Kajian Budaya Organisasi Di

Implementing Social Control

at the Jakarta Public Library[1]

Laksmi

Department of Library and Information Science

University of Indonesia

Abstract

This research aims to figure out why social control of staff at the Jakarta Public Library does not work properly. The social control will monitor tasks and activities of its employees in order to determine as long as it is accomplished effectively and efficiently. Resulted from my observation and interviews in the workplace, the phenomenon shows that most of employees are having too much spare their times. They do not use their times neither effeciencly nor effectively. They tend to do irrelevant things at the working hours, eg. chatting, shopping, going out to do their own business, and reluctant to do their duties on Saturdays and Sundays. Moreover, they have to be always instructed to perform the work, and less-motivated to do innovation. During this observation, the organization was improving its control tightly to its employees.

It causes me to concentrate to these questions: ‘why is not the social control implemented well although the system is organised tightly?’ This will be devided into two questions, firstly, what forms of social control do they use? Secondly, how is the process of the social control implemented? The data was collected from January 2007 to August 2008 using ethnography method based on the two questions above. This is analyzed by interpretetive analysis through organizational culture perspective. This on-going research is a part of my dissertation research at Department of Anthropology, University of Indonesia.

The first finding shows that the organization lacks of mutual trust where employees have less commitment. Social controls use the form of rules and reward systems; logo with symbols of eyes, books, and earths; layout of chairs and tables which symbolized strict control by employers; rites, for example, sarasehan, informal meeting once a month, Jumat bersih; direct observation, the head of the library itself routine shelves with employees, makes tour inexpectedly, or makes sudden call.

The second findings, It is found that an implementation control process of the success depends on the employers and relation between them and employees. This was caused by lack of trust and hierarchical structures. Although the social control has been existent since many years ago, the employees still have difficulties in applying this, so they fail to do as expected by the intitution. A matter of fact, they do not understand the values transformed in the control forms. The employers implement the systems and procedures neither carefully-listening to their employees, nor employees’ involvement. Moreover, trial and error systems seems to be dominant factors that make employees do not trust employers. The employees express their dissatisfaction in resistances, by complaining at the back, being uncooperative, willing to move to branches libraries, and making gossips.

In summing up this, the cause of social control implementation at the Jakarta Public Library which do not work well is lack of mutual trust. Indonesian society who has close-personality, trusty is necessary due to dealing with the organization change. A matter of fact the employees are not weak and passive. They act as if they are able to control themselves. Although, in Indonesian people, patriarchy is still dominant. The employers often want to be respected by employees, while employees feel that they should obey employers.

Keywords: Social control, organizational cultures, resistances, values, symbols, rewards.

1. Introduction

In Indonesia, social control is necessary to handle the performance of staff’s daily work. It frequently happens if there is no controll, that the employees do not do their work, they will chat, or play the computer games. The definition cited from Tannenbaum says that control is a tool for guaranty in achieving organization’s main goals (Baliga and Jaeger, 1984). Some scholars distinguish it in two ways: personal control system and bureaucracy control system. Personal control delegates more trust and responsibility to individual, meanwhile bureaucracy control creates a set of rules, procedures, and rewards, which tends to limit the roles of authorities and invidual. Basically, social control is referred to the capacity of society to regulate itself according to desired principles and values (Janowitz, 1975).

One of the opinions states that social control is influenced by cultures in order to get appropriate behavior of staff. Although anthropologs see that social control and organizational cultures do not influence each other, but it is a process. According to Morgan (1986), cultures direct us to understand organization as a thing which is constructed based on mind and soul of organizational members and share rules and norms. Goffman (1971) states that interactions which is always repeated among the members create pattern of relations and interdependences. Etzioni (1964) adds that an organization is a social unit or group of people which construct and reconstruct by interpretation other members action to achieve certain goals. Their understanding is transformed into tangible forms such as language, symbols, practices and rituals, customs, using technology, and so forth. From the above explanation, it is concluded that organizational cultures is a system of meaning that related to values and norms of organizational members. The element of cultures are interdependences and all of them develop values of integration, control, and commitment (Trice and Beyer, 1984).

In the implementation process, cultures brought by each members, such as believes and customs, influence the process. In the organizational cultures context, the process could begin from anywhere (Hatch, 1993; Baliga and Jaeger, 1984). Basically, the process begin from the need of control, which subsequently create a system of control, then socializes it.

