Organisational Culture for Information Managers

178 Pages·2011·0.92 MB·English

by  Gillian Oliver (Auth.)

Organisational Culture for
Information Managers
CHANDOS
INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL SERIES
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Organisational Culture
for Information
Managers
G O
ILLIAN LIVER
Chandos Publishing
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First published in 2011
ISBN:
978 1 84334 650 0
© G. Oliver, 2011
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List of tables
1.1 Framework for information culture assessment 10
2.1 Mapping of Trompenaars’ and Hofstede’s
dimensions 37
2.2 Work organisation differences in low and high
PDI societies 41
2.3 Work organisation differences in low and high
UAI societies 46
2.4 Differences in low and high IDV societies likely
to impact on information management 53
2.5 Workplace differences in low and high MAS
societies 59
ix
About the author
Gillian Oliver’s background in information management
spans libraries and records services in a number of diverse
organisational settings. She is originally from London, where
she completed her initial library studies qualifi cation. She
lived in Germany for ten years, and was Medical Library
Consultant to hospitals run by the United States military in
Europe.
Since moving to New Zealand her focus has changed to
records and archives. After consulting for a wide range
of public and private sector organisations, she developed
a records and information management qualifi cation for
delivery by distance education. These experiences in
very different cultural environments led to her doctoral
research at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, which
investigated information cultures in three universities in
different parts of the world. Gillian is currently Senior
Lecturer in Archives and Records Management at Victoria
University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
The author may be contacted at:
E-mail: [email protected]
xi
1
2
3
4
5
Introduction 6
7
8
Abstract: This introduction to Organisational Culture for
Information Managers provides the key information relating 9
to the intent and purpose of the book. The scope of the book 1100
is organisational culture for information managers of all 1
types, including both librarians and recordkeepers (records
2
managers and archivists). Content of the book includes
3
discussion of the concept itself and constituent layers
4
(national, occupational and corporate culture), culminating
5
in the introduction of the concept of information culture.
Examples are provided of the practical implementation of 6
projects tailored to suit different organisational settings. 7
8
Key words: organisational culture.
9
2200
1
Scope and audience
2
3
The purpose of this book is to explain and explore the 4
concept of organisational culture, specifi cally within the 5
domain of information management. Understanding 6
organisational culture is fundamentally important for 7
anyone working in information management. In today’s 8
digital environment the workplace is characterised by 9
individuals creating information often independently of 3300
formal systems, or even establishing new systems without 1
cognisance of information management requirements. 2
Consequently, no matter how technically correct your 3
approaches are to managing information, whether you are 3344RR
1
Organisational Culture for Information Managers
1 working in a library, records services or archives setting, if
2 you do not take into account the organisational culture
3 success will be patchy at best. So the overriding purpose of
4 this book is to emphasise the signifi cance of organisational
5 culture, and to explain the complexity and infl uence of this
6 construct.
7 Often ‘information management’ is defi ned solely from the
8 perspective of one occupational group, and understandably
9 so. However, it is important to stress in this book that the
1100 perspectives of groups sometimes perceived to have
1 competing interests are taken into account. The intended
2 audience for this book is practitioners working in all
3 occupations that make up the information management
4 landscape, but primarily librarians, records managers and
5 archivists. In addition, those currently studying for
6 qualifi cations in these particular occupational groups should
7 also fi nd much of interest and value. In order to clearly
8 distinguish those groups, the terminology used refl ects
9 Information Continuum1 thinking. Information will often
2200 be referred to with reference to the primary purpose for
1 which it is managed. So, information that is the focus of
2 activities for records managers and archivists is referred
3 to as ‘information as evidence’, managed for accountability
4 purposes. The primary purpose of librarians is to
5 manage information for knowledge or awareness, or for
6 entertainment.
7
8
9 Structure
3300
1 The book consists of seven chapters. Chapter 1 discusses the
2 overall concept of organisational culture. It introduces the
3 model which guides our exploration of culture in organisations,
3344RR which is a multilayer one acknowledging the context in
2
Introduction
which the organisation exists. It explains why understanding 1
organisational culture is so important for information managers 2
and presents the ideas of the leading thinkers in this fi eld. 3
Particular attention is paid to the organisational culture theory 4
of the Dutch anthropologist Geert Hofstede, as this is referred 5
to throughout. 6
Chapter 2 focuses on the fi rst and most fundamental 7
layer in our cultural model: national culture. Again, the 8
theory that is covered in most detail is that of Hofstede, 9
and the characteristic dimensions identifi ed by him are 1100
assessed in terms of their implications for information 1
management. The following chapter departs from our 2
layered organisational model by identifying structural 3
features that infl uence organisational cultures. These 4
structural features include language (considerations relating 5
to the use of different character sets, and multiple languages), 6
regional technological capabilities and the regulatory 7
environment (particularly focusing on the laws which are 8
so crucial to information management such as privacy, 9
copyright and freedom of information). Legislation is 2200
culturally relevant from two perspectives: fi rst in terms of its 1
manifestation at a jurisdictional (national or regional, for 2
instance) level and secondly in terms of employee awareness 3
and acceptance of its provisions. These areas will greatly 4
infl uence what happens as regards information management 5
in organisations. 6
Chapters 4 and 5 each consider the two remaining layers of 7
our organisational culture model: occupational and corporate 8
culture. Occupational culture refers to the characteristics 9
associated with the occupations or professions that people 3300
belong to. These characteristics can be very infl uential in 1
terms of the way that people interact with information. This 2
chapter also consider the occupational culture of information 3
managers. Corporate culture refers to the uppermost and most 3344RR
3
Organisational Culture for Information Managers
1 superfi cial layer of organisational culture, the part that is the
2 most susceptible to change.
3 The purpose of the fi nal two chapters is to link all this
4 theory clearly to the practice of information management.
5 Chapter 6 focuses on information culture – the manifestations
6 of organisational culture that portray values and attitudes to
7 information in organisations. It describes a three-level
8 framework to use for assessment of an organisation’s
9 information culture, and includes suggestions for how to
1100 fi nd the relevant data for diagnosis. Finally, Chapter 7
1 presents a series of scenarios. These include establishing a
2 special library service, developing a business case for a digital
3 library, implementing an electronic document and records
4 management system, and establishing an in-house archival
5 repository. Each of these scenarios suggests strategies to take
6 into account different organisational/information cultures.
7 Throughout the book, examples from my experience
8 studying different organisational concepts are provided to
9 illustrate the concepts under discussion. In addition to
2200 examples drawn from my normal working environment
1 in New Zealand, others are taken from a series of case
2 studies, which compared information management at three
3 universities, each situated in places where there were likely
4 to be cultural differences (Australia, Hong Kong and
5 Germany). In addition, further examples are used from a
6 period spent at Tallinn University, Estonia. Most chapters
7 conclude with suggestions for further reading.
8 Understanding organisational culture and using that
9 understanding to develop tailored strategies for information
3300 management is a demanding undertaking requiring that
1 information managers accept that there is no one-size-fi ts-all
2 approach. However, the benefi ts in terms of successful
3 organisational information management that are likely to
3344RR accrue will be substantial.
4