Team management and university libraries in Ghana: the influence of culture
| Pages | 287-293 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01435120210432255 |
| Date | 01 September 2002 |
| Published date | 01 September 2002 |
| Author | Edwin Ellis Badu |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Teammanagementand
universitylibrariesin
Ghana:theinfluenceof
culture
EdwinEllisBadu
Introduction
Theaimofthispaperistoprovokediscussion
ontheconceptofteammanagementinthe
contextofAfricanuniversitylibrarieswith
particularreferencetoGhana.
Thetraditionalhierarchicalorganisational
structuresthatexistinouruniversitylibraries
andourorganisationalculturearethosein
whichtruthandideascomeultimatelyfrom
thoseinhigherpositions.Subordinates
cannotusuallyapproachseniormembersto
contradictthem,whichsuggeststhat
team-basedsystemsarelikelytobeeither
non-existentordifficulttoimplement.
Thesestructuresremainasformidableas
ever.Thisisprobablyduetothefactthatthe
rootsofthesehierarchieslieintheGhanaian
macro-culturalenvironmentandpartly
becauseofcolonialism.Ghanawascolonised
bytheBritishuntil1957andtheBritishsetup
thefirstuniversityin1948.Asaresult
Ghanaianuniversitiesandtheirlibrariesare
modelledontheoldBritisheducational
systemintermsoftheirorganisation,
structuresandmanagement.
Thesestructureshaveremainedunchanged
inGhanadespitethefactthatmostlibrariesin
theUKhavemovedtowardsamoreorganic
structure.UKlibrarieshaveadoptedteam
management,andotherrelatedtechniques
derivedfromtheprivatesector,forthe
effectivemanagementoftheirlibraries
(Evans,1991;Thompson,1991;
Barlow,1989).
Teammanagement±definitions
FrancisandYoung(1979)describeateamas
beinganenergeticgroupofpeoplewhoare
committedtoachievingcommonobjectives,
whoworkwelltogetherandenjoydoingso,
andwhoproducehighqualityresults.
JohnsonandJohnson's(1991)definition
emphasisesrelationshipsbystatingthat:
Ateamisasetofinterpersonalrelationships
structuredtoachieveestablishedgoals.
Lanza(1985)describedateamasbeing:
Agroupofindividualsworkingtogetherinwhich
thesuccessofanyindividualisdependentonthe
successoftheentiregroup.
Inthesearchforadefinitionofateam,other
authorshavelikenedittoasportsteam,for
example,Dyer(1977)definesteamsas:
Theauthor
EdwinEllisBaduisSeniorLecturerintheDepartmentof
InformationStudies,UniversityofGhana,Ghana.
Keywords
Universitylibraries,Ghana,Teamwork,Management
Abstract
Aimstoprovokediscussionontheconceptofteam
managementinthecontextofAfricanuniversitylibraries,
withparticularreferencetoGhana.Itconsidersthe
influenceofthehistoricalrootsoftheuniversities,and
describestheaspectsofthesocio-culturalenvironment
whichinfluencetheoperating environment.Areviewof
theliteratureisprovided.
Electronicaccess
Theresearchregisterforthisjournalisavailableat
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregisters
Thecurrentissueandfulltextarchiveofthisjournalis
availableat
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-5124.htm
287
Library Management
Volume 23 .Number 6/7 .2002 .pp. 287±293
#MCB UP Limited .ISSN 0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/01435120210432255
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