Saadia Factors affecting records keeping in NGO

FACTORS AFFECTING RECORDS KEEPING IN NGO’S: A

CASE STUDY OF MERCY CORPS WAJIR COUNTY

BY

SAADIA HUSSEIN

A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL

FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF

BACHELORS DEGREE IN INFORMATION SCIENCES, SCHOOL

OF INFORMATION SCIENCES

MOI UNIVERSITY

2013

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY

1.1 Introduction

This chapter presents the background of the study

regarding factors affecting record keeping in private

institutions. The chapter also outlines the objectives of

the study, research questions, significance,

justification and the scope of the study.

1.2 Background of the study

To support continuing service delivery and provide the

necessary accountability, non -governmental bodies should

create and maintain authentic, reliable and usable record

keeping systems. Non governmental bodies should also

ensure that the integrity of the records is protected for

as long as they are required as evidence of business

operations.

According to Musila, (2000), preservation of records

involves the physical preservation and protection of

records and archives, particularly those materials housed

in archival repositories. Records management is the

discipline and organizational function of managing

records to meet operational business needs,

accountability requirements and community expectations

(Taylor 1996).

The ISO 15489 Standard on Records Management (International

Organization for Standardization 2001) defines records

management as the field of management responsible for the

efficient and systematic control of the creation,

receipt, maintenance, use and disposition of records,

including the processes for capturing and maintaining

evidence of and information about business activities and

transactions in the form of records.

Hurley (2005) pointed out that record keepers and

accountability advocates seem to agree that, in support

of accountability, good record systems must exist which

are complete, authentic and reliable (dependable),

accessible and usable. The private sector organizations

are seen as critical tools in the development process of

Third World countries. Record keeping is a fundamental

activity of any private organization. Without records

there can be no activities and continuity in the

organization. Any organization must have information to

carry out their work, and records represent a particular

and crucial source of information. Records provide a

reliable, legally verifiable source of evidence of

decisions and actions. They document compliance or non-

compliance with laws, rules, and procedures, (Kemoni,

2007).

It is therefore a requirement that, records (electronic

or paper – based) be kept, stored and preserved, in a

very diligent way. For better preservation, the

temperature and humidity should be maintained at the

levels required to insure optimum longevity of the paper

on which they are recorded. Adequate ventilation and

protection against insect or mold invasion should be

provided and their restoration should be overseen by

qualified personnel (Chapman, 2000). This study

therefore, is aimed at investigating factors that affect

records keeping at Mercy Corps NGO.

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is one of the known charitable organizations

around the world. The organization was founded as Save

the Refugees Fund, a task force organized by Dan O’Neill

in response to the plight of Cambodian refugees fleeing

the famine, war and genocide of the “killing fields.” The

fledgling organization raises $1 billion to provide

lifesaving aid to hundreds of thousands of people not

only in Cambodia but including other humanitarian crisis

around continents, including Africa.

Today, Mercy Corps is helping 19 million people recover

from disasters, build stronger communities and find their

own solutions to poverty. Since its founding in 1979,

Mercy Corps has provided $2.2 billion in assistance to

people in 114 countries. The agency consistently ranks as

one of America’s most effective and efficient charitable

organizations. Over the last five years, more than 88

percent of resources have been allocated directly to

programs that help families turn crisis into opportunity

in some of the world’s most challenging places.

Keeping accurate and up-to-date records is vital to the

success of any organization. Mercy Corps must realise

that records kept will be one of the most important

management tools it possesses and, therefore, it should

be allocated due importance. Mercy Corps invest a lot of

time and effort into the running of their business and

yet fail to realise the importance of maintaining good

documentation. The organization is looking for the

maximum return from their humanitarian work and the

maintaining of good records is part of that equation.

1.3 Statement of the Problem

Any record keeping system should be accurate, reliable,

easy to follow, consistent as to the basis used and be

very simple. Good record keeping is vital in regards to

providing information on which decisions for the future

of the organization can be based. While Mercy Corps

maintains records to monitor and record its normal

business activities, it also helps to organise

information about its actions and decisions. However,

there no sound record keeping programs at Mercy Corps in

Wajir County, records are poorly kept and maintained. The

current system is very difficult to retrieve, maintain

and even evaluate status of records.

Good business requires good recordkeeping. In complex

business environments and strict accountability

structures, it is vital that records be kept properly as

evidence and information that are needed to drive and

support its business operations. It is in this regard

that, this study is undertaken to understand factors that

affect record keeping procedures at Mercy Corps with aim

of recommending proper and efficient ways of record

keeping in the non-governmental organizations.

1.4 Aim of the Study

To investigate the factors that affect records keeping

in Mercy Corps, Wajir County.

