This paper describes and discusses the challenge of creating a theoretical framework for library management in different countries, namely in Finland, Romania and Sweden. Management as an academic discipline is by its very nature diagnostic and interdisci-plinary, but how can a researcher overcome the aspect of different cultures in different countries being expected to be found? In this paper the author presents reflections from a framework used in a recent study of these three countries (Mäntykangas 2018). The framework was compared with building blocks and is based on the idea of managers’ various levels of responsibilities, the highest level being contributions to society.