Management of e‐mails as official records in Singapore: a case study

Abstract

Purpose To assess the understanding of the management of e‐mails as official records in Singapore and the mindset of e‐mail users. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory survey was conducted among corporate e‐mail users in Singapore. A total of 76 responses from users in financial services, government industries and information technology industries were obtained and analysed. Findings The results show that e‐mails are recognised as important business records and that the establishment of an e‐mail policy and guidelines defining use of e‐mail, as well as systems for managing them, are deemed essential. Most employees recognize the criticality of e‐mail in their work and practise compliance on their organisations’ e‐mail policy, guidelines and technical considerations. Originality/value E‐mail has become so prevalent in today's business environment that it is now used as the de facto tool for business‐wide communication and collaboration. Many organisations have realized that e‐mail repositories represent an increasingly large part of an organisation's “knowledge assets” that must be retained and managed securely. Hence, the management of e‐mails as official records has become essential to organisations.