The Impact of Modern Communication Facilities on the Secretary (a Survey Study of Some Selected Organizations in Kaduna Metropolis)
Chapter One
Purpose of the Study
The overall purpose of this study is to examine the impact of modern communication equipment on the Secretary and the profession. However, the specific objectives of the study are:
- To assess the impact of modern office technology on the performance of secretaries in some selected business organizations.
- To ascertain the kind of modern office equipment available at these selected business organizations.
- To examine the secretary’s knowledge and the usage of technology/equipment.
- To assess the contribution of those technological facilities to the performance of secretaries.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Conceptual Review
REALITY OF MODERN OFFICE TECHNOLOGIES
Reality according to Morris (1991) is the quality or state of being actual or truth that exist objectively. The study will now look into what different authors say about some modern office technologies concerning their existence and facilities. The word processors, fax machines, paper shredding, machines, electric type writer, teleprinters, dictating machines, collating machines and mostly computer, including many others can be referred to as modern office technologies.
Most of equipment and machines accomplish task within a very short time which would have taken several basic processes at the same time usually with some automatic control. There are also machines which can write, copy, computer, enter more than one form in one cycle of operation. This new office equipment helps in the production of more accurate and standard document.
The researcher has made it clear that instead of displacing the secretaries of their job. It will improve their efficiency at work. Furthermore, office skill journal (2010) asserts that technology is changing the work of the secretary, but not eliminating it. New technology in the form of word processor, telex, computers and fax eliminate drudgery. These machines have mechanized the secretarial skills and stabilized office procedures and studies hence, it is not worthy that the procedure never intended to displace secretaries from their jobs but rather improve their job efficiency and effectiveness.
The use of these machines have tremendously simplified the work of secretaries, but the need for training and retraining is essential to get full understanding of the operations of the system involved.
ELECTRONIC COMPUTER
An electronic computer is a machine or electronic correlates and otherwise processes and prints information from coded data in accordance with a pre-determined program. It is not the complex machines as often thought to be but electronic which processes data to produce a result. It is a tool secretaries can use to assist in the complicated and time-consuming task of generating information. In other words, it is an information processing machine.
Stanley Thornes (1998) pointed out that, a computer is not just to gather, store and process data but also serve as a communication center for distributing numerical data and information throughout an organization. Their speed, level of accuracy and flexibility of processing information are unmatched by any of the other methods. These manipulate data in the form of electronic pulses at the rate of million of pulses per second. It comprises on important components such as input, output, storage, control and arithmetic units.
INPUT UNITS
The input unit enable the system user to transmit information and receive output from the computer. The input devices include the keyboard, card readers, paper tape readers, the light pen used for interactive purposes and voice syntheses.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
In this chapter, we would describe how the study was carried out. The chapter talked about research design, sources of data, population of the study, sampling technique, instrumentation, validity and reliability, Method of data collection and data analysis, and Ethical Consideration.
Research design
The research design employed is a descriptive survey. The descriptive study attempts to generalize from a sample to a population so that inferences can be made about some characteristics, attitude or behaviour of the population (Senese, 1997). The study type was preferred because of the economy of the design and the rapid turnaround in data collection.
Sources of Data
The data for this study were generated from two main sources; Primary sources and secondary sources. The primary sources include questionnaire, interviews and observation. The secondary sources include journals, bulletins, textbooks and the internet.
Population of the study
A study population is a group of elements or individuals as the case may be, who share similar characteristics. These similar features can include location, gender, age, sex or specific interest. The emphasis on study population is that it constitute of individuals or elements that are homogeneous in description (Prince Udoyen: 2019). The population of the study included all secretaries in 10 public offices and 15 private offices in Kaduna State.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
Results
Item 1: Educational Background of Respondents
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION
Conclusions
The data on the educational background of the secretaries revealed that, most of them were diploma holders. For one to be a secretary one needs a good level of education. This suggests that potential secretaries require higher education and training to acquire sufficient knowledge, skills, abilities and experiences to obtain employment and perform their roles effectively in their chosen careers.
showed that the availability of modern office technology undoubtedly affects the efficiency and effectiveness of the secretary in every business organization. Respondents suggest that modern technology in the office facilitates seamless transmission of information and significantly reduces time spent on performing key secretarial responsibilities such as editing, proof-reading, and reproduction of documents.
The results further established that if the secretary is knowledgeable in the operation of modern office technology it guarantees their optimum usage which inevitably affects the secretary’s activities and output. This suggests that optimum use of modern office technology/equipment depends on the level of knowledge and skills of the secretary who operates the facility. Knowledgeable and skillful secretaries are therefore prerequisites for deriving maximum benefit and value from office technology/equipment. The performance of the secretary is enhanced since office technology ensures that timelines are met and errors minimized, if not completely eliminated, as far as document processing and records management are concerned.
The study revealed further that modern office technology/equipment contributes to the rise in productivity levels of the organizations. It is not farfetched to infer from the foregoing that office technology provides the secretary with additional opportunity for automatic finetuning of concrete documents or transmission of information devoid of ambiguities. Where the technology is effective, it may result in saving the secretary from fatigue that may arise from excessive exertion of physical and mental effort associated with performing secretarial duties manually.
Recommendations
Based on the results and findings of the study, the following recommendations were made:
- Both government and private organizations should procure adequate modern office technology/equipment to enhance the productivity of their secretaries.
- Organizations should involve the secretaries in deciding the kind of technological device they wish to procure since the latter are going to use them.
- Secretaries who lack adequate knowledge and skill in the usage of modern office technology/equipment should be retrained to fit into the current trend of technological advancement for effective performance.
- Generally secretaries should undergo regular training on the usage of new technological gadgets in order to enhance their skill and keep them abreast with the technological dynamism in the 21st
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