Electronic records management in the Malaysian public sector: the existence of policy

Abstract

PurposeThe existence of policy serves as a guideline to facilitate actions and decisions to be taken. Electronic records management should be driven and guided by clear, comprehensive, understandable policy, to direct the organization and ascertain the effectiveness of functions implemented. The purpose of this paper is to find out whether government agencies in Malaysia do possess such a policy for electronic records management. In addition, the aim is to identify the responsible party for the policy besides investigating the sources referred to in developing the policy.Design/methodology/researchThe survey employs a questionnaire to gather the data from 25 selected government departments in Klang Valley and Putrajaya, Malaysia.FindingsAs anticipated, not all government departments possess electronic records management policy far from complete, clear, and easy to implement. Most surveyed samples are executing policy provided by Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU) and National Archive of Malaysia (NAM) with some modifications to suit their needs. On the other hand, the number of organization carrying out electronic records management without any policy in place is alarming.Practical implicationsElectronic records management is carried out in some organisations merely based on their instinct and initiatives, far from complying with international standards of best practice.Originality valueThis paper provides evidence from an original study.