Critical success factors in library reengineering: a case of academic libraries in Kenya
| Date | 02 September 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/GKMC-12-2018-0099 |
| Published date | 02 September 2019 |
| Pages | 534-549 |
| Author | Penninah Syombua Musangi,Damaris Odero,Tom Kwanya |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Critical success factors in library
reengineering: a case of academic
libraries in Kenya
Penninah Syombua Musangi
Library Department, Karatina University, Karatina, Kenya
Damaris Odero
School of Information Sciences, Moi University, and
Tom Kwanya
Department of Information and Knowledge Management,
Technical University of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
Abstract
Purpose –Academic libraries are reengineering their services to address the gap brought about by the
convergence of physical and virtualinformation landscape. Despite the reengineering efforts,as many as 70
per cent of the libraries do not achievethe expected results. Certain critical success factors need to be in place
for successfulimplementation. This paper aims to investigatethe key success factors to service reengineering
in an effort to establishtheir extent of application in universitylibraries in Kenya.
Design/methodology/approach –A multiple case study approach of six purposively selected private
and public university librariesin Kenya based on Webometric ranking as an indicator of reengineering was
used. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with 30 librarians. The qualitative data collected
were analyzedthrough content analysis.
Findings –The followingkey success factors were found to have been considered duringreengineering: top
management commitment,planning, provision of required resources, appropriateIT infrastructure, presence
of skilled and competentstaff, value of the library to the university and teamwork.Despite the central role of
training,change management program and having a clear visionand objectives, university librariesin Kenya
did not pay any attention to them as deserved. The authorsconclude that university libraries in Kenya have
not optimally achieved the desired reengineering results as a result of overlooking training and change
management as critical success factors. The paper recommends that the identified critical success factors
should be consideredwholly not in isolation.
Research limitations/implications –The study was carried out among the top-ranked universities
accordingto the January 2017 Webometricranking; and therefore the findingsmay give a general indication of
the criticalsuccess factors considered by universitylibraries in Kenya. However,this pre-condition may have
lockedout other libraries that may havemade some recommendable stridesin re-engineering theirservices.
Originality/value –This study has practical implications in identifyingthe critical success factors for library
service reengineering to provide insights on the factors to consider as librarians reengineer library services.
Keywords Academic libraries, Critical success factors, Kenya, Business process reengineering,
University libraries, Library reengineering
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Libraries are and continue to be faced with changes in the information landscape. These
changes now demand libraries to rethink the services they offer. For instance, presence of
online content has changed the dynamics in which libraries operate, and as ALA (2018)
GKMC
68,6/7
534
Received14 December 2018
Revised25 March 2019
Accepted29 April 2019
GlobalKnowledge, Memory and
Communication
Vol.68 No. 6/7, 2019
pp. 534-549
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2514-9342
DOI 10.1108/GKMC-12-2018-0099
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2514-9342.htm
notes, the primary changes in today’s library environment which have to be dealt with
include: physical to virtual libraries whereby libraries need to strike a balance between
physical facilitieswith the increasing demand for digital materials; individualto community
libraries whereby librariesneed to accommodate both the individual needs with community
engagements; and collectionto creation libraries where they have to transform into facilities
for media creation not just consumption. It is the convergence of these two landscapes, the
physical and virtual, where there is a gap, and it is apparent that this gap requires
immediate attention so as to cope with the changing technologiesand increase the library’s
relevance which is being challenged.In this predicament it makes it imperative for libraries
to design new services or realign the conventional services to technological changes and
meet the user expectations. Reengineering helps in this radical design and realignment to
provide better servicesfor users (Pai, 2015).
Business process reengineering (BPR) has been suggested to be the most appropriate
technique in modern business setting to addressorganizations dealing with radical changes
(Zigiaris, 2000;Paper et al.,2001;Martin, 2014). BPR has been defined by Hammer and
Champy (1993) as “the fundamentalrethinking and radical redesign of business processes to
achieve dramatic improvementsin critical, contemporary measures of performance,such as
cost, quality, service and speed”(p. 8). Existing literature shows that BPR has been
extensively applied in business and corporate world (Cheng and Chiu, 2008;Dubey and
Bansal, 2013;Kariuki, 2013) and to some extent in libraries (Konata, 2009;Koutropoulos,
2014;Blumenthal, 2017;Shoniwa and Hall, 2017) The focus of a business is on customers
while library focuses on users, but the ultimate goal is satisfaction. BPR ensures user
satisfaction through increasedefficiency, cost reduction, quality and speed by incorporating
the use of information technology (IT). To address the changing information landscape,
libraries have become interested in reengineering, where it has been applied in collection
development, user services, e-resource acquisition, knowledge management among many
other areas in the field of library and informationservices (Goyal and Sharma, 2014).
Purpose and objectives of the study
The purpose of this study was to investigate how the critical success factors attributed to
service reengineering have been implemented in university libraries in Kenya. The specific
objectives were:
determine the critical success factors attributed to reengineering in university libraries; and
assess the extent of implementation of the critical success factors in university
libraries in Kenya.
To achieve these objectivesthe authors were guided by the following researchquestions:
RQ1. What critical successfactors are attributed to reengineering?
RQ2. What factors do you consider to have contributed to the success of the library’s
service reengineering?
RQ3. What training have you undergone to implement and manage the library re-
engineered services?
Literature review
Many businesses adopted the BPR technique in the early 1990s (Johansson, 1993). Several
authors claim that BPR isone of the best strategies widely used by organizations wishingto
Academic
libraries in
Kenya
535
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