the resources who had performed effectively towards achieving the future state (Jones, 2008). This generic model of change created by Hayes Hyde in 1998 and the change framework developed by Lewin in 1951 are both effective models which can used to implement change. However, both these models ignore one crucial aspect of change management which plays a vital role in the success of any change event, people management. Without effective people management, it is impossible to implement change in any organisation successfully. 2.3 Change Management Models There are various models which can be used to diagnose the success of a change event or the need for a change event. These models reduce the overall change process into a few key factors which need to be taken into consideration while implementing the change process in any organisation. They allow the management to determine the key aspects from both the process and the people perspective which need to be looked into. This in-turn increases the ability of change managers firstly to implement the change process successfully and secondly to evaluate its success and take necessary actions (Hayes, 2007). One of these models is the McKinsey 7S model. This model divides the change process diagnosis into seven elements which can be used to determine the existing internal environment status in a firm. These seven elements are strategy, structure, systems, staff, style, shared values and skills. The internal organisational efficiency of an organisation is determined successfully using this model and its results can be used to develop the internal strategy of the organisation (Saunders, 2007). This model can be used to develop change initiative programmes in organisations and develop a strategy which will achieve the overall internal fit in the firm however, it cannot be used to determine a fit between the internal capabilities of the organisation and the external environment in which it operates leading to a necessity for another model which takes this into consideration (Burke Litwin, 1992). The model which takes this into consideration is The Burke-Litwin causal model of organisational performance and change. This model is used for many purposes such as to identify the type of change implemented, whether it is incremental step-by-step change or a radical change or to determine the overall effect of using change management procedures in organisations while determining the performance of these management initiatives. This model constitutes of various elements which are crucial for a change process. The input element is the organisational performance and the output element is the individual and organisational performance. The other factors in the model are the through-put of the model. The models elements are further divided into two types of factors. The five factors of external environment, leadership, mission and strategy, organisational culture and the individual and organisational performance are the transformational factors while the remaining factors are the increme ntal factors. They are distinguished so based on the ability of the factors to influence the type of change. One of the successful applications of this model was to determine the success and performance on the change processes implemented in British Airways in the year 1983 (Burke Litwin, 1992). (Burke Litwin, 1992). This model will again be used in this study to determine the performance and effectiveness of the change management strategies used in British Airways in the past year. 2.4 Communication in Change Management: One of the key aspects of any change process in terms of people management is communication. If the communication is ineffective or missing, then the employee resistance to embrace the change only increases further. The communication strategies used by various organisations are different and this determines the amount of information shared by them with their employee workforce. Another factor which affects this amount of information shared with the employees is the managements personal views and understanding on the subject of change management and importance of communication. The Spray and Pray strategy used by management is where the information provided to employees is not considered or evaluated by the management to determine if it is actually relevant to them or not. This sort of communication can allow the vital and relevant information to be buried under irrelevant and not so vital information and reduce the overall necessary impact of communication on the employees. The manag ement which chooses to share the relevant information with their employees and also provides them with the various benefits of the change implemented to these employees use the communication strategy of Tell and Sell. In this scenario, the communication effectiveness is higher than the previous strategy and the amount of the information shared is lower. One of the most effective communication strategies which can be adopted by management in any change organisation is the Underscore and explore strategy where the information is provided to employee workforce in exact reference to the change situation and the various inputs provided by the management are considered at the same time. This ensures that the employees feel to be a part of the change being implemented and reduce their overall employee resistance. In the other two communication strategies of Identify and reply and withhold and uphold, the information shared with the employees is not adequate and the management withholds som e crucial elements of information which can increase the employee resistance to accept change. The below diagram represents the various communication strategies in accordance with the communication effectiveness and the amount of information shared by the management (Clampitt, DeKoch and Cashman, 2000). Figure-2 : Communication Strategy Continuum   (Clampitt, DeKoch and Cashman, 2000) 2.5 SWOT Analysis To determine the inner fit of an organisation with an external environment, one of the techniques which have proven successful on numerous occasions is the SWOT analysis. This SWOT analysis is divided into two