Competing values: a preliminary report of a multistage examination of library administrators' perceptions of competitive behaviours

摘要

The purpose of the study is to determine the perceptions of competitiveness held by head library administrators in libraries in North Carolina. The purpose of the study is being achieved through addressing the overarching research question: "How do head library administrators in North Carolina perceive competitive behaviours?" with the following sub-questions: 1. How do head library administrators in North Carolina perceive their own competitive behaviours? 2. How do head library administrators in North Carolina perceive their peers competitive behaviours? The conclusions to be drawn from the first stage of the study include: Regardless of library type, the majority of head library administrators perceive that they are competitive at work. Regardless of library type, the majority of head library administrators perceive that their peer library administrators are competitive at work. Regardless of library type, the majority of head library administrators perceive that they are not competitive outside of their own career performance or their library's performance. There is no statistical evidence to date that a type of library setting is associated with the perceptions of competitive behaviour of the respondents. There is no statistical evidence to date that previous administrative experience prior to becoming a library administrator is associated with the perceptions of competitive behaviour of the respondents. The majority of respondents perceive that their own competitive behaviours are similar to but slightly more competitive than their peer's competitive behaviours. Results indicate that most library administrators who report that they are competitive at work have a similar perception that their library's performance is also competitive. There is sufficient evidence to date to continue the established study design in support of the theory proposed by the researcher.