Participative Management Practices in the University Libraries of Punjab (Pakistan): Perceptions of Senior Librarians

The purpose of this study was to examine the presence of elements of participative management in the current management practices in the university libraries of Punjab (Pakistan). Seven components of participative management (Organizational structure; Leadership; Decision making; Goal setting; Motivation; Communication process; and Management controls), identified from the previous studies, were selected with the help of management experts. The idea was to develop a more comprehensive study later covering all aspects of participative management. Therefore, a beginning was made to examine the perceptions of senior librarians to find out gaps in the current practice of participative management in the university libraries. The participants included the head librarian and three senior most professionals from each library. Survey method, with a questionnaire, was used. Findings revealed that all the seven components of participative management were generally favoured by the respondents. Both groups of respondents had significant differences on four components: leadership, decision making, goal-setting and motivation. Suggestions are made to improve participative management in these libraries.