ABSTRACT
Job
effectiveness of academic librarians in today’s information age is important as
they are expected to be the vanguard of acquiring, processing, storing and
disseminating information to users. It is of utmost importance for academic
librarians to provide quality information to support teaching, learning,
research and community service. However, the general opinion among professional
members and studies revealed low level of job effectiveness of librarians which
could be due to certain factors in their work environment like leadership style
and organizational culture. The study investigated the extent to which
leadership style and organizational culture influenced job effectiveness of
librarians in universities in South-West, Nigeria.
The
study adopted the survey research design. Population of study consisted of 373
librarians from 35 university libraries in South-West, Nigeria. Total
enumeration was used. A validated questionnaire was used as the instrument for
data collection. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients for each of the
variables ranged from 0.96 to 0.98. Response rate was 80.96%. Data analysis was
done using correlation and multiple regression.
The
findings showed that Leadership style in terms of transformational,
transactional and laissez-faire had a significant positive relationship with
job effectiveness (r = .704, p < .05). Organizational culture in terms of
involvement, mission, consistency and adaptability had a significant positive
relationship with job effectiveness (r = .771, p < .05). Leadership style and organizational culture
had a positive and significant combined influence on job effectiveness of
librarians in universities in South-West, Nigeria (Adj. R2 = .628, F
(2,299) = 254.761, p < .05).
The
study concluded that a substantial relationship existed between leadership
style and job effectiveness. There was also a substantial relationship between
organizational culture and job effectiveness. The study recommended that
university librarians should use a leadership style that encourages effective
performance from academic librarians at any given time. University management
and university librarians should always provide enabling corporate environment
that encourages job effectiveness. University librarians should provide
enabling environment that would encourage adaptability in organizational
culture.
INTRODUCTION
Job effectiveness has to do
with performing a task to the extent of producing the intended result or doing
a duty successfully. The level of effectiveness of the members of staff of an
organization could make or mar the performance of such organization and it
could go a long way to determine the degree to which objectives are achieved
and the extent to which problems are solved. Job effectiveness is important to
every worker including academic librarians as it gives satisfaction, shows
self-efficacy and mastery of the job which leads to promotion, awards and
honour being bestowed on the effective individual (Sonnentag, Volmer and
Spychala, 2010). The job effectiveness
of every worker in a unit of an organization add up to become unit
effectiveness which can culminate in group or organizational effectiveness to
the organization if all or most of its staff are consistently effective on the
job.
Many factors help in determining job effectiveness, these are: the knowledge of a worker in relation to the
task at hand, intelligence, exposure among other ones. Markos and Sridevi
(2010) said it starts from good recruitment and orientation processes and it
includes opportunity for career advancement; provision of all necessary
resources needed to do a good job; training, good communication and feedback
system; incentives; showing interest on
the performing employees; a well spelt-out corporate culture and the attitude
of the leadership. There are various factors that could negatively impact on
job effectiveness these factors include faulty recruitment exercise; lack of
appropriate qualification; lack of technical know-how; lack of relevant and
current information that could help on the job; poor work environment; poor
attitude to work; inadequate tools for working. Other factors that could hinder
job effectiveness include hostility in work physical environment; poor
remuneration and welfare package and other motivational factors; inappropriate
leadership style and organizational culture all of which could lead to poor
provision of goods and services; poor service provider and customer
relationship; poor organizational and national image.
Job effectiveness which
simply has to do with doing the right thing on the job in order to get the
expected result is applicable to every profession including librarianship. The
job effectiveness of librarians is important in the sense that it instills
confidence in the effective librarians; leads to recognition, promotion and
honour; helps the marketability of the effective librarian; encourages high
quality service delivery; helps to foster good relationship between librarians
and library users; boosts the image of the library and the parent institution
and help in realizing the overall mission and objective of an academic library
and that of its parent institution.
