The Value Added Information Chain.

• Author: CISCO, SUSAN L.

Michael Porter introduced the concept of a "value chain" in the 1980s to describe the nature of buyer and supplier relationships with organizations. Porter's Production Value Chain graphically depicted the discrete activities in the process of delivering products and services where costs occurred and identified where "value" was added. This marketing model set the stage for defining opportunities for differentiation in areas such as cost, production, and product development.

Many of the concepts from Porter's model can be applied to organizations today in another area -- information management. "Value" defines usefulness or importance. "Value chain" is a model for depicting the increasing importance, or value-add, of activities in a process. An "information management value chain," therefore, focuses on the discrete activities that incur costs in order to add value to information. The value proposition is to improve the usefulness of information to the ultimate users, helping them make better decisions.

The underlying assumption for this application of the value chain model is that information management is a "process." In other words, the flow of information is a production line converting raw data into knowledge for decision making. Conversion of information into knowledge requires the input, capture, filtering, organization, sharing and use, and synthesis of many forms of information -- data and documents.

If we take a holistic view of the value-added process of information management and compare that to the breakdown of responsibilities within organizations for these functions, do they necessarily add value? Many organizations have discrete activities for records management, document management, and knowledge management. Each of the information management activities are often thought of as separate disciplines that incur costs and are addressed through different business practices and technologies. All of these activities, however, play a role in managing and utilizing the "knowledge assets" of the organization.

The set of information management activities addressed by the Information Management Value Chain include

Capture -- data and document based information and other "knowledge" is created and/or acquired

Transform -- the information captured is filtered, structured, indexed, and organized

Store -- the "information base" or "knowledge base" is maintained through a series of repositories and/or linkages

Transfer -- the dissemination and/ or presentation of the information

Apply -- the information is used to support organizational decisions and actions

This article takes an integrated look at the information management process, exploring the connection between records management, document management, integrated document management, and knowledge management. As "links" in a chain of interrelated information management activities within organizations, these activities can lay the foundation for differentiation in areas such as innovation, responsiveness, productivity, and competency. Supported by enabling technologies, these initiatives can facilitate organizational goals of process improvement and performance enhancement.

Link 1: Records Management: Strategies and Directions for the Future

Records management is a fundamental activity in the information management value chain. Records management professionals have always known that if records management practices and techniques are not integrated into electronic recordkeeping systems, the systems are doomed to eventual failure because of

* Poor quality records which are inaccurate and/or incomplete

* Records with no apparent owner and no known purpose for their existence

* Records in unreadable formats

* Too many records that are too old to be useful

Now other business disciplines have realized the value of records management. At the 1997 Managing Electronic Records Conference sponsored by Cohasset Associates, Ted Smith, Chairman of FileNET, discussed the role of records management in document management systems. He made the case for the need to manage records because of legal regulations, tax laws, business requirements, and industry standards. In his model, document management technology supplies the physical storage, document production capabilities and access control. Smith sees records management supplying the essential components of document classification and filing system infrastructure, retention policies, and a migration strategy for stored documents.

Another compelling argument for records management was presented by Bruce Silver in a recent article. (KM World, 1998) He observed that records management is coming back as a strategic issue in business and as a technological challenge. He described a recent lawsuit at Prudential Insurance where the company was socked with a $1 million fine by an irate federal judge when it could not produce internal documents in a class action suit. In fact, it appeared that some documents had been willfully destroyed by a Prudential employee, but that did not cause the fine. What made the judge angry was that the company had no policy -- not to mention a system -- for managing internal electronic documents as corporate records, the principal records on the conduct of its business. Silver concluded by identifying three key features needed for records management:

Record Selection -- is it a record or a non-record

Classification -- assigning the official category(ies) from the organizational filing system

Retention -- how long does it need to be retained?

These two examples from thought leaders in the document management industry suggest that other business disciplines now appreciate the value of the records management discipline and its focus on records retention schedules and disposition, filing and information retrieval, protection and security of records, and storage and migration strategies.

The proliferation of records in electronic format is influencing the discipline of records management in at least three ways:

Single point of access. Electronic records are stored in "knowledge silos" designed for specific work groups or business processes. Knowledge silos usually are invisible to or unreachable by other employees in the organization. What employees need is a single point of access at the desktop where all electronic documents are available in one integrated system. Employees have only one place in which to look for documents regardless of whether they are scanned images, word processing documents, electronic forms, e-mail messages, digital voice mail messages, or spreadsheets. The same system can serve as pointer or catalog to hard copy/analog documents and provide a method for ordering copies. Leveraging intranet/Internet technology. With all documents in one desktop system, employees need a simple, easy-to-use retrieval interface. The Internet provides such an interface -- the standard Web browser (i.e., Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer) -- to be used on a corporate intranet. For employees who use the Internet, the interface is already familiar, and access can be controlled by individual security profiles. Transferring document indexing function to end users. Electronic documents must be indexed into the recordkeeping system so they can be retrieved at a later date. It is estimated that 70 percent to 80 percent of documents are now created electronically. Who will index the large volume of documents? For high value and/or vital documents, it is feasible that records management staff can assist in indexing. However, for the majority of electronic documents, the individuals who create and acquire the documents (end users) will be responsible for indexing them into the electronic recordkeeping system. End users are not thrilled with the prospect of indexing all their electronic records! Therefore, the indexing system must be simple and easy to use. Over time, it is hoped that artificial intelligence technology can be applied to the indexing function so that the system can offer the most probable indexing for the end user to edit and/or approve. Four issues have bubbled to the top as most critical in the management of electronic records:

Definition of a record. "Official" records are recorded information in any physical form or medium which are generated or received by a business enterprise as evidence of business decisions and transactions. Examples of documents that are not records are extra copies preserved only for convenience of reference and journal articles. Such "non-records" have their own destruction schedule based on usefulness, and their life cycle must not exceed that of official records of the same type. Educating end users on the distinction between records and non-records is confusing at best and bewildering at worst. The distinction is important for controlling...