Challenges of Emerging Office Technologies and Initiatives of Secretaries of Business Organisations in Lagos State

CHALLENGES OF EMERGING OFFICE TECHNOLOGIES AND
INITIATIVES OF SECRETARIES OF BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS

IN LAGOS STATE
By
ALAKA, LINDA BEJIDE

PG/MEd/11/58835
DEPARTMENT OF VOCATIONAL TEACHER EDUCATION

FACULTY OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA NSUKKA
NOVEMBER, 2014
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TITLE PAGE
CHALLENGES OF EMERGING OFFICE TECHNOLOGIES AND

INITIATIVES OF SECRETARIES OF BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS
IN LAGOS STATE
By
ALAKA, LINDA BEJIDE

PG/MEd/11/58835
A M.ED PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF

VOCATIONAL TEACHER EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA
NSUKKA IN FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE
AWARD OF MASTERS DEGREE IN BUSINESS EDUCATION.
NOVEMBER, 2014
APPROVAL PAGE
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This project has been approved for the Department of Vocational Teacher Education,
University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
By
….………………… ….…………………
Dr. E. A. C. Etonyeaku Prof. C. A. Igbo
Supervisor Head of Department
….…………….…… …….………………
Internal Examiner External Examiner
……………….………
Prof. Uju Umo
Dean of faculty
CERTIFICATION
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Alaka, Linda Bejide, a postgraduate student in the Department of Vocational Teacher
Education with Registration Number PG/MEd/11/58835 has satisfactorily completed the
requirements for the award of Degree of Master in Education (M.Ed.) in Business Education.
The work embodied in this thesis is original and has not been submitted in part or full for any
other diploma or degree of this or any other university.
………………………….. …………………………..
Dr. E. A. C. Etonyeaku Alaka Linda B.
Supervisor Student
DEDICATION
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This Work is dedicated to all Secretaries
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The researcher wishes to express her immense gratitude and appreciation to her
supervisor, Dr. E. A. C. Etonyeaku, for his guidance and encouragement through the various
stages of this project, which has made the completion of the work possible.
The researcher’s heartfelt gratitude also goes to Dr. C. C. Chukwurah, Prof. E. C.
Osinem, Dr. D. U. Ugwuoke, Dr. F. M. Onu, Prof. C. A. Obi, Prof. E. E. Agomuo, Dr. F. O.
Ifeanyieze, Dr. N. E. Ibezim, and other lecturers in the Faculty of Education, University of
Nigeria, Nsukka. The inestimable advice, support, and encouragement of these adorable
professionals were instrumental to the completion of this research.
Further thanks to Mrs. C. Enang, Mrs. S. Momoh, Miss A. N. Okeke, Mr. O. A.
Shodeinde, Mr. S. O. Chukwuedo, Mrs. C. Nwachukwu, Miss C. Nwanyanwu, Miss E.
Ogbonna, Miss V. Nnetu, and all her roommates for their moral and financial supports in the
course of the research work and period of study. The continual support of her dear families,
friends and in- laws throughout the period of the study is also highly appreciated.
Her deepest gratitude goes to you, Olu (Husband) and Similoluwa (daughter). She is
indebted to your patience, endurance and support in getting this thesis done. Thank you so
much for everything.
Finally, she is grateful to the almighty God for providing her the grace, peace of mind,
love, the good health and abilities to complete this Master’s thesis.
ALAKA Linda Bejide

University of Nigeria, Nsukka
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE i
APPROVAL PAGE ii
CERTIFICATION iii
DEDICATION iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v
TABLE OF CONTENTS vi
LIST OF TABLES ix
LIST OF FIGURES x
ABSTRACT xi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1

Background of the Study 1
Statement of the Problem 5
Purpose of the Study 6
Significance of the Study 6
Research Questions 7
Hypotheses 8
Scope of the Study 8
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 9

Conceptual Framework 10
The Office 10
Business Organisation 13
Emerging Office Technologies 15
The Secretary 24
Concerns and Challenges to Emerging Office Technologies 31
Initiatives to Combat Challenges of Emerging Office Technologies 34
Staff Development Programmes 37
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Schema 41
Theoretical Framework 42
Theory of Skill Acquisition 42
Theory of Work Adjustment 43
Theory of Performance 44
Related Empirical Studies 45
Summary of Reviewed Literature 49
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 51

Design of the Study 51
Area of the Study 51
Population for the Study 52
Sample & Sampling Technique 52
Instrument for Data Collection 52
Validation of the Instrument 53
Reliability of the Instrument 53
Method of Data Collection 54
Method of Data Analysis 54
CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA 56

Research Question 1 57
Hypothesis 1 61
Hypothesis 2 62
Major Findings of the Study 63
Discussion of Findings 65
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CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 68

