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ABSTRACT
This study is based on office manager’s assessment of the challenges and prospects in the office management career today. The purpose of this study is to find out the effect of the influx of modern machines and equipment on the office manager’s career. Some of the research questions used for the study were, what are the effects of the influx of modern machines and equipment on office manager’s career. To what extent has the need for constant training affected the office manager. The theory of the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Labour Process Theory was used to investigate office manager’s in management career today. The population of this study was 50 office managers of four selected business organization in Rivers state; Unilever Nigeria plc, 7up bottling company, Guiness Nigeria plc, and Nestle Nigeria plc. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 10 respondents from Unilever Nigeria plc, 15 from 7up bottling company, 15 from Guiness Nigeria plc and 10 from Nestle Nigeria plc. The sample size of this study was made up of 50 office managers from the selected business organization. A total number of 40 questionnaires were retrieved from the office manager of these selected business organizations. From the findings, it was revealed that the introduction of new machines robbed off managers of their job due to inability to develop themselves, lack of finance by office manager is also a problem for constant training, and insufficient fund by the organization a challenge for constant training, the introduction of new machines and equipment promote decision making process to the office manager. Based on the findings it was recommended that the establishment should invite producers of these machines to train their managers and make it possible for them to operate the system effectively and efficiently.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Office manager’s roles may be viewed in several ways as activity performed in an organization. The challenging and dynamic nature of today’s management world has made it very imperative for all individuals, firms, organizations, clubs, institutions, government parastatus and agencies etc. to have fair knowledge of principles, theories, concepts, practices and background information resources at their disposals very well in order to achieve designed result; to enable Office managers to focus on their Office manager roles such as keeping of records, organizing, preparing of reports before or after a meeting, making travel arrangements and deals with correspondence etc. which is the foundation of the management.
An Office manager is a person, whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of professional ethics and communication and organizational skills. Ugiagbe (2002)) defines Office manager as a person who assists a member of Office manager or top management level, and who undertakes a lot of administrative tasks for the smooth running of the office.
The need to be technical proficient has been a challenge to an office manager in administration function. This is a challenge imposed on an Office manager, office manager must know how to use various computer programme such as those used for word processing, financial spreadsheet maintenance and presentation creation. In addition, he/she must be able to properly use a host of office machinery including photocopies, fax machine and multiline telephones.
The increasing penetration of technology into office management has been accompanied by certain prospects and challenges which deserve to be given scholarly attention. Though, Harvey and Sturges (2010) agree that technology can have a positive influence, but it has to be the right technology for the right place and the right people. This is the more reason that more awareness is needed in the application of technology to OTM profession.
Additionally, there has being challenges of influx of modern machine & equipment, the need for constant training, redundancy and layoff. Influx of modern machine & equipment occur when business organizations begin to employ younger employees who have more skill in the operations of modern machines. They are sometimes made bosses to the old Office managers who are not knowledgeable in the operation of these modern office machines and equipment.
The need for constant training occur when an office is automated or about to be automated, the Office manager of that office begins to see the need to be trained to meet up with the new technological advancements. Some organizations would send their Office manager for training and pay for the training to help them meet up with their new responsibilities. This is not the case with some other organizations that do not care about the training of old Office manager. They would rather employ new, vibrant Office managers who have the skill to operate these modern machines.
Redundancy and layout occur when the advent of automation has caused serious problems to some Office managers and a very big challenge to their jobs. This is due to their inability to enhance or develop themselves technologically. As a result of automation and their inability to develop themselves, they are completely robbed of their jobs as the company may not want to carry out their work manually. Gradually they become irrelevant and redundant in the system. What follows next is layoff as nobody is ready to pay for labour that has got nothing to offer to increase productivity
Boladele (2002) on his part included some duties like maintaining files and personal records, reviews, organizes and maintains files, monitors attendance including sick leave, annual leave and vacation leave, compiles and records data for computer files, develops and implements new departmental forms, recommends and implements changes in correspondence sent to public. All these as identified by Boladele , save time for the executive/boss and make job easier. For Office manager to effectively perform these duties, he must be conversant with the policy of the organization. This study is therefore an attempt to identify and analyze the challenges and prospect of Office manager in management career.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The introduction of information and communication technology has brought about great efficiency at work, speed and accuracy, clean and clear task, and correction of errors. The speed at which office environment is changing had led to sustain radical shift from manual operation in the use of information and communication technology in order to enhance modern life.
Inspite of these benefits, it is observed that some office managers still encounter certain challenges with the use of information and communication technology equipments in the management career today. What could have led to those problems that the office managers in the office management career today face in the utilization of ICT equipment. Could it be that they lack the required skills needed from them by their employer in the organization or they are faced by poor ICT equipment in their place of work. How can these problems be identified and solved. Moreover, if the problems faced by office managers in the office management career today are not controlled, corrected or examined, the use of ICT equipments will continue to pose hindrance to the above mentioned managers.
Lack of constant training has being a problem of office manager in management career. Due to the shift of organization technology or production, low salaries paid by the management, also they lack recognition due to their field have seemed they are not important into an organization as compared to their field live accountants.
There seems to be obvious neglect of some computer system packages including the internet which is probably the most important. The complex nature of the computer packages seem to dissuade office managers from acquiring the needed knowledge and skills in the area. The benefit of using the internet is numerous yet most business organizations are ignorant of it.
Duniya (2011) also observed that due to the introduction of sophisticated technological (electronic) office equipment into today’s office and the role Office managers need to play in ensuring accuracy and efficiency in their jobs, the Office managers need to meet the challenges by acquiring new skills and competencies for efficient operations in the electronic office. There is continuous advancement in technology which has affected the secretarial profession in terms of the quality, speed and accuracy of works performed. This has necessitated this research work.
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The major purpose of this study is to x-ray the office manager’s assessment of the challenges and prospects in the office management career. Specifically the study intends to:
- To examine the effect of the influx of modern machines and equipment on the office manager’s career.
- To determine the effect of the need for constant training on the office manager
- To ascertain if today’s office managers are faced with possible redundancy and layoff
- To find out if the innovations in the office management career have made the office managers relevant in modern organizations.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following research questions will guide this study:
- What are the effects of the influx of modern machines and equipment on office manager’s career?
- To what extent has the need for constant training affected the office manager?
- To what extent is today’s office managers faced with possible redundancy and layoff?
- To what extent has the innovations in the office management career made the office managers relevant in modern organizations?
1.5 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study when completed will be beneficial to the followings;
The modern organizations; the office managers in the modern organization will be very relevant in their career as a result of the innovations taking place. The practitioners in the field of office management stand to benefit also, as it will enable them think of other possible ways of improving the office manager’s career today.
The department of the office technology and management also stands to benefit, as it will be an addition to the existing literature that will be useful for further research. Other professional bodies who know the relevant of an office manager will also be noted, as it made fund the best out of the lots.
The problem identifies will be problem solve, therefore, the study will help modern organizations find solution to the problems facing the management of the office managers career.
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This research work is limited to discussing the office manager’s assessment of the challenges and prospects in the office management career. It would be carried out in four organizations in Port Harcourt, Rivers State which include; Unilever Nigeria Plc, 7up Bottling Company Nigeria Plc, Guinness Nigeria Plc and Nestle Nigeria Plc.