Local Model of Crisis Management in Libraries of Iran’s Research Centers (mixed research)

IntroductionToday crisis and crisis management are discussed in all knowledge fields, and all scientists and managers of organizations believe that prevention is more profitable and easier. However this is not seriously, scientifically and practically posed and performed in the organizations and it has remained just as a theory. Managers of organizations who have tangibly understood damages of crises are seeking principles and models in order to encounter with their potential and evident crises in their organizations, because they know that all or most of their goals that they proposed and plans which accomplished for reaching to those goals, and also huge costs that are allocated to them are overridden and the organization would face serious problems. Crisis management is posed in different areas. As one of the main parts of society, organizations are not exception. In libraries, crisis is a turmoil that has a fundamental effect on the activities of libraries, administrative affairs, financial affairs and reputation of library. This may be either extra-organizational such as flood, fire and earthquake or intra-organizational such as financial crises or unwillingness of employees and/or outside reflection about intra-organizational performance which is represented by failure in competition between libraries or fundamental criticism about the performance of library. Crisis management is an organized effort made by members of organization with interested persons outside of organization in order to prevent crisis or its effective management(Pearson and Clair, 1998, 61). Like other micro-systems of social structure, crisis management system also needs an objective, scientific and efficient model based on current needs in order to reach its predicted goals more precisely and to organize its plans. It is clear that the basis of such model should have strong theoretical basis and principles. So, results of research should be integrated with local conditions(environment, individuals, customers, and their needs) so that to reach a comprehensive model. Crises that organizations are faced with are classified to three main categories(1) intra-organizational crises, (2) crisis in extra-organizational2 environment, and (3) extra-organizational crises. It is possible that these crises occur in the libraries of research centers, but because there is no local model for performing crisis management in libraries, it is not possible to provide integrity when facing damages raised by crisis; this research therefore has studied localization of crisis management in libraries of research centers respective to Iran's Science, Research and Technology Ministry. Because these libraries have critical role in the development of research process in the country and their libraries are worthy resources of scientific, software and hardware information. So if they have standard principles of crisis management in their managerial regulations, they can prevent and control natural and organizational crises effectively. To be aware of the most important priorities in each stage of facing crisis in these libraries and the most important measurements help to have a framework for facing crisis and to manage crisis in them, which so far no framework has been studied nor performed in the libraries of Iran. The importance of crisis management in managerial process of libraries can be found in such factors as frequency of crises, crisis scope, and effect of crises on management and also its hidden effect on processes of libraries and long-term and sometimes irreparable damages on body of the library. In this research we study that how desired libraries to face with these three crises and to provide a local model of crisis management.Literature reviewMitroff and et al(2002) hold that in most of institutes top managers do not accept that their institutes have encountered crisis rather they deceive themselves and their addressees with some justifications. …