THE ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE OF UNIVERSITY
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01435129310023484 |
| Published date | 01 January 1993 |
| Pages | 28-30 |
| Date | 01 January 1993 |
| Author | Manorama Srinath |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
LIBRARY MANAGEMENT
The Organizational Climate
of University Libraries
Manorama Srinath
The concept
of
personnel management
merited considerable interest from thinkers
even
in the
days
of the
Renaissance
and
later
the Industrial Revolution.
In
fact much
verbiage
has
flown under
the
bridge
of
personnel management over
the
ages.
However,
in
spite
of a
heavy output
of
research publications regarding
the
concept,
the practical management
of
personnel
remains
a
complicated process
in
many
organizations. Personnel management
in
many libraries poses certain unique problems
for several reasons such
as
discrepancies
in
designations, qualifications, duties
and
salaries
for the
different hierarchical levels
of
the
staff.
Apart from these discrepancies,
the
personal problems
of the staff,
such
as
lack
of social recognition,
job
satisfaction, under-
utilization
of
staff skills
and
personal
conflicts among
the
various hierarchical
levels,
are
some factors which make personnel
management more complicated.
The root cause
of all
these problems
can
be traced
to
three vital organizational factors
which make personnel management
in
libraries
a
very complex process.
The
first
factor
is the
leadership process. Many
librarians
do not
know
how to
make
use of
their highly qualified employees
and
keep
them busy with challenging jobs. Maintaining
traditional manual methods does
not
lead
to
creativity, which gradually decreases their
enthusiasm.
The second major problem
is
that many
libraries have been shown
to be
ideal
bureaucracies which emphasize
pre-
formulated rules
and
procedures.
As a
result,
the library staff have
to
restrain their
activities
in a
specific sphere
and
cannot
expand their functions
or
activities without
getting prior permission from
the
higher
authorities whose decisions
are
highly
influenced
by
political, organizational
and
economic policies.
The third most vital factor
is
lack
of
motivation
and job
dissatisfaction. Though
librarianship
is
considered
to be a
profession,
it cannot
be
compared with other professions
like technology
and
engineering where
the
more skilled
or
qualified
the
employees
are,
the more creative they
can be.
Library
professionals
who
have acquired masters
degrees
or
similar higher qualifications often
feel very frustrated because their capabilities
are under-utilized, which leads
to job
dissatisfaction.
Motivational forces play
a
vital role
in the
job context
in any
organization. Promotional
chances
are the
most significant motivational
factors
and
librarians often have very little
chance
of
promotion.
There
are
various other factors which
influence
the
process
of
personnel
management
and
they contribute
to
better
understanding
of the
organizational climate.
ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE
The concept
of
organizational climate
has a
very prominent position
in
industrial
and
organizational psychology,
but the
concept
is
relatively
new in the
field
of
Library
and
Information Science. Because this concept
has been viewed differently
by
different
authors,
it has
been termed
a
"fuzzy"
concept. However,
in
general,
it
refers
to the
"climate"
or
"perception"
of the
employees
about their organization.
In
other words
it is
considered
as the
"personality"
of the
organization
as
perceived
by the
employees.
The characteristics
of
climate have been
identified
as:
leadership style, communication
pattern, decision-making process,
motivational forces, policies, procedures,
organizational structure, goal-setting process,
Library Management.
Vol. 14 No 1, 1993. pp.
28-30,
©
MCB
University Press. 0143-5124
28
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