1.5 Objectives of the Study

i. To find out the types and format of records kept by

Mercy corps Wajir County;

ii. To find out whether staff competency affects record

keeping at Mercy Corps in Wajir County;

iii. To determine whether existing policy influence

records keeping at Mercy Corps in Wajir County;

iv. To find out whether there is sustainable funding to

support record keeping at Mercy Corps , Wajir

County;

v. To establish the challenges hindering in meeting

proper records keeping in Mercy Corps , Wajir

County;

vi. To provide recommendations regarding sustainable

records keeping practices in Mercy Corps , Wajir

County;

1.6 Research Questions

i. What types/formats of records are kept by Mercy

corps in Wajir County?

ii. Does staff competency affect record keeping at Mercy

Corps in Wajir County?

iii. Do the existing policy influence records keeping at

Mercy Corps in Wajir County?

iv. Is there sustainable funding to support record

keeping at Mercy Corps , Wajir County?

v. What are challenges hindering proper record keeping

at Mercy Corps in Wajir County?

1.7 Significance of the study

It is hoped that the findings of this study will be of

benefit to all NGO organizations to come up with proper

records/information management policies. The study will

also establish ground for further research at both

academic institutions and the private institutions

generally and in particular posing formulation and

implementation of sound strategies on record keeping to

aid planning, decisions making and to support service

delivery in the institutions.

1.8 Scope of the Study

The study will conducted at Mercy Corps which represents

the non-governmental institutions that still operate on

simple records keeping procedures. The study seeks to

investigate on factors affecting record keeping in NGO

organization. It specifically targets top management and

employees in the records departments of the Mercy Corps

organization. The time for study will be four months from

March 2013 to July 2013.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURES REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

This chapter presents a review of the related literature

on the subject under study presented by various

researchers, scholars, analysts and authors. The review

has covered various aspects that are critical to the

study.

2.1 The Concept of Record Keeping

All organizations, private or public, need to plan and toformulate policies and procedures which enable them to remain competitive and provide good service to their customers. Planning depends on information, consequently,personnel planning equally depends on effective, accuraterecord keeping to enable the organization to recruit, train and develop staff to their full potential, and be as effective as possible within the organization, therebymaking a strategic contribution to its goals (Ajewole, 2001).

According to IRMT (1999) a record is a document regardless of form or medium created, received, maintained and used by an organisation (public or private) or an individual in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business, of which it forms a part or provides evidence. Within both government and the private sector, records are created and used on a daily basis to document actions, confirm decisions, identify rights and responsibilities and communicate information. Without records, governments and businesses today could not operate. It is no longer possible to ‘remember’ vast quantities of information without creating an independent account: a record.

Recordkeeping means the creation, maintenance and use, anddisposition of reliable and trustworthy records that meetthe business needs and legal responsibilities of a a particular institution and, to the extent known, the needs of internal and external users who may make secondary use of the records ( Thomassen, 2002). Accodingto Ugwunze (1992), records management means the policies, procedures, guidance, tools and techniques, resources, and training needed to design and maintain reliable and trustworthy records systems in an efficient and effectivemanner. In this case, the relationship between recordkeeping and records management is that records management includes recordkeeping but that records

management extends to more than recordkeeping. Records management could include the administrative directives prescribing the manner in which records are to be kept within a program office, as well as information technology (IT) tools such as a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) electronic records management system that is an integral component of the IT environment within the larger agency.

Records management programs must manage organizational information so that it is timely, accurate, complete, cost-effective, accessible and useable. Better information, at the right time, makes better business. They are not generally an organization's primary business, and even though record management programs don't usually generate income, the following are the mostimportant reasons to set up a good records management program in your office anyway. (Robek, Brown, Stephens, 1995)

Documentation and record keeping are important to ensure accountability, facilitate coordination of care between providers and for service improvement. However, the importance of documentation and record keeping may be overlooked/overshadowed by the focus on direct services to clients. As such, proper documentation and record keeping may be neglected. The following section provides three reasons why it is important to document and maintain proper records:

Continuity of care: Records provide a case history and a more holistic picture in order to follow-up on services or trydifferent approaches to assist the client. This is especially for clients with long-term or complex needs, or who require multiple services. Accurate and up-to-daterecording is important especially when there is an emergency and the staff-in-charge is not available (due to illness, vacation, resignation, etc.). Good records and documentation will facilitate communication between service providers to ensure coordinated, rather than fragmented service.

Accountability: It is important to be able to provide relevant client information at any given time and the organisation’s response to their needs. The information may be needed to respond to queries from stakeholders, who may include the client’s family, funders, donors or the courts. One important source of information is the client records. Documentation forms the nature of the professional relationship with the client. Information onproblems encountered and the agency’s response would assist in the event of a crisis or investigations.

