Transforming Singapores Public Libraries - Case Study Example

The advance in information search technologies was rendering the old libraries defunct, thus the call to upgrade them to meet the present and emerging needs of library users. The change was massive in that there was an overhaul of the entire management style from hierarchical to a team-based approach. The culture of the library was also changed. From a strategic standpoint, the change was aimed at increasing the competitiveness of public libraries by making them customer-centric, which would be equated to profit maximization in for-profit organizations.
Q 2
The Singapore library system’s “customer” is the general public, which includes students, people with small business enterprises, and individuals of various ethnic backgrounds. The “product” offered by the library includes books and other collections that facilitate learning and promote cultural heritage.
Q3
Initially, service delivery was through queuing for services and there were a lot of inefficiencies. In order to reduce the lines for services, a self-service system was implemented in which self-checkout machines were used. Unlike the traditional libraries, the change ensure that Singaporeans accessed the libraries anytime and from anywhere by making available electronic information to users, which they could remotely access.
Q4
The traditional service delivery remained unchanged. This is because the aim was to use technology to improve rather than replace the traditional service delivery systems. The retention of the traditional service delivery system was not a change failure, but an intentional move by the NLB.
Q5
The major components of the change effort included the government, the community, the management, and the entire staff of public libraries. The government provided the financial support required for the transformation process. The staff is a crucial part of the change as they are affected directly by the change process and thus must be included in the process to reduce the chance of change resistance. The components work together to ensure the success of the change process.
Q6
Yes. The order in which things happened remains crucial to the success of the whole project. For every change, there are steps that must be followed in order to ensure that the desired change is implemented successfully. By executing the activities in the order in which they happen, the NLB was able to track the milestones achieved and what still needed to be done to get the change implementation to the completion point.
Q7
The reengineering in the case of Singapore libraries succeed as far as the milestones achieved are presented in the case. The libraries achieved greater efficiency eliminating the traditional sluggish borrowing process and increasing the rate of borrowing as well as the number of borrowers. Read More