segments, the internal factors segment which constitutes of the strengths and the weaknesses of the organisation and the external factors segment which constitutes of the opportunities and threats presented by the external environment in reference to the organisation. The role of strengths and opportunities is to determine the internal capabilities and inefficiencies of the business processes and the employee talent of the organisation. The role of opportunities and threats is to determine the external environment that the organisation is functioning in and find ways in which it can either support or act as a danger to the organisations functions. Once these are determined, it is then determined how the internal strengths of the organisation can be used to benefit from the exte rnal opportunities of the industry environment. The weaknesses are also looked into to determine if there is a possibility to change into a threat and how this movement can be avoided. The threats are looked at from the perspective of changing them into opportunities or reducing their possible impact on the organisation. The weaknesses are also worked upon in a similar way, to reduce their impacts and risks to the organisation or to remove them altogether by changing them into opportunities (Briggs, 2001). 2.6 Change Management in Organisations in the Aviation Industry: Some of the change initiatives which have been experienced by organisations in the Aviation industry are the privatisation of companies such as Qantas airlines. This happened at the same time as most industries in various nations were moving towards privatisation and de-regulation while moving away from the shadows of the public sector. The change process was rapid and radical in nature. Another change in the aviation industry which was not just restricted to one organisation was the agreement of global alliances among the various international and domestic airlines in the global market. This changed the structure and process of operations in the Aviation industry while also bringing in harmony the use of labour and the strategies adopted by management across various airlines in the industry (Fairbrother, 2002). Another change initiative which was related across airline companies was the use of part time and casual employees so that they can benefit from using them when required and paying them only for the number of hours employed. This has allowed them to reduce the overall labour costs however, in most airline companies; most of the part time employees did work overtime just as much as full time employees leading to no change in the overall labour costs (Dawson, 2003). The privatisation of the airlines is not just limited to Qantas airlines but has increased further to British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France, KLM etc (Delfmann, 2005). An additional change management initiative is the collaborative effects among most airline companies to ensure a reduction in the carbon footprint overall and thus support the climate change initiatives along with the various other industries and governments (Bishop Grayling, 2003). Steve this is the other introduction to the research study I written, but Im unsure if this is perhaps too current as it relates to the current global economic recession. Could you advise if it is maybe best to delete the information I have highlighted in bold and continue with the original introduction I have written on page 3. Introduction to the research study There is a famous saying stated by an unknown author The only think that is constant is change (Berman, 2007). With the current changing customer requirements and external environment necessities, organisations which behave as the closed systems that do not constantly change themselves to fit the market requirements and customer demands will fail in the longer terms (Harigopal, 2006). The punctuated paradigms irregularities frequency has increased over the past decade implying that the change in organisations is not as fast or as paced as the change in external environments which in-turn is increasing the gaps between the customer requirements and products/services provided by organisations (Hayes, 2007). This has made it crucial to study the significance of change management internally in organisations so that this building gap can be reduced and organisations can benefit from these constant changes through adapting their culture. The recent economic recession and credit crunch with a decreasing GDP rate across the United Kingdom in 2008-09 (Statistics, 2009) has forced organisations to find new ways to reduce costs for the products and services generated by them so that they can survive in this difficult climate. Organisations responses to these necessary changes being forced upon them is being tackled using various techniques such as economies of scale (Grant, 2005), internal re-structuring and creating new operational processes which will reduce their operational and maintenance costs. This in-turn has led to need for effective change management in such organisations so that the changes implemented are widely accepted by the workforce which in-turn ensures that success from the implemented change techniques are achieved (Cameron Green, 2008). One such organisation which has implemented various change methodologies in the past few years in response to the changing industry environment is British Airways. The organisation like many others has undergone some changes in their strategy, technology, structure and cultural aspects in order to survive in the changing environment and maintain the organisations core competency. British Airways will be used as a case study in this research study in order to achieve the aims and objectives of the research study. Many literatures focus on change management in organisations enforced due to various reasons and either at the beginning or at the end of the change management procedures being implemented. However, most of these researches have not taken into consideration the change management forced by external environments due to an economic recession especially since this scenario is not very common or recurring constantly. This research will contribute to the existing literature by using economic recession as one of the external factors leading to implementing changes in the airline industry. This research study will attempt to act as a guide to further researches who wish to identify the necessity for effective change management in the airline industry organisation especially when the external contributing factor is the economic recession. Sharon, This is a very well written first draft of your dissertation. I think there are some very good elements but there are also quite long passages where there are no references cited. I think if you do a little more reading and address these gaps then you will have the basis of a very good literature review. Steve

