Self‐managing work teams and their external leadership. A primer for library administrators
| Pages | 379-393 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01435120710774512 |
| Published date | 31 July 2007 |
| Date | 31 July 2007 |
| Author | James Castiglione |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Self-managing work teams and
their external leadership
A primer for library administrators
James Castiglione
Brooklyn College, The City University of New York, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Abstract
Purpose – This paper seeks to review the history, development and utilization of self-managing
work teams (SMWTs) in business and library work environments.
Design/methodology/approach – Based on a review of both the relevant management and library
literature, this paper broadens the library literature related to SMWTs with the objective of finding
relevant insights applicable to the management of SMWTs in the library environment.
Findings – The paper finds that the use of appropriately designed and implemented SMWTs has the
potential to increase employee productivity and workplace satisfaction while reducing absenteeism
and employee turnover. Organizational democracy and managerial support are the primary drivers of
successful SMWTs. However, the use of SMWTs by library administrators appears to be
underutilized.
Research limitations/implications – While the organizational and administrative benefits
associated with the use of SMWTs are clear, the reasons why library administrators have not used
this tool more frequently remains obscure. Additional research is required to understand the factors –
both personal and institutional – that lead library administrators to either adopt or reject innovative
managerial tools and techniques generally and SMWTs specifically.
Originality/value – This paper provides an important review of the library and management
literature related to the use of SMWTs. The information is presented with the objective of increasing
awareness, debate and additional research on the application of SMWTs in the library environment.
Keywords Autonomous workgroups, Industrial democracy, Team leaders,Library management
Paper type Literature review
Introduction
With very few exceptions, the skills required to manage a college or university library
remained relatively unchanged for almost the entire twentieth century. However,
according to Zaho and Resh (2001), rapid and continuous change in computer and
information technology – leading to the development of the internet – along with
increasing rates of information transmission, availability and aggregation, are
challenging library administrators to re-configure, engineer and develop entirely new
services (Dionne et al. 2004; Bell, 2005).
In addition, projected shortages of experienced librarians and library managers (see
American Library Association, 2002) are creating, according to Castiglione (2006,
p. 290) “managerial challenges for librarians on a scale unprecedented in the history of
the library profession.”
Managing change of this magnitude, in the opinion of Shoaf (2004), requires the
application of different leadership skills. Today, library administrators must “build-in”
higher levels of organizational flexibility and responsiveness in order to “manage
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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Self-managing
work teams
379
Received 1 September 2006
Revised 8 October 2006
Accepted 12 February 2007
Library Management
Vol. 28 No. 6/7, 2007
pp. 379-393
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/01435120710774512
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