Researchers have divergent opinions on job
effectiveness of librarians in Nigeria;
some of them like Yaya, Opeke and Onuoha (2016) in their study on job
satisfaction and productivity of librarians in public universities in Nigeria
observed that the productivity of librarians in public universities in Nigeria was
high. Ogunlana, Oshinaike and Ibrahim (2016) agreed with Yahaya, Opeke and
Onuoha (2016) in their study of commitment of library and information
professionals in Nigeria. Ekere, Omekwu and Nwoha (2016) also reported that
users were satisfied with the resources of the MTN digital library in
University of Nigeria, Nsukka. However studies like Emasealu and Umeozor (2015)
reported poor performance of librarians in Nigeria in the area of community
service programmes. Fashola (2015)
observed poor state of libraries, obsolete collections that did not encourage
patronage from library users in Oyo State Secondary Schools. In line with
Fashola (2015), Idoko, Ugwu and Aba (2015) discovered inadequate and outdated
collections and low level of implementation of user’s programme in 12 unity
schools across Nigeria. The study of Ilo, Idiegbeyan-ose and Adebayo (2015)
carried out among librarians in Ogun State revealed that theses and projects
were not well processed for easy retrieval and usage, not perfectly stored, and
not properly secured against misuse. The study of Oluwaniyi (2015) was also in
the area of preservation of library materials but in Oyo State School
libraries, the study revealed that despite the fact that the school had the
support of the management in the area of preservation, the library lacked
information materials like journals and e-resources, there was also poor
attitude to staff training at national and international levels. Literature,
Ilo, Idiagbeyan-ose and Adebayo (2015) and Umar (2016), revealed that the major
challenges militating against the libraries of the various schools and
institutions in Nigeria included lack of infrastructure, lack of e-equipment,
inadequate number of staff, erratic power supply and majorly lack of funds, all
of which were some of the factors that breed ineffectiveness on the side of the
librarians.
Job effectiveness of
librarians can be measured using such indicators as the ability to achieve
results which includes accomplishing a task within a set period, multi-tasking,
implementing and changing plans when necessary to achieve goals and persistency
in overcoming challenges (The Michigan State University, 2014). It also
includes the ability to communicate effectively which has to do with being able
to pass all necessary information through various formats without ambiguity and
being mindful of various sensitive issues that could cause distortion in the
message being passed. Ability to be dependable which involves being
consistently punctual at work, carrying out duties with minimal errors;
generally being careful and paying attention to details when performing duties
and possessing the relevant knowledge to perform successfully are some
indicators of job effectiveness. Ability to take the right decision that will
benefit the various segments of the organization and the ability to plan and
organize resources to achieve the desired result are also pointers to job
effectiveness. Being able to solve problem using good judgment; producing
highly under pressure and taking responsibility for actions, outcomes and
errors are some other indicators of job effectiveness. It is the duty of the
academic librarians to effectively perform these duties.
According to Bisharat,
Obeidat, Alrowwad, Tarhni and Mukattash
(2017) there are three reasons
for performance assessment which include provision of feedbacks to supervisors
and subordinates, development of employee’s performance and it also serves as
documentation of employee’s performance for reference and legal purposes.
Measuring librarians’ job effectiveness help to monitor progress and keep on
track, to monitor implementation, to identify whether desired goals have been
achieved, to understand how changed goals have been reached, to learn from the
process for research and practice, and to identify and prioritize next steps.
Besides, job effectiveness is measured to effect changes and performance. Measuring job effectiveness of librarians is
similar to measuring the performance of librarians. In so doing, measurement
will help understand change and will inform future decision.
Despite the various indicators that could be used in measuring the
effectiveness of academic librarians, this study will use the LibQUAL as the
measuring instrument to measure their effectiveness. The LibQUAL measures the
effectiveness of librarians in three major dimensions known as service effect,
information control and library as place the instrument has been well tested
and acclaimed to be very effective (Cook, Heath, Thompson, Kyrilidou, Robuck
& Yeager 2013). These are explained as follows:
Service Effect: this has to do with how well library users are
served by library staff going by their professional knowledge, courtesy, care,
readiness and the attention they are prepared to give to each of the library
users.
Information Control: this is connected with provision and accessibility
of information especially using modern information-technology equipment that
will aid easy access to the needed information.
Library as Place: this is about librarians making the library
environment meeting the needs of its users in the sense of its being
comfortable to and inviting to encourage study and learning.
Good leadership as well as appropriate leadership styles could facilitate
job effectiveness and by extension organizational effectiveness. Organizations
all over the world depend to a large extent on the quality of leadership style
provided by its front-runners which is often propelled by the nature of the
organizational environment. Leadership
is found in every area of organizational work and for a leader to and for a
leader to be effective, he is expected to possess some skills, attributes and
behavioural traits like communication skills, being knowledgeable about the
work, having good intelligence, good interpersonal relationship with his team
members, being humane, ability to listen to others, ability to motivate and
reward appropriately. In addition to the qualities, a leader should be able to
adopt a style of leadership that suites his work environment which is subject
to change.