Re-statement of the Problem 68
Summary of the Procedures Used 69
Summary of Findings of the Study 70
Implications of the Findings 71
Conclusion 72
Recommendations 72
Suggestions for Further Studies 73
REFERENCES 74
APPENDICES 78
A: List of Registered NACCIMA Business Organisations 78
B: Sample of Administered Questionnaire 91
C: Computation of the Reliability of COETISBO using Cronbach Alpha 95
D: Result of Data Analysis Using SPSS 97
LIST OF TABLES
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Table Page
4.1: Percentage of Emerging Office Technologies utilised in Business Organisations 57
4.2: Means and Standard Deviations of Challenges encountered by Secretaries of
Business Organisations 58
4.3: Means and Standard Deviations of Initiatives required coping with Challenges 59
4.4: Means and Standard Deviations of Staff Development Programmes required
for Building Capacities 60
4.5: T-test Comparison of Mean Rating between Male and Female Secretaries on
Challenges encountered by Secretaries in the Utilisation of Emerging Office
Technologies 61
4.6: T-test Comparison of Mean Rating between Male and Female Secretaries on
Initiatives required by Secretaries in the Utilisation of Emerging Office
Technologies 62
LIST OF FIGURES
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Figure Page
2.1: Staff Development Cycle 39
2.2: Schema 41
ABSTRACT
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This study is designed to determine the challenges and initiatives of secretaries of business
organisations in the utilisation of emerging office technologies in Lagos State. The study
adopted the survey research design, and a population of 179 secretaries of business
organisations was used for the study. Four research questions and two null hypotheses tested
at 0.05 level of significance guided the study. A structured questionnaire, Challenges of
Emerging Office Technologies and Initiatives of Secretaries of Business Organisations
(COEOTISBO), is the instrument used for data collection. The questionnaire was validated
by three experts. The reliability coefficient of the instrument was computed by using
Cronbach Alpha and found to be 0.76. Simple percentage was used to analyse research
question one, while mean and standard deviation were used to analyse questions 2, 3 and 4.
T-test was employed to test the null hypotheses. Findings of the study revealed that due to
office technology advancement in business organisations, secretaries are faced with some
distinctive challenges in executing their diverse job responsibilities which have now
necessitated of secretaries to acquire a number of skills, develop certain initiatives and get
involved in personnel development programmes in order for them to be proficient and
relevant in their different employments.
CHAPTER ONE
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INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Modern business office is rapidly changing as a result of office automation, which
has brought about new methods in carrying out functions performed by workforces, including
the secretaries, in organisations (Akpomi and Ordu, 2009). With this reliance on technology
in offices, the role of the secretaries has greatly improved. Secretaries now perform a variety
of novel administrative and clerical duties encompassing information and communication
management, project management, research coordination, programme planning, scheduling,
paper and electronic documentation and more – all in a bid to run the business of an
organisation efficiently.
Business refers to a form of activity carried with an objective of earning profits for the
benefit of those on whose behalf the activity is conducted. Before the commencement and
implementation of business plan, one of the factors that should be taken into consideration is
its organisation. Business organisation therefore is the structure where this business is being
conducted, either as profit orientated or service oriented. In today's business world, business
organisations provide technological and human supports to their staff, including the
secretaries, in order for such establishments to secure facts and accurate information in
making swift decisions in their numerous business dealings (Akpomi et al., 2009).
In every organisation, be it public or private, profitable or non-profitable, creative or
routine, tiny or vast, well managed or chaotic, steeped in tradition or ultra-modern, growing,
stable or declining, there is always an office set up for the purpose of directing and
controlling the activities of such establishment (Smith, 2006). An office is usually the
physical place where people carry out information processing functions (Ruel, 2001); a place
of work for many types of workforces – 1executives, professionals/specialists, trainees,
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clerical staff and many others and each of these employees has varying duties and they are
expected to have knowledge of many office practices (Oliverio, Pasewark and White, 2013).
Offices are the most significant places for the utilisation of emerging office technologies
(Khalid, 2000).
Emerging office technologies are referred to as modern and sophisticated workplace
equipment, as well as software, which are extensively used by workforces for office
functions/processes such as text processing, information storage and retrieval,
communication, administrative support, and manipulation and analysis of information (Long,
1998). These technologies include electronic mail, teleconferencing, intranet; World Wide
Web etc. are used for improving the effectiveness of information processing within and
between workplaces. With advanced capacities, user-friendly software and competitively low
prices, emerging office technologies are now accessible to most workplaces ranging from
private industries to public establishments (Khalid, 2000).
The potentials of offices to process store and transmit information, offers great
opportunities for emerging office technologies to have a wide range of prospective to
enhance personal and organisational performance in the office (UNESCO, 2003). According
to Ruel (2001), these office technological supports are specifically for electronic imaging,
document management and office management. The application of emerging office
technologies are to facilitate organisational tasks and offering up-to-date and swift
information, as well as building up the level of efficiency of administrative functions in
establishments, improving overall competitiveness, augmenting the effectiveness of
managerial activities and particularly the efficiency of other staff performance as well as
sustaining competitive advantage.(Alshoaibi, 1998; Agomuo, 2005). Consequently, due to the
modern office technologies’ capacities and affordable costs, many organisations are
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enormously investing in both the hardware and software as they realise the potential benefits
of their use (Pinsonneauh and Rivard, 1998).
The adoption of emerging office technologies has transformed the work in the office
and has dramatically changed the nature and work patterns of the secretaries (O’Neil, 1990).
The workforces, in particular, secretaries are the most affected by the adoption of emerging
office technologies, as they are mostly involved in its use. Boladele (2002) described a
secretary as a warm, endlessly helpful and understanding individual whose aim is to alleviate,
solve, prevent or soften problems, workloads and upsets for his executive; the means by
which the executive initiates, handles and completes a project. In the context of this study, a
secretary is either a male or female personnel who attends to a variety of office administrative
functions in an organisation.
The secretarial functions performed by the secretaries, though are supportive roles,
demand the exhibition of initiative, judgement and decision- making within the scope of his
authority. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be
for the benefit of more than one (Igbinedion, 2010). Office secretaries are often graduates of
universities, polytechnics, colleges of education or related approved higher learning
institutions (Onamade and Adedayo, 2012).
Secretaries in business organisations, as earlier pointed out, have significantly
improved and have new job functions to execute in their different employments due to their
organisations adoption of emerging workplace technological supports. Their initial
responsibilities in the business world have changed a great deal from manager's dictated
memos and letters, typewriting and shorthand dictations, answering of telephone calls and
processing of mails (Akpomi et al., 2009). Secretaries now have access to varied
contemporary office technologies and gadgets that make execution of assigned job tasks less
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burden, knowledge more accessible, enhanced proficiency and productivity (Osuala, 2004).
Such office technologies and gadgets include personal computers, computer software
programmes, multifunction printing machine, facsimile machine, electronic typewriting
machines, intranet and internet facilities, multifunction photocopy machine, and scanners
amongst others (Agomuo, 2005; Onamade and Adedayo, 2012).
However, the efforts towards the use of emerging office technologies by secretaries
have met several challenges as pointed out by Onifade (2010). These challenges include
inadequate ICT infrastructure such as computer hardware and software, resistance to change
from traditional to modern methods, lack of skilled manpower to manage available systems
and inadequate training facilities, and poor electricity distribution.
Since the efficiency and success of a business organisation rest on the people within
the organisation, it follows then that the secretaries in a business organisation to be able to
execute their assigned job functions as expected and make significant contributions in the
attainment of the organisational goals, they need to acquire the appropriate skills and
knowledge. With these emerging office technologies and their diverse challenges, Onamade
and Adedayo (2012) emphasised that today's secretaries must be fortified with the
competencies to perform efficiently in the workplace; willing to be lifelong learners,
fashioning ways to improve the techniques to perform their secretarial and related job
functions as well as the need for collaboration with other staff for them to be relevant in
modern day office irrespective of their training, background, qualification or educational
attainment.
This study examined the likely challenges and initiatives of secretaries of business
organisations in relation to the utilisation of emerging office technologies vis-à-vis
identifying and appraising the emerging secretarial support office technologies, the secretarial
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skills and knowledge required to counter the identified challenges of the new office
technologies, and the secretarial related lifelong learning development programmes required
for building capacities.
Statement of the Problem
The reliance on technology continues to expand in office functions and the
responsibilities of the secretaries have greatly evolved. Office automation and organisational
restructuring have brought about some new office practice opportunities and innovations as
well as new challenges and uncertainties for the secretaries. Secretarial roles and
responsibilities in business organisations have moved to other levels. For instance, secretaries
increasingly assume job functions once reserved for managerial and professional staff, and
they are being required to be lifelong learners and to develop new approaches in executing
their primary duties.
Secretaries are office personnel needed in every business organisation to assist their
superiors or executives in carrying out their responsibilities. These secretarial functions
basically require a large amount of initiative, tact and resourcefulness to succeed (Igbinedion,
2010), but the dynamism of the business environment has brought about obvious problem.
