The ethical implications of corporate records management practices and some suggested ethical values for decisions

While the ethical implications of corporate actions have received increasing attention, one important area overlooked by both researchers and corporate codes of ethics is the significant ethical implications of corporate records management practices. This article discusses the operational and strategic purposes of modern corporate records management programs—including scorched earth programs which seek to reduce exposure to potential liability by eliminating documentary evidence from corporate files that could be used to establish culpability in future governmental investigations or in litigation by persons injured by corporate actions. As a first step toward developing relevant ethical guidelines and decision criteria for socially-responsible records management practices, the ethical values of freedom of choice and avoidance of harm are applied to various corporate decisions as to (1) which information should be retained as records and for how long, (2) subsequent disclosure or non-disclosure of that information and to whom, and (3) decisions as to when information in corporate records may properly be destroyed. John C. Ruhnka, Associate Professor of Legal Environment and Management at the University of Colorado at Denver, has written extensively on corporate obligations to disclose material adverse events and preliminary merger negotiations in the Harvard Business Review and Securities Regulation Law Journal. He has also written on design considerations for records management programs and legal and regulatory retention requirements that apply to business records in a series of articles in the Corporate Confidentiality and Disclosure Letter. Dr. Steven Weller is on the faculty of The National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada, and has written extensively on problems of court process and organizational behavior. He has previously written on The Effectiveness of Corporate Codes of Ethics in the Journal of Business Ethics.