THE PATH OF TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE

Introduction
The position of Librarian at University of Lethbridge had experienced a high turn-around with about ten individuals holding the position in the past forty years. Contrary to the Western Canadian University libraries, holding the position on an average of less than one term of five years was uncommon (Nussbaumer & Merkley, 2010).
The previous staffing model hindered differentiation of the workforce. A new university Librarian (UL) who comes out of the organization assumed office in August 2008. The librarian had the key duty of initiating transformational change in the organization (Nussbaumer & Merkley, 2010). After an internal meeting, the UL realized that there was urgency to change the organizational, cultural and operational levels in the library. Operationally, the staffing was compromised. The organizational culture discouraged innovation, flexibility and expertise. The overall structure of the organization made no one accountable, since power was only held by those in top positions, the locus of power is centralized (Nussbaumer & Merkley, 2010).
Moving Forward
The new UL communicated the vision for change as “moving forward”.  A number of changes were reflected in this vision. First off, the committees had to be replaced by task forces or work groups. The groups consisted of both librarians and staff. There were operational and cultural challenges that evolved with this grouping. The organizational politics had taken root, calling for systemic change. There are a series of changes that could transform the organization so as to move forward. This include: Creating a framework for change, leveraging outside expertise, building a leadership team, managing transition, reflections, forming operational teams and work groups, and influencing the organizational culture (Nussbaumer & Merkley, 2010). There is time frame attached to each and every strategy based on what is to be achieved and the level in the organization.
There are eight steps that when embedded to the strategies of systemic change the organization would undergo transformational change. These include: creating importance, forming a guiding coalition that is powerful, creating a clear vision, vision communication, empowering of the staff, leaders, and librarians to act on the vision, planning short-term goals, consolidating relevant improvements,  and instituting new approaches to the organization, culture and operation levels (Nussbaumer & Merkley, 2010). The importance of each and every step and its importance that clearly surfaces when embedded to the strategies are also explained in the article.
The only big challenge to transformational change is the communication of the vision for change at every level and opportunity that arises in the programs and plans of the library and university at large (Nussbaumer & Merkley, 2010). According to Nussbaumer & Merkley (2010) the community must also be engaged as well as the external environment of the library. Therefore, the library has to work with the university administration to be able to push initiatives, gain support from the students as well as faculty and discuss the plan with staff outside the library (Nussbaumer & Merkley, 2010). Nussbaumer & Merkley (2010) point out that the success of transformational change occurs when the old system is replaced with new. Whereas the library of University of Lethbridge has not reached the final step, there are eminent progresses made in the path of having successful transformational change.
My Opinion
From my own point of view the article is very well written. The facts used to support the ideas in the article concerning transformational change are legitimate and plausible in almost any organization that yearns to introduce change into the organizational setting. The choice of a university library and finally analysis is well done because the universities are widespread and actually house most people from different backgrounds. Organizations that have failed to meet their targets can borrow a lot from this case study and probably sharpen their weak points. One thing becomes clear from reading this article. Teamwork and good leadership are the key ingredients to the success of any organization.

Reference (s)
Nussbaumer, A. & Merkley, W. 2010. The Path of Transformational Change, Library Management, 31(8/9), 678-689.