The research conducted by Baliga dan Jaeger (1984) on Multinational Corporations: control systems and delegation issues, aims to identify control issues and delegation that are faced by multinational company’s managers. This system has been implemented succeessfuly to members of organization, so the turnover is relatively low, as a result of that the values can restrain longer and the trust in delegation of works increase. The research conducted by Gottfried, in 1991, titled Mechanisms of control in the temporary help service industry, focuses to the forms of control against disciplines of temporer staff. He found that the staff needs two kinds of controls, i.e centralized and rationalized control. Without supervision, staffs develop exactly individual strategy to negotiate with the managers. Resistances can be lessened by flexible work arrangement.

2. Research question

I choose the Jakarta Public Library as the setting of my research, because the implementation of control system becomes more and more tightly. Although the organization executed reward system, the way they work remains the same. The head of library personally realizes dan concerns ? The civil servant images is considered as a worker which has low performance. The manual book about governmental cultures at District Government of DKI Jakarta (Buku panduan..., 2005), explains that governmental cultures contains hierarchical relations, tight bureaucracy, monopoly. It creates uncondusive organizational cultures that are not condusive. It tend to be defensive, refusing changes, less motivation for their achievement, more concentrate in fulfiling rules and procedures than results, and obeying employers than servicing users.

Findings in above researches help me formulate the research questions. Why do social controls do not work properly, even though the system is well organized? It will answer two questions. Firstly, what are the symbolic forms of control social at the Jakarta Public Library? Secondly, how is the implementation of process of control social, beginning from the need of control, subsequently socialization, and implementation, to the respon of staff?

3. Research method

I have been conducting intensively this research, which is a part of my doctoral research on organizational cultures, since January 2007 to July 2008. To collect data, I use ethnography method and compose it into fieldnotes, then analyze them with an interpretative method. I directly verify the lack and the deviance of data at the ongoing research. All the informan’s names are disguised. The aim of this research is to understand the implementation process of social control that has less impact to staff behavior in conduct the tasks. The issue is considered as a serious problem at most of organizations in Indonesia. The significance of the research is to contribute knowledge of organizationl cultures, especially that of social control, to the library and information science, and to contribute recommendation to organizations which have same problems.

4. The Condition of the Jakarta Public Library

The role and task of the Jakarta Public Library which is 30 years old (1978-2008), are serving public and government offices in information. It is also responsible to control, develop, and cultivate all kind of libraries in the Jakarta district. Based on Government District vision, i.e to realize Jakarta as capital of Republik Indonesia positioned equal to the developed cities in the world, with the wealthy and well civilization, the Jakarta Public Library vision is to create modern library in which Jakarta society as a smart and prestige reader, and having reading habit. The vision contains mission: to provide modern infrastructures in the internasional standard; to provide various kind of information sources; to collect, preserve, and make use of collection that are published in jakarta; to develop intelectual, emotional, spiritual, and information technology competencies of human resources at library and information field; to develop system of services in the fast and precise way; constructing cooperation with others.

Although the Jakarta Public Library has no power under the Government District of Jakarta, it has the proper authority to manage six municipality branches, i.e Center Jakarta Municipality Public Library, East Jakarta, West Jakarta, South Jakarta, North Jakarta, Kepulauan Seribu Regency Public Library, including public library at 124 unit of 267 Political District Administered by the Lurahs at Jakarta (Sutarno NS, 2003).

In providing services, the Jakarta Public Library establishes some rules and policies in order to protect their collection. Because it is considered as the asset of the Country. The candidate of library member is limited for people who lives in Jakarta, or people who live in Bodetabek (Jakarta suburb), but works or studies in Jakarta. In the past time, the future candidate has to pay the deposit 25% of the book prices, average Rp. 3.000,-, registration fee, and since 2007, those rules are deleted. Other requirements are that they have to submit a photograph of 2x3, 2 stamps, and one copy of their identity card. The member card is valid until one year. The Jakarta Public Library have thirty thousand of members. The organization has 18.289 titles and 43.356 exemplars (Buku saku 2005). It has children books and magazines, collection of references, daily newspapers, tabloids, journals, and audiovisual, and reports.

The activities of this organization is to hold competitions in order to increase reading habits, and competition of drawing, story telling, composing synopsis, composing Betawi stories, book discussions, book exhibitions, such as flora and fauna exhibition, training of how to write, user education. These are performed to all institutions in Jakarta Province. Those activities are not only published on the Jakarta Public Library web, or other printed medias, but also broadcasted on the television. Usually, those are held at the Jakarta City Celebration Day, 22 June, and Independence Day of Republik Indonesia, 17 August, the Jakarta Public Library conduct them lively in Hanjaba (The day of jakartanesse children reading) and Abnon (Boy and girl reading day). There is library promotion, in June of this year, Office leader were shot at Global TV station, during half an hour.

