Management issues of consortia. Part two
| Published date | 01 September 2002 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01435120210432246 |
| Pages | 275-286 |
| Date | 01 September 2002 |
| Author | G. Edward Evans |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Managementissuesof
consortia.Parttwo
G.EdwardEvans
Somedefinitions
``Co-operation''isthewordonemostoften
encountersinlibraryliteraturewhenreading
aboutjointprojectsbetweenlibraries.
Occasionallytheword``co-ordination''
appears,andrecentlyafewauthorsemployed
theword``collaboration''.Thetermsare
generallyusedsynonymously;however,
researchersexaminingjointventureactivities
amongthenon-profitsectororganisations
vieweachtermasrepresentingadifferent
levelofactivity.
Inresearchers'view(Alaszewskiand
Harrison,1988;LightandPillemer,1984;
Meansetal.,1991),co-operationisthelevel
withtheleastinteractionbetween
participatingorganisations.Essentiallythere
isnoformalcommonmission,structure,or
planningeffort.Participantsshare
informationasneededandretainallauthority
withvirtuallynorisk.Thus``co-operation''
shouldbetheeasiestleveltoachieve.
However,therewardstothoseinvolvedare
bothvariableandunpredictable.Further,
thereislittlestabilitytosucheffortsandthey
tendtobeofshortduration.
Co-ordinationisthemiddlelevelofactivity.
Therearediscussionsandoneormore
generallyagreedtomission(s)orgoals.There
maybewrittendocumentsthatoutlinea
commonstructureandplanning/operation
processbutnotinanofficial/legaldocument.
Whileauthorityremainswiththe
participatinginstitutionsthereareincreased
risksforalltheparticipantsbecauseofthe
somewhatmoreformalstructure.Theremay
ormaynotbecontributionsofindividual
resourcestotheco-operativeactivity.
Likewisetherearesomecommonrewards
expectedbyeachoftheparticipantsandthat
therewardswillbemoreorlessequal.
Collaborationisthehighestlevelofactivity
inwhichthereisaveryformal,oftenlegal,
structurecreatedbytheparticipants.The
structureincludestheassignmentofsome
authority,planningandoperationalactivities
tothenewlycreatedentitybasedonasetof
commonmissionsandgoals.Acollaborative
effortalsoinvolvesparticipantscontributing
someoftheirresources(money,people,time,
physicalspace,etc.)totheprogram.The
expectationistherewardsoftheactivitywill
bejointlyshared.
Theauthor
G.EdwardEvansisDirectorofLibrariesat
LoyolaMarymountUniversity,LosAngeles,USA.
Keywords
Management,Libraries,Co-operation,Casestudies,USA
Abstract
Definestermsassociatedwithconsortia± co-ordination,
co-operationandcollaboration± andidentifiescritical
successfactorsforconsortia.Providesfourcasestudies
basedontheauthor'spersonalexperienceindicatingthe
reasonsforthesuccessorfailureofthesecollaborative
ventures.Theoutcomesarediscussedandconclusions
drawn.Theevidenceindicatesthatsuccessfulconsortia
requiretimetodevelopahighleveloftrustbetween
partnersandawillingnesstocontribute.Partone
appearedin
LibraryManagement
(2002),Vol.23No.4/5.
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Thecurrentissueandfulltextarchiveofthisjournalis
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275
Library Management
Volume 23 .Number 6/7 .2002 .pp. 275±286
#MCB UP Limited .ISSN 0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/01435120210432246
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