Service Quality and Consumer Satisfaction in Academic Libraries - Case Study Example

?Service Quality and Consumer Satisfaction in Academic Libraries Until we enter a totally paperless era, the library remains an indispensible facility to all academic institutions, which help facilitate the learning process within its portals. As our world progresses so is its knowledge and as such the volumes of books as well as other published learning materials that a library keeps or should keep is continually increasing. Furthermore, with the advancement of information technology the standard operational procedures of a library have greatly changed. This influences the expectations of a libraries clientele in so far as service quality and consumer satisfaction is concerned. For this reason, there is an urgent need to identify and understand the factors that play a key role in bringing about improvement in a library’s quality of service and consumer satisfaction. Going through the process of development an academic library’s management should then start to “measure the gap between customers' expectation for excellence and their perception of actual service delivered by the library”. (Nitecki, 1997, p.1) this would be done by employing surveys that are structured using what is known as the “5 ServQUAL dimensions” (Nitecki, 1997, p.1), which are, “Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy”. (Nitecki, 1997, p.1), respectively these dimensions focus on, physical materials as well as the facilities of the library, the manner of delivering on commitments, the willingness to assist customers, the manner on how library employees make a guarantee of service that gets the by-in of the customers, and finally how the library handles every customer concern with care. These dimensions would help in the creation of a structured survey. Another method of measurement that can be utilized to measure the expectation of a library’s clientele would be the LibQUAL method, this method however, directly attacks key areas of a library users “minimum, perceived, and desired levels of service quality” (Lock, Town, 2003, p.3) these key areas are, “Access to Information, Affect of Service, Library as Place, Personal Control”. (Lock, Town, 2003, p.3). Respectively these key areas focus on the “Human Dimension of Service Quality, Required information delivered in the format, location, and time of choice, How users want to interact with the modern library, As well as how adequate the facilities are within the library itself” (Cook, 2003, p.18-21). After Determining the expectations of the library’s customer a “service plan” (Hernon and Whitman, 2001, p.74) can now be formulated. Such a plan is geared towards the continuous fulfillment of the identified needs of their clientele as well as the further improvement of their operational procedures. There are several steps into the creation of a service plan these are: “establishing goals and objectives, taking control, setting expectations, defining the relationship, empower employees, asking for feedback, respond to customers” (Hernon and Whitman, 2001, p.91). After having identified the needs of their clientele as well as the points for improvement with respect to operational procedures, Goals can now be formed. In this formation process an organization has to make sure that the goals it sets are measurable. Thus it is worth noting that in the process of forming these goals one would be able to point out the feasible and the non feasible goals. Take for example goals set by an environmental protection agency, “instead of insisting on the costly attainment of zero pollution instead it had formulated compliance regulations based on acceptable thresholds of tolerance such as pollutant levels not exceeding so many parts per billion” (Hernon and Whitman, 2001, p.75). While it is possible that the maximum potential for attaining consumer satisfaction may not be achieved due to the possibility that some of the needs of library goers might be deemed as a basis for a non feasible and measurable goals, for example “books are always available for borrowing” obviously if a book is in demand chances are there will be situations wherein that certain book will be unavailable, so in answer to this the library might instead consider placing a clear and strict “overnight borrowing only” rule for in demand books, which gives more opportunity for bigger number of library goers to borrow the book. The formation of measurable and feasible goals ensures their achievability and implementation, which translates into the fulfillment of expectations of library goers. An academic library’s consumer’s judgment of how their library meets their needs that would move them to conclude that their expectations of their library are met if not exceeded. Examining the numerous features of the University of east London Library it can be determined that it exhibits 3 points of development that have been evident in the development of academic libraries for the further attainment of service quality and consumer satisfaction, these are "Automation, interconnectivity and networking" resources for availability, “specialization of collections including online resources", as well as the "availability of resources for specific groups of clients". The University of East London has over 25,000 electronic journals available to 18,065 students for easy browsing in their respective field of studies. Likewise with Birkbeck University With 18,479 total enrollees, students are given library access to 353,182 books and 19,885 electronic journals. Both have free wi-fi access for everyone. It is made available for the students who are in need of easy internet access. Apart from that, there are over 1,500 networked computers in the University of East London with free email, internet access, MS Office and SPSS software, on the other hand, the Birkbeck library were given 355 study places and 720 computer workstations available for students with “full range of networked computing services and IT training.”