Risky business.

• Position: In focus: a message from the editors - Survey on records management of business enterprises

If companies are not taking records management seriously today, they may be in for a rude awakening. Just ask any of the corporations--both American and international--whose principals have been investigated, fined, and jailed by the Securities and Exchange Commission as a result of their lax recordkeeping habits and/or mismanagement of company information.

Yet despite the well-publicized court cases, arrests, and large fines, many companies continue to be behind the curve when it comes to records management issues--especially electronic records management issues.

A recent survey by Cohasset Associates Inc. and sponsored by ARMA International and AIIM International, illustrates the risky situation in corporations today. The 2003 "Electronic Records Management Survey" reveals that nearly half of U.S. companies have not adopted records retention policies for e-mail and other electronic documents. Not only have companies failed to address both e-mail and electronic document retention, but also e-records policies are nonexistent in almost half of them. In addition, 47 percent of the more than 2,200 survey respondents said their organization does not include electronic records in its retention and destruction schedules. Even more disturbing, 46 percent of companies reported having no system for placing holds on records in the event of pending litigation or a regulatory investigation--leaving open the possibility that records critical to a legal matter could be destroyed.

Surprisingly, 41 percent of respondents stated that electronic records were not included in their organization's current records management program. Forty percent of respondents reported that their records management policies and procedures do not address electronic records. Fifty-nine percent of respondents indicated that their organization's e-mail records are not subject to any retention policy.

Organizations without an effective records management program in place potentially face major legal, compliance, and business risks. While the overwhelming...