Blurred lines: records management in the knowledge management arena

Citation

Hughes, C. (2003), "Blurred lines: records management in the knowledge management arena", Records Management Journal, Vol. 13 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/rmj.2003.28113aaf.001

Blurred lines: records management in the knowledge management arena

Originally I had wanted to begin this Opinion Piece by stating that "it is becoming increasingly difficult to define records management". Perhaps the definition of records management now encompasses such increasingly varied activities that it should be under continual review? However I realised that I actually wanted to articulate the growing agenda that records management is developing. There are very many high priority issues and indeed high profile issues that are affecting activities within the records management arena and dictating work plans. There is also a growing sphere of influence for records management and a shared agenda with other information disciplines. I recently gave a paper that focused on the similarities and differences between records management and knowledge management, and it has led me to think more about the considerable overlap between the two disciplines and the extensive role that records managers have to play within the "knowledge-enabled company" or the "knowledge-creating organisation". This can be seen by observing some of the drivers related to them and synergies between them. "Doing knowledge management" is not merely the domain of "knowledge managers" since knowledge management is at the heart of what records managers are doing every day, and the two disciplines share several objectives and provide some similar benefits.

Records managers have a clear understanding of the knowledge base of an organisation and have long been involved with organisational knowledge (Saffady, 1998). They are perhaps closer to the "intellectual capital" of an organisation than anyone else. They know about the information that is being created, that is in use and that which is inactive or dormant. They have an understanding of what is current and of the vital, important and peripheral information within the organisation.

Records in the knowledge economy

Within business there is a thirst for knowledge. The ability to create, capture and reapply knowledge and codify experience and expertise has promised businesses the competitive edge over rivals. Although there may not be a general awareness of how the management of recorded information contributes to the larger corpus of organisation knowledge, records managers are playing a key role in the management of that knowledge.

Perceptions

Knowledge management has developed a prominence and a high profile that perhaps records management has not traditionally enjoyed. This can be attributed to the widely accepted perception of knowledge management as a core business activity. Organisations are generally keen to recognise knowledge managers amongst the staff which need to be employed, and increasingly keen to demonstrate how knowledge management has been embraced to deliver competitive advantage. Not all are as enthusiastic in employing records managers, or talking about records management per se. I recently did some post-graduate research for a records management post-graduate qualification (Hughes, 2001). I wrote to a sample of FTSE 100 companies and addressed my correspondence to the "records manager". The response rate was depressingly low. This could be put down to apathy. However, I also addressed the same correspondence to a random sample of RMS members, by name. The response rate was near 100 per cent. Perhaps those FTSE 100 companies were apathetic, but in some follow-up investigation of my own, subsequent to the research I did, I found that most of the organisations I contacted as part of my random sample did not employ a corporate records manager. I wonder how many of them, however, think that they have embraced knowledge management? Perhaps they employ knowledge managers? This indicates a distinction in the way that knowledge management and its value are perceived. Labels are not helpful either. Perhaps records management is an ambiguous label? Perhaps records management still conjures up images of dusty basements, and does not summon up the modern hybrid scenario that sees records managers at the core of their organisation dealing with multi-media records, involved with strategy, budgets, resourcing and impacting on fundamental activities like legal and regulatory compliance and business continuity. The agenda for records management is currently peppered with the emerging regulatory framework resulting from the publication of ISO 1549 (BSI, 2001a, b) and related documents, a raft of relevant legislative developments in the UK and on a global scale and after shocks from recent corporate debacles that will be felt, and the repetition of which will be feared, for quite some time. Ironically, despite this topical business-focused agenda and despite "knowledge management" being something of an oxymoron, and one that sounds quite nebulous in many ways, it appears to be less ambiguous! Knowledge management is all about realising and protecting information assets. This is surely the modus vivendi for all records managers?

Drivers

The key driver behind knowledge management, that of unlocking and exploiting knowledge or information assets of an organisation, is also a key driver of records management. Although perceptions of those looking into and out of the information world may not realise this. The interface of records management into the knowledge economy has recently been summarised (Best, 2002). The role of records management in this knowledge economy is positioned as one that should identify the knowledge assets of the organisation and to what extent these assets can be derived from the records of an organisation, and to provide a system to log, index, maintain, access and protect these assets. The records of an organisation provide one source from which to leverage knowledge.

