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Robert Rochester - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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No Real Competition: Compulsory Competitive Tendering in Victorian Regional Library Corporations
Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services, 2001Co-Authors: Robert RochesterAbstract:With the passing of the Local government (competitive tendering) act 1994 Victoria's Public Library Sector became the first in the world to be exposed to compulsory competitive tendering (CCT). As a consequence, between 1996 and 1999, a large number of Victorian Public Library services were tendered out and subsequently managed on a contractual basis. The contract based model of governance was unique to Victoria and has not been replicated on the same scale anywhere else in the world. Competition for the contracts was almost nonexistent, with no interest from the Public Sector and little interest in existing Library services bidding for contracts in neighbouring areas. The lack of a competitive market meant that the CCT process was ultimately ineffective in terms of financial criteria. However it left a profound and potentially lasting imprint on the structure and management of Victoria's Public libraries. Edited and shortened version of a Monash University Bachelor of Information Management and Systems honours thesis `Managing Public Library operations in a contracted environment: reflections on the impact of compulsory competitive tendering in Victoria's regional Library corporations 1994-1999' Refereed article ********** The local government reform initiatives introduced by the Victorian state government from 1993 left a profound and potentially lasting imprint upon Victoria's Public Library Sector. First, the amalgamation process between October 1993 and December 1994 led to a two thirds reduction in the number of local government councils, from 210 to 78. As a result, many of the amalgamated councils had a number of Library services falling within their boundaries. The process of integrating these individual services, either as single municipality services or in combination with other councils as regional Library corporations, had a significant impact on the overall structure of the state's Public Library system. Secondly, the introduction of the Local government (competitive tendering) act 1994 meant that the Victorian Public Library Sector became the first in the world to be exposed to compulsory competitive tendering (CCT). Competitive tendering had been used by Public libraries as an internal management strategy for many years. However, as a result of the CCT legislation, councils were using the tendering process for their Public Library services, calling for whole of service tender bids and then entering into a contractual relationship with the successful respondent. This had a profound impact upon the internal structure and management of individual Public Library services, many of which had just been formed following the amalgamation process. Study aims This study was designed to develop a deeper understanding of the key issues associated with the introduction of compulsory competitive tendering in the Public Library Sector, particularly in relation to regional Library services ie services spanning two or more council municipalities. Such an evaluation is timely given that, upon entering office in 1999, the Victorian Labor government repealed the mandated targets for competitive tendering and replaced it with a noncompetitive approach to local government reform termed `best value'. As a consequence, the five year period between 1994 and 1999 may represent the only time in which the Public Library services are managed on a contractual basis. In particular, the aim of the study was to document a detailed set of reflections from key respondents about the following broad questions * what were the most significant changes resulting from the contract based approach to managing Public Library operations? * what were the key challenges faced in managing Public libraries on a contractual basis? * what are some of the potential long term consequences for the way Public Library services will be managed in the future? …
Geoff Carson - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Compulsory Competitive Tendering in Victoria's Public Libraries: Beatific Vision or Blunder?
Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services, 1998Co-Authors: Geoff CarsonAbstract:Although much less effectively and with more collateral damage than good performance management, compulsory competitive tendering in Victorian Public libraries has been beneficial in driving change. Management processes and staff skills have been transformed, and a greater focus on mission, customer service, accountability and innovation achieved. However, cost benefits have been negligible and no viable market is in prospect. Derived from an address to the WA Local Government Librarians conference in Perth February 1998 Three years later down a rocky road, what conclusions can we draw from the application of competitive processes to Victorian Public libraries? Which B is closer to the truth--`beatific' or `blunder'? The Macquarie dictionary defines `beatific' as `bestowing blessedness' which are certainly not the B words many Victorian librarians use in the context of competitive tendering. Due, to some extent, to the scale of change and fears of rampant economic rationalism laying waste the Public Library Sector, there has been a considerable amount of uninformed speculation about the process and impact of competitive tendering on Victorian Public libraries. The purpose of this paper is to firstly outline the competitive process as it applies in the Victorian model, and then provide an evaluation of its application to Public libraries. At the introduction of the compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) legislation in the Victorian parliament in 1994, the minister confidently stated `Quality will rise while costs will fall'. So there we had it, the vision splendid, the promise of market testing to drive efficiency and effectiveness across the local government Sector. The CCT legislation is based on four central tenets * a competitive `level playing field' * the packaging of services to facilitate competition and best outcome for ratepayers * the clear separation of client and provider roles * at least 50 percent of council's operating expenditure to be subject to competitive processes It is widely acknowledged that these tenets have only been partly complied with and, that as a result, the legislation has only partly achieved its aims. In contrast to the ideal of a level playing field, it is clear that the process has inadvertently favoured inhouse teams. The emphasis on whole of service packaging, particularly in the human services area, has discouraged competition, while the formerly sacrosanct demarcation between client and provider has become increasingly blurred in the ongoing post contract restructuring of many councils. Stages of the competitive process For the purposes of this paper, six key stages are identified * policy development and planning * service review * strategic planning * specifying the service * tender response * tender evaluation and contractual processes Stage 1 Policy development and planning At this stage, a council's client group establishes a policy and planning framework for the competitive process, which includes * the setting of objectives, strategies and an implementation plan * establishing a code of practice * analysis of packaging options * cost/service benefit analysis of each proposed competitive package While appearing straightforward, experience shows that those councils that have encountered serious problems in the implementation of CCT, particularly in the tender evaluation and contractual stages, have failed to conduct the stage 1 process in a sufficiently comprehensive manner. A critical part of stage 1 is determining the method of selecting and packaging services to be tendered. The principal criteria have tended to include * the potential for lower cost ie potential savings are greater than cost of the competitive process, monitoring and transition costs * the potential for improved service/product quality and greater innovation * ability to adequately specify the service * capacity of the client to handle contract monitoring and accountability * the existence of a competitive market As will be noted later, the applicability of these criteria to Public Library services has been problematic, with cost savings being at best marginal, acknowledged shortcomings with the specification process particularly in the first two years of the legislation and, not least, the near absence of a competitive market. …
Graham Dudley - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Victorian Public Libraries: Facing the Future
Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services, 1998Co-Authors: Graham DudleyAbstract:Victorian Public libraries have undergone major changes since the state's local government Sector was restructured in 1993 - 1995, including being the first in the world to be exposed to compulsory competitive tendering. This paper looks at the overall patterns consequent on the introduction of compulsory competitive tendering and considers some of the directions being taken by libraries, including the introduction of three year funding and service agreements. Revised version of a paper delivered at the `State of the art' Public libraries conference held in Melbourne in July 1998 Victoria has forty four Public Library services, including two specialist Public libraries for people with print disabilities. Of note is the structure of services in Victoria--fifty four of the state's seventy eight councils are members of regional Library corporations. This helps explain some of the responses to compulsory competitive tendering. In 1996/97, expenditure in the Victorian Public Library Sector was close to $100 million. Some key statistics for 1996/97 show the size of operations across the state[1] * 2.4 million Victorians out of a population approaching 4 million are members of the Public Library network * 23.82 million visits were made to Public libraries * 40.16 million loans were made from collections totalling 8.74 million items * $16.1 million was spent on books and materials (21.9% of total expenditure) * 297 branches including 32 mobile libraries * these branches were open a total of 9,500+ hours per week * libraries employed 1412 staff * over 2.6 million reference enquiries were handled The government's core funding programs are administered through the Office of Local Government which is part of the Department of Infrastructure, These programs were worth $22.151 million in 1997/98 and $22.847 million in 1998/99. This paper discusses firstly the compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) process