Purpose:
The focus of this paper is the establishment of a data driven marketing framework, to help evaluate performance and offer customer insight.
The quest for demonstrable quality is an increasing topic on many library agendas. Quality is defined as ‘consistent conformance to customer’s expectations’ (Slack et al., 2010). Therefore, in order to measure quality, it is imperative to understand customer expectations, which is done through effective marketing.
At Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), the Library Services Management Team decided to create a bespoke marketing information system, to use its vast array of data to produce a regular marketing report. The aim of this presentation is to demonstrate performance levels, identify areas for development/investigation and to evaluate strategic initiatives for impact.
Design, methodology or approach:
The methodology is based upon Smith and Raspin’s data to insight wheel (2008) and how best to use and organise data in order to develop customer insight. This considers how best to transform data to information, to create knowledge and insight in order to direct resources and planning to where it will have the most impact.
A project team was formed of the Associate Director, the Team Leader for Business Control and two Library Services Managers to consider this more fully.
The LJMU approach took three main strands:
Evaluation of Existing Position – An inventory of all performance measures (both qualitative and quantitative) was collected and classified accordingly.
In addition, research interviews were carried out with several library managers to ascertain their perceptions of the existing data provision and how they used it to inform their decisions.
The main findings from these interviews were that the department was lacking in combining its different service metrics in order to provide an overall picture of performance. In addition, that relative measures were, in general more useful than absolute figures. This meant considering data in relation to an appropriate frame of reference (e.g. past performance).
Research – A focus group was held with the current Library Services Management Team, to ascertain which combination of the current performance measures would offer the best overall picture of current service levels.
Prior to this focus group, the participants were forwarded copies of the latest NSS qualitative comments, and the list of existing performance measures. The former was to give insight into what aspects of existing service matter most to students.
Participants were then requested to consider several aspects of service provision and any relevant data. This included services mentioned and not mentioned in the NSS comments, and data associated with each of these service offerings. Participants were then asked to identify those indicators which they believed to give the best overall picture of service.
Design – Based on the findings of the focus group, the project team produced a draft report, using Power BI, a business intelligence tool, used for presenting data for easier interpretation. This combined those metrics identified as key by the focus group, to offer an overall picture of existing performance, and allow for connections between different service areas, in a more holistic way then has ever been attempted before.
Findings:
At the time of writing, this initiative is still in progress and therefore findings are limited. However, initial work has proved positive. A recent benchmarking exercise, using relative measures, has identified a couple of areas for service development, required as a priority.
Research or practical limitations or implications:
Although this particular initiative has mainly concentrated on quantitative data, it is important that qualitative data is not overlooked. Qualitative data is a necessary complement to any quantitative framework as it can often provide the ‘why’ to quantitative data’s ‘what’.
The framework is still very much in its infancy and therefore evaluation is still ongoing. There will be more evidence of its impact available by the time of the conference, however, it is not possible to give more detail at this point.
Conclusions:
This has been a very timely exercise for a number of reasons. Firstly, there has long been a desire by Library Managers to use data in a more systematic manner in order to assess service performance as a whole. In addition, it has provided a strong baseline by which to assess ongoing performance, including identifying potential strategic initiatives and evaluating their impact.
Finally, the University has recently requested that Library Services review its performance measures included in its monthly return to the Vice Chancellor’s office. This has offered a mechanism by which to ensure that the department really is providing the best possible service.
It is anticipated that this is the first step in establishing a wider quality management framework which encompasses all aspects of library service, as well as a more data driven culture.
Originality and value:
The work described in this paper is the culmination of using data to underpin a variety of business functions, including evaluation of strategy, operational performance and marketing.
This paper would be of interest to those looking to assess overall library performance. It assists managers in their decision making, as well as identifying and evaluating strategic initiatives. Its methodology is widely replicable, and easy to implement, and therefore would have wide interest across different institutions.
References:
Slack, N., Chambers, S. and Johnston, R. (2010). Operations Management (6th Edn). Pearson: Harlow.
Smith, B. and Raspin, P. (2008). Creating Market Insight: How Firms Create Value from Market Understanding. Wiley: Chichester.
Impact , Value , Analytics , Performance Indicators , Data , Usage , Frameworks
