Contribution of Business Records Management towards Growth of Small and Medium Size Enterprises in Nairobi County, Kenya

Small and Medium Enterprises are crucial to Kenya's economic development and expansion. Keeping track of company documents is substantial for the success of these enterprises. However, most of the businesses in Nairobi County are run without proper record keeping, leading to the failure of more than sixty percent of them. The aim of this study was to investigate records management practices among SMEs in Nairobi with a view to proposing appropriate records management strategies that would contribute to the growth of the SMEs. In order to address this purpose, the following objectives guided the research: to establish the value attached to records by the owners and employees of the SMEs; to determine how business records are managed from creation to disposition by the SMEs; to assess how the business records management practices adopted affect the growth of the SMEs. The study was anchored on the Records Continuum Model and the decision usefulness theory. The study adopted a pragmatic research paradigm and a mixed methods research approach. The research design was a concurrent triangulation design. The target population of the study was 278, which comprised of the owners and one employee in 133 registered SMEs operating in Nairobi Central Business District, six officers from Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and six officers from National Bureau of Statistics. A census approach was adopted, and hence, the whole population was included in the study. Primary data was gathered using questionnaires and key informant interviews. Questionnaires were utilized to gather data from owners and employees, while a key informant interview guide was utilized to gather data from six officers from the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and six officers from the National Bureau of Statistics. Quantitative data obtained through questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics like percentages and frequencies, and the findings were displayed in tables, figures and charts. Qualitative data obtained through key informant interviews were analyzed thematically and presented in narrative descriptions. The research showed that the majority of SMEs in Nairobi CBD were not practising sound records management; there was a lack of appreciation of the importance of keeping business records, an absence of records management guidelines and policies, as well as enforcement mechanisms which undermined business performance in SMEs. The research concluded that SMEs in Nairobi County employ a balanced approach to record creation and management, combining electronic and manual methods. The best practices and strategies of records management positively contribute to the growth of the SMEs. The study recommends that the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce should organize and conduct a training program on appropriate record-keeping, and the Ministry of Investment, Trade, and Industry should think about enacting a law requiring records management for staff, managers and SME owners.