Cis11 Assessment 1

Safety Styles Pty Ltd Financial Information Ratios and Financial Data Profitability201020112012 Return on assets30. 2%31. 46%31. 48% Return on equity32. 62%34. 02%34. 07% Gross profit margin57. 55%57. 51%57. 93% Net profit margin16. 04%13. 90%14. 35% Efficiency Asset turnover (times)1. 882. 262. 19 Inventory turnover (days)95. 6290. 5595. 10 Accounts receivable turnover (days)50. 3742. 6645. 16 Liquidity Current ratio4. 124. 13. 91 Quick asset ratio2. 462. 452. 21 Capital Structure Gearing ratio2. 372. 62. 54 Safety Styles Pty Ltd Application Decision It would be my recommendation to grant Safety Styles their application for additional finance. Profitability: Safety Styles Pty Ltd has demonstrated in is able to generate and increase its profits as demonstrated through the healthy Gross and Net Profit Margins. It should be noted during this three year period Safety Styles Pty Ltd has maintained and increased the Gross Profit margin, Safety Styles Pty Ltd has also maintained a healthy Net Profit Margin.Although dropping slightly the second year they have managed to improve this in their third year increasing their overall profitability Safety Styles has also increased both its Return on Assets and Return on Equity, this demonstrates the ability of the company to efficiently make use of its assets and equity which ultimately reduces requirements for more funding and reduces cost making better use of what they currently have. Efficiency: Safety Styles Pty Ltd appears on average over the last three years to be improving its efficiency to make better use of their assets and turning over their inventory.Safety should also focus on this area and strive to improve their efficiency. Whilst the values may seem quiet higher their total sales amount has raised which may not be taken into account with averages. Safety Styles may need to revisit their inventory strategy as their turn over period is quite high; this would be a benefit for them in the long term by having quicke r access to cash for investment in other assets. They should also pay attention to their Accounts Receivable Turnover and aim to reduce this. Liquidity:Whilst Safety Styles Current ratio and Quick asset ratio is declined they are both still very healthy numbers. Safety Styles non-current assets have been increasing annually. They may want to pay attention to reducing their inventory levels and accounts receivable to give them more cash and the opportunity to invest into non-current assets or reduce their liabilities as they currently has a low level of cash compared to inventory and accounts receivable. This will make the company more â€Å"liquid† in the short term.Safety Styles also has a very healthy quick asset ratio compared to the industry standard of 2. It should be noted that Safety Styles currently do not have a high level of liabilities and seem to be maintaining their levels of dent in relation to their assets Capital Structure: Safety Styles currently have a very low gearing ratio and are using retained earnings for most of their financing. External sources of financing will be a benefit to Safety Styles to help them grow and invest in additional non-current assets. Executive SummarySafety Styles appear to be utilizing their assets and equity very well currently to help produce their profit and maintain both healthy gross and net profit. If this is maintained they should be able to repay their long term liabilities and possibly improve their current asset liquidity. ? Appendix Formulas †¢Return on Assets = (Net profit before interest and taxation / Average total assets) x 100 †¢Return on Equity = (Net profit after tax and preference dividends / average ordinary shareholder’s funds) x 100 †¢Gross Profit Margin = (Gross profit / sales) x 100 Net Profit Margin = (Net profit before interest and taxation / sales) x 100 †¢Asset Turnover Ratio = ( Sales / Average Total Assets) †¢Inventory Turnover = (Average inventor y / cost of sales) x 365 †¢Accounts Receivable Turnover = (Average accounts receivable / credit sales) x 365 †¢Current Ratio = (Current assets / current liabilities) †¢Quick Asset Ratio = (Current assets (excluding Inventory and prepayments) / current liabilities) †¢Gearing Ratio = (Long-term liabilities / share capital + reserves + long-term liabilities) x 100 Ratio definitions †¢Return on Assets The Return on Assets (ROA) demonstrates how effectively a company is using its assets to generate profit. The higher the ROA the better as the company is earning more off less investment †¢Return on Equity oThe Return on Equity (ROE) demonstrates the amount of net profit generated as a percentage of the shareholders equity. A higher ROE is better as it displays how much profit is generated based on shareholder investment. †¢Gross Profit Margin oThe Gross Profit Margin (GPM) is used to display the percentage difference between sales and the cost of sales b efore any other costs are factored in.A higher GPM is better as the company is making a higher profit off its sales †¢Net Profit Margin oThe Net Profit Margin (NPM) is used to display the net profit as a percentage of the revenue generated. A higher NPM is better as it indicates a more profitable company and how effective a company is at controlling its costs †¢Asset Turnover Ratio oThe Asset turnover Ratio (ATR) displays how well a business can use its assets in generating sales or revenue. A higher ATR is