Service improvement: Well-documented records can also lead to improved services to the clients by helping the staff organize his/her thoughts. Aggregated client information can also facilitate service planning, service developmentand service reviews. The information can also form primary data to conduct evidence-based research.

As a general principle, the aim of good record keeping should always be to build the creation and capture of records into the business process itself, rather than require people to create records as the need arises. Forexample, formal meetings need to be documented in agendas, minutes and associated papers. Similarly, electronic mail needs to be captured so that its content and context are preserved and are accessible.

Record life-cycle model

The record life cycle model is originating from T.R

Schellenberg’s original thoughts from 1956, where he

presented a clear distinction between the record management

and the archival preservation of records. Preservation is

according to Schellenberg managed by archival institutions

(Schellenberg, 1998). Records are created and actively used

in relation to the purpose of their creation. When the

record no longer is useful for its main purpose, a decision

is taken whether the record should be preserved or

destructed. This can either be visualized as a record’s life

cycle (fig 2.1). The record’s life cycle model has been

actively used in North America, and implies a separation

between records management and archival management

(Gilliland-Swetland, 2000; Shepard & Yeo, 2003).

The record’s life cycle (in figure below) starts with the

creation of a record, and when a record is used frequently

it implicit is described as active. After some time the

record becomes less used, and enter the semi-active/inactive

period. The last period occurs when the record is inactive

and is no longer used. At this point the majority of the

records are destroyed and a limited amount is transferred to

archival repositories for preservation. The appraisal of

records is performed at the final disposition point within

the model.

Fig 2.1 - The record lifecycle an own interpretation of GNTW

(2002)

Source: GNTW (2002)

Guiding Principles for Record Keeping

The following section provides some guiding principles for good recordkeeping practices in terms of record retention, transmission and destruction.

Storing records. Records can be stored as case files, log books,softcopy databases, etc. Agencies should take reasonable steps to ensurethat client’s records are stored in a secure location andare not availableto others who are not authorised to have access. Agenciesneed to alsohave a policy on backing up of soft-copy data, access rights andsecurity. Precautions should be made to protect soft copyrecords from

Archiving

Destruction

Creation

Active records

Semi-active/ Inactive records

Final disposition

electronic viruses or technical failure, and written records from damagedue to fire, water or even rodents (e.g. termites).

Protecting records. Agencies should develop its own confidentialitypolicy to protect the client’s written and electronic records and othersensitive information, and the obligations of all workersto abide bythem. Agencies should seek to balance an individual’s right toconfidentiality with their right to services, care and protection.

Access to records. When providing clients with access to theirrecords,staff should take steps to protect confidentiality of other individualsidentified or discussed in such records. Both client requests andrationale for withholding records should be documented inclient’s files.Sensitive and confidential information must be released only toauthorised parties; with client consent, wherever applicable.

Records management in organizations in developing

countries

Records management is the discipline and organizational

function of managing records to meet operational business

needs, accountability requirements and community expectations

(Taylor 1996). The ISO 15489 Standard on Records Management

(International Organization for Standardization 2001) defines

records management as the field of management responsible for

the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt,

maintenance, use and disposition of records, including the

processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and

information about business activities and transactions in the

form of records.

The benefits of effective records management, as listed by

Blake (2005), include supporting efficient joint working and

information exchange, facilitating evidence-based policy

making and supporting the administration of data protection

principles and effective implementation of Freedom of

Information and other legislation through good organization of

records. Other benefits include supporting accountability by

providing reliable records of actions and decisions and

knowledge management across sectors of government by making

reliable information available for sharing, extraction and

summarization. With the introduction of public sector reform

programmes, as required by donors, public sector organizations

in Kenya developed strategic plans (2004–2009) in order to

meet their mission and vision and improve service delivery in

all government ministries. A properly functioning public

service is necessary for the economic and social wellbeing of

any nation. This status can only be met if there is integrity

and accountability in the public service (Muthaura 2003).

Integrity and accountability refer to the removal of negative

traits, within the public service, which may hinder the

provision of efficient and effective services. These include

breakdown of discipline, ineffective supervision, weak

management structures, corruption and non-delivery of

services. Hurley (2005) pointed out that record keepers and

accountability advocates seem to agree that, in support of

accountability, good record systems must exist which are

complete, authentic and reliable (dependable), accessible and

usable. Records management is key to public sector management.