Some office secretaries find it difficult to accept the fact that the conventional office
machines and techniques have become rather obsolete and dysfunctional to modern
secretarial practice. Their poor training, unassertive background, underdeveloped intellectual
ability, unprofessional and stereotyped, and inadequate and weak technical skill of secretaries
are also posing more challenges to modern office functions especially with emerging
technologies (Oyemade, 1993).
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Based on the above situation, it is therefore necessary to determine the challenges
facing the secretaries and required initiatives to ameliorate the challenges in relation to the
emerging office technologies.
Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of the study is to determine the challenges and initiatives of
secretaries of business organisations in the utilisation of emerging office technologies in
Lagos State. Specifically, the study seeks to:
1. Identify the emerging office technologies utilised in business organisations.
2. Determine the challenges faced by secretaries of business organisations in the
utilisation of emerging office technologies.
3. Ascertain the initiatives required by secretaries of business organisations in coping
with the challenges associated with the utilisation of office technologies.
4. Determine staff development programmes required for building capacities of
secretaries of business organisations to deal with emerging office technologies.
Significance of the Study
The findings of the study will be beneficial to practising and prospective office
secretaries, heads of public and private establishments, school administrators and fellow
researchers. It will afford them a wealth of information with emphasis on adequate
integration, utilisation of contemporary office technologies for secretarial job functions and
responsibilities, and the training and development of professional office secretaries with
requisite competencies and traits.
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For the practising and prospective secretaries, in particular, the findings of the study
will enable them to identify distinctive required skills and attitudes as well as development of
novel professional concepts: effective and efficient use of technology aided office equipment
and gadgets, managerial secretarial skills and ability to work independently.
The study will serve as an eye-opener to various institutes and other establishments,
administrators and executives on the importance of developing and contributing to
programmes that centre on facilitating office technology for capacity building for both
learners and teachers in the technical and vocational education and training: integrating ICT
into classroom process, equipping the laboratories, and sponsoring (and financing) mandatory
continuing professional development programmes (MCPD) for practising and prospective
office secretaries and in- service training for teachers/instructors of office practice (and office
technology).
Finally, fellow researchers will find the study useful as a reference point and a support
for improving their own understanding and also making more contribution to knowledge.
Research Questions
Based on the specific purpose of this study, the following research questions guided
this study:
1. What is the emerging office technologies utilised in business organisations in Lagos
State?
2. What are the challenges encountered by secretaries in utilising the emerging office
technologies in business organisation in Lagos State?
3. What are the initiatives required by the secretaries for coping with the challenges
encountered in utilising the emerging office technologies in business organisations in
Lagos State?
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4. What are the staff development programmes required for building capacities of
secretaries of business organisations in Lagos State?
Research Hypotheses
The following hypotheses formulated for the study were tested at 0.05 level of
significance:
Ho1: There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of male and female
secretaries on the challenges encountered by secretaries in the utilisation of
Ho2: There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of male and female
secretaries on the initiatives required for coping with the challenges
encountered by them in utilising the emerging office technologies.
Scope of the Study
This study explored challenges and initiatives of secretaries of business organisations
in the utilisation of contemporary office technologies in Nigeria. The study was carried out in
Lagos state. The study sought the opinion of secretaries of registered business organisations
in Lagos State. The secretaries are used for the study because they are directly involved in
office administration and use of the emerging technologies in the organisations.
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CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
The review of related literature in the study is based on the following sub-headings:
Conceptual Framework
 The Office
 Business Organisation
 Emerging Office Technologies
 The Secretary
 Concerns and Challenges to Emerging Office Technologies
 Initiatives to Combat Challenges of Emerging Office Technologies
 Staff Development Programmes
 Schema
Theoretical Framework
 Theory of Skill Acquisition
 Theory of Work Adjustment
 Theory of Performance
Related Empirical Studies
Summary of Reviewed Literature
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Conceptual Framework
Conceptual framework refers to a network (or a plane) of interlinked and logical
concepts that together provide a comprehensive understanding of a phenomenon or
phenomena (Jabareen, 2009). Besides, a conceptual framework for research purpose,
according to Mujer (2003), is a schematic description and illustration of the causative
mechanisms and relationships deducible from the research problem. Impliedly, it is a
structured way of discerning on how a project takes place and how its activities can be
understood. For the purpose of this study, the conceptual framework can be presented in form
of a schema - a chart or a diagram showing orderly related parts. With reference to this study,
the schema implies a chart depicting related activities in the exploratory of distinctive
challenges and initiatives in the utilisation of emerging office technologies by secretaries in
business organisations.
The Office
The term office stems from the Latin word officium: a physical place where people
carry out information processing functions (Ruël, 2001); a location of one’s duty; a place of
work for many types of workforces - executives, professionals/specialists, trainees, clerical
staff and other personnel and each of these workforces has varying duties and they are
expected to have knowledge of many office practices (Oliverio et al., 2013).
An office has been described as an architectural and design phenomenon which can
be small such as a bench in the corner of a small business of extremely small size through
entire floors of buildings up to and including massive buildings dedicated entirely to one
company (Smith, 2006). However, Ruël (2001) notes that many concludes that an office can
best be considered within the context of what an office does, namely: receiving information,
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recording and storing information, structuring information, processing information, and
providing access to information.
According to Oliverio et al. (2013), some contemporary set of offices does exist as:
the alternate, virtual and home offices. These classes of office are a setting that allows
individuals to engage in the practice of working and communicating with other employees
and clients from homes, remote locations, temporary workspaces and even moving transports
making use of modern office technologies.
Classification of Office Spaces
There are many different ways of arranging the space in an office and they vary
according to function, and the specific purposes of the companies. The choices depend on
how many people that will work within the same room. At one extreme, each individual
worker will have his own room; at the other extreme a large open planned office can be made
up of one main room with tens or hundreds of people working in the same space (Smith,
2006).
However, to aid decision-making in workplace and office design, one can distinguish
three different types of office spaces: work spaces, meeting spaces and support spaces
(Smith, 2006; Atkin and Brooks, 2009). In the view of Smith, work spaces in an office are
typically used for conventional office activities such as reading, writing and computer work;
and there are nine generic types of work space, each supporting different activities and this
comprises open office, team space, cubicle, private office, shared office, team room, study
booth, work lounge and touchdown. Meeting spaces in an office are typically used for
interactive processes, be it quick conversations or intensive brainstorms, and there are six
generic types of meeting space, each supporting different activities and this includes small
meeting room, large meeting room, small meeting space, large meeting space, brainstorm
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room and meeting point. While the support spaces in an office are typically used for
secondary activities such as filing documents or taking a break, there are twelve generic types
of support space, each supporting different activities. These support spaces include filing
space, storage space, print and copy area, mail area, pantry area, break area, locker area,
smoking room, library, games room, waiting area, and circulation space.
Purposes of an Office
Oliverio et al. (2013) identify five broad key modern office activities and these
include:
1. Creating/Analysing Information
This comprises composing memoranda, letters and reports; organising, summarising
and interpreting data; creating presentations; and making decisions and
recommendations based on information studied.
2. Searching for Information
This covers accessing databases and the internet; inquiring of persons within the
company; inquiring of persons outside the company; and using reference
manuals/books.
3. Managing Information
The office functions covered here are maintaining calendars, maintaining databases,
and maintaining financial records.
4. Processing Information
The office allows editing and proof reading, keyboarding, opening and reviewing,
incoming communications, photocopying, preparing outgoing communications,
preparing cheques, orders, invoices, and preparing spreadsheets.
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5. Communicating Information
This office activity encompasses answering telephones, welcoming guests, responding
to persons within and outside the organisation, providing instruction to colleagues,
and making oral presentations before small and large groups.
Business Organisation
In economic sense, business connotes work efforts and acts of people which are
connected with the production of wealth (Murthi, Balagangadaran, Veeramani and Mani,
2005). According to Bhushan and Bhushan (2011), business is a form of activity pursued
primarily with the object of earning profit for the benefit of those on whose behalf the activity
is conducted. However, profit is not the sole objective of business. It may have other
objectives like promotion of welfare of the workers and the general public (Murthi et al.,
2005). Business involves production and/or exchange of goods and services which can satisfy
human wants; it embraces industry, trade and other activities like banking, transport,
insurance and warehousing which facilitates production and distribution of goods and
services.
A business is always owned by someone or a group of people be it public or private.
This can just be an individual, or thousands. So a business can have a number of different
types of ownership depending on the aims and objectives of the owners (Gupta, 2012). The