better as it demonstrates the amount of dollars generated by one dollar of the company's assets †¢Inventory Turnover The Inventory Turnover formula display how often the company sells and replaces its inventory. A low Inventory turnover is preferred as this means cash is not being held in inventory, is producing more revenue and has access to an ongoing source of cash †¢Accounts Receivable Turnover oThe Accounts Receivable turnover displays the average settlem ent period (days) credit purchased are settled by the customer. A shorter average settlement period is preferred as this means funds are not tied up and can be †¢Current Ratio This ratio is compares a company’s current assets and current liabilities to measure the liquidity. A higher ratio is preferred as it generally means the business can meet their commitments †¢Quick Asset Ratio oThe Quick Asset Ratio (QAR) also known as the â€Å"Acid Test Ratio† measures if a company can meet its short term liabilities with its current assets less its inventory as you can’t always rely on inventory to be converted into cash quickly. A higher ratio means the company is in a better position †¢Gearing Ratio The Gearing Ratio (GR) measures how much capital is financed by long term finance. A high gearing ratio means a company will depend of long term loans, a low gearing ratio displays higher reliance on financing through equity investment. Typically a high leve l of gearing means a higher level of risk for the company. Ratio Calculations †¢Return on Assets o2010 – (647 / ((2122 + 2163) /2)) x 100 o2011 – (685 / ((2233 + 2122) /2)) x 100 o2012 – (712 / ((2291 + 2233) /2)) x 100 †¢Return on Equity o2010 – (585 / ((1774 + 1813) /2)) x 100 2011 – (619 / ((1865 + 1774) /2)) x 100 o2012 – (644 / ((1916 + 1865) /2)) x 100 †¢Gross Profit Margin o2010 – (2321 / 4033) x 100 o2011 – (2834 / 4928) x 100 o2012 – (2875 / 4963) x 100 †¢Net Profit Margin o2010 – (647 / 4033) x 100 o2011 – (685 / 4928) x 100 o2012 – (712 / 4963) x 100 †¢Asset Turnover Ratio o2010 – (4033 / ((2122 + 2163) / 2)) o2011 – (4928 / ((2233 + 2122) / 2)) o2012 – (4963 / ((2291 + 2233) / 2)) †¢Inventory Turnover o2010 – (((((216 + 175) + (223 + 283)) / 2) / 1712) x 365) o2011 – (((((235 + 298) + (223 + 283)) / 2) / 2094) X 365) 2012 â €“ (((((235 + 298) + (230 + 325)) / 2) / 2088) X 365) †¢Accounts Receivable Turnover o2010 – ((((561 + 552) / 2) / 4033) x 365) o2011 – ((((561 + 591) / 2) / 4928) x 365) o2012 – ((((637 + 591) / 2) / 4963) x 365) †¢Current Ratio o2010 – (1257 / 305) o2011 – (1324 / 323) o2012 – (1272 / 325) †¢Quick Asset Ratio o2010 – (((1257 – (223 + 283)) / 305) o2011 – (((1324 – (235 + 298)) / 323) o2012 – (((1272 – (230 + 325)) / 325) †¢Gearing Ratio o2010 – (((43 / (70 + 1704 + 43)) x 100) o2011 – (((45 / (70 + 1795 + 45)) x 100) o2012 – (((50 / (70 + 1846+ 50)) x 100)

Management in Libraries Essay

Economic threat to the libraries by escalation of books and journals, fewer resources, constant growth changes in technology and user high expectation have shown that management is the critical factor that determines efficiency and effectiveness of all types of libraries. Thus managers are expected to play different functions in order to be effective and efficient. In this assignment different functions and roles played by managers in different libraries are discussed showing how they improve efficiency and effectiveness and different laws of library management are discussed. DEFINITION OF TERMS Management Effectiveness defined by Bateman, T is â€Å"doing things right†. This means that the manager has the responsibility for selecting the right goals and appropriate means to achieving it. Efficiency is measuring the cost of attaining a given goal, concerned about how resources such as money, time, equipment, personnel obtain given goals. Thus a manager needs to be effective and efficient in order to achieve the goals of the library. MAIN DISCUSSION Library management comprise more than just making changes, it involves managing ongoing operations in the optimal fashion for your institution in the context of its goals, other department’s activities and patrons needs. Thus we realize that different libraries may require managerial different managerial skills in order to perform their duties effectively. Managers help in giving direction to the library showing where it is going. Library management involves planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Planning is about systematical making decisions about the library goals. In planning the manager defines the objectives the objectives of the library, stating the purpose of its existence, defining the user community and their information needs. This is important as it facilitates efficiency. It helps in understanding the library stakeholders. A public library is an omnibus organization. It carters for everyone in the community thus the need for every user must be known and fulfilled. A public library serves a diverse community of adults, children and teens thus a manager has to plan on resources to be acquired. A manager can plan on different resources that can be acquired ranging from entertainment, fiction, nonfiction for general research, children story books because there are no specific users, the resources must benefit everyone in the society. A manager also organize and coordinate human, financial , physical, informational and other resources needed to achieve library goals. The manager establishes the activity authority relationship of the library. The activities necessary to achieve the objectives are then grouped into working divisions, departments and grouped together. In an academic library a manager can group together activities like accession and cataloguing The manager has to establish standards for performance; this will make sure that the library is performing in such a way as to arrive at its destination. According to Griffin â€Å"controlling helps to ensure effective and efficiency needed for successful management† As a leader the manager is responsible for staffing which is concerned with allocating prospective employees to fulfill the jobs created by organizing process. It involves the process of