2009 Conference Archive

PRESENTATION A5

MANAGING CHANGE: HARNESSING TECHNOLOGY TO MANAGE ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE

Sally Scholfield, Janet Chelliah & Belinda Tiffen
University of Technology, Sydney, NSW

Aims:

This paper presents a case study of the organisational restructure of the UTS Library Information Services Department undertaken in 2008. The restructure aimed to simplify a complex reporting and communication matrix and align the department with its parent organisations' strategies and structure. This paper describes how the restructure was implemented and in particular focuses on how technology was utilised to manage change in a multi-campus environment. We hope our experience will assist other libraries manage change and implement social networking concepts as business tools for staff.

Methods:

Using current literature on change management and virtual teams as a theoretical basis, the paper describes the rationale behind the restructure, its implementation and the results of the departmental review which concluded the process.

Results:

This paper measures the success of the restructure against its objectives of aligning the department more closely to the University structure, increasing flexibility and responsiveness to client needs and improving internal and external communication. It also critically evaluates a number of collaborative online tools and measures their usefulness in improving communication and organisational efficiency.

Conclusion:

Managing large scale change in a multi-campus environment presented a number of challenges, including establishing effective communication strategies for geographically dispersed teams. This paper outlines the strategies and tools, including Web 2.0 social networking applications, used to manage the change process, and evaluates their effectiveness against the project's objectives.