scope of business, in line with Bhushan (2002) and Bhushan et al. (2011), encompasses a
large number of activities which may be classified under two broad categories, namely,
industry and commerce. Industry covers the activities of extraction, production, conversion,
processing or fabrication of products. The products of an industry may fall under any of the
following three categories: consumers’ goods, capital goods and intermediate goods. Whereas
commerce refers to the process of buying and selling – wholesale, retail, import, export, enter
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port trade and all those activities which facilitate or assist in such buying and selling such as
storing, grading, packaging, financing, transporting, insuring, communicating, warehousing,
etc.
The term organisation, according to Murthi et al. (2005), is a harmonious adjustment
of specialised parts of accomplishment of some common purpose(s). Gupta (2012) defines
organisation as the process of identifying and grouping the work to be performed and
delegating responsibility and authority and establishing relationship for the purpose of
enabling people to work most effectively together in accomplishing objectives.
To carry out any business and achieve its objectives, it is required to bring together
various resources like men, materials, machines, technology, etc. and put them into action in
a systematic manner, and coordinate and control these activities properly – this arrangement
is known as Business Organisation (Murthi et al., 2005). Bhushan (2002) explains that
business organisation is an individual or group of people that collaborate to achieve certain
commercial goals. Some business organisations are formed to earn income for owners. Other
business organisations, called non-profits, are formed for public purposes; these businesses
often raise money and utilise other resources to provide or support public programmes.
Business organisation represents an enterprise, a means of bringing together various
elements of business with the object of establishing harmonious relationship and adjustment
in their functioning (Murthi et al., 2005). The objectives of business, according to
Subramanian (2012), include profit motive, service motive, to get the economies of large
scale production, to achieve in time and efforts, and harmonious relations with employees.
Besides, the important functions of an enterprise consist of production, marketing, finance,
personnel, purchase, public relations and legal functions (Bhushan et al., 2011).
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In building and developing a complete and efficient organisation towards achieving
the objects of the business successfully, certain principles which have been described as the
essential requirements have been prescribed by some scholars (Murthi et al., 2005; Bhushan
et al., 2011; Gupta, 2012) These include; unity of objectives, division of work, span of
control, scalar principle, unity of command, and functional definition. Others are unity of
definition, co-ordination, delegation of authority, principle of responsibility, flexibility,
efficiency, personal ability and simplicity.
Types and Forms of Business Organisation
On the basis of ownership, there are many forms of business organisation which have
emerged to cope up with the needs of the people and these can be classified into two types;
individualistic institutions and government institutions (Bhushan et al., 2011; Gupta, 2012).
The individualistic institution forms of business organisation are established by a single
individual or by a number of individuals, and these include sole proprietorship, partnership,
Joint Stock Company, co-operative and Multinational Corporation. The government
institutions are public sector enterprises which are owned, controlled and operated by the
central or state government or by both, and these embrace departmental undertakings, public
corporation, Government Company and board organisation.
Emerging Office Technologies
The term Office Technology refers to the application of scientific knowledge, devices
and systems to facilitate the information – driven activities of the office (Agomuo, 2005). The
author further stated that the concept of office technology is also associated with the
following terms and they are used synonymously and interchangeably: office automation,
office mechanisation, electronic technology, information technology and office globalisation.
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Office and office technology are inseparable and closely related (Khalid, 2000). In Khalid’s
opinion, information is the preoccupation and sole product of the office; and information
handling, which encompasses creation, searching, processing, storage, communicating and
security, is the basis for the existence of the office. Information belongs to the office and
whatever technology employed for producing information is office technology (Agoumo,
2005). Ruël (2001) explains that office technology is a seamless integration of
telecommunication, data processing, and personal computing with manual business
processes, which support key business functions and which improves effectiveness,
efficiency and the quality of working life).
The emergence of technological supports in offices, which was termed a gradual and
evolutionary process of change, started with the industrial revolution. The mechanical adding
machine and typewriter were introduced in the office in the 1840’s and was followed by
stenotypes machine, duplicator, tabulating machine and many other types. The evolution of
office technology is primarily in response to the changing business and market conditions
(Islam and Alam, 1999).
Regarding the definition of modern office technologies, Khalid (2000) notes that there
are a number of definitions ranging from the general and specific, Several authors (Fairhead,
1990; Long, 1993; Dowsell, 1990) seem to agree that the ultimate objective of emerging
office technology is to support the workforce in performing their tasks with efficiency and
effectiveness. According to Khalid, Swift and Cullingford (2002), emerging office
technology is a combination (or the convergence) of computers, telecommunication
technology and other office equipment with the support of knowledgeable employees to assist
organisations in improving their overall performance. Emerging office technology is referred
to as the application of modern (and more advanced) scientific knowledge, devices and
systems to facilitate the information driven activities of the office and to assist such
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organisation in improving its performance by increasing the effectiveness of its workforce, as
well as supporting them (Agomuo, 2005). The authors, Khalid et al. (2002) and Agomuo
(2005), further suggest that it supports the office functions and processes such as text
processing, information storage and retrieval, communication, administrative support and
manipulation and analysis of information by the office workers.
Evolution of Office Technological Supports
The history of office technological supports started in 1642 when Blaise Pascal
invented a mechanical adding machine which was later adapted to perform arithmetic
operations in 1671. Thereafter, Charles Babbage invented the difference engine and then the
analytical engine which consisted of all the parts for a general purpose computer (Ceruzzi,
2000).
In 1874, the first commercial typewriter was invented by Christopher Sholes and
Carlos Gidden and it inspired the public and started appearing in offices around the United
States of America and Europe. The first major developments in its functions were the
golfball typewriter in 1961 and the memory typewriter in 1964, both of which provided wider
capabilities (Layton, 2011).
The early development of the word processor was labelled by the IBM as power
typing as it essentially mimicked a typewriter with tape storage but with a slightly delayed
function between keying and printing, which allowed the typist to create rough drafts very
rapidly. Over the years more capabilities and functions were integrated and the systems
improved. Dedicated word processor technology was widely diffused into the offices of the
1970s and early 1980s (Khalid, 2000).
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During the early part of the 20th century, computers were made of electrical and
mechanical switches. It was not until 1946 that the first electronic digital computer appeared
and the best known computer then was the electronic numerical integrator and computer
(ENIAC) which started the computer revolution. This giant piece of office equipment could
handle 750 instructions per second. It was very costly, with primitive performance, occupied
a vast amount of space and required highly skilled operators. Though its performance and
technology look primitive, but it was a breakthrough at that time and was adopted by
American and European enterprises (Layton, 2011).
In 1951, the Lyons Teashop Company began using a computer called LEO (the Lyons
Electronic Office) which was the first computer in the world to be used for data processing.
Its technology was based on coded, punched tapes which were unreliable and cumbersome
and in terms of reproduction of the original text, carbon paper and spirit duplicator were used.
However, the introduction of the commercial photocopiers did not come until the 1950s. The
Victorian development of cash registers, with simple sub-totalling devices, tabulators and
calculators with sorters and keypunches were very common until the end of the 1960s.
By 1970 many firms were using information technology for achieving routine clerical
and administrative activities such as processing data that was related to bookkeeping and
accounting activities (Raul and Hashagen, 2000). Moreover, the microchip revolution of the
mid 1970s had dramatic effects on computer-based systems. This revolution enabled more
computing capabilities which in turn provided the impetus for the development of computer-
based information technology. This has changed how people work in offices, the nature of the
organisation and the management process during that period and has changed dramatically
ever since (Khalid, 2000). Even till date, the microchip with its vast capabilities for both
memory and processing is the main point around the technologies of telecommunications and
computing convergence.
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Office technologies of today with its integrated and powerful capabilities occupy far
less space compared to the mainframe in the past and can perform many millions of
operations per second. There have been continuous progresses and several major changes in
the development of modern office technologies. For example, software packages such as
Microsoft PowerPoint package can be used for communicating; word processors can be used
for recording documents; and Outlook package can be adopted as a swift means for electronic
scheduling, planning and correspondence. Spreadsheet software can be used to create
sophisticated charts and tables. These improvements and capabilities offer better quality than
old systems such as the typewriter (Khalid et al., 2002). Computers can perform
mathematical computations quickly and accurately providing sufficient quality of information
to employees.
The use of emerging office technologies today is more varied and diverse. Besides a
tool for processing data, a key point is that almost all employees have access to it (Islam et
al., 2000). The author asserts that employees are using new office technologies heavily as it is
a tool to access and process unlimited information instantaneously which has not been
experienced in the past. Office technologies have advanced, improved, user-friendly and
became affordable to both large and small establishments (Khalid et al., 2002). People could
gather more accurate information and afford swift decisions in order to keep up with
competitors through those technologies (Akpomi et al., 2009).
Emerging Office Technological Supports in Business Organisations
