ASSIGNED LEADERS IN UNIONIZED ENVIRONMENTS:

COPING WITH THE ECONOMIC RECESSION AND ITS AFTERMATH IN ACADEMIC

LIBRARIES

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Adriene Lim, Ph.D.Dean of Libraries, Oakland University

June 30, 2013LRRT Research Forum, ALA Annual 2013

Problem Statement

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Economic recession and aftermath having a major impact on many academic institutions, even as libraries faced accelerating changes in technology and scholarly communication, and heightened external competition.

Unclear if and how unionization has helped or hindered library administrators as they try to transform libraries.

Gaps in the literature about changes occurring in unionized libraries and in assigned leaders’ abilities to transform their organizations.

Purpose of study was to provide insights about changes occurring in unionized libraries; and to explore if (and how) assigned leaders try to ensure that strategic changes still occur.

Primary Research Objectives

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Institutional and Library Context To identify changes occurring in unionized academic

libraries as a result of the economic crisis To identify perceptions that university administrators

have about these changes and effects of unionization on their attempts to address the crisis

Union Context To identify benefits and constraints that

administrators encounter as a result of working within unionized contexts during economic recessions

Leadership Context To identify assigned leaders’ strategies for handling

changes in unionized, financially stressed environments

Methodology4

Multi-case study of four, large, public academic libraries with the same Carnegie classification rank and similar economic indicators.

Online survey conducted to determine libraries’ unionization status and other characteristics.

Cases selected through purposive/criteria sampling. Eight libraries in subject population, but only four agreed to participate.

Data gathered through qualitative, semi-structured interviews with 21 university and library administrators (provosts, vice provosts, library directors, associate / assistant directors), three focus group interviews with unionized librarians and staff, and content analysis of various documents.

Findings: Changes Occurring5

Chronic/extreme fiscal stress, pessimistic budget outlook

Retrenchment and cutback management; severity depended upon stimulus finding, size of institution, region

Loss of acquisitions buying power and librarian/staff positions

Broad adjustments to organizational structures, functions, and to individual positions

No substantial focus on external fundraising or entrepreneurship

No perceived change in libraries’ performance levels (but this was not based on real data in most cases)

No perceived differences in interactions between library administrators and unionized librarians/staff members

Threat or actuality of organizational decline apparent

Causes of Public-Sector Decline

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Internal External

Political Political vulnerability Problem depletion

Economic/Technical Organizational atrophy Environmental entropy

Findings: Upper-Admin Views7

Aware of staffing and budgeting challenges, but none seemed optimistic re: increasing libraries’ allocations

Aware of heavier workload on remaining employees, challenges in keeping morale/commitment levels high

Agreed that libraries’ performance levels remained high (but again seemingly not based on data)

Believed unions brought negative and positive effects

Lamented less managerial flexibility, more bureaucracy

Perceived negative effects were amplified in times of economic crisis

Said that shared governance was both improved and damaged - adversarial relations at two sites and not others

Findings: Union Benefits/Constraints8

Agreements largely negotiated, administrated by others

Administrative decision-making about budgets perceived to be mostly intact

Delays in planning/implementing of changes Less flexibility in regard to HR issues, more

bureaucracy Did not think fiscal adversity would damage

relationships with unionized personnel or affect libraries’ performance

Unions not contesting technological changes Use of shared, participatory leadership approaches Organizational values shifted - tended more toward

internal focus, stability, and control, than toward adaptability and flexibility

Competing Values Framework

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Output Quality

Human Relations Model Open Systems Model

Internal Process Model Rational Goal Model

Flexibility

Control

Internal (People) External (Organization)

Means: Cohesion; moraleEnds: Human resource development

Means: Flexibility; readinessEnds: Growth; resource acquisitions

Means: Information management; communicationEnds: Stability; control

Means: Planning; goal settingEnds: Productivity; efficiency

Findings: Change Strategies Used10

Strategic visioning/planning used; some leaders adjusting vision and plans due to economic troubles

Communication and transparency emphasized Innovative thinking and resourcefulness seen as

key to thriving in lean times – restructuring, redesigning work and implementing new services

Leaders used shared, participatory, and team leadership approaches at each site to different degrees

Institutional accountability/assessment weakly presented at two sites, a bit stronger at other two sites

Protecting existing positions was a high priority at all sites

Findings: Other Themes11

Content of collective bargaining agreements did not seem to predict shared governance levels, assertion of management rights, etc.

Organizational cultures, relationships, and identities were affected by unionization.

Argument made that unionized environments needed even more effective managerial leadership functions than non-unionized.

Assigned leaders focused more on people and personal values at two of the sites, whereas stronger stewardship and strategic thinking were evident at the other two sites.

Attributes of honesty, fairness, courage, and credibility were named by unionized employees as crucial for good leadership.

Implications of the Study12

Seemingly inconsistent responses? Explanations proposed: Unionization as controversial, sensitive topic Perceived levels of control and instrumentality Unionized environments as inherited legacies Lack of research on unionization in libraries

Need for comparative, longitudinal, & single-case studies

Need to study leadership attributes and strategies Need to study effectiveness of leadership

strategies More study on intersection of leadership,

unionization, and economic stress Education of academic library leaders Examination of position classifications

More Implications13

Organizational cultures, identities, values, and effectiveness

Organizational decline and cutback management tactics

External fundraising and entrepreneurship Politically intelligent leadership, application of model Administrative strength, accountability, &

evaluation/assessment Union-management cooperation – best practices? Organizational dysfunctions and employee morale Resiliency in leadership, application of model More research needed using theories/models in

literatures of organizational sciences, management, & public administration

Thank you!14

Adriene Lim, Ph.D.e-mail address:ailim@oakland.edu