An effective and efficient records management programme is essential for the governance \nof any organisation. The control functions it exercises can make a vital contribution to \nthe achievement of business objectives and administrative efficiency. However, there \nis consensus among researchers that many organisations struggle to develop records \nmanagement programmes to meet business needs. Developing a records management \nprogramme is a highly complex and difficult task, to the extent that it is common for \nrecords management projects to exceed scheduled completion dates or not be completed \nat all. This article reports on the findings of an MINF research project (Ngoepe 2008) \nconducted at Unisa that sought to examine the principles involved in establishing \na records management programme with specific reference to the Department of \nCooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) in South Africa. Data were \ncollected through online questionnaires, observation and interviews with a selected \nsample of people and analysed using open source software. The findings suggest \nthat the commitment and support of top management are of enormous value in the \nimplementation of a records management programme. The authors surmise that a records management programme will function effectively only if it is developed in the context of the larger managerial environment, so that records management procedures reflect overall management objectives. Furthermore, the establishment of an effective records management programme is reliant on an understanding by public servants at all levels of the importance of records and the need for records management infrastructure, that is, policies, strategies, procedures, filing systems, and so on. A further study to investigate records management models in the public sector is recommended.
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