- This document discusses measuring relationship capital for libraries using a value scorecard approach. - It outlines foundational concepts from economics like transaction cost theory and explores how trust and social capital can reduce transaction costs. - Examples are provided of how relationship measurement has been applied in academic libraries, including through embedded librarians, liaison roles, and customer relationship management initiatives. - A framework is proposed for measuring relationship value in libraries, including components to assess awareness, strength, outcomes, and returns of relationships.

1. Measures of relationship capital
for the Value Scorecard
J. Stephen Town
10th Northumbria International
Conference
Tuesday 23rd July 2013

2. Summary
• Concepts of relational capital
• Some foundation theories
– Transaction costs
– Trust (as a component of social capital)
• Cases: Academic & Special Library history
– Embedded librarians
– The fall and rise of academic liaison
– CRM in libraries
• Conclusions
– A framework for relationship value measurement

3. The Value Scorecard

4. Value & Balanced Scorecards

5. Rationale for relationship measurement
• The Library is still “a growing organism”
(Ranganathan Law 5)
• Engagement and understanding of
stakeholder requirements and context is
essential for service design in changing times
– The role of relationships in innovation and new
service creation is therefore critical
– “Success is a function of healthy relationships”
• Value measurement of all activity is crucial in
constrained or customer-oriented contexts

6. RELATIONSHIP CAPITAL VALUE
Foundation concepts from economics and management

7. Relationship capital (RC)
Definitions
“the sum of all of the relationships of all the people within an
organisation”
(relatedvision.com, 2013)
“the value of relationships that an organisation maintains with
different agencies of its environment”
(Euroforum, 1998)
“the intentional building of a system-wide understanding and capacity
to act, which becomes the asset or ‘glue’ for creating the context for
achieving goals ”
(Darling & Russ, 2000)

8. RC attributes and consequences
– Individual and personal
– internal as well as external
– markets, power, and cooperation
– knowledge sharing and problem solving
– creation of brand & reputation through
connections
– creates or destroys value
– dependent on behaviour and character

9. Calculating RC
• In accounting terms, RC is about the effect of
goodwill as an intangible asset which increases
market value
• Factors for calculating RC
– position power and personal influence
– types of relationship
– strength of relationship
– number of touch points
– as a source of innovation
– measured outside the institution

10. Fukuyama, Trust (1995)
“if people who have to work together in an
enterprise trust one another because they are
all operating according to a common set of
ethical norms, doing business costs less”
“by contrast … legal apparatus serving as a
substitute for trust, entails what economists call
‘transaction costs’”

11. Transaction cost theory
• Coase The nature of the firm (1937)
• “Trust lubricates co-operation” Putnam (2004)
• “focuses on those costs associated with
human interaction” Fussell et al (2006)
– if social capital exists, then transaction costs can
be managed [down], providing a tangible benefit
to outcomes

12. Social capital and relationships
• Social capital and trust
are in inverse relation to
Transaction costs
• Social capital cannot be
built on your own!
• Effective relationships
add value and save cost
where they build trust; so
human interaction
measures are a key
indicator of value
“There are intelligent
[libraries] and stupid
*libraries+ … intelligent
groups gather information
better and adapt better to
reality… thus we find ‘social
intelligence’
Anglada (2007)
quoting Marina (2004)

13. McHale (2006)
The “strength of relationship index”
• 15 relationship dimensions
– Includes
satisfaction, trust, commitment, advocacy, goodwi
ll, repeat business
• StoRI
• Provides a numerical relationship capital
“dashboard”

14. Relationship marketing
The commitment-trust theory of relationship
marketing (Morgan & Hunt, 1994)
“the turn is towards relationship marketing, a
concept that encompasses … relational
marketing …working partnerships … strategic
alliances and internal marketing [this last idea
from Berry & Parasuraman+”

15. Total relationship marketing
Gummeson’s list of 30Rs (2002)
• Classic market relationships (1-3)
• Special market relationships (4-17)
• Mega relationships (18-23)
• Nano relationships (24-30)
Many relevant to libraries within parent
organisations and complex relationships with
various stakeholder groups

16. Other possibilities
Sussan, F. Consumer interaction as intellectual
capital (2012)
– C2C interaction as subcomponent of relational
capital; could be considered in relation to social
media activity in libraries

