THE PROSPECTS OF SECRETARIES IN OFFICE ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT
(A CASE STUDY OF I.M.T ENUGU)
ABSTRACT
This
area of the research is to acquaint the reader on the prospects of secretaries
in the office researches in office administration and management. It is the
research conviction that neglect of these prospects possesses are the mirror in
which the office uses to seen, this is as a result of what they play in an organization.
However,
the research tries to x-ray the prospects of secretaries in office
administration and management.
Further more, a rundown of what the researcher
have in the study are;
Chapter
one- this is where the background of the study, statement of problem purpose of
study scope of study, research question and significance of the study was
elaborated.
Chapter two – This has to do with literature
review where authors gave their view of the secretary the following are there
in Types of secretaries the role of secretaries secretaries, prospects and
characteristics problems of secretaries prospects of secretaries and summary of
related literature review.
Chapter three- it has to do with research
methodology applied by the researcher which includes, Deign, Area of study,
population, sample, instrument, Reliability and method of data collection and
analysis.
Chapter four- It has do with Data presentation and
results, How data was analyzed.
Chapter five –This chapter contains Discussion of Results
conclusion, Recommendation, implication, suggestion for further study and
lastly limitation of the study.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The prospects of
secretaries have been giving a lot of concerns to intending student of
secretarial administration and many other
segments of the society especially those in secretarial field.
The word secretary coined from letin word secretes’ which literally means a secret; this definition
shows more or one of the function of secretary. (Okafor 1987).
Prospect on the other
hand according to Oxford Advanced learner’s Dictionary of the English Language
is defined as the chances of being successful.
Harding (1988) define secretary as someone holding a very
responsible position with in an organization, who provide a full range of
management support which cells upon variety of skills and ability that
would not be pre-requisites of office
generally.
Horny (1996) also
defines a secretary as an employee in office who deals with correspondence
keeps records, makes arrangement and appointment for a particular member of
staff.
Ofuru (1997) sees secretaries as the image makers,
who combine both official and one-official duties for overall success of their bosses as well as
the organization where the work.
The American secretarial Association defines a secretary in the most acceptable
way as an assistant to an executive, possessing mastery of office skills and
ability to assume responsibility initiative, exercise judgement and makes
decision with in the scope of his authority.
With the above definitions, in mind one can easily
seen the need for a secretary in any
organization or institution be it secondary or tertiary can not be over
emphasized.
A secretary is a major
comminuting link between the executive and his association the office staff and
the public. He/she is the life wire of
that organization.
As a result of this important linking position, a secretary can display vital roles
in helping to create and maintain the smooth running of business
organization
For a secretary to perform his/her to undergone
some educational studies and obtain the basic office knowledge and skills Days are gone when any person that works in an
office is being regarded as a secretary.
However, for one to quality as a secretary one
must have taken courses in shorthand, typewriting, office practice and
secretarial duties and must be computer literate for easy adaptation in morden
office challenges.
A close look at some selected higher institution
like the institute of management and technology Enugu, Federal polytechnic Oko,
Anambra state, federal college of Education current problems and prospects of secretaries.
Some of these problems include the following:
1.
poor
placement of their sartorial staff
2.
lack of good
working environment
3.
Lack of
modern office equipment like computers printers modern electric typewriter etc.
4.
Lack of
attending external course or seminars or even in-house training.
5.
In a
situation where the above mentioned facilities are lacking the advancement
of the secretaries both in academics and
otherwise will be a mirage.
THE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY I.M.T ENUGU.
The institute of
management and technology Enugu
was established in the year 1972 and was known ass institute of public
Administration then east central state (ECS) . it was later re-named institute
of management and Technology in 1976 by
then old Anambra state Government. The institution is now owned by Enugu state government
after the creation of Enugu state form the old Anambra state. A survey shows that the institution
has produced many and famous professional who
have excelled in their endeavors.
Since its inception and it is still leading in
academic in Nigeria
as far as polytechnic education is concerned inspilt of all constraints
Various higher institutions these days have
realized and on their stressed on the impact of modern technology on their
secretaries.
The service of secretaries are utilized by various
organization and institutions. Secretaries work
directly with management of those organization as supporting staff and
they help in realizing effectively the missios and objectives of the
organizations.
In view of all these facts, the problems and
prospects of the secretaries in these
higher institutions are critically investigated in this study.
1.2 STATEMENT OF
PROBLEM
The state of a secretary
in the civil service has been a vexed issue for quite sometime. While some
think of the secretary as a mere servant of the boss while others regard her as
another boss. While she perform every work in her office her position is still
relegated to the ground thus lead the research to investigate these factors
that prospects secretaries in office administration and management.
How
ever, some of the problems are as follows:
1. neglect
and lack of adequate motivation of secretaries on their job.
2. Poor
perception of secretaries as never – do – wells by the society.
3. Lack of modern office
equipment has handicapped the high performance of the secretary.
It has been a problem to understand the nature of
bosses in organization as the role of serctaries.
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE
STUDY
1. To find out the extent of
neglect and lack of motivation of secretary on the job.
2. To determine the extent of
poor perception of secretaries as never do
wells in the society.
3. To find out extent lack of
modern office equipment has handicapped the high performance of the secretary.
4. To find out the extent of problem to understand
nature of bosses in organization.
1.4 SCOPE OF THE
STUDY
The study is limited to
the institute of management and technology (IMT), Enugu.
IMT is one of the oldest polytechnic in the
eastern part of Nigeria.
1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. To guide this study, four
(4) research question were formulated as shown below:
1. To
what extent are the secretaries motivated to enhance high
performance on the job?
2. To what extent do the poor
perception of secretaries as never do well is in the society?
3 To what extent do lack
of modern of fice equipment handicapped
the high performance of the secretaries?
4 To what extent do the type of boss and
leadership style affect the job of secretaries?
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF
THE STUDY
This
study is significant for the following reason:
1. It is hoped that the
suggestion from this study will help the masses have more knowledge on what secretarial profession is
all about.
2. The result of this work
will help in exposing the implication of
secretarial profession so that most young men and woman will realize the good
prospect of taking to the profession
3. The study will also expose
to the heads of organization and establishment
that a highly talented secretary is a professional rather than a strong or an
appendage to the management profession. This will enable an improved recognize their interdependent on
one another, and thus form a formidable management team for management
efficiency.
4. The study will also help
secretaries to play down the misconception and stereotyped view of their
professions to take pride in their professions deserves, while they struggle
for profession.
5. Finally, it may serve as a
work of reference to future researchers in the future researchers in the area.