Chapter one
Background of Study
Sunyani Municipality is one of the twenty-seven districts in the Brong Ahafo Region and the Sunyani Municipal Assembly is responsible for the administration and development of the Municipality. The assembly has different departments and other government agencies that work together to deliver the mandate of the Municipal Assembly and as a result create a large volume of data and documents on daily basis to support the activities that they carry out. These data and documents are very important and therefore there is a need to preserve it.
Schellenberg (1956) defined records as all books, papers, maps, photographs, or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any public or private institutions in pursuance of its legal obligations or in connections with the transaction of its proper business and preserved or appropriate for preservation by that institution or its legitimate successor as evidence of its functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities or because of the information value of data contained therein. Records are the most basic and essential asset of every organization. Shepherd and Yeo (2003) argued that records management is responsible for the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use and disposition of records. Mrwebi (2000) stated that information plays a very important role in the economic development of organizations and is used as corporate resources to improve productivity, efficiency and effectiveness. The implementation of information technology system has widened the field of records management and allows people to manage the records electronically from distance.
Efficient records keeping practices are likely to eliminate the problem of missing files, misfiling, shortage of physical filing space and lengthy turnaround time in retrieving files. Globally, organizations spend an average of 4 weeks a year searching for or waiting on misfiled, mislabeled and lost information. Many organizations typically misfile 2% to 7% of their paper and electronic records. Specifically, paper records users waste up to 2 hours a day looking for misplaced documents whiles electronic records users spend 7.5% of their time on electronic systems looking for files (Professional Records and Information Services Management [PRISM] International, 2004). This situation occurs because at any given time, between 3 and 5 percent of organizations’ files are lost or misplaced. Moreover, 90% of records, once filed, are hardly or never referred to again or immediately (PRISM International, 2004).
An electronic records management system provides many advantages including management support, budgetary, security, cooperation, performance, privacy and systems integration (Abdulkadhim et al., 2015). The aim of this management is to provide to the people the information that is needed easily and quickly (Johnston and Bowen, 2005).
The study is to create and keep sensitive records which have an enduring value and as such need to be properly managed in order for it to become authentic and also maintain their integrity.
Project Scope
The study will be restricted to records about government appointees in the Brong Ahafo Region, specifically in the Sunyani Municipality. The scope of the study is to have an electronic document records management system (web-based) of government appointees. Only official documents or records of Government’s Appointees would be uploaded onto the system.
General Objective
The general objective of the study is to create a record management system (web-based) where records of the past and current government appointees can be accessed.
Specific Objectives
The specific objectives of the study are:
I. To design and develop a system that can maintain the safety of records and prevent it from physical damage.
II. To create a system that can generate report of documents.
III. To evaluate the impact of electronic records management system to the municipal assembly and the government.
Research Questions
To achieve the above objectives, the study sought to address the following questions:
I. What is the appropriate tool for developing an electronic records management system?
II. …..
III. What benefit would the Municipal Assembly and the government derive form the use of the system?
Significance of the Study
The findings from this study will help to identify the needs to use electronic records to meet the day to day activities of the assembly and also help the government with quick and accurate data for effective policy formulation. It will help the organization to achieve an efficient operation by reducing transaction cost, improving capacity, minimizing errors, saving labor, to speedup decision making, inform future decisions, increase accountability of decision makers, and improve service delivery.
Also it will enable the staff to respond to demands of customers by calling up needed documents in a fast and effective way. The study will help to facilitate the flow of records of an organization and to ensure that the availability of information upon request.
Problem statement
Despite the advancement in technology, there are some organizations that are still using the manual system. Griffin (2011) stated that, many small organizations still function quite well with the manual system of using paper documents. This can be considered as a high risk and therefore the organizations that use manual system need to shift to automated systems.
Public sector organizations such as the Municipal Assemblies are increasing choosing neither to create, store, retrieve, records electronically. Perhaps this is because the management of electronic records presents new and complex challenges to the organization as a whole.
Gregg (2013) came out with two challenges faced by paper-based records management. Accessibility through hardcopy files is limited because paper-based information can only exist in a single location at a time. He added that with one copy of a document in existence, only one person can access that information at any given time. This serial approach to information management does not play well in today’s “I need it now” business environment. This is especially the case since most organizations are decentralized and geographically dispersed. When there is only one version of information, managing the hardcopy document involved becomes a physical challenge
Wischhusen, snell, and Johnson (2006), claim that when a paper is removed from the file, it is easily mislaid, filed in the wrong place or lost or damaged. Also, it will take time to retrieve back data or information that has been stored because the worker needs to find the actual folder where the data has been stored previously.
Effective implementation of electronic management system still remains a challenge for many organizations in the public sector. In the absence of a well-functioning records management system, decisions are made without detailed information (Ngoepe, 2004; Thurston, 2005; Wamukoya & Mutula, 2005b). Moreover, documents are likely to be disorganized, lost, destroyed or tampered with which ultimately results in poor planning and defective scheduling of activities (Pfeffer & Sutton, 2006). In the end, management is handicapped in its decision-making processes and organizations are unable to fulfill their statutory obligations (Iwhiwhu, 2005; Mjnama, 2004).
Chapter two
Literature review
Organizations create records to support the activities that they carry out. However, if these records are not managed properly, they will not provide the necessary support and information might be lost causing problems for the organization. To provide an efficient and effective administration that ensures that the organization runs as smoothly as possible, there should be proper management of records. Records management is the application of systematic and scientific controls to recorded information required in the operation of an organization’s business (Zawiyah and Robert, 1999).
