Benefits of Electronic Document Management :A Case of the Commercial Bank of Africa –Kenya

Abstract

Electronic document management systems (EDMSs) are electronic systems that are used to create an electronic era in the management of organizational records. They are used to effect an integrated approach towards records management that ensures that all organizational departments are networked and are operating with the same system for managing their records. EDMSs carry multiple business benefits including safety of organizational information, faster information retrieval, higher customer satisfaction levels etc. that combine to achieve a huge overall improvement in service delivery and cost benefit to banks. This research study was carried out with an aim of improving service delivery in the Kenyan financial sector and also promoting a further and faster uptake of this technology of records management in the Kenyan banking industry above and beyond top level management to the branch level in order to raise quality of services offered and lower operational costs which ultimately leads to higher profits. This study was conducted as an academic research, that is, there was no case study used, but only relevant literature was consulted and the findings were grouped according to how they fit with the research objectives. It was found that where there is management support for the implementation of electronic document management systems, there was a higher uptake of EDMSs and that policy issues and organizational rigidity are the biggest obstacles in the implementation of EDMSs and that therefore, management initiative, favorable policies and a willingness by bank staff to adopt EDMSs if achieved would see a faster diffusion of this technology.