The concept of leadership is constantly changing just as the environments
of organizations are changing especially in this information society where new
information is constantly produced and made available. Therefore, a leader’s ability
to rightly process information gathered through education or training or
experience or a combination of all these may determine the effectiveness of the
leader as quality information is a major ingredient for the success of any
organization in the constantly changing information age. It is also important
that a good leader should understand his work environment; he should know the
strength and weakness of his followers and be able to get the best from their
strength and positively impact on them to mitigate their weaknesses. He should
be conversant with the goals of his organization and influence his team members
to perform their tasks in line with them. Good leadership could influence the
followership to perform effectively to the point of contributing to
organizational effectiveness while bad leadership could lead to poor job
performance and consequently poor organizational performance. Various factors
could hinder the performance of a leader, these include: lack of knowledge of
the job, lack of the right qualification for his job, lack of experience, lack
of technical know-how, insensitivity to the work environments (internal and
external), poor interpersonal relationship, poor communication skills, poor emotional
intelligence and inability to motivate and reward team members appropriately.
A survey of library professionals conducted by Jange (2012) on preparing
library and information science professionals for leadership revealed those
leadership qualities respondents felt they already possessed and those
leadership qualities respondents felt should be possessed by library managers.
Ability to be committed and dedicated was on top of the list of skills expected
of a library manager and was followed closely by possession of strong inter-personal
and other communication skills and ability to care for colleagues and subordinates
was third in the analysis. According to the respondents, the top five
leadership qualities library managers should possess are innovation,
creativity, imagination, vision, and commitment. Library staff especially those
who deal with the public, directly reflect how the library is managed. A
knowledgeable library leader should understand that the library is all about
the people who work there. The changes occurring within libraries are pointer
to the fact that emerging leaders in libraries should possess talents and
strengths different from those commonly associated with traditional leadership
(Philips, 2014).
Studies on leadership styles in Nigerian libraries revealed an array of
styles being used by leaders in these libraries. Ogba (2013) discovered that
the autocratic leadership style which was mostly used by library leaders in
Delta State was perceived to be negative as it was one of the factors that
militated against workers commitment.
Contrary to Ogba (2013), Akor (2014) observed that library leaders in
Benue State used more of democratic leadership style followed by bureaucratic
leadership style while the least used style was autocratic leadership style.
Segun-Adeniran (2015) on his part was of the opinion that appropriate use of
transformational and democratic leadership styles in Nigerian libraries would
lead to creativity and innovation.
The work of Ogbonna and Harris (2000) on leadership revealed that
earliest studies on leadership dwelled more on the personality traits found in
good leaders. The traits theorists believed that successful leaders were born
with certain special qualities that stood them out from those who were not
leaders. However there were problems in deciding these traits or qualities
which led to much criticism of this approach to leadership studies and which
led to the emergence of behavioural and style approaches to leadership studies.
Various styles have been documented in literature which included some of the
contemporary styles like transformational and transactional leadership styles.
Some scholars who specialized on the study of leadership compared transactional
leadership with transformational leadership (Burns, 1978 & Duncand , 2015).
In their argument, they reasoned that transactional leaders are said to be
frequently focused on exchange relationship with their subordinates. On the
other hand transformational leaders are argued to be visionary and
enthusiastic, with an inherent ability to motivate subordinates.
Transformational leadership has been described as leaders who act as agents of
their followers. Both leaders and supporters work together, in an equal
relationship, to fulfill the collective goals of the group (Hicks & Given,
2013).
Literature
has established that the very many leaderships styles frequently reported in
the literature can be categorized into six main leadership styles emanating
from either (1) the trait approach the oldest of the six which assumes that
leaders are born with certain traits; (2) the behavioural approach which viewed
leadership styles from the angle of the behaviour of the leader at work rather
than his/her in-bred traits, (3) the contingency approach to leadership styles
which believes that various factors in the environment of an organization
informs the choice of leadership, (4)
the relationship theory views leadership from the way a leader relates
with his/her group members and impact them at work. Examples of relationship approach
are transactional and transformational leadership (Cole and Kelly, 2011). The
popular autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire Leadership styles are examples of behavioural leaders,
(5) situational approach which argues that leadership effectiveness is
dependent on the leader’s diagnosis and understanding of situational factors,
followed by the adoption of the appropriate style to deal with each
circumstance. Situational leadership style has to do with using different
leadership styles for different situations. It is based on knowing
organizational needs and individual motivation under different circumstances
and (6) the exchange approach which is a suggestion that a leader’s behaviour
is motivating or satisfying to the degree that the behaviour increases the goal
attainments of the team members and clarifies the paths to these goals
(Germano, 2010).
