Macroenvironmental Analysis Forstrategic Management: Stakeholders'view of Ghana's University Libraries

ple, Franco (1995) in a study of human resourcesin the library system of the Pontifical CatholicUniversity of Chile (SUBC) made several ob-servations that confirm some of the findings inthis study. On the socio-cultural dimension shealso found out that there was a negative impactof historical weaknesses of public libraries andschool libraries on university library developmentin Chile, exacerbated by poor reading habits ofthe young. Like this study Franco (1995) alsofound the positive or negative effects of monetaryexchange policies and the markets on the biblio-graphic materials acquisition budget of her uni-versity library. She highlights stringent customslaws and regulations and their negative impacton collection development of SIBUC.This study has also supported results in researchon planning in developing countries, for exampleas regards several factors that differentiate theplanning environment in developing countriesfrom that of developed countries as identified byFlores (1972), Adegbite (1986), Fubara (1986) andMrema (1987). Such factors include the absence oftechnology required to systematically monitor theexternal environment and collect needed data, ahighly unstable economic and political environ-ment, the absence of technological infrastructureand the lack of political will for information-re-lated development.The findings of the present study also supportthe findings of management research in the trans-ferability of management theory and practicesdeveloped in western economies to other coun-tries. The findings of Kiggundu, Jorgensen andHafsi (1983) that managerial activities concerninghow the organisation relates to its environmentwere difficult to transfer from western economicsto developing countries are corroborated by thisstudy. The findings of the survey on the externalenvironment from the major stakeholder perspec-tive developed further the character of strategicdecision-making in Ghana and university librar-ies in particular. It is evident that the economicand political factors were the most dynamic andmost hostile of all the five environmental seg-ments of political, economic, socio-cultural, tech-nological and international.The perceived high level of environmental un-certainty in the political environment in thisstudy is centred primarily on government regula-tions and interventions. This however has beenthe norm in the history of the universities inGhana but the present university workers havealways opposed every new policy of the presentgovernment. What is new here is the degree ofuncertainty that the libraries are encountering inother areas - uncertainty as to closures of librariesbecause of a striking pressure group, uncertaintyas to the future balance between national anduniversity interests as government attempts torevamp the economy, uncertainty as to continuouscompetition between libraries and other depart-ments of the universities for limited resources and

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Macroenvironmental Analysis for Strategic Management273the gradual erosion of the powerbase of the librar-ies that prevents them from competing effectivelyfor these resources. Indeed, it is these factors inthe political scene that make the environment un-stable and unpredictable. The 'power shift' in therelationship between universities and governmenthas been probably the most profound unsettlingto universities since it entails simultaneously, thefunding regulations, increased interventions andheightened government expectations of corporateperformance.The economic environment was characterisedas discouraging any future-oriented and risk-re-lated decisions (Boist and Child 1988). In additionto traditional concerns about the underdevelopedeconomy of Ghana, the rampant inflation in thelast two decades affects the purchase of books andperiodicals. Wright, Kroll and Pernell (1996) havehighlighted the main constraining effect of high in-flation rates on business and the strategy process.The volatility of foreign exchange rates wasalso found to affect strategic decisions of the librar-ies. In a similar study Wilson (1994) also foundthe negative effect that the volatility of foreignexchange rate has on industry restructuring thatrequires a shift in strategic management's focus,emphasis and methodologies to speed the processof corporate adaptation to these changes. Ferguson(1992) writes that the daily deterioration o thevalue of the local currencies of most developingcountries against other international currenciesmakes the future far less predictable and difficultto implement rationale strategic planning. In thisstudy it was revealed that the effect of the de-preciation of the local currency has affected uni-versity libraries' international orders.As the political and economic environmentshave proved in this study to be major sources ofuncertainty for the university libraries in Ghanaand planners in Ghana at large, future plannersmust be responsible for identifying external op-portunities and threats, implementing strategicchanges and achieving the organisation/environ-ment alignment. Miles, Snow and Pfeffer (1974)also theorise that managers respond primarily towhat they perceived. Strategic action is depend-ent upon perceptions and interpretations of theenvironment (Schneider and DeMeyer 1991).The perceptions and interpretations are, subject to in-fluences at multiple levels of analysis, e.g. individualcharacteristics, group process an environmental context(Hambrick and Mason 1984; Miller 1993). It was found inthis study that despite the awareness of the uncertaintythat has characterised the strategic decisions of the majorstakeholders, a result of environmental turbulence par-ticularly in the economic and political spheres, they havenot responded or interpreted these changes in their en-vironment.The study further revealed that environmentalissues are not considered important to organisa-tional performance and university and librarymanagement have not shown any interest inthem, a situation which itself creates a high per-ceived environmental uncertainty. Miliken (1987)states that, in practice, perceived environmentaluncertainty exists when decision-makers do notfeel confident that they care or understand whatthe major events or trends in an environment are,or when they feel unable to accurately assignprobabilities to the likelihood that particularevents and/or changes will occur.Information from important sectors of the en-vironment may become a source of competitiveadvantage (Dutton and Freedman 1984). In a sec-tor of high performance, external events are alsoperceived to be directly linked to operational per-formance. According to Daft, Sormunen andParks (1988), perceived sector performance trans-lates into strategic uncertainty. In essence, stra-tegic uncertainty reflects the strategic value ofenvironmental