Since 2004, service hours of the Jakarta Public Library open from 9 to 8 in the night, from Monday to Sunday, and close at the official or national vacation. Others services are to provide reading room, circulation services, references services, to invite or visit local community in order to introduce library, to support or lend a book drops, to do the story telling to children, to dissemnate information, to provide DVD with its tools, services of internet, OPAC services (Online Public Access Cataloguing), and photocopy services. It has special collection in the special room decorated Betawi style.

The internal activities are sarasehan held in each last Fridays per month, to sight-seeing to Puncak, arisan, or to lunch together at the office. Those activities usually are meant as creating togetherness amongs organizational members to reach agreement.

Based on the district rules in 2001, staff are divided into: 1) Secretariat: Subbid Umum, managing office equipment; Subbid Financing; and Subbid Human Resources; 2) Department of Library Services and Information: Subbid Services; Subbid Information, providing information on organization and Jakarta, and Subbid Collection Management; 3) Department of Programme and Library Developing: Subbid Reporting, managing all reports; Subbid Library Development, managing community library, village, and school; and Subbid Cooperation; 4) Department of Deposit and Collection Development: Subbid Deposit, managing books published in Jakarta; Subbid Collection Development, managing acquisition; Subbid Collection Conservation; 5) Librarian Functional Group.

There are 66 staff, they consist of 55 civil servants and 11 contract staff. Dept. of Services have 19 people, Dept. of Programme has 10, Dept. of Deposit has 12, Secretariat has 18, Librarians are 7. Each individual has to have the same vision to to see the organization aims. The institution gives opportunities to its staff to improve their knowledge through higher education, training, scientific workshop or seminar, and so forth. It expects that the staff have personality which is educated, friendly, well mannered, perceptive, and ready to help people.

The Leader give the staff additional tasks, such as composing abstract of a book per month. She wants to implant that book is important and it is respected to. As I observed, they do not read the books. In spite of respect the book, last year they choosed the thin and easier book that they can sum up easily and fast. So, this year, Ms. Liliana chooses and decides the title for each person. She gives one book for all staff and three books for librarians.

To improve the performance of the services, there was 5S training participated by all staff. 5S is stand for classifying, putting stuffs orderly, implanting, keeping clean, and accustomed to making somethings. It can be concluded that the aim of training tends to get fix something phisically, to get use to organize stuff and data. That habit will influence staff behavior in serving people. The value of togetherness is implanted by asking the staff to make a yells. Ms. Gita tells me that it is difficult to do if it does not come from the heart, it can not be forced. She is right, because as a fact, as soon as the training finish, the staff forget it. Although, this year Ms. Liliana executes Jumat Cleanliness per month, that is the staff have to clean their desk before going home.

5. The form of symbolic control social

The form of social control is a manifestation of the belief and values of the staff shared among them.

5.1. Rules and rewards

The value of rules and rewards is fairly balanced. Ms. Liliana makes many rules, but she also gives rewards and sanctions. She tends to focus on phicological aspect. The rules focues on staff disciplines in fulfiling the work schedules, especially held in three times of absents. The group of duty in Saturday and Sunday is supervised by two people, i.e the coordination comes from managers level 3 and supervisor comes from managers level 2. There are 8 groups. A supervisor has to supervise two groups of duty, to know everything about what happend in the group and their performance, and in case of something happend in that day, such as user complains, or blackout, she/he has to be able to solve the problem. The rules dominated the whole is a rules on protecting the collection, that is clasified by national asset. A book is a responsibility of all of them. The rules consist of obligation to have a member card in order to borrow the books, the rules of one access in order to prevent book stealing from users and staff. Entering floor 7, the staff is banned to bring the bags, text books, drink and food. Social control is executed in the way of staff in organizing the circulation of collection, including the number of books borrowed, the title most frequently searched for, users most active to borrow, and so on. The institution put three cameras in reading room, CCTV camera in ceilling in front of enter door, which is equipped by detector gates. The other rules are keeping the cleanliness and neatness. Before going home, staff are asked to tidy up their desk. There is no book and other stiffs on the desk. An informan complains, why do they ban to put books on the desk even they work in the library. In June last year, Ms. Liliana detected dirty dish and leftover of meal on the desk in the collection processing room. For the case, Ms. Liliana give sanction in form of verbal warning to staff.

Psychologycal aspect is not aimed to scare people, but it is aimed to warn the actors who is considered to make mistake. Among rules executed, one of them that makes most of staff upset is rule of one acces. On the closed doors, it is locked by big chain and padlock, it seems reflecting threats and warning to all staff that they are being punished.