Office technological supports have been classified in many ways; machines for
computing, software packages for word processing and database, technologies for creation
and preparation of accounting records, equipment for handling of correspondence, machines
for inter communication, and tools for handling money (Gupta, 2012). However, the
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following are some of the available and applied emerging office technological supports in
business organisations; intranet, teleconference, audio conference, point of sale (PoS)
machines, social networks, Microsoft Office 2012 package (including word processor,
outlook, spreadsheet, powerpoint, etc.), electronic mail, digital facsimile machine,
teleconference, audio conference, voice mail, database, desktop publishing, World Wide
Web, wireless technologies (multifunction copy machine, internet connectivity), statistical
packages (SPSS), imaging/graphic software application, franking machine, androids,
overhead projector, portable HDD, high-tech security facilities (e.g. clocking card), high-tech
mobile facilities (i.e. Blackberry, tablets, iphone, ipad, PDA), and CCTV Monitor.
Based on the Ruël (2001) submission, these office technological supports are
specifically for electronic editing, electronic communication, electronic meeting, electronic
imaging, document management, and office management.
The use of automation in the office is as varied as the offices themselves. As a general
definition, however, office automation is the use of technology to help people do their jobs
better and faster (Osuala, 2004). Automated office innovation is based on communications
technology such as electronic mail, facsimile technology, groupware, teleconferencing,
electronic data interchange. Others include word processing, micrography, reprography,
telecommunications, and data processing. The technologies as described by different scholars
are explained below:
 Electronic Mail
Electronic mail, or e-mail, is the process of sending messages directly from one
computer, android, enabled mobile phones to another, where it is stored until the
recipient chooses to receive it. It affords concurrent dispatch of the same message to
many people at varied destinations in the world and it reduces the paper flood. E-mail
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does not require both participants to be present at the time of transmission, it is a plus
to people who work on the same project but live in different time zones (Osuala,
2004).
 Facsimile Technology
Facsimile (or Fax) uses computer technology and communications links to send
graphics, charts, text, and even signatures almost anywhere in the world. The digits
are transmitted across the miles and then reassembled at the other end to form a nearly
identical version of the original picture (Khalid et al., 2002; Osuala 2004). Facsimile
is quite fast and less expensive compared to the high-priced overnight delivery
services. With the aid of fax modem, computer users send and receive faxes directly
within few minutes (Osuala, 2004).
 Word Processing
Word processing is an office information system that allows the electronically
processing of alphabetic and alpha numeric information encompassing editing and
storing information, retrieving text, insertion and deleting of text, and many more
activities. Its common components include keyboard, electronic memory, display unit
coupled with specific software applications, and printer (Nwosu, Anaka and Eleoba,
2003).
 Teleconferencing
This is an office automation development with cost–saving potential; it is a method of
using technology to bring people and ideas together despite geographic barriers. There
are several varieties of teleconferencing, but the most common one today is
videoconferencing, whose components usually include a large screen, video cameras
that can send live pictures, and an online computer system to record communication
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among participants. Though this setup seems exorbitant to hire and even more
expensive to possess, yet the costs seem negligible when compared with airfare,
lodging, meals and other miscellaneous expenses to be incurred on in-person meetings
(Osuala, 2004).
 Micrography
Micrography is the office technology that allows the recording of information in
electronic data storage devices such as microfilm and computer disks. Automation in
data storage have modernised the speed and retrieval of information, allowed greater
and easier access to large quantities of records without the need to store papers in
bulky filing cabinets (Chukwuemezie, 2002). External HDD, flashpen, SD card and
re-writable CD are common examples of micrography technology.
 Data Processing
Data processing is an office information system that affords the computation of all
forms of data used in an organisation into information in order to plan, control,
manage and facilitate organisational activities (Agomuo, 2005). This technology
supports the process of large volumes of accounting data relating to routine repetitive
operations such as accounts receivable, account payable, inventories, payrolls and
posting to large accounts (Nwosu et al., 2003).
 Reprography
Reprography, or copy processing, ranges from the use of carbon to the very
sophisticated photo typesetting equipment connected to computer (Atakpa, 2013) and
other devices like smartphones and androids. This technology supports all aspects of
copying and duplicating which has vast impact on office information processing and
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dissemination (Abayi, 2003). Typical modern types of reprographic machines include
photocopy machine, multipurpose print/scan/copy machine and scanning machine.
 Electronic Data Interchange
Businesses use a great deal of paper in transmitting orders, but a technique has been
devised to cut down on paperwork and this is Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). EDI
is a series of standard formats that allow businesses to transmit invoices, purchase
orders, and the like electronically. In addition to eliminating paper based ordering
forms, EDI also eliminates errors in transmitting orders that result from transcription
mistakes made by individuals (Osuala, 2004).
 Telecommunications
Telecommunication is the technology that allows the sending of signals, images and
messages over long distances by radio, telephone, mobile phones, androids,
television, internet, intranet and satellite. It is an indispensable component of office
information system that serves as the backbone of any contemporary organisation
(Atakpa, 2013).
 Electronic Fund Transfers
By means of Electronic Fund Transfers (EFT), individuals can pay for goods and
services by having funds transferred from various accounts electronically, using
computer technology-based approach (Osuala 2004). In our communities today, the
Automated Teller Machine (ATM), Point of Sale (PoS) machine and Token Key are
the most visible manifestations of EFT to promote instant and cashless banking.
 Groupware
This is any kind of software that lets a group of people share things or tack things
together. The data the workers share is in a database on disk, but the key to their being
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able to share that data is their access to it via communications lines. Groupware is an
important communication system that allows people, who may be in remote places,
work together (Osuala, 2004).
The Secretary
The word Secretary is derived from the old Latin word Secretarius, meaning a notary,
scribe, and confidant; a title that was applied to various confidential officers, and in 19th
centuries the secretaries dealt with the correspondence for the King and other high ranking
members of the society (Khalid, 2000). It has been said that the profession of secretary is one
of the oldest in the world and that wherever there was a man of action there too was a man of
the pen to record his deeds (Mountain, 2007).
Various studies have given their different definitions of the term secretary. It is
therefore appropriate to provide an understanding as to who is truly the secretary. Adebayo
and Akinyele (2012) quoting the National Secretaries Association (International) describes a
secretary as an executive assistant who has mastery of office skills, demonstrates the ability
to assume responsibility without direct supervision, exercises initiative and judgement and
makes decisions within the scope of assigned authority. This same definition of the secretary
has been adopted by Oni (1999), Ugiagbe (2002), Akpomi et al. (2009) and Igbinedion
(2010). Besides, the secretary is an indispensable information and support staff in an
organisation (Onamade et al., 2012) who plays vital roles in the effective operation of the
organisation and most occupied with the increasingly complex information flow in the office.
The Secretary plays central role in the information technology driven restructuring and
knowledge-intensive management of an office (Khalid, 2000). Impliedly, these definitions
and explanations of the secretary accentuate the fact that the working relationship between
the secretary and the organisation executive must be excellent for the establishment to grow
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and succeed. It is as well recognised that though various office employees perform some
facets of secretarial work, but not all office employees are secretaries. Secretaries have more
responsibility for their work.
The number and type of functions assigned to the secretary depend on whether they
are generalists (multifunctional secretaries) or specialists (such as legal or word processing
secretaries). As an office professional, a secretary's duties requires analysis of the situation,
judgement, technical knowledge and creativity Secretaries employ much diverse proficiency
and work with many distinct people. Often, the secretary has the duty to coordinate and
organise the daily routines and work flow of the office so that the superior will feel that
everything is under control (Adebayo et al., 2012).
Office management is now more concerned with office occupations or the exhibition
or use of skills, aptitudes, attitudes and knowledge for carrying out successfully the functions
of the office. Ohakwe (2001) affirms that today's professional secretaries are now referred to
as office managers by some individuals because of their accomplishments, education, skill
acquisition, knowledge and even expectations from their superiors, employers' acquaintances,
clienteles, and even the general public. The professional secretary who is at the centre of
information has the duty of providing comprehensive, accurate and up-to-date information
promptly to enable his organisation take quality management decisions.
In this age of evolving office technologies, a secretary's responsibilities are more
complex than entry-level responsibilities, an additional on-the-job experience and/or
education is required. Most business organisations now rely on different forms of improved
and standardised office machines and equipment for efficiency and enhanced yield.
Regardless of these technologically inclined activities of modern secretaries, many old duties
and undertakings are still part of them.
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The job functions performed by secretaries vary from one establishment to the other
and from one department to the other. Yet, according to Adebayo et al. (2012), the
International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) highlighted the essential
duties of office secretaries as follows:
 Telephone Calls and Visitors
A secretary acts as an access between clienteles, visitors, callers and other members
of the workforce in the office; answers inquiries about the particulars of the office;
vets visitors and telephone calls and schedules call-backs or appointments; provides
back-up materials related to the caller or visitor to prepare her superior to talk about
different issues with different people; and arranges meeting area for visitors and takes
care of any needed facilities.