. Included from these computers are the laptops made available for the students to take home and borrow for east London University. For software related advancement, the university library also included the MS Office and SPSS. On the other hand BirkBeck has 43 electronic databases available in their library. Part from this growing technological changes and advancement from the University of east London library, there are still computer stations which are unavailable due to defects and unavailability of internet access. Considering the number of enrollees, it is impossible to meet a considerable ratio of 10:1 for the computer stations even if it was ranked by The Times Good University Guide in 2007 as the number one university in UK for spending on facilities per student (Studylink, 2011) . Given these shortcomings, they still manage to maintain a good relationship with their students by allowing them to use their phones and eat food in the library under the responsible considerations. TAKING CONTROL Like any other organization there is a need for the management of an academic library to “understand the factors that influence how service quality and satisfaction are defined, achieved and assessed” (Hernon and Whitman, 2001, p.78). The awareness of the behavior of these factors would allow management to see how much influence they could exert to the very mission of the organization itself as well as the key points to target to ensure good customer service and satisfaction. Apart from being able to influence an organization’s mission, these factors influence each other as well since they follow a certain circular flow, which we will call “the wheel of influence” (Hernon and Whitman, 2001, p.78). Such management includes the implementation of the “New Library Management System” of the University of East London, wherein they implemented Ex Libris suite of products (Aleph, Primo, Metalib, SFX, Verde etc), an automation solution for academic libraries which are now widely used by other competing universities (M25 Consortium). Birbeck University also joined to the implementation of this new library system. They also launched the use of the East London Theatre Archives (ELTA), which is a database of 19th century play, text, newspapers etc (M25 Consortium). These factors are distributed along the wheel of influence as influence points moving counterclockwise. This influence flow begins with the “funding source” which is placed at the top of the wheel, note that this configuration can change depending on the type of library being represented by the model. (Hernon and Whitman, 2001, p.78). This factor denotes the group of people in charge of the library’s cash flow which is dependent on its mission. Counter clockwise from the funding source the flow moves towards another factor which is the library’s actual “mission” (Hernon and Whitman, 2001p.78. itself which purports the importance of the organization’s funding to the attainment of its mission. Moving further counterclockwise past the mission we get to the next influence point which is “execution” (Hernon and Whitman, 2001, p.78). This factor represents the operation of the library in carrying out its mission. It is also worth noting that in between the influence points mission and execution is where an actual interaction between library personnel and customers take place, this is very crucial to service quality and customer satisfaction in such a way that the interaction leaves an impression on the minds of customers with respect to the kind of service that the library has to offer and consequently this draws a conclusion if the service is indeed satisfactory. One project which supports this claim is the digital archives called East London Lives, a joint project of the Library and Learning Services (LLS), London East Research Iinstitute (LERI and the Institute for Health and Human Development (IHHD), wherein they were able to secure over ?100,000 for the said project (M25 Consortium). Another influence point is the “evaluation” (Hernon and Whitman, 2001, p.79). This denotes the actual assessment of how the library serviced its customers and if the manner in executing these services is in line with the library’s mission. At the center of the wheel of influence we would find “customers” (Hernon and Whitman, 2001, p.79). They are linked to the execution influence point since they are the recipients of library services, they are able to make evaluations, as well as contribute to the funding source for the library. By visualizing and plotting the wheel of influence a library’s management team can now pinpoint areas where they can exercise their authority and make their administrative decisions that will impact service quality and customer satisfaction. SET EXPECTATIONS Library customers would obviously have 1 basic expectation of their library, and this would be to find the reference material that they require available for them to borrow or to peruse. Apart from this expectation many if not all library goers would tend to have no additional expectation of their library at all. Thus it would be rather difficult for this type of customer to determine how good the quality of service is at a specific library, or rate how satisfied he /she was with the service given by the library staff. Unless these types of customers experience a total deviation from their very basic expectation of a library, if for instance this customer would visit a library looking for a certain book which unfortunately is currently unavailable, the customer would not have an inkling on what to expect next and would probably just leave and feel disappointed, but if the staff where to provide the customer with options, possibly to check other branches for availability or to simply place the customers request on queue and making sure that the customer is informed once the materials are available and ready for pick up. This would leave a definitely good impression on the customer that his / her concern is being addressed. Another way to set customer expectation would be to specialize, academic libraries located within the academe would most likely carry learning materials that would cater to the schools within the academe thus setting the expectation in so far as the available learning materials that they have available. Take for example the University of East London which has 3 campuses housing their own libraries that cater to the schools within the campus where it is located. This may not be the case for libraries outside the academe in this case there is a need to be explicit in setting the expectations of would be customers of what collections and volumes of books and learning materials are available. Furthermore since these types of libraries would be catering to a more diversified set of would be customers there is a need to conduct consumer related studies to make sure that their opinions are taken into account. How ever there is still a need to make sure that any move to improve or upgrade operational processes should still be carefully considered in terms of its feasibility and sustainability. DEFINE THE RELATIONSHIP A “transaction oriented consumer relationship” (Hernon and Whitman, 2001, p.81) is one that is definitely void of any personal touch, after discussing the basis of goals, key points to target as far as strategies are concerned, as well as techniques on how to make the customer aware of the scope of service that a library can provide. There is now a need to reinforce this by shifting from a transaction oriented customer relationship towards a “satisfaction oriented consumer relationship” (Hernon and Whitman, 2001, p.81), this can be done by giving a commitment to deliver the expectations set to the customer, this may only appear as written