Records management is not merely about meeting legislative, regulatory and administrative needs – it adds value too. To this end records managers regularly engage in knowledge management-related activities. As the nature of business changes records managers are presented with opportunities to demonstrate how to evolve with it and engage in subsequent profile-raising. There are key opportunities for records managers to show how organisations can use their own records to create knowledge and credentialise business activities, capturing the evidence of expertise directly, creating knowledge. One such possibility is the addition of an intervention stage added into the end to end process of managing records which has the intention of deriving value from the records and adding value to future activities. This intervention stage retrieves the key nuggets from records, examples of best practice, the prime instances of what the organisation does best. Such credentials or examples can be used to create the holy grail of competitive advantage, but also be used as selling aids and for marketing purposes. This also involves a process of facilitation by the records manager who is required to work with other colleagues within the organisation to identify, classify and store such examples. Relationships with people are integral to the success of this process, and it provides an opportunity for the records manager to be further developing relationships with stakeholders in their organisations. It also further involves the record creators in the records management and knowledge-creation process. From personal experience this often results in the identification of further, valuable sources of knowledge.

I have written previously about differences in the perceptions of records management and knowledge management as professions (Hughes, 2002). Undoubtedly this is a time of change in the records management profession. A considerable amount of activity, some of which has already been referred to, is contributing to a profession which, although established, is always evolving. Among the core attributes of a profession are "a theoretical and practical knowledge base … a code of ethics, authoritative professional association(s) that play a substantial role in professional development, … prestige and status, membership that exhibit both dedication and commitment to the profession" (Flexner, 1998), Although there is still scope for development to fulfil these requirements, knowledge management seems to have made speedier progress in establishing itself as a profession in accordance with this definition than records management has, especially in the areas of achieving prestige and status. Records management still has some way to go in achieving some of these attributes and consequently consolidating its professional status.

Knowledge-enabled skill sets

Both knowledge management and records management need skilled practitioners and there is considerable overlap between the skills required for both. However, these similarities are not necessarily centred around technical skills. Although there is substantial overlap, knowledge management and records management are distinct disciplines. The parallels in skills can be observed when looking at the so-called "softer" skills, unrelated to file classification schemes and managing e-mail records. It is not insignificant that records management facilitates two of the main objectives of knowledge management – namely knowledge sharing and collaborative working. It is in these key people-related areas that similar skills are required. Among the skills and competencies prescribed for knowledge management are leadership, persuasion, content awareness/organisation, communication, business awareness, information management, IT literacy, information literacy, change management and project management (Abell and Oxbrow, 2001). All of these skills are applicable to the requirements of the modern records manager too. Ensuring compliance with the developing regulatory framework requires project management skills, communication skills, sensitivity to business needs, change management skills, and others. The hybrid records management environment that most operate within requires leadership, IT and information literacy, information management and again a considerable dose of well-honed communication skills. These two simple examples are just a mere representative of the shared skill sets that the two disciplines operate within. Although some of the technical requirements of the roles may be unique, there is certainly a modern information professional's tool box of competencies that is mutual.

Conclusions

As recently as 2000 it was suggested that concepts such as knowledge management and related terms were not readily associated with records management professionals (Yakel, 2000). Although the similarities and overlaps between the two disciplines have existed for some time, this has not been widely recognised. The dis-connect is not as pronounced as it was two years ago, but there is still considerable scope for further revealing and exploiting of the overlap between knowledge management and records management.

While records management has an agenda of its own, as listed earlier, there is also a co-existence with knowledge management colleagues. Both can enhance each other's professional activities and both are contributing to each other's agenda. There is a set of core, shared skills and some shared priorities. At the end of the twentieth century it was suggested that records management of the current decade would bear only a passing resemblance to the profession that the author observed at the time of writing (Dearstyne, 1999). It is not just the records management agenda that is dictating the pace and the nature of change, but also the relationship that records managers are needing to develop with colleagues in the knowledge management arena which is broadening the reach of records managers and widening the sphere of involvement and influence.

The definition of records management is not what has changed, but the role of records managers has become wider. The profile has got bigger as the stakes have been raised. The records management agenda is now driven by business needs and regulatory requirements more than traditional factors. For some practitioners these conditions may have always prevailed, but that cannot be said of the profession in its entirety. Knowledge management may be difficult to define. I have often heard people use the phrase "Knowledge management … whatever that is …", to introduce an idea or observation in this area. However, knowledge management has undeniably helped organisations gain a fuller understanding of the importance of information and of organisational intellectual capital. The management of records within that intellectual capital has consequently gained higher profile too. This combined with other factors, fundamentally the "big ticket" items on the records management agenda has led to a rise in awareness of the role of the records manager and a greater flurry of activity in a wider auditorium. Essentially traditional records management definitions are still relevant; they do, however, now have a wider context. It is a good time to be a records manager.

Ceri HughesChair of the Records Management Society and Associate Director for Global Knowledge Management for KPMG Financial Advisory Services

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