Mnjama and wamukoya (2004) point out that record are valuable assets that need to be managed and protected. Besides providing essential evidence of organizational activities, transactions and decisions, records also support business functions and are critical for the assessment of organizational performance. Without reliable records, governments cannot effectively manage state resources, civil service, delivery of services such as education and health care. Moreover, without accurate and reliable records, and effective systems to manage them, governments cannot be held accountable for their decisions and actions, and the rights and entitlements of citizens and corporate bodies cannot be upheld.
Records management is also the discipline of applying well-established techniques and procedures to the control of those sources of information, which arises internally within an organization as a result of its own activities (Newton, 1986).
The ISO 15489-1: 2001 standard ("ISO 15489-1:2001") defines records as "information created, received, and maintained as evidence and information by an organization or person, in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business" (ISO, 2001).
A key feature of records is their ability to serve as evidence of an event. Proper records management can help preserve this feature of records. The International Council on Archives (2004) observed that records provide evidence of human activities and transactions, underlie the rights of individuals and states, and are fundamental to democracy and good governance.
Shepherd and Yeo (2003, p. 4) opine that until recently, almost all records were on paper, but modern organizations are increasingly using digital media and records maintained digitally are known to records managers as electronic records (or digital records). National Archives of Australia Digital Recordkeeping Guidelines (2004) note that digital records include word‐processed documents, spreadsheets, multimedia presentations, email, websites and online transactions. Electronic records can be found in many systems throughout the organization‐including databases and business information systems, shared folders and hard drives. According to the Victorian Electronic Records Strategy (2002), electronic records are evidence of organizational activities and are generally the computerized versions of traditional paper records.
Gary P. Johnston (2005) said that electronic record can be viewed by many people at the same time. This has benefits in terms of access; users in different places can discuss the same record or different user can use the same record for different purpose.
According to National Archives and Records Service of South Africa (2006) the unique and fragile nature of electronic data demands a re‐evaluation of the way government bodies manage records. Processes and procedures created to meet the needs of record keeping in the paper environment do not apply equally to electronic records.
Kimberly et al. (2001) felt that electronic records posed certain challenges, as they were entirely dependent on technology, both for their creation and their storage and, as a result, they needed to be managed over time in a computerized environment.
Mnjama and Wamukoya (2004) pointed out that, while many governments had systems and procedures for managing paper-based records, the same could not be said of electronic records. They called for a critical examination of laws, policies and procedures that were necessary for successful implementation of an e‐records programme that supported e‐government.
In summary, an effective records management program will ensure that records are available for use when needed, privacy and confidentiality are maintained, redundant records are destroyed and records ultimately contribute towards sustaining service delivery.
Electronic Records Management
Records management has evolved from a paper-based function responsible for the storage of an organization’s miscellaneous documents, to one concerned with the management of specified internal records, in a multitude of media, from creation to disposal, through their active use as sources of information and hence of ultimate review against retention schedules, for their eventual destruction (De Wet and Du Toit, 2000).
Records support decision making, demonstrate compliance, document the history of the organization, and perhaps most importantly, enable the organization to do their jobs. Records need to be properly managed in order to maximize their value and minimize their cost. By implementing good records management practices, the organization can control, avoid and even decrease the costs associated with maintaining the records and improve the efficiency of the business operations (Hebert, 1998).
Importance of Electronic Records Management
Electronic records with its potential play an important role in supporting efficiency, accuracy and accessibility of information. Sing (2002) pointed out that there is a direct relationship between investment in electronic records and productivity improvements in the office and these include; better customer service, greater product/service variety, shorter response time, enhanced product/service quality and better customization of products and services.
The implementation of sound record management practices for electronic records can result in a number of benefits for government. One of the most important benefits is to ensure a creation and management of accurate and reliable electronic records. This allows organizations to fulfill legal mandates regarding the protection of their records. Other benefits include; ensuring the legal acceptability of the organization’s electronic records, reducing the burden of paper records management, identifying appropriate means for the movement of records to successive generations of technology and systems, and finally improve citizen access to public information (Mashburn, 2001).
Chapter 3
Methodology
Introduction
This chapter conveys how data will be collected in response to research questions, describing procedures and techniques that support the main points in conducting the study. It is presented in the following order; methods and tools applied, rationale behind the method used, case study area, data analysis, analysis of system requirement, use case diagram, activity diagram and sequence diagram.
Method and Tools Applied
Agile Methodology
This methodology involves an iterative process focused on the continuous monitoring and improvement of deliverables. The agile methodology adopts an ‘inspect and adopt’ approach to project management and this greatly reduces cost and time. It is meant for short term project with an effort of team work that follows the software development life cycle. The software development cycle includes planning, analysis, design, coding, testing and delivers partially implemented system.
The core principle of this methodology is to satisfy and provide value through continual deliverables. Rather than tackling one big project over a long period of time, the agile method breaks a project into a smaller, simpler and more manageable tasks that can be completed effectively and quickly.
Rationale behind the method used
The main rational behind this methodology is that less work get wasted. Thus, when something changes about the project, the amount of rework that must be done would be minimized.
Another great benefit is the ability for projects to release quicker. New features are able to be delivered quickly and more frequently with higher levels of predictability. With this delivery, it is common for projects to be released ahead of schedule and earlier than originally planned.
Case Study Area
The study will be carried out at the Sunyani Municipal Assembly, in the Brong Ahafo Region.
Use Case Diagram
Activity Diagram
Sequence Diagram