Information culture and recordkeeping: a case of Chinese enterprises
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-09-2021-0189 |
| Published date | 09 December 2021 |
| Date | 09 December 2021 |
| Pages | 973-995 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
| Author | Zhiying Lian,Ning Wang,Gillian Oliver |
Information culture and
recordkeeping: a case of
Chinese enterprises
Zhiying Lian and Ning Wang
School of Information Resource Management, Renmin University of China,
Beijing, China, and
Gillian Oliver
Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to report findings from an investigation on the information culture and
recordkeeping in two Chinese companies, exploring the interaction between information culture and
recordkeeping.
Design/methodology/approach –On the basis of systematic literature review, this research investigates
the information culture and recordkeeping in two Chinese companies by conducting in-depth interviews with
the staff of the two companies.
Findings –The attitude of the leadership and the staff towards records and information is different in the
result-oriented information culture and rule-following culture. If a company aims to stay innovative and
competitive, an information culture that can facilitate the good governance of records and information should
be developed, and information professionals can play a key role in working towards this.
Originality/value –As a qualitative study of information culture and recordkeeping in Chinese companies,
this paper provides the insight into the interaction between information culture and recordkeeping,
demonstrates the impact of information culture on information governance and identifies the factors
influencing information culture in an organization.
Keywords Information culture, Recordkeeping, Information governance, Chinese enterprise
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Informationculture has been studiedby researchers in theinformation studies andinformation
systems disciplines since the 1980s. However, there are few empirical studies of information
culture and recordkeeping except that of Sv€
ard (2014) who examines the information culture
of a medium-sized municipality in Belgium and its impact on the information/records
management.
Records management is concerned with the process and controls for the creation, capture
and management of an organization’s records to support the organization’s operations, and it
is also the term used for the professional practice of managing records (Mcleod and Lomas,
2015). However, the term “recordkeeping”has its own unique background with a broader
definition. Recordkeeping refers to the framework of making and maintaining complete,
accurate and reliable evidence of business transactions in the form of recorded information
which includes (1) the creation of records in the course of business activity and the means to
ensure the creation of adequate records; (2) the design, establishment and operation of
recordkeeping systems and (3) the management of records used in business (traditionally
regarded as the domain of records management) and as archives (traditionally regarded as
the domain of archives administration) (Standards Australia AS 4390.1, 1996). Therefore,
recordkeeping encompasses a range of intertwined recordkeeping and archiving processes
and activities carried out by records managers and archivists for current, regulatory and
historical recordkeeping purposes (McKemmish et al., 2009).
Information
culture and
recordkeeping
973
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0022-0418.htm
Received 25 September 2021
Revised 14 November 2021
Accepted 21 November 2021
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 78 No. 5, 2022
pp. 973-995
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-09-2021-0189
Recordkeeping represents a significant component of information governance in an
organization (Hagmann, 2013), and good governance (of information) can improve the speed
and effectiveness of decisions and processes (efficiency), make maximum use of the
information in terms of value creation and reduce the costs and risks to the business or
organization (Gartner, 2009, p. 3). The impact of recordkeeping on organizational efficiency
has been discussed by academics (e.g. Desrochers, 2012;Hagmann, 2013;Balagobei, 2019).
Recordkeeping in an organization is impacted by information culture in the organization,
while at the same time it also reflects and influences information culture. Hence, it is
important to conduct further research to understand how information culture and
recordkeeping interact with each other in organizations. Such research will help to
facilitate the development of information culture which values and promotes the good
governance of records and information. This kind of information culture will be conducive to
the development and innovation of enterprises.
Existing research pays little attention to the information culture of Chinese enterprises,
and the political, cultural and societal contexts, as well as the enterprise management system,
in China are different from those in other countries. The purpose of this paper is to report
findings from an investigation on the information culture and recordkeeping in two Chinese
companies, exploring the interaction between information culture and recordkeeping. The
research questions are as follows:
RQ1. What are the characteristics of the information culture of the two Chinese
companies?
RQ2. What is the status of recordkeeping in the two companies?
RQ3. How do information culture and recordkeeping interact with each other in the two
companies? What are the implications of the interaction for the cultivation of
information culture which is conducive to the development and innovation of
enterprises?
To answer these questions, this paper first reviews the literature on information culture,
recordkeeping and information governance. Next we introduce the theoretical frameworks
and the research method; then, this paper delineates the information culture profile and
recordkeeping in the two Chinese companies and discusses how the information culture and
recordkeeping interact with each other. The paper concludes with consideration of the
implications of this interaction for the development of information culture, which values and
promotes a good governance of records and information and assesses research contributions
and limitations.
2. Literature review
2.1 Information culture
The advent of the information society and the application of information technology have
hastened the information culture research since 1980s. A cluster of academics take the
perspective of information culture as a positive culture for information, which responds
positively to external information environment and contributes to the operational innovation
and strategic success of the organization (e.g. Ginman, 1988;Grimshaw, 1995;Curry and
Moore, 2003). While some other scholars interpret information culture as a cultural
phenomenon, it is viewed as the general ability, viewpoint, norms and behavior rules of
obtaining, understanding and using information in social collective (Zheng, 2005), and
it reflects the values, attitudes, norms and practices of the organization regarding information
management and use (Oliver, 2003;Choo, 2006). Thus, all organizations and communities
have a unique information culture whether they are positive or negative, effective or
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