 Other Communication
Apart from taking telephone calls and helping visitors, a secretary handles written
communications and mails, and also prioritises work based on deadlines and
communication with others in the office.
 Appointments and Meetings
A secretary organises and prepares the superior's calendar of schedules and
appointments, and also prepares him for all meetings and appointments, and
determines what events he needs to attend. A secretary arranges his employer's
commitments to avoid overlaps and to make sure that he has ample time to get ready
for such commitments.
 Other Job Responsibilities
A secretary has many duties, ranging from priority duties to routine duties. Other
responsibilities of a secretary may include supervising other clerical staff, keeping an
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updated mail and phone directory, ordering office supplies when needed, organising
files and other data, handling of travel and guest arrangement, and many more.
Furthermore, more job descriptions of a secretary, according to Onamade et al.
(2012), include:
 Providing administrative, secretarial, advanced clerical and pragmatic support;
relieving departmental head of administrative work such as investigating and
answering complaints and providing assistance in resolving operational and
administrative problems.
 Planning and organising work activities by recommending improvements in work
flow, procedures, and use of equipment and forms; implementing improvements
as approved; developing and revising office forms and report formats as required;
organising and maintaining filing systems.
 Drafting and/or typing, word processing, format, edit, revise and process a variety
of documents and forms including reports, correspondence, memoranda, agenda
items, agreements, ordinances, resolutions, technical and statistical charts and
tables and other specialised and technical materials from rough drafts, dictation,
modified standard formats, and brief verbal instructions.
 Proofreading, verifying, and reviewing materials, applications, records, and
reports for accuracy, completeness, and conformance with established standards,
regulations, policies, and procedures ensure materials, reports, and packets for
signature are accurate and complete.
 Participating in the collection, compilation and analysing of information from
various sources on a variety of specialised topics related to assigned programmes;
participating in the preparation of reports that present and interpret data, identify
alternatives, and make and justify recommendations.
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 Maintaining accurate and up-to-date office files, records, and logs for assigned
areas; developing, preparing and monitoring various logs, accounts, and files for
current and accurate information including manual and computer logs, other
specialised or technical documents processed; maintaining and processing payroll
records.
 Utilising various computer applications and software packages; developing,
entering data, maintaining and generating reports from a database or network
system; creating and administering mailing lists; designing, maintaining, and
utilising data to develop reports using spreadsheet software; creating, formatting
and revising charts, graphs, flowcharts, worksheets, booklets, brochures, and
forms using appropriate software.
 Attending to a variety of office administrative details such as ordering supplies,
arranging for equipment repair, transmitting information, and keeping reference
materials up to date; organising and maintaining office and specialized files in
accordance with office rules and regulations.
 Maintaining calendar of activities, meetings, and various events for assigned staff;
coordinating activities and meetings with other departments, the public, and
outside agencies; coordinating and arranging special events as assigned;
scheduling meetings; coordinating arrangements and setting up meeting rooms;
notifying participants; preparing and/or assembling meeting materials.
 Serving as secretary at meetings and committees as assigned; arranging and
coordinating meetings for boards, commissions, and outside agencies; assisting in
preparing and distributing agenda packets and correspondence; attending meetings
and taking, transcribing, and ensuring proper distribution of minutes and verbatim
transcripts.
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 Processing mail including receiving, sorting, and time-stamping, logging, and
distributing in-coming and out-going correspondence and packages.
 Providing lead supervision and direction to assigned clerical and office support
staff; preparing work schedules; providing work assignments, instruction, and
training; providing information and feedback to appropriate supervisory staff
regarding performance of assigned staff.
In addition to the above listed job functions and responsibilities of a secretary, some
secretaries, such as legal and medical secretaries, perform highly specialised work requiring
knowledge of technical terminology and procedures. Legal secretaries prepare legal papers
such as summons, complaints, motions, responses, and subpoenas under the supervision of an
attorney or a paralegal; review legal journals and assist with legal research. Also, medical
secretaries assist physicians or medical scientists with reports, speeches, articles, conference
proceedings, record simple medical histories, arrange for patients to be hospitalised, and
order supplies. And they are often familiar with insurance rules, billing practices, and hospital
or laboratory procedures (Mountain, 2007). In the midst of these of responsibilities for a
secretary in a business organisation, Onamade et al. (2012) declares that the secretary must be
regarded with some respects because these onerous job functions do impact on the success of
the business establishment.
Traits and Proficiencies of a Qualified Office Secretary
In Nigeria, there is a severe aberration about who the real office secretary is. This is
all because the persona of the secretary has been misrepresented and degraded. The presence
of numerous charlatan office secretaries in many business organisations whose activities have
sank the image of the secretary thereby discourage countless individuals who would have
esteemed to take up the secretarial vocation (Igbinedion, 2010; Onamade et al., 2012). The
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typewriters are now the computers generally used by the secretaries, stenographers, typists
and data entry personnel constitute the major deceptive factor in identification of the true
office secretary. To various individuals, everyone sitting behind the typewriter or computer in
a business organisation is an office secretary, a perception that is completely incorrect
(Onamade et al., 2012).
Nevertheless, from the given definitions of a secretary, it means that a qualified
secretary should have an extensive and versatile knowledge of business acumen, accounting,
personnel, organisational skills, office practice, communication and inside knowledge of the
operation of all departments within the organisation where she works, unlike a half-baked
secretary who possesses only knowledge of shorthand, typing and basic office practices
(Akpomi et al., 2009). As well, Igbinedion (2010) outlines the qualities required of a
professional office secretary to include a wide general education, secretarial skills, business
knowledge and personal capabilities.
In the Nigerian context, wide general education includes the qualifications from
varsities, mono/polytechnics and colleges of education. While secretarial skills comprise
Shorthand 100-120 wpm and Typing 50-60 wpm, accurate spelling, sound knowledge of
reprography, and extensive knowledge in the utilisation of existing and emerging Information
and Communication Technologies (Igbinedion, 2010; Onamade et al., 2012). Business
knowledge which encompasses a basic understanding of accounting, book-keeping,
commerce, economics, law and management; and an in-depth understanding of the secretary's
(business) establishment and its personalities, products and markets is crucial. So also, the
personal capabilities, which are good sense of judgement, diplomacy, discretion,
resourcefulness, compliance, trustworthiness and other positive virtues (Igbinedion, 2010).
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Considering the above traits and proficiencies of a qualified office secretary,
Igbinedion (2010) argues that it will amount to organisational suicide to entrust the complex
responsibilities of the secretary to just any individual with the elementary secretarial skills for
cheap cost of labour in which the eventual cost of such blunder to the organisations could be
massive.
Emerging Office Technological Supports: Concerns and Challenges of the Secretaries
Today’s secretary is faced with a lot of challenges. The rapid changes in the business
organisations, as a result of office automation, have brought about new procedures in
executing job responsibilities performed by people, including the secretaries. Consequently,
the efforts towards the use of technologies by secretaries have met several challenges as
pointed out by Onifade (2010). These challenges include inadequate ICT infrastructure such
as computer hardware and software, resistance to change from traditional to modern methods,
lack of skilled manpower to manage available systems and inadequate training facilities, and
poor electricity distribution.
Further challenges as noted by Nna (2012) are errors and accidents which pose a lot
of challenges to the information communication system of business establishments; some
possible errors include:
 Human error: An organisation might have the entire technological gadget to work
with but the secretary could be frustrated, depressed, anxious for something,
distracted etc., and each of these experiences is enough to cause the secretary to make
mistakes that would affect the whole process.
 Procedural error: Devastating errors could occur when a secretary fails to follow the
stipulated procedure. The system would simply fail to work, break down or result in a
wrong action.
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 Software error: The news about software bugs continues. A software bug is an error
in a programme that causes it not to work properly and it can make an individual
spend several hours trying to perform a task fruitlessly. This is because the
programme cannot and would not perform as expected not until the error is
discovered. As a result, this error wastes useful man hour and delays the entire work
process.
 Electromechanical problem: Mechanical systems including printers, photocopiers
and electrical systems such as circuit boards are always having one problem or the
other. They may be defectively designed, get dirty or over heated, wear out or become
damaged in some way. They could be shut down due to consistent power failures and
power surge can also burn out these equipment and appliances.
 Dirty data problem: Dirty data is an incomplete, out-dated or inaccurate data. When
keyboarding any document, the secretary undoubtedly makes a few typing errors
which she is expected to clean up. However, millions of people all over the world
including the secretaries feed a continual stream of data into computer system which
may be incomplete, out-dated or inaccurate and this may cause a lot of difficulties to
information seekers and users (Nna, 2012).
Crimes against computers and communications, another concern with respect to
utilisation of emerging office technologies by secretaries of business organisations, are illegal
acts perpetrated against computers or telecommunications. Sawyer and Williams (2005)
explain these acts as the use of computers or telecommunications to accomplish illegal acts.
These illegal acts in the utilisation of contemporary office technological support encompass:
 Theft of hardware and software: Theft of hardware ranges from stealing computer
system accessories such as mouse, internal and external hard drives, laptop, external
