SECRETARY AND EFFECT OF NEW OFFICE TECHNOLOGIES ON RECORD KEEPING MANAGEMENT

SECRETARY AND EFFECT OF NEW OFFICE TECHNOLOGIES ON RECORD KEEPING MANAGEMENT

A CASE STUDY OF RAMAT POLYTECHNIC MAIDUGURI

ABSTRACT

This study examined the secretary and effect of new office technologies on record keeping and management. This research work is made up of five chapters with chapter one covering introduction, background of the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, research questions, significance of the study, limitation of the study and definition of terms. Chapter two deals with review of related literature, importance of the modern communication equipment, what is modern communication and general problem in the maintenance of modern communication equipment. Chapter three is concerned with research design and methodology, population of the study, sample size and sample procedure, description of instrument, method of data collection analysis. Chapter four covers data presentation, analysis and discussion of findings, the final chapter which is chapter five gives the summary and conclusion to the entire research work and makes possible recommendations on the contributions of modern communication equipment to job efficiency of the secretary.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0       INTRODUCTION

It is the view of many people all over the world, especially workers in an     organisation that a good secretary or office manager enhances workers’ productivity in an organisation. The study of secretary and effect of new office technology on record keeping and management has always been an important feature enhancing excellent managerial performances. New office technology such as information and communication technology is the life blood of every phase of business organisation. New office technology is the fusion of information processing techniques and the means by which the information is distributed. In other words, new office technology has to do with the acquisition, storage, processing and distribution of information usually through the use of radio, television, telephone, computers etc (Falaki 2002).

With sophisticated in technology, there is no doubt that we are not static. Our society today comprises much organisation both large and small in the private and public sectors of the economy with various objectives to achieve. The achievement of these objectives involves planning, decision-making etc. However, without information the organisation can neither plan nor take accurate decision on any issue.

According to Falaki (2002) the impact of information and communication technology has played a great role in changing workers attitude to work, in establishing efficiency and communication, increasing profits, create new job and effective mass education, business organisation would have been more complicated without having tools of information and communication Technology. Hence the need for information and communication products likes electronic mail, facsimile transfer, cable television, telex-text, electronic telephone and satellite communications or data transmission by means of laser technology. Through information Technology, one is able to watch on happenings thousands of kilometres away from one’s home or to transmit messages to distance quite far away within a seconds through satellite and internets. These technologies advancement, unmatched in the history of scientific invention and innovation have simply tuned the world into a huge global village.

Furthermore, Information is the heart and soul of any organisation and a very important asset to an Office Managers, so Information  and Communication Technology to any organisation is an easy access to determine whether the Office Manager is ready for the future or not. Conducting normal office work may be practically impossible for any standard office without the service of a well-trained Office Manager to ensure good administration and management.

The ability of any office managers to keep and preserve its organizational records properly determines the success of that organization. According to Harding (1990) record keeping entails the processing, arranging and storing of records so that they can be located when required. Records are very important to the organization; there-by the adherence to the strict rules governing the keeping of it by the officer or staff in charge in an organization is important. According to Reinhold and Carl (2013) the secret behind a successful organization is record keeping.

Secretary in this era of technological advancement needs new office technologies to help in record management in an organization as most organizational managers depend on records, whether in Private or Government offices where invoice, teller, memorandum, report, cheques, vouchers, and so many other things are found and used for decision making and other managerial responsibilities. These records are stored under different heading and kept for further usage. Thus the need to examined the secretary and effects of new office technologies on record keeping management in an organization with particular reference to Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri.

1.1       BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri was established as Government Technical College in January, 1973 by the defunct North-Eastern State Government. The Technical College was upgraded and renamed Ramat College of Technology in April, 1978 by the then Borno State Government to immortalize the name of the late Head of State, General Murtala Ramat Muhammad.

In August 1979, it was again upgraded to the status of a Polytechnic in conformity with the Federal Government initiative to upgrade all Colleges of Technology in the country to Polytechnics.

The Polytechnic which is fully recognized by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) has six Schools which consist of thirty five (35) Academic Departments. The School system was introduced in 1982/1983 Academic Session with the following: School of Agriculture, School of Engineering, School of Environmental Studies, School of Management, School of Vocation and Technical Education and School of General Studies.

The Polytechnic offers full and part-time courses of instruction and training leading to National Diploma (ND), Higher National Diploma (HND), Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE Tech and Bus) and other Certificates of distinctions in Scientific, Technological, Management and Engineering courses for the intermediate level  manpower requirements of the State and the nation in general. In addition, Remedial Programmes are run in Sciences and science-related courses for a year in the Department of Remedial Studies in order to prepare students for National Diploma courses.

The Polytechnic commenced Post Graduate Diploma through the Consultancy Unit in Management, Finance, Agronomy and Farm Management, Health Education and Hygiene and Education since 2003. All the programmes are affiliated to the University of Maiduguri.