17. Peck & Payne Six market model (1998)

18. DANGEROUS LIAISONS
Application cases in libraries: people, markets, relationships

19. The embedded librarian
Gertrude Lamb Clinical Librarianship (1971-)
• “the clinical librarian as a member of the patient care
team”
• “a valuable interface … the key to better patient care”
• “ … must observe the ways in which health
professionals are currently seeking information”
• “a working member – not just an observer – of the
team”
• “I can measure my acceptance”
• In 1984, described the application of the Rothenberg
Model for effectiveness and efficiency

20. The measure of academic liaison
The effective academic library (1995)
Integration
Indicator P1.4 Liaison
“evidence of formal and informal communications
between the library service, the senior management
of the institution, academics and students … to
assess the degree of effective and dynamic
communication to inform service provision”

21. The measure of academic liaison
Johnson, 1st Northumbria Conference (1995)
• Two broad headings: activities and
relationships
– Academic liaison primarily about the latter
• Seven relationships [markets]
• Effectiveness measure: relationship quality
– ‘Warmth’ variation?
– ‘Trouble free’ but is smooth good?

22. The nadir of academic liaison
• Bangor University (2005)
– reduce 6 subject librarians to 1 user support officer
– “the support … from the qualified subject librarians is hard
to justify in value-for-money terms at a time when the
process of literature searches is substantially de-skilled by
online bibliographical resources”
– East (2007) a literature review on “The future role”
mentions neither ‘marketing’ nor ‘relationships’ but does
allude to ‘traveling’ staff models
• SOAS (2005)
– Redundancy notices to 4 subject librarians
– Posts saved because of relationships with academic staff

23. Library CR initiatives
• Broady-Preston et al (2006)
– CR case studies from Malta and the UK
• Wang (2006)
– CRM into Hsuan Chuang U Library
• Anglada (2007)
– Typology of alliances and social intelligence; six types
• British Library (2009)
– CRM initiative to reduce 37 CR databases
• Sharma et al (2009)
– Singapore National Library System and RC
• Daniels & Killick (2013) Cranfield
– Creating and using the Barrington Liaison Tool for recording and
analysing customer communications

24. The transformed role (2013)
• The concept of “brokering”
• The concept of “engagement”
• The concept of “selling” against a “service
catalogue”
• Two-way voice; department-library; “insight”
• Functional elements becoming stronger, but a
necessary relationship retention
• Research support through “internal
partnership”

25. A FRAMEWORK FOR RC VALUE
MEASUREMENT FOR LIBRARIES
Conclusions

26. Niels Ole Pors, 7th Northumbria Conference (2007)
‘Social capital, trust and organisational effectiveness’
– Trust is probably a relevant concept in relation to
information behaviour
– Trust is probably related to fulfilment of information needs
– Trust is probably related to institution’s degree of
effectiveness, efficiency, perception of competencies and
positive personal interaction
– And finally, trust and social capital are concepts that will be
more fashionable in the coming years

27. Other ideas
Huotari & Iivonen Knowledge processes: a
strategic foundation for partnership between
the university and its library (2004)
• The library’s role in productive knowledge
processes
• Relationship of the intellectual capital of the
library to the University’s intellectual capital

28. Kostagiolis & Asonitis, Intangible assets (2009)
Relational capital intangible assets
– Users training
– Collaboration between academics and subject
specialists
– Participation in information networks
– Trust and cooperation within staffs
– Lists of users
– Agreements with authorities
– Reputation
– Brand name

29. Kostagiolis Managing IC in Libraries (2012)

30. Kostagiolis Managing IC in Libraries (2012)

31. Seven market model for academic libraries

32. Components of relationship measurement
• Consciousness & Congruence
• Communities & Communication
• Causality & Comeback
partly inspired by Darling & Russ 5 ‘Cs’ (2000)

33. Awareness & Fit measures
Consciousness
Measures based on a
general audit of the
relational space
(using the 7 markets model)
Congruence
The degree of fit of
relationship activity to the
parent institution
Gaps may then be deduced
when this is set against the
audit

34. Strength & process measures
Communities
Data, potentially from a
CRM system, used to
assess a level of strength
of relationship across all
relations
Communication
The measures of the
process of communication
which develop
relationships within each
sphere
Could be down to the level of
individuals

35. Return on relationships
Causality
The specific outcomes and
impact of positive
relationships on academic
process, innovation, finan
ce, quality and staff
development
Comeback
The specific ensuing
returns to the library of
repeat benefits of
relationships

36. Acknowledgments
• Ruth MacMullen, Research Assistant
• Rachel Daniels & Selena Lock, Cranfield
Michelle Blake, Relationship Manager, York
• UK academic library colleagues engaged in the
White Rose and “Relationship management
for the 21st Century Library” activity