document or a spoken pledge but “this guarantee of satisfaction is the acid test” (Hernon and Whitman, 2001, p.81) for the organization. This guarantee of satisfaction acts as “a self-imposed enforcement” (Hernon and Whitman, 2001p.81). This may not be a common practice with academic libraries as it is more often practiced by business entities that are profit oriented. This kind of guarantee exacts monetary penalty in the event of non-delivery of the commitment given, and although this might be a bit harsh for a non profit organization such as an academic library it gives a clear message of the sincerity and seriousness of the guarantee provided by the library. Which is definitely beneficial for the customer as well as the issuing party as far as service quality and customer satisfaction is concerned. “Probably the next best thing to a financial penalty for service failure is therefore the opportunity to report dissatisfaction to top management”( Hernon and Whitman, 2001, p.82). However, before putting such a penalty into place management should clearly define what constitutes service failure that warrants such a penalty, and should handle such concerns with discretion, so as not to compromise the work motivation of the employee as well as the confidence given by the customer, that may both impact quality of service and consumer satisfaction. EMPOWER EMPLOYEES The thrust to provide excellent quality of service and ensure consumer satisfaction should not remain in a memo sheet simply as a management directive or just an ideal of top management for the employees to follow; this thrust must become the ideal of every member of the organization from top management down to the support staff. In order to effect this change the whole organization though divided by the different hierarchies must act as one team, a team that is committed to consumer satisfaction; this can be done by holding regular discussions between the organizational hierarchies so that operational matters significant to the attainment of the organizations ideals might be addressed. This will also show that actions and concerns of any employee no matter from what tier he or she is included has a direct effect on the whole organization, and is right away addressed. Also, there is a need for continuous and/or advance training for employees with respect to new procedures as well as technological innovations that are going to be implemented; this will increase their competency and confidence in performing their daily duties. Finally, if there is such a policy for penalizing service failures, there should also be a policy to reward outstanding performance, which will further motivate employees to deliver good quality of service in order to earn customer satisfaction. However, in the case of the University of East London, it is difficult to asses the employees since most of the services being provided by the library are electronic-based. Thus, librarians are seen to be of no use. RESPOND TO CUSTOMERS Evaluations from customers may not always be pleasant to read or hear for that matter, especially when negative remarks are being given by the customer answering the evaluation. What is important though is that management answers back to address possible misunderstanding or outright service failure these responses should not in any way be canned, as much as possible they should be personalized, as these responses no matter how difficult the customer can be, has the power to strengthen or weaken the relationship between the library with the customer. Moreover, the results of evaluations made by management must be made available for both the employees of the organization as well as the customers themselves. This transparency translates to how serious the library is in the drive to improve its service quality and consumer satisfaction. Both the positive and negative responses on library operational procedures, from previous evaluations should be monitored in order to check if the solution provided had resolved customer concerns, and if the reinforcement suggested had fortified current best practices. Such responses are visible to the continuing project implemented by the University of East London to cater the growing needs of the students with the help of information technology. CONCLUSION The points discussed provide a step by step process that ultimately concludes to the creation of a holistic method on improving the service quality as well as consumer satisfaction of academic libraries. It is a continuous process of a sustainable development both from the employees and the management. As obviously stated above, it is a never ending cycle of addressing the growing needs of its clientele and improving its service quality in the competitive world. All changes can be addressed by using several methods. It can be manifested through human resource development, change management and technological advancement. The approach can be incremental, drastic or project oriented, depending on the goal and the needs of its clientele. It has also shown that in spite of being a non profit organization the management styles and strategies that it applies in the attainment of its goals do not differ much from profit oriented business organizations. This is due to one common denominator and that is the drive to continually improve service quality and consumer satisfaction. The University of East London Library which focused on technological advancement as reflected by the projects and programs implemented by the institution, fails to address the interpersonal relationship between the employees and the students. SOURCE Hernon, P and Whitman, J 2009, Delivering Satisfaction and Service Quality: A Customer-based Approach for Libraries, viewed 30 July 2011, http://books.google.com/books/about/Delivering_satisfaction_and_service_qual.html?id=fNgoeXaFdc8C. Nitecki, D 1997, SERVQUAL: Measuring Service Quality in Academic Libraries Lock, S and Town S 2003, LibQUAL+ in the UK: a brief report on the SCONUL Pilot Cook, C 2003, LibQUAL a total market survey: from SERVQUAL to LibQUAL+ The Official website of the University of east London. http://www.uel.ac.uk/hss/about/facilities.htm The Complete University Guide (2011). viewed 1 August 2011, : http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/birkbeck M25 Consortium of academic libraries. viewed 1 August 2011, http://www.m25lib.ac.uk/news_from_university_of_east_london_3.html JISC & SCONUL (2008) Library Management Systems Study: An Evaluation and horizon scan of the current library management systems and related systems landscape for UK higher education, viewed 30 July 2011, http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/resourcediscovery/lms_appendix_2_vendor_profiles.doc Unversity of East London (2011).Studylink, viewed viewed 30 July 2011, http://studylink.com/display/provider/provider-info.html?pid=pid-si-30-eal Read More