Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Dr Judith Broady-Preston
Department of Information Studies, University of Wales, Aberystwyth (DIS,UWA), SY23 3AS, UK, email: jbp@aber.ac.uk
Presentation to the 7th Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries and Information Services, 13-16 August 2007, Spier Conference Centre, South Africa
Outline
Methodology
theres the whole Internet out thereBrilliant for my sort of work. Researching articles, going through newspapers for references. The amount you can just download. University libraries hardly get used these days (Professor Laurence Hawker in Brett, S. Murder in the Museum 2003) it is easy for an academic library to become complacent because it has no natural information competitors on campus to stimulate the business instincts to market within an institutional structure (Dodsworth, 1998)
University of Wales, Bangor, and SOAS as a result of the explosion of information accessible via the Internet, coupled with the increasing sophistication of our users with regard to information-seeking behaviour, our future role must be in stressing value-added service in the delivery of information and one whichaddresses customer need directly (BroadyPreston and Preston, 1999)
Why CRM?
as colleges increasingly embrace distance learning and ebusiness, CRM will become stronger and more pervasive. Viewing students as customers provides a competitive advantage for higher education and enhances a colleges ability to attract, retain and serve its customers (Seeman and OHara, 2006)
Need to develop better understanding of how value is created for customers (Gronroos, 2007)
Why CRM?
businesseshave managed relationships with their customers for centuries (Fletcher, 2001) RM
Synonyms?
is based on a notion of trusting cooperation with known customers (Besant and Sharp, 2000) views stakeholders as potential active partners who are capable of contributing, if reciprocal value is offered, to the effectiveness of the firms market purpose, i.e the competitive satisfaction of customers through the development and provision of superior customer value ( Tzokas and Saren, 2004)
CRM
a generic term to describe processes thatseek to join up a company's customer-focused information systems and to track dealings with individual customers throughout the relationship life cycleto meet individual customers needs more effectively and efficiently (Palmer, 2005) CRM traditionally focused on the electronic or e delivery of information per se. However, increasingly the terms are differentiated, with there being a growing body of work evaluating the systems used to integrate customer informationand exploring the use of websites in the creation of customer relationships (Broady-Preston and Felice, 2006)
e-CRM - a misnomer?
Convergence?
RM and KM both recognise the value to be created through appropriate synergies of technology, people and process (Rowley,2004 based on Tzokas and Saren, 2004)
Problems?
customers may not wish for a relationship at all (see Palmer, 2005) If a relationship sought is long-term desirable?
repeat purchases/visits may result from lack of alternatives or convenience online vs offline impact on loyalty and residue from past relationships
Why?
to explore
suitability of methodology adopted extent of transferability, especially across national boundaries any similarities/differences in findings to illuminate larger scale research project
NB use of multiple-case applicationsdevelops the empirical evidence to support and sharpen the theory (Yin, 1994)
interaction amongst participants individuals to discuss and expand upon their experiences ascertaining needs of target groups , especially those sharing workplace or occupation (see Walters, 2004)
Why?
strong in extracting active and spontaneous opinions due to mutual interaction among the participants and the less pressure [sic] on the interviewees part (Satoh et al, 2005)
UK Partnership academics and university librarians SCONUL volunteers NB need to implement change if necessary Employs action research methodology
Action research
Action research is
participative clients are involved as partners in the research process nb not lab rats qualitative cyclic nb academic cycles reflective requires critical reflection on processes and outcomes each cycle responsive needs to be able to respond to emerging needs of the situation (also flexible) emergent gradual process early cycles help inform later cycles test and refine interpretations nb links to learning
Action research
works in natural language aids understanding and communication crucial in large projects critical reflection for each cycle reinforces shared understanding and lends rigour capable of encompassing wide variety of research methods viz
Critical action research ( Carr and Kemmis, 1986) Soft systems methodology (Checkland, 1981) Qualitative evaluation/naturalistic inquiry (Lincoln and Guba, 1989)
used extensively in educational research nb links to information literacy research Parma study (see Vezzosi, 2006)
establishment of communities of practice - library staff playing active role in formation and management (Malta) active participation in research centres and groups (UK) information literacy sessions offered for academics extensive training for library staff to undertake new roles increase in usage statistics and positive user evaluations
Pros
addresses contemporary professional concerns encourages reflective practitioner provides CPD opportunities for staff generates robust theory grounded in practice
Cons
time-consuming
change results practical issues project management and development sample is self-selecting
convene Steering Group finalise full partnership acquire seedcorn funding for methodology training acquire funding to roll out partnership project
Obstacle = TIME!!
Finally