CD-ROM, mobile phones and tablets, etc. Software theft involves illegal copying of
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programmes, rather than physically taking someone’s system, external hard disk or
any other accessories. Others are illegal file swapping, illegal copying of files and
folders, and counterfeiting licensed software programmes.
 Theft of time and services: Theft of time in work places is more common than one
can imagine. This is a situation where employees use their employer’s time to play
games, engage in personal online activities, watching movies and some even go dip
into web pornography. Some employees even do their own private businesses online
while in the office.
 Information theft: Information thieves have frustrated the record management
system of many business establishments, and security administration. They have
stolen confidential records and either sold the information for money or use such
information against the organisations.
 Malware computer programme and cyber-attacks: Some ICT users are more
interested in abusing or vandalising computers and telecommunication systems than
profiting from them through the act of hacking, crashing and other professional cyber-
crimes. These set of criminals, are either employees of the affected business
establishments or possibly an outsiders, intentionally infect personal and companies
computer systems with viruses and other malware computer programmes that cause
malfunctioning and eventual crash of the systems and agonisingly the loss of
confidential and important documents (Sawyer et al., 2005).
Apart from the above mentioned issues and challenges in relation to adoption of
emerging office technologies by business organisations, secretaries do encounter other
difficulties in the utilisation of modern office technologies in their different workplaces.
These identified challenges as pointed out by Islam and Alam (1999) include reduced
autonomy of employees, displacement of personnel, stressful work environment, low job
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satisfaction resulting in absenteeism and turnover, excessive monitoring of work, lack of
social support in work areas, and poorly designed work areas resulting in discomfort and poor
health issues.
Others are payment for self-induced trainings and development programmes, personal
procurement of some office technological devices, job uncertainty, inability to adjust quickly,
cost ineffective, exposure to life threatening emissions and other health risks, high cost of
training and self-development, and unwillingness of business organisations to sponsor staff
training, extended working hours and days, high level of distraction, possible redundancy and
eventual lay off (Khalid, 2000; Khalid et al., 2002).
Initiatives to Combat Challenges of Emerging Office Technological Supports
No matter how automated the office of a business establishment may be, if such
organisation is not able to combat issues and problems likely to be faced, then it may not
achieve its primary objectives. When the challenges come, they would definitely affect the
work process. Therefore, drastic measures must be taken to contain the challenges as they
surface (Nna, 2012). The following are some approaches business organisations could use in
combating the identified challenges:
 Control of access and use of the technological supports: For the secretaries to be
able to safeguard their business organisations ‘data and information, these
technological gadgets should be programmed in such a way that unauthorised access
and use will not be allowed. A computer system and other office technologies can
verify that you have legitimate right of access and use them through the use of
electronic cards and badges, digital signatures, fingerprints recognition system, use of
PIN or passwords, face recognition system, etc. (Nna, 2012).
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 Installation of Premium Antivirus and Antimalware Software Programmes: The
installation and use of premium antivirus and antimalware like Norton, AVG and
Kaspersky on an organisation’s computer and related systems protects the
establishments and its employees from cyber-attacks, system crash, loss of data
whether confidential or important or otherwise, and loss of productive man-hour and
work process (Sawyer et al., 2005; Agomuo, 2005).
 Secure Back-up Approach: Secretaries in business establishments should initiate a
consistent back-up technique in which all office data are backed up on external hard
drives that are well secured and free of unauthorised access and virus/malware
infection. This approach prevents the establishment and its personnel from
unanticipated loss of files and folders. The back-up devices that come in various
handy sizes are readily available in the computer accessory market and are quite
affordable (Agomuo, 2005; Nna, 2012).
 Disaster-Recovery Plans: A disaster-recovery plan is a technique, likened to back-up
approach, of restoring information processing operations that have been halted by
destruction or accident. Such plan entails a list of all business functions, hardware,
software, data, and people that support such functions, as well as arrangement for
alternate locations. The disaster recovery plan also includes ways of backing up and
storing programmes and data in another location, and ways of alerting necessary
personnel, and training for those personnel. As a result, this initiative will afford the
secretaries and other personnel to be rest assured of efficient information and data
bank (Sawyer et al., 2005; Nna, 2012).
 Performance/Work Measurement: Every task should be allotted a completion time.
That way, personnel including the secretaries would be given task which they are
expected to finish in a given time. This initiative will support the secretaries in
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achieving high job satisfaction and less redundancy time (Searles, Rejman and Ulicna,
2007).
 Engaging in Consistent Knowledge Acquisition and Training: Knowledge
acquisition and training is one strategic initiative that the secretaries must clamour for
in their diverse establishments, be self-induced or sponsored (Jasper, 2006).
Secretaries must be ready to indulge in refresher courses, fresh courses, attend self-
development programmes like CPD, conferences and seminars, and also be ready to
invest in both electronic and hardcopy literatures on a regular basis - so that they can
be fully abreast of the latest office technologies, their uses and applications and
related understanding. If a secretary is well trained, then he or she becomes more
productive and also ends up becoming the solution the organisation needs to counter
the concerns and challenges of technological innovations (Speck and Knipe, 2005).
 Procurement of Personal Technological Supports: To facilitate adequate and
frequent use of pertinent office technological supports like computer system and
internet facilities, it is advised that secretaries should initiate personal procurement of
certain office technologies like laptops, tablets, PDA phones, Androids, and internet
modems. This personal procurement will make them resourceful and versatile in their
approach to work, enhance their self-development, enjoy high job satisfaction as they
execute their assigned job responsibilities, and work under minimal stress and
pressure (Jasper, 2006).
 Encourage Relaxation at Work: To reduce job stress and fatigue at work,
secretaries are to learn how to observe their break time off the job. They are to eat
well, drink enough fluid, and relax their nerve within the time allotted for the break.
This also affords comfort and less life threatening job environment (Golding and
Gray, 2006).
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 Mental Alertness and Willingness Attitude: Secretaries are to develop mental
alertness and willingness attitude as they execute their assigned job responsibilities,
and relate with colleagues, clients and the work environment (Khalid, 2000). This will
promote the cordial relationship and good team playing among the personnel
including the secretary and thus creating a cordial working environment that promotes
friendship, comfort and approval (Golding et al., 2006).
Staff Development Programmes for Secretaries towards Efficient Adoption of Emerging
Office Technologies
Staff development programme refers to activities that develop an individual’s skills
and knowledge, expertise and other characteristics as a professional in his or her field of
practice (OECD, 2009). In the word of Jasper (2006), staff development programme is
described as skills and knowledge attained for both personal development and career
advancement; it incorporates all types of facilitated learning opportunities, ranging from
formal/structured learning to informal learning opportunities situated in practice. From the
view point of the Association of Personal Assistant (APA), as quoted by Marchington and
Wilkinson (2006), staff development programme is any process or activity that provides
added value to the capability of the individual by increasing the professional knowledge,
skills and personal qualities necessary for the appropriate execution of professional and
technical duties, often term competence.
Staff development programmes may be group or individualised. Individuals may
pursue professional development independently, or programmes may be offered by the
Human Resource departments (Marchington et al., 2006). It has been described as intensive
and collaborative, ideally incorporating an evaluative stage (Jasper, 2006).
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The programme comes in two basic forms; formal or structured, and less formal. The
structured type of staff development programme comes in diverse approaches and these
include:
 Courses/workshops
 Education conferences or seminars
 Qualification programmes
 Observation visitations/exchange programmes
 Individual or collaborative research
 Participation in a network of professional
 Mentoring and/or peer observation and coaching.
The less formal encompasses:
 Reading professional and related literatures (i.e. journals, evidence-based papers,
thesis papers) and
 Engaging in informal dialogue with peers on how to improve a specific profession
(Marchington et al., 2006; OECD, 2009).
In relation to secretaries and emerging office technological supports, staff
development programmes are vital for the secretaries to enhance their knowledge and skills,
personal performance and practical experience, lifelong learning and career progression
(Marchington et al., 2006). Either through formal or informal learning opportunities as
provided by the staff development programme, secretaries are to participate and engage in in-
depth understanding and technical know-how of available office technological supports in
their business organisations vis-à-vis procedural process, utilisation, and handling and
maintenance.
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Besides, the actual understanding and technical knowledge of the modern office
technological supports, the secretaries are expected to attend and participate actively in staff
development programmes that will further facilitate the efficient adoption of these emerging
office technologies in various establishments. These related programmes cover performance
management/enhancing techniques and tools, performance appraisal, personal development,
stress management, time management, health, safety and environment (HSE) and many more
(OECD, 2009).
Staff development does not just happen. Individuals including the office secretaries
have a responsibility for their own development, the business establishments too needs to be
learning centred and provide opportunities for all staff to continue their learning. Staff
development therefore has to be led, coordinated and managed well to make a difference
(Bubb and Earley, 2009). For a staff development programme for secretaries to achieve its
objectives, the exercise must follow a process tagged Staff Development Cycle.
Identifying staff
development needs
Evaluating the impact Analysing staff

