Integrating Agile Service Innovation to Enhance Quality Performance and User Engagement in Modern Library Management

Abstract

The new digital landscapes of modern libraries are more dynamic and challenging to manage due to the changing user expectations, the fast rate of change in technologies, as well as the growing responsibility observable in the performance of the libraries. Traditional service delivery models are not usually flexible enough to maintain relevance and institutional competitiveness. In this research, the influence of Agile Service Innovation (ASI) on Quality Performance (QP) and User Engagement (UE) in the contemporary library management systems are observed. Based on the service innovation theory and principles of quality management, a conceptual framework was elaborated that suggests that the ASI can improve QP and UE, QP mediates between them. The quantitative cross-sectional research design adopted and data were gathered in 312 respondents and the sample included academic library users and staff. The proposed relationships were tested through Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The relationships prove that ASI positively affects QP ( 0.61, p < 0.001) and has a direct impact on UE ( 0.34, p < 0.01). Moreover, QP also considerably predicts UE (3) ( = 0.49, p < 0.001) and in part confounds the connexion between ASI and UE. These findings highlight the strategic importance of imbibing agile concepts in service based public organisations. The paper is an addition to the popularising body of empirical research on the notion of organisational agility in the context of non-profit knowledge organisations and a valuable contribution to library leaders who can devise sustainable ways of quality improvement and greater involvement of the user.