ISO 15489 and other standardized management systems: analogies and synergies
| Published date | 12 July 2011 |
| Date | 12 July 2011 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09565691111152044 |
| Pages | 104-121 |
| Author | Maria‐Manuela Moro Cabero,Maria‐Paz Martín‐Pozuelo,José Luís Bonal Zazo |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
ISO 15489 and other
standardized management
systems: analogies and synergies
Maria-Manuela Moro Cabero
University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
Maria-Paz Martı
´n-Pozuelo
University of Alcala
´de Henares, Madrid, Spain, and
Jose
´Luı
´s Bonal Zazo
University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
Abstract
Purpose – The aim of this paper is to explore the current links between standardized models ISO
9000, ISO 14000, ISO 27000 and the model ISO 15489.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on comparative analysis and on the authors’
knowledge of the series of standards.
Findings – A definition of the most relevant current analogies between these systems and an
analysis of observable synergies between the model ISO 15489 and the aforementioned management
model were produced.
Originality/value – The paper demonstrates the harmonizing capacity of the ISO regulations 15489
related to records management requirements as regulated by the series ISO 9000, ISO 14000 and ISO
27000. It offers perspectives on the potential of these regulations to strengthen records management in
organizations and on the benefits that series ISO 15489 offers to producers who have adopted these
codes of good practice.
Keywords Recordsmanagement,ISO Management StandardsSystems, ISO 15489,ISO 9000, ISO 27000,
ISO 30300, Standards,Spain
Paper type Viewpoint
Introduction
Organizations contain uneven and at times insufficient levels of information necessary
to satisfy documentation requirements of a technical, legal or business nature. In the
words of Bailey (2007), organizations are often unable to actually assemble records in a
way that would fulfil those requisites.
Figure 1 shows that records management (RM) converges and acts in the following
three groups or dimensions:
(1) the technological infrastructure, understood as a basic component of processing
and the storage and preservation of information;
legal aspects whose regulation involves both elements of corporate hygiene
(evidence of compliance); and
guidelines for the operation or performance of business (evidence of
activities). For this dimension, Bailey (2007) adds other benefits such as
practical, invisible and innovative.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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RMJ
21,2
104
Records Management Journal
Vol. 21 No. 2, 2011
pp. 104-121
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0956-5698
DOI 10.1108/09565691111152044
But Ryan (2006, p.126) wonders where we might find the essence of records
management in this figure[1] and touches upon other areas such as knowledge
management, human capital (leadership and ability), and the corporate culture which is
implicit in “people’s minds” (Oliver, 2007, p. 83). Records management within
organizations has to be pragmatic and focused on the implementation of the
information requirements that are obtained from these areas. Thus, in practice, records
management in organizations is carried out in a well-intentioned but inconsistent way.
In fact, we can distinguish several informational management levels: information
management tied to job positions and individual data control related to daily tasks
(N1); information management focused on departmental or functional objectives (N2);
information management deployed for achieving corporate goals, in which the
information reflects a joint perspective (N3); information management addressed to
corporate goals with continuous knowledge of national markets (N4), etc. (Nn). The
number of levels can vary. As regards the definition of levels, Davis et al. (2008, p. 28)
define five levels (operational, consolidated, integrated, optimal and innovative) and
affirm that 70 percent of organizati ons would fall between the informati on
management level delimited by job position (operational) and that of managing
departmental objectives (consolidated). Guidelines for graphical representation (not
just Venn diagrams) are adjusted to fit into a matrix where the dimensional states and
levels of information are assembled and are modified by the impact of the dimensions
mentioned above. This is shown in Figure 2 in which the line is intended to reflect the
existence of diverse informational cultures delimited by the inter-relationships of the
above-mentioned dimensions and levels of information management. In this respect,
Davis et al. (2008) specify just five levels – act, consolidate, integrate, optimize and
innovate – which interact with the three dimensions of technological infrastructure,
knowledge and human capital[2]. Oliver (2007) on the other hand demonstrate s the
need to consider the existence of different models of corporate culture before designing
systems of records management. She reports that a considerable number of
organizations have adopted codes of good practice in which providing evidence of
business activity is a requirement of efficient operation.
Every organization has diverse levels of information management that do not
necessarily coincide, in each if its dimensions. The existing records managem ent model
is shaped around the final result that comes from the interaction of the set of
Figure 1.
Convergence of records
management requirements
ISO 15489
105
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