Those leadership styles
which are dynamic and well suited for this change laden information age will be
considered in this study. The leadership styles are discussed as follows: Transformational
Leadership Style: the key profile of a transformational leader includes charismatic
influence, inspiration motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individual
consideration. Aligning the interests of the organization and its members is
the task for the transformational leader. In contrast to the transactional
leader who practices contingent reinforcement of followers, the
transformational leader inspires, intellectually stimulates, and is
individually considerate of them. Transformational leadership may be directive
or participative.
Transactional Leadership Style: transactional leadership views the
leader-subordinate relationship as a series of transactions or exchanges
through the leader’s use of Contingent Rewards by exchanging punishment and
rewards for follower compliance and effort in order to achieve overall
organizational performance (Burns, 1978).
Laissez-faire Leadership
Style: the laissez-faire leader allows his
group members to solve problems their own way in difficult situations; believes
that employees can do their work without guidance from the leader; lets
subordinates appraise themselves; gives complete freedom to the followers to
operate the way they choose; feels that workers need minimal input from the
leader and generally believes that it is best to leave his followers alone (Northouse,
2011).
Leadership style could
impact on various areas in the work place including the organizational culture.
Organizational culture is the acceptable way of doing things in an organization
which permeates every fibre of the work environment. A leader may dictate the
culture of an organization or influence the workforce to behave in a particular
way depending on the leadership style. It is also possible for the
organizational culture to inform the style that a leader uses in his
organization irrespective of the fact that he may have a personal preferred
style. Various authors have written about the two factors in the work place
among them were Osinbanjo and Adeniji (2013) who observed that organizational
culture affects corporate performance and by extension the choice of
leadership. The study of organizational culture is specifically relevant to
libraries because there has been significant restructuring of these institutions,
particularly with respect to the span and scope of services offered
(Kaarst-Brown, Nicholson, VonDron & Stanton 2004). Where there is a
definable group with a significant history an organization’s culture is
initially formed as a result of early experiences and the influence of early
leaders. Organizational culture is very difficult to define and different authors
approached it in different ways but generally speaking they are symbols,
values, behaviours, images, attitudes, assumptions that shape an organization
and are commonly understood. Organizational culture is very important to every
organization because like leadership, the success or failure of the
organization could be determined by the way the culture is managed. Its
importance could also be seen in the fact that it could help to determine the
effectiveness of leadership. Organizational culture could also be managed to
effect change in an organization. It generally determines the climate of an
organization. Flamholtz and Randle (2012) described it to be a true and strategic
asset for the companies which possess a strong positive culture such like
Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Wal-Mart or Google. Organizational culture encompasses values and behaviors that
contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an
organization.
Organizational culture is determined by various factors which include
the mission and vision of the organization, the work environment, the values of
the founding fathers, the external factors of the organization like its
customers, and their values, the competitors, government policy, location of
the organization, the calibers of staff, the level of knowledge management in
the organization. Organizational culture is multi-dimensional and various authors
has classified the various dimension in various ways. It could be classified as
either ethical or unethical. An ethical or unethical organizational culture can
be described using Schein (2004) levels. For example, an artifact of an ethical
culture might be a formal code of ethics, based on an espoused belief or value
of ‘we conduct business honestly,’ which is an expression of the underlying
assumption ‘if we cannot be ethical in conducting our business, we should not
exist’. Organizational culture is reflected in different areas of the organizational
work. It often originates from the values and vision of the company's founders
and it is shaped by top management’s actions and behaviours. Organizational
culture is an intangible asset but it is a very important economic asset of
business enterprises.
According to
Cameron and Quinn (2006), four quadrants of organizational culture were
postulated. They are: team culture, innovative culture, hierarchical and market
culture. Team culture is a family type of culture where cohesion and shared
values are paramount. Team cultures place emphasis on internal maintenance and
concern for people, both customers and employees. Innovative culture is a
common business culture characterized as dynamic, entrepreneurial and creative.
Within an innovative culture, specialized teams are quickly formed and
disbanded. Members strive to develop adaptability, flexibility, and creativity
in order to quickly respond to changing markets. Innovative organizations
develop innovative products and deliver them quickly. Hierarchical cultures
exemplify formal, structured workplaces within the organization. Processes and
procedures are well documented with controlled business activities. Leaders maintain
efficient organizations and offer predictability and stability to employees.
Rather than a common vision, the policies and procedures of the organization
unite employees and allow them to complete organizational goals. When a new
stimulus is introduced to the organization, which is not covered by existing
policies or procedures, the organizations have difficulty determining the best
course of action and are, therefore, often slow to respond or adapt to change.
To enforce the procedures, many levels of
management are required to train workers and ensure process compliance.