reviewing the credentials of the candidates of the jobs and trying to match the job demand with the application s abilities keeping each employee qualified. It also involves the development and implementation of a system for appraising performance and providing feedback for performance improvement. In a special library where the main target is a specific audience, for example ZIMRA library its serves the ZIMRA staff and mainly the manager have to recruit someone who posses research skills because mainly it deals with research for its company. The manager is responsible for choosing the right candidate, who knows how to research, even on the internet where there is information overload the candidate must be able to extract relevant information using the right search engine, mainly in a special library every one depend on the information provided by the librarian. The manager is also responsible for keeping the librarian qualified for the job by providing ongoing training since the librarianship profession is dynamic thus this will improve effectiveness and efficiency of libraries. A manager also gives s direction that will help the library in achieving its goals. Directing builds a climate, provides leadership and arranges the opportunity for motivation this is further explained by Rachel’s laws of library management, it says save time of your staff. This means that the staff must be given support they need for them to achieve goals effectively and efficiently this include providing training for them where it is needed. Each boss must plan and oversee the wok of each of his or her subordinates. In an academic library there are different services offered for example cataloguing and accession section can be directed by one manager then the E- resource section can be under another manager e- journals purchased, subscriptions etc. This will ease the load as one manager is focusing on a specific service thus he spend more time trying to improve the services and working with his subordinates and improves efficiency in the library. As a manager attempts to perform the managerial job effectively and efficiently there is a need to ‘wear different hats’ in interaction with employees. Managers interacts with others besides subordinates they work with other peer level managers in some other departments and outside contacts (suppliers and clients). Thus a manager is building contacts through which to gather information. Rachel agrees with this in the laws of management which says library resources are for use. A library manager is expected to connect resources with the user achieving the library goals. Through the liaison role a manager is able to network with other libraries. Academic libraries can practice resource sharing if there are shortages of material in specific departments the two libraries can share the available resources to both libraries and this will give the patrons a wide variety of information thus fulfilling their needs, this will improve efficiency. The manager is exposed to new ideas or methods that may improve the work unit operations. The manager initiates activities that will allow and encourage the work unit to use the idea most advantageously. Rachel’s law of management says that a library is a growing organism. A manager needs to open to change and help the library evolve to meet the needs of patrons. We can look at public library, the introduction of automation the staff may resist change having fear of losing their jobs thus a manager is responsible for encouraging and motivating the staff showing them the advantages of automating the library services and how it can reduce their workload, providing training for them thus the duties are performed effectively and efficiently satisfying the needs of different patrons. An effective manager is an active leader who creates a positive work environment in which the organization and its employees have the opportunity and incentive to achieve high performance (†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. ) In order to perform duties effectively and efficiently Rachel says that â€Å"every task its doer†. The manager encourages ownership and responsibility to each staff member. Every staff member his/ her work, the manager must know people’s skills and strength and staff can then be deployed according to their abilities then the duties can be done perfectly improving effectiveness and efficiency in a library. Even though the staff is divided according to their abilities it is the duty of a manager to create a spirit oneness and togetherness amongst the subordinates. They should work as a team to achieve the library goals; Bavakuty M (2000) agrees that libraries can become effective and efficient by â€Å"strong top management support, a system approach and strategic planning, a customer focus, an emphasis on employee team work, empowerment training, the use of measurement and analysis technique and commitment to continuous improvement†. The manager seeks and receives wide variety of special information to develop through the understanding of the library and the environment, emerges as the nerve centre about the library. The manager monitors internal and external events, ideas, trends and analysis. The manager then uses the information to detect changes, problems and opportunities and to construct decision making scenario. The manager as the disseminator transmits information from other employees to other members of the library. The manager can bring external information received into the organization and facilitate internal flow of information. Thus we realize that management is the heart of any type of library and facilitate efficiency and effectiveness. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bavakutty, M (2000). Management of libraries In the 21st Century. Ess Ess Publication. India. Griffin, R. (1987). Management 2nd editition. Maffin Co Mohant, T. C. (2008). Research Methodology in Library Science. alpha Publishers India. Plunket, R. (1983). Introduction to Management. Kent Publication. United States of Amenrica.

The Prevention Of Natural Disasters - 1742 Words

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