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Records managers often complain that records management is undervalued, suffers from the influence of irrelevant traditional concepts, and is therefore theoretically flawed. The findings of several surveys attest to this situation, but do not explain the many reasons that contribute to the lack of understanding and acceptance of records management as a separate discipline. For any field or discipline to be accepted, it must possess a strong foundation in theory. This article will examine whether there is an accepted body of theory underlying records management methods and practices. An attempt is made to develop a conceptual model that the authors believe records managers need in order to explain the present “state of the art” of the discipline and justify their contribution to the management of organisations.

This is the second part of a two‐part article which examines the various definitions accorded to the two key terms in records management – the records and records management. Variations in their definition have lead to confusion which affects the formulation of theory to underpin the discipline. Having discussed the changing definition of a record in Part 1 in this part the authors discuss the various definitions of records management.

This article is the result of a brief survey, conducted across the Internet by researchers from the Archives and Records Management Programme at the University of Wales at Aberystwyth. The authors discuss the need for records management training and education world‐wide, and the emergence of records management as a subset of information management, with an acknowledged impact on the systematic and efficient management of organisations. They show how the focus of records management has shifted over the recent past from the archival management of unwanted documents, to the management of electronic systems, giving records managers an equal standing with other professionals in the field of information management. Using a comparison between Malaysia, where much of the training is provided by visiting consultants, and the United Kingdom, where records management training is provided by the universities, the authors conclude that the needs of qualified and well‐informed professionals in this distinct field is dependent upon the training and education provided by courses in universities world‐wide. Their survey, however, reveals that there is no standard approach to the training provided by these institutions: some are likely to reflect their archival origins, others represent various streams of the broad context of information studies.

This article examines the various definitions accorded to the two key terms in records management ‐ the records and records management. Variations in their definition have lead to confusion which affects the formulation of theory to underpin the discipline. This problem is to be discussed in two separate parts. Part 1 discusses the changing definition of the ‘record’ as it evolves from an archives perspective, through a management perspective to an information technology perspective. These changes have lead to changes in the status of records. This is discussed as records as objects vs records as electronic objects. However, this is not a new issue. It was recognised by Jenkinson as early as 1922. The debate on the definition of records concludes that any new definition needs to take account of the component parts of a record: the information, the medium and the function. Part 2 will discuss the various definitions of records management.

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.

This research examines micro‐enterprises pursuing gradual growth. While very little research has been targeted specifically at the growth of micro‐enterprises, there are a host of possible influencing factors suggested by the rather broader small business literature. Less research has attempted to integrate the factors that influence growth of small firms into some form of model. Those models that were found had a number of shortfalls when it came to understanding the development of micro‐enterprises. A framework has been developed through this research that addresses these shortfalls. First, it has targeted specifically gradual growth micro‐enterprises; secondly, it is rigorously under‐pinned through empirical research; thirdly, it attempts to comprehensively cover the range of factors that influence development; fourthly, it focuses on the complex interaction of factors that may influence development. The research findings and implications are presented in two parts. Part 1 develops an empirically verified framework that explains how growth is influenced by a myriad of interacting factors. This leads to a discussion of the policy implications of the framework. Part 2 is presented in the next edition of the Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development (JSBED) and will explore the managerial implications of the framework. This will provide a diagnostic toolkit to help micro‐enterprise owner‐managers and advisers pursue growth. The paper is derived from research conducted initially for the submission of a PhD thesis at the University of Brighton (Perren, 1996).

This chapter explores social enterprises as an alternative and addition to traditional entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs). It reviews the substantial social enterprise literature in order to identify the myriad of competing tensions constraining development and success of social EEs in areas of significant poverty and economic deprivation. Following this, the findings of several contemporary and novel studies are discussed. These collectively evidence ways social enterprises are overcoming the seemingly immutable constraints they operate under. In particular, the Social Enterprise Places initiative has been highly effective in supporting the development of flourishing social EEs in many locations in the UK. However, the growth of social enterprises, both in number and economic importance, presents further challenges that social enterprise owners and managers will have to contend with. Consequently, these organisations and their allied ecosystems require continued structural, financial and skills support.

The existence of policy serves as a guideline to facilitate actions and decisions to be taken. Electronic records management should be driven and guided by clear, comprehensive, understandable policy, to direct the organization and ascertain the effectiveness of functions implemented. The purpose of this paper is to find out whether government agencies in Malaysia do possess such a policy for electronic records management. In addition, the aim is to identify the responsible party for the policy besides investigating the sources referred to in developing the policy.

The survey employs a questionnaire to gather the data from 25 selected government departments in Klang Valley and Putrajaya, Malaysia.

As anticipated, not all government departments possess electronic records management policy far from complete, clear, and easy to implement. Most surveyed samples are executing policy provided by Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU) and National Archive of Malaysia (NAM) with some modifications to suit their needs. On the other hand, the number of organization carrying out electronic records management without any policy in place is alarming.

Electronic records management is carried out in some organisations merely based on their instinct and initiatives, far from complying with international standards of best practice.

This paper provides evidence from an original study.