Enhancing the customer relationship management in public libraries. Findings from three developing countries
| Pages | 251-272 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-07-2017-0138 |
| Published date | 17 June 2019 |
| Date | 17 June 2019 |
| Author | Aleksandar Stokić,Danijela Stojanović,Zorica Bogdanović,Marijana Despotović-Zrakić,Božidar Radenković |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information user studies,Metadata,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
Enhancing the customer
relationship management in
public libraries
Findings from three developing countries
Aleksandar Stokić, Danijela Stojanović, Zorica Bogdanović,
Marijana Despotović-Zrakićand Božidar Radenković
Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possibilities of implementing the customer
relationship management (CRM) concept and smart technologies in public libraries in developing countries.
The goal was to explore the level of librarians’awareness about CRM concept and their willingness to accept
the CRM concept in libraries. Also, patrons’satisfaction with the quality of services and relationships in
public libraries is explored.
Design/methodology/approach –The authors obtained data for this research through two online surveys.
The first survey measures librarians’level of awareness about CRM concept and their perception about CRM
and smart technologies concept in public libraries in three developing countries: Serbia, Montenegro and
Bosnia and Herzegovina. The second survey measures patrons’satisfaction with services and relationship in
public libraries in these three countries.
Findings –The research results revealed that most surveyed librarians are familiar with the CRM concept.
However, libraries in these three developing countries barely use CRM or smart technologies to improve the
relationship with stakeholders. Also, most patrons are satisfied with relationships and services. The analysis
of data indicates no significant difference in the satisfaction level among patrons between these three
developing countries.
Research limitations/implications –Not all libraries participated in this research. Therefore, the sample
is not distributed evenly across different types of libraries or user groups. Future research should include
different types of libraries.
Practical implications –The results can be used by public libraries in developing countries to improve the
relationship with stakeholders harnessing CRM concept and smart technologies.
Social implications –The use of CRM in combination with the smart technologies can help leverage the
quality of the relationship between public libraries and stakeholders whichin turn would secure their support
and loyalty in the future.
Originality/value –The integration of CRM concept as a component of library business automation process
is an idea that has not been discussed widely in the library community and could initiate a positive trend in
public libraries in developing countries.
Keywords Library services, Library users, Developing countries, Public libraries,
Customer relationship management, Smart technologies
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Public libraries have always been places where people could get all sorts of reliable
information, share ideas and collaborate. Although the forms and means of providing and
acquiring theinformation have changed in the lastfew decades, the main purpose of libraries
is still to “provide free access to quality knowledge, information, and culture”(Wade, 2012).
According to Hernon et al. (2015) libraries as service providing organizations, which also
function in a competitive environment, must create and perfect services that match the
expectations of those they intend to serve. In recent years, there has been some positive
change in the librarianship caused mainlyby advancements in technologywhich, on the other
Library Hi Tech
Vol. 37 No. 2, 2019
pp. 251-272
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/LHT-07-2017-0138
Received 9 May 2017
Revised 10 July 2017
13 February 2018
2 July 2018
Accepted 10 August 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
The authors are thankful to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Serbia.
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Enhancing
customer
relationships in
libraries
hand, created a digital divide between developed and developing countries. Advanced
libraries use smart technologies (Min, 2012), provide 3D printers (Moorefield-Lang, 2014),
high-speed internet, music studios, robotic equipment and other technological “gadgets”to
their patronson a daily basis. Also, they use opportunities to take theirbusiness online, using
platforms based on the “software as a service”technology as this eliminates the need for
software installation on user’s computer (Breeding, 2017). Unfortunately, libraries in less
developed countries, all over the world, struggle to provide basic computer equipment and
internet connection. Majority of them are still trying to find ways to offer their services
electronicallyor online which shouldbe standard services in any library.Thus, it is imperative
for public librariesof any type or size to take a step forward and start usingnew technologies
to improve the quality of services they provide. Publiclibraries in developing countries have
to accept the factthat the transitional process is notonly technologically challenging, but also
culturally and organizationally, since patrons in different countries perceivethe benefits they
derive fromthe public library rather differently, which makesthis change significantly harder
to achieve (Vakkari et al., 2016).
Overall, the authors investigated the potential impact that CRM as a concept could have
on public libraries in developing countries and possible new ways for them to establish
long-lasting relationships with stakeholders in the future. The majority of public libraries in
developing countries are financed mostly by local or other government authorities.
However, they generate substantial income from membership fees, so it is important to
create and provide services that match the information needs and expectations of those they
serve to secure full support from all the stakeholders. Instead of just measuring the number
of visits or books checked out, libraries should put the focus on patrons’satisfaction by
measuring the quality of services they provide and the impact they made in the community
(Quinn and McCallum, 2012). These changes could be achieved only by efficiently
implementing CRM culture into library’s everyday operations. As Hernon et al. (2015) point
out any customer-driven organization should focus on fulfilling needs and expectations of
their customers, both spoken and unspoken. In other words, it is of mutual interest for both,
libraries and patrons, to adopt new services and technologies to the best of their knowledge.
By automating some or majority of everyday operations, librarians would have more time to
deal with patrons and patrons would get better services and quality information as a result.
To achieve this, libraries in developing countries should explore and implement new
relationship management models which in essence rely on the use of new technologies.
2. Literature review
2.1 CRM in libraries
Term “CRM”includes wide corpus of processes in area of marketing, social, sales and
service through IT-enabled automation in order to maximize a value of interactions with
customers (Pan et al., 2006). In the beginning, CRM was exclusively related to business
contexts, but during the time it involved to a comprehensive platform that covers much
more than a simple relationship management. Accordingly, CRM has been used as powerful
platform for improving different kinds of processes and interactions with stakeholders,
almost in every area of human activities (Newby et al., 2014). The customer relationship
management (CRM) concept has not been addressed by public libraries in developing
countries in the past for many reasons: poverty, constant government changes, outdated
legislation, etc. (Witten et al., 2002; Baraćet al., 2017). An appropriate definition of CRM that
could apply to all public libraries is given by Peltier et al. (2009) which defines CRM as an
“opportunity to better understand customers by developing mutually beneficial
relationships.”The CRM concept is not necessarily tied to any specific technology but is
a concept that aims at improving the relationship among all stakeholders such as librarians,
patrons, authorities, publishers, authors and volunteers. The organization must first fully
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