Using Irizar’s Value Chain*, the leadership team, with input from Libraries staff, attempted to comprehensively capture the scope of the ODU Libraries work. This analysis turned up some known strengths (extensive open hours to serve ODU students, excellent turnaround times and fill rates for interlibrary loan requests) and weaknesses (flat institutional budgets, inflexible and inefficient budgetary and human resources systems); it also uncovered some opportunities (additional options for improving the user experience, additional professional development support for staff and librarians) where the Libraries could focus resources and efforts to effect meaningful change.
* Ghemaway, Pankaj & Jan W. Rivkin, Competitive Advantage, Core Curriculum: Strategy, Ramon Casadeus-Masanell, ed. Harvard Business Publishing, 2014. P. 12