to date in Victoria. It then looks at some of the new directions Public libraries are taking. Compulsory competitive tendering[2] Based on records held by the Office of Local Government, twenty five Public Library services are operating under whole of service agreements. * All but one whole of service tender went to the inhouse bid team--the exception was Melton Shire Council which had no staff team to bid * Competition has been very limited. There is no commercial interest in whole of service bids and only minimal interest from other Library services in bidding for other business. There have been a few examples of this occurring, in both city and country areas * Most, but not all, metropolitan services, including regional Library corporations, have been through the tendering process. This should be seen against the pattern of most councils tendering services across the board * In country Victoria, six services have been tendered out but only one regional Library corporation. One single service council is in the middle of the process and one more council has plans to call for tenders * Most rural regional Library corporations are managed by a chief executive officer/regional Library manager. In these cases, whole of service tendering is possible but administratively very difficult. Individual council members can still get CCT credits through the tendering of components of services * Some councils (East Gippsland, Moreland) have decided that Library services are core council functions and will not be tendered out The first cycle of three year tenders is coming to completion in 1998/99. It will be most interesting to see what patterns emerge. Options include extending a tender under existing conditions, or retendering, or possibly moving to components only tendering. Tendering by components of service, such as materials provision, computer services has proved to be popular and very successful, especially in country Victoria. …
Kerry Wilson - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Collaborative Leadership in Public Library Service Development
Library Management, 2018Co-Authors: Kerry WilsonAbstract:Findings from the formative evaluation of a national Public Library development initiative in England are discussed, with a focus on the practice and impact of collaborative leadership. A Realistic Evaluation approach was used in the study, enabling a nuanced assessment of the initiative’s contexts, mechanisms and outcomes in relation to its core objectives. These included testing innovative, partnership approaches to Library service delivery, encouraging greater synergy between libraries and the arts and other Public and commercial Sectors. Evaluation findings are subsequently contextualised using a conceptual framework drawn from critical management studies on collaborative advantage. Data show that the initiative was an effective catalyst for enhanced collaborative leadership in the Public Library Sector, including the development of a cross-Sector community of practice, with evidence of collective ownership and decision making. The relative collaborative advantages of the initiative are underpinned by evidence on the unique value of Public Library services to collaborating organisations and Sectors. Outcomes are of relevance to a range of Public services and governing bodies with reference to shared strategic objectives with other Sectors and services and collaborative leadership learning and practice. There are implications relating to the Public value of Library services and how this can potentially be enhanced via collaborative leadership approaches to service design and delivery. This is especially pertinent given current cross-government policy drivers towards integrated Public services. The research makes an original contribution to contemporary debates on cultural value in considering the cross-Sector role and impact of collaborative leadership.
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Developing Public Library managers as leaders
Library Management, 2008Co-Authors: Kerry Wilson, Sheila CorrallAbstract:Purpose – The paper's aim is to present findings of the recent evaluation of the Leading Modern Public Libraries development programme with reference to the management versus leadership dynamic. The programme provided a strategic intervention to address a perceived weakness in leadership development within the Public Library Sector in England.Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on recent examples from the literature, the theoretical differences between the concepts of management and leadership are discussed and used to inform consideration of the programme's effectiveness. Evaluation methods included participant observation, interviews, focus groups and a questionnaire survey, each administered at various stages of the programme with a representative sample of programme participants. Verbatim quotations from evaluation respondents are included in the analysis.Findings – The research reveals that the programme has had a positive impact in enabling and developing leadership capacity within the Sector, par...
Hester W J Meyer - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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training needs of general Library workers part 2 challenges facing the Public Library Sector in south africa
South African Journal of Libraries and Information Science, 2010Co-Authors: Hester W J MeyerAbstract:This article, the second of two, deals with the training needs of general Library workers in the South African Public Library Sector. The first appear in this Journal 76(1). This one considers the types of tasks that general Library workers perform, the skills required, and the standards and expectations within the working environment. Data were collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire directed at supervisory staff of provincial and municipal libraries. Interviews conducted with supervisors and a careful study of job descriptions was compared to the results of the survey to ensure validity. The findings revealed that supervisory staff members who used to offer in-service training to general Library workers now increasingly have trouble with new entrants who are not "work-ready". The results show a preference for a learning programme - either formal or non-formal - with a strong vocational component. A need for closer relations between practitioners and educators to negotiate logistics in terms of the completion of the practical component of the programme is envisioned.