Similarly, promotions are highly regulated with agreed upon protocols for
advancement, documented processes each employee must proceed through, and
multiple levels to achieve before an employee becomes an official manager. The
focus on established protocol, however, means that these same organizations do
not respond well to change. When internal or external forces beyond the
organizations’ control create a paradigm shift, the organization is often
unprepared to successfully face the new challenges. The Market culture focuses
on competitive measures such as external positioning and differentiation rather
than flexibility and discretion. Members of market culture organizations do not
focus on internal procedures resembling hierarchical cultures; Success in a
market culture is measured by contributions to the financial bottom-line. They
focus externally on making deals. Market
cultures focus on increasing market share, productivity, and profits to improve
their organization’s position.
A survey by Cameron and
Quinn in 1999 using the Competing Values Framework (CVF) proposes that
organizations reflect one or more of four cultural types: (a) clan, (b) hierarchy,
(c) adhocracy, and (d) market. Moreover Kaarst-Brown, Nicholson, VonDron and
Stanton (2004) extended the dimensions in which the CVF framework has been
applied to the library setting. For example, in applying the CVF framework to
libraries, one can assume that any one institution has a mixture of one or more
of the following dominant characteristics: The library that emphasizes human
development, high trust, openness, and participation (clan-oriented); a library
that emphasizes acquiring new resources and creating new challenges, trying new
things and prospecting for opportunities and value (adhocracy-oriented); the
library which emphasizes competitive actions and achievement and where hitting
stretch targets and winning points in the community are dominant
(market-oriented) while the library where emphasis is placed on permanence and
stability, efficiency, control, and smooth operations are equally important
could be said to be hierarchy-oriented.
Literature search on
organizational culture revealed a dearth of opinion papers and empirical
studies relating to organizational culture in Nigerian libraries. However few researchers
like Adeyoyin (2006) did a study on organizational culture and performance in Nigerian
libraries and opined that organizational culture facilitated staff commitment
and performance in libraries. Mamza, Bassi and Mohammed (2015) discovered a highly
significant organizational culture among the library staff of three federal
universities in North-East Zone of Nigeria. The research of Igbinovia and
Popoola (2016) was carried out among library personnel in Edo State, Nigeria.
The findings of the research showed that the respondents were high performers
with good organizational culture. It was further revealed that there was a
significant and positive relationship between organizational culture and job
performance of these library personnel.
Various researchers in the
field of organizational culture like Schein (2004) and Cameron and Quinn (1999
and 2006) came up with different models of organizational culture but this
research will use the Denison model of organizational culture which has summed
up all the different types of culture in an organization to four cultures,
namely mission, adaptability, involvement and consistency, these are
recognizable and measurable. They are explained as follows.
Mission: shows why staff does what
they do; the purpose for the existence of the organization; the objectives,
goals, strategic plan and the vision of the organization. It shows the link
between staff effectiveness and organizational vision.
Adaptability: organizations that perform well easily adapt, as
they are always interested in innovations. Adaptability, according to theory,
is measured by the three indices: creating change, customer focus, and
organizational learning.
Involvement: organizations with good performance encourage
employees’ involvement by specifying the areas where employees can make their
contributions and those areas where they cannot. Thus a sub-culture of informed
empowerment is promoted. The empowerment and teamwork necessary to address the
competitive environment can be expressed as involvement. Indices measuring
involvement are as follows: empowerment, team orientation, and capability
development.
Consistency: consistency and stability are taken care of by all
high-performing organizations by having core values that help employees and leaders
in taking consistent decisions and behaving in a particular manner
consistently. The employees of such organization interact in order to get
various views that help reach agreement in times of challenges this trait is measured by: core values, agreement,
and coordination and integration.
From the foregoing it could be seen that this study is carried out to
examine the relationship among leadership styles, organizational culture, and
job effectiveness of academic librarian in South-West, Nigerian. Literature has
shown that some of these librarians were not performing well enough in some
areas like provision of internet, availability of collections (print and
non-print) and infrastructure. It was also revealed that libQUAL is not a
common measuring tool for measuring job effectiveness among these researchers.
It has also been revealed that various leadership styles like autocratic,
democratic, bureaucratic and transformational leadership styles were being used
by library leaders going by some researches. Literature has also shown that
there is a dearth of studies on organizational culture in Nigerian libraries
with just few researches being available; the Denison model of organizational
culture was also not popular among the researchers. Therefore this study investigated the extent to which leadership style
(in terms of transformational, transactional and laissez-faire) and organizational
culture (in terms of mission, adaptability, involvement and consistency) influenced
job effectiveness (in terms of service effect, information control and library
as place) of librarians in universities in South-West, N================================================================
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