In Records management has traditionally been a passive discipline.
Many directors picture it as mundane, a secondary part of the agency's function.
Because of this, records management programs have not received the level of attention they require. The result of this laissez-faire approach can detach records management functions from the cultural mainstream of an agency. This organizational culture is the integrated operational pattern of an agency and includes routine daily activities and anticipated patterns of behavior which go almost unnoticed. A records management program may be on the outside looking in or worse, is not part of the agency's organizational cultural pattern. The RMO is excluded from the operational process, thus managers and staff miss important aspects of records management that can help, or stymie, a government agency.