Dissertation Information for Eduardo Jose Wense Dias NAME: - Eduardo Jose Wense Dias
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science
SCHOOL:
- University of California, Los Angeles (USA) (1987)
ADVISORS: - William H. Fisher
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - Dorothy J. Anderson - Robert Bonner Andrews - David O'Shea - Diana Thomas
MPACT Status: Fully Complete
Title: MANAGERIAL WORK IN SPECIAL LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION CENTERS IN BRAZIL
Abstract: This study investigated the content of the special library/information center manager's job in Brazil. The research methodology utilized a questionnaire sent to 386 heads of special libraries and information centers in Brazil. Of the 237 responses, 192 questionnaires were used in the study.
Mintzberg's theory of managerial roles was the framework used to investigate managerial behavior as perceived by the managers in the study. The theory describes the content of managerial jobs in terms of ten roles that are performed by all managers.
Two of the hypotheses supported reveal that the informational roles are perceived by the managers as the most important group of roles. Perception of the importance of these roles is greater in 'dynamic' special libraries than in 'static' special libraries. With respect to importance of individual roles, two roles are perceived as the most important ones: the technical expert role and the entrepreneur role.
Another of the supported hypotheses finds that the higher level of the manager in the hierarchy, the more important he/she perceives the strategic management roles to be. The hypothesis that the higher the level in the hierarchy the less important the manager perceives the operational roles to be was not supported.
The fourth supported hypothesis finds that the larger the span of control the more important the manager perceives the leader role to be. And Research Question 2 finds that there is no significant relationship between place of the library in an organization and perceived importance of the roles or role groups.
The activities they feel best prepared to perform were defined as: information-processing/entrepreneurial and leadership/technical. The activities they feel least prepared to perform were defined as: decision-making, and peer and ceremonial.
The study concludes that the behavior of the special library manager in Brazil, as perceived by the job holder, conforms to some of the characteristics exhibited by managers in general and by managers of staff specialists in particular. A particular characteristic to note is the perceived importance of the entrepreneur role, considered one of the most important roles by the managers.
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