According to Schellenberg (1999), a renowned American archival

theorist, scholar and practitioner, the most important aspect

of records management is the use of records for the conduct of

government operations. Records constitute the basic

administrative tools by means of which the work of a

government is accomplished. Poor records management undermines

civil service reform programmes, since the ability to retrieve

information about government services was a major criterion of

successful public sector management (Maranga 1999). It was

noted by Ngulube (2003) that without proper records

management, accountability, transparency and efficiency in

public service would be heavily compromised, leading to

corruption and loss of confidence in the civil service. In

Ghana, Akotia (2003; 2005) argued that the provision for

records management improvement marked a shift in the

development management strategies of Ghana, since effective

management of public sector financial information was a

crucial factor in providing capacity for public sector

efficiency and governance.

References

Ajewole, B. 2001. Records and information resource management in the public service: A theoretical and practical framework. Lagos: The Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON):24-28

Chapman, P, (2000) Guidelines on preservation and conservation policies on the archives and libraries heritage, UNESCO, Paris .

Hurley, C. (2005) Recordkeeping and accountability. In: McKemmish, S., M. Piggot, B. Reed and F. Upward (eds). Archives: recordkeeping in society. Wagga Wagga, New South Wales: Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University. pp. 223–253.

International Organization for Standardization. (2001) International Standard: Information and Documentation – Records Management–Part 1: General. Geneva: International Organization for Standardization. 15489–1.

International Records Management Trust (1999)The Management ofPublic Sector Records: Principles and Context, International Council on Archives, UK.

Kemoni, N. (2007) Records management practices and public service delivery inKenya. PhD thesis. Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Musila, M. (2000). Fighting Poor Records Keeping in Kenya: The Case of Missing and Lost Files and Documents. In Information Accountability Sourcebook. IRMT: London

Robek,A., Brown,G. and Stephens, J. ( 1995.)Ten Business Reasons for Records Management in Information and Records Management: Document-based Information Systems, IRMT: London

Thomassen, T. (2002). A first introduction to archival science. Kluwer Academic Publishers: Amsterdam.

Ugwunze, V. (1992). An examination of records managementin the uUniversity of Lagos registry. Archives and Information Science 2(1): 34-46.

Chapter Two

Recordkeeping systems that are based on a sound understanding of the Mercy Corps business environment, legal needs and organizational requirements provide substantial benefits.

Recordkeeping : • support better performance of business activities and better decision making throughout the Mercy Corps

• enable the Mercy Corps to comply with legal and regulatory requirements • protect the interests the Mercy Corps and the rights of its employees, clients and the public

• provide protection and support in litigation, including the better management of risks associated with the existence or lack of evidenceof organizational activity

• support consistency, continuity, efficiency and productivity in service delivery, program management and administration

• produce dynamic, valuable information that can be fed back into business processes to continually improve, automate and facilitate these processes

• avoid the retention and clutter of ephemeral records, or the loss or inadvertent destruction of significant records, and

• enable management of records as an asset and information resource, rather than a liability.

Therefore using arguments that demonstrate tangible business benefitsthat can be obtained through better recordkeeping, may help to convince management and other staff about the importance of ensuring your office has the recordkeeping systems it needs to sustain its business activity.

Mercy Corps will need to keep records in order to conduct significant transactions and there offices will need a definitive record of these transactions. If there offices needs to keep a recordof its activities, it needs to ensure that the business systems that support these activities are capable of creating and keeping records.

In many Mercy Corps offices, business information systems that conduct significant business are not able to perform as recordkeeping. They have been introduced on an ad hoc basis, or without

consideration of recordkeeping issues, and as a consequence do not manage, preserve and make accessible evidence of business operations.Through not having a good recordkeeping systems, Mercy Corps can:

• place themselves at significant risk • incur unnecessary expenditure, and • deny themselves access to significant organizational information.

Mercy Corps , Wajir is increasingly doing business both manually andonline. Many of the systems that are being developed include interfaces that allow clients to conduct business with MC electronically. Often recordkeeping is a neglected component of thesesystems. Systems are designed to allow easy access to MC, Wajir services and to meet client needs, but frequently the recordkeeping requirements that should be incorporated into the systems are not accommodated. As a result the systems may transact business, but theydo not document or keep adequate records of this business

.

Questionnaire

1. A. What types of records do Mercy Corps, Wajir County keep?B. What format do you use to keep the records?

2. Have you been able to realize proper records keepingin Mercy Corps, Wajir County?B. How?

3. Does your organization have any policy concerning records keeping?B. If there is any state thenC. How useful are the policiesVery useful [ ]

Fairly useful [ ]Not useful [ ]Very useful [ ]

4. What kind of challenges do you experience in meetingproper records keeping? Please explain

5. What are the possible recommendations with regards to sustainable records keeping practices?