Ramat Polytechnic, which started by admitting only 300 students in 1978, so far, about 70,000 students have graduated from the institution with National Diploma (ND), Higher National Diploma (HND), Post Graduate Diploma (PGD), Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE Technical and Business), and Polytechnic Diplomas, Certificates and Assistant Executive Officer (AEO) Accounts.

1.2       STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The shift from the manual to computerized forms of processing information has no doubt increased some problems that need to be stated. Some secretaries are still using the manual forms of information communication technologies and this has put them behind compared to others that use computer based facilities. This may be as a result of poor financial background or modified products that are being pushed into the market at a rate that they render three (3) months old software and hardware outdated. Secretaries would like to be complete in order to get his / her modern office technologies requirement without hitch, they will spend more money maintaining its system which may have adverse challenges on the performance of the business organisation. The competence of the secretarial staff of the Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri have continuously been questionable in the recent past.This has remained a source of worry both for the management and the secretarial staff themselves.Reasons for this have been associated with the ineffective operation of the secretaries. The situation arouse the curiosity of the researcher hence the desire to study the secretary and effect of new office technologies on record keeping management in Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri.

1.3       PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study is to examine the secretary and effect of new office technologies on record keeping management.

The specific objectives or purpose of the study include:

1. Identify the new office technologies available to secretary in Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri
2. To examine the effect of new office technologies on recording keeping and management in the study area.
3. To ascertain the challenges faced in the use of new office technology by secretaries in Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri.

1.4       RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What are the new office technologies available to secretary in Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri?
2. What are the effects of new office technologies on record keeping and management in Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri?
3. What are the challenges faced in the use of new office technology by secretaries in Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri?

1.5       SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The findings of this study on be of great significance to the following stakeholders:

1. Office Secretaries / Managers:New office technologies helps an Office Manager to facilitate his/her worker; it also allowed Office Managers to communicate with the external bodies, processes information speedily. It saves times that an office manager can print and reprint document from the previous work.
2. An Organisation:To an organization such as Ramat Polytechnic Maidugurinew office technologies helps in keeping files, reducing the load on servers and networks. It also motivates staff to their job. Most importantly it reduces cost of material or stationeries wastages.
3. Educational institution:The use new office technologies such as Information Communication Technology in higher institution such as Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri is used in checking student result, admission, and payment of school fees and online, thus enhancing record keeping and management
4. The Society:New office technologies has greatly impacted enhanced global socialisation and interactions. In fact, Information technology has taken over nearly every aspect of our daily lives from commerce (buying and selling) to leisure and even culture. Today, mobile phones, desktop computers, hand held devices, emails and the use of internet has become a central part of our culture and society. These technologies play a vital role in our day to day operations.

New office technologies has made global social and cultural interaction very easy. We now live in an interdependent global society, where people can interact and communicate swiftly and efficiently. News and information can now be transmitted in minutes. Individuals can easily stay in contact with members of their families who reside in other countries or make new friends across the world.

Examples of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools used for these purpose are; emails, instant messaging (IM), chat rooms and social networking websites, such as face book, Twitter, Skype, phones, cellular phones and similar applications.

ICT made a major contribution towards the elimination of language barriers; people speaking different languages can connect and socialize or trade in real time via the internet. This is made possible with the use of language translators.

1.6       LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

In the process of carrying out the study a number of limitations were experienced. These includes

Firstly, I faced in the course of this research is the nonchalant attitude of some respondents, this hampered the process and smoothness of data collection.

My effort to get full opinions on some of the interview. Some feel very much at ease to reserve their comments on some vital issues, information of which could have added more colour and weight to the findings of the study.

Some were afraid that it might incriminate them by answering some of the interview questions in spite of the fact that the purpose of the research was clearly made known to them by the researcher.

Another limiting factor was financial problem this also takes its toll on the need to travel out wide to other institution.

1.7       DEFINITION OF TERMS

SECRETARY: any personnel who is trained in the communication, shorthand and typewriting, storage and retrieval of information. A secretary is also seen as an assistant who possesses the mastering of files, skills on how to manipulate these new office machines in her place of work.

RECORDS: Writing information down for reference purposes or in other ways like on a disc, magnetic tape, etc.

TECHNOLOGY: Technology in this case means the modern way or technique for making and doing things. It is those activities directed to satisfy human needs which produce alternative as in the material world.

SKILL: Ability to do something expertly and well.

COMPUTER: is a device that works under the control of stored program automatically accepting, storing and processing data to produce information

OFFICE: this is any place where clerical and administrative duties like receiving information, sorting out information, acted upon records, execute, re-arranged, retrieved and kept for future reference.

ORGANIZATION: this is the arrangement of work with division of activities and with the allocation of duties, authority and responsibilities.