of staff development development needs
Monitoring staff Planning staff

development development
activities
Implementing staff
development
activities
Figure 2.1: Staff Development Cycle (Adapted from Bubb and Earley, 2009)
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Leading and managing staff development well requires an enormous amount of work;
an in-depth understanding of the staff development cycle (Figure 2.1) is vital (Bubb et al.,
2009). Impliedly, to achieve an optimum resourceful utilisation of modern office
technological supports for secretarial job responsibilities using the structured and informal
forms of staff development programmes for secretaries, there is need to identify and analyse
organisational and individual needs, plan how to meet them, meet them, monitor progress and
then evaluate the impact on the secretaries, the business organisation, other workforce, and
the company’s clients before starting to look at new needs (Bubb et al., 2009; OECD, 2009).
It is however important to point out that there are different approaches in which
business establishments could enhance active and industrious participation of their secretaries
in relevant staff development programmes. According to OECD (2009), business
organisations could support the secretaries by:
 Allowing the secretaries to attend compulsory professional development programmes
(CPD)
 Providing financial support to the secretaries to attend relevant and important staff
development programmes
 Allocating salary supplements for secretaries for the purpose of participating in staff
 Scheduling of staff development programmes for secretaries should be suitably
designed to afford meaningful participation.
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Schema
Business
Organisations
Office
Office Office
Technologies Secretaries
Emerging Office
Challenges Initiatives/Skill
Technologies
Acquisition and
Development
Figure 2.2: A schema representation of the study showing the related activities in the
exploratory of distinctive challenges and initiatives in the utilisation of
emerging office technologies by secretaries of business organisations
(Source: The Researcher)
Business organisation represents an enterprise that brings together various elements or
resources including offices and office buildings, factories, machines and technologies, etc. in
a systematic manner, with the objective of establishing harmonious relationship and
adjustment in their functioning. As part of the various elements provided by the enterprise,
office/office building is a physical place where people carry out information processing
functions, and it is the most significant place for the application of technological supports.
Emerging office technologies are the modern office technological supports, being
utilised by most organisations in order to improve productivity, increase efficiency, cut
administrative costs and sustain competitive advantage.
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Office secretaries are support employees in an organisation playing vital role in the
effective operation of the organisation. In the utilisation of the modern and sophisticated
office technologies, secretaries are faced with varying degrees of issues and challenges that
require specific skills, prompt initiatives and lifelong learning process in order to remain
competitive, competent, and effective in the world of work.
Theoretical Framework
A theory is a set of interrelated constructs, definitions, assumptions, hypotheses,
propositions, laws or theorems that are arranged so as to give functional meaning to series of
events (Olaitan, 2003), or present a rational view of phenomena by explaining or predicting
relationships among those elements (Ogwo and Oranu, 2005). Theoretical framework, on the
other hand, is a way of describing, analysing, interpreting and predicting phenomena (Ojo,
2003), Theories help to ask questions, interpret information, set goals and select strategies for
achieving goals (Cookey, 1990). As a result, theoretical framework provides a base that aids
a study to achieve its goals. The theoretical framework of the study will be based on Theory
of Skill Acquisition, Theory of Work Adjustment, and Theory of Performance.
Theory of Skill Acquisition
The theory of skill acquisition propounded by Stuart and Hubert Dreyfus in 1980 is a
concept of how individuals learn and acquire skills through formal instruction and practising.
The theory is on the premise that in acquiring a skill by means of instruction and experience,
the individual normally passes through a gradual process involving five developmental stages
which are designated novice, advanced beginner, competence, proficiency and expertise.
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The theory emphasises on the fact that practice is required for the agent to maintain
the know-how/expertise. Without practice, the agent will gradually lose his expertise and is
most likely to regress as far back as the competence stage.
The theory of skill acquisition is related to the study in the sense that the study seeks
to identify skills and development activities required by secretaries for building capacities in
coping with challenges associated with the utilisation of modern and sophisticated office
technologies.
Theory of Work Adjustment
The theory of work adjustment, also known as the Person-Environment
Correspondence Theory, was developed by Rene Dawis, George England and Llyod Lofquist
in 1964. It is a class of theory in career development that is anchored on the individual
differences tradition on vocational behaviour. The theory views career choice and
development as continual processes of adjustment and accommodation in which a person
looks for work organisations and environments that would match his “requirements” in terms
of needs, and the work organisations and environments in turn look for individuals who have
the capabilities to meeting the “requirements” of the organisation.
The theory looks at the degree at which an individual is satisfied with the work
organisation and environment, and also the degree at which work organisation and
environment are satisfied with the individual. To the person, the most central requirements to
meet from work organisation and environment are his needs (or reinforcers), which could be
further dissected into categories of psychological and physical needs that are termed values,
i.e. the more closely the reinforcers (rewards) of the role or organisation correspond to the
values that a person seeks to satisfy through their work, the more likely it is that the person
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will perceive the job as satisfying. A list of 6 key values that individuals seek to satisfy
includes achievement, comfort, status, Altruism, safety, autonomy,
To work organisation and environment, however, the most central requirements are
abilities, which are operationalized as dimensions of skills that the person possesses that are
considered necessary in a given work organisation and environment, i.e. the more closely a
person’s abilities correspond with the requirements of the role or the organisation, the more
likely it is that the person will perform the job well and be perceived as satisfactory by the
employer.
The theory of work adjustment is related to the study in the sense that when applied in
the operation of business organisations, the secretaries will see reasons why they need to
build their capabilities in order to be competitive, more efficient and effective in the world of
work, and thus boost their values. Likewise, the business organisation will be able to identify
the utmost fundamental requirements of their secretaries in order to meet their psychological
and physical needs.
Theory of Performance
The theory of performance was propounded by Don Elger of University of Idaho in
2010, the theory is based on the premise that humans are capable of worthy accomplishments
produced from high-level performances, and thus affirms that current level of performance
depends holistically on six components: context of performance, level of knowledge, levels
of skills, level of identity, personal factors, and fixed factors. Likewise, the theory proposed
three axioms for effective performance improvements and these involve the performer’s
mindset, immersion in an enriching environment, and engagement in reflective practice.
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For instance, as an office secretary advances her level of performance, she utilizes
optimally various computer applications and software packages, and provides more thorough
administrative, secretarial, advanced clerical and pragmatic support to her superior and
colleagues. Another instance is when a business enterprise improves its level of performance,
the workforces, including the secretaries; turn more proactive, efficient and effective in the
execution of their job responsibilities leading to quality level of productivity of the
organisation.
Since learning is a prerequisite for performance, the theory of performance is related
to the present study in the sense that the study emphasises the importance of continuous
learning and competence development, and relevance of proactivity.
Related Empirical Studies
Many related studies were reviewed for the study as follows:
Khalid, Swift and Cullingford (2002) conducted a study to examine the effects of new
office technology on both managers and secretaries in private and public sector businesses in
United Kingdom and Malaysia. The sample of the study comprised 490 secretaries and 300
managers in the United Kingdom, and 193 secretaries and 240 managers in Malaysia. Both
quantitative and qualitative methods were employed through the use of questionnaires and
semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study revealed that both managers and
secretaries are using new office technology and software packages regardless of the size of
organisations, and both managers and secretaries have access to almost the same information
indicating a possible breakdown in the traditional hierarchical structure of management and
making secretaries more powerful. Secretaries are more proactive with new roles and
responsibilities, and exhibit more positive attitudes towards new office technological
supports. The findings also revealed that both managers and secretaries are extensively
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involved in both formal and informal trainings than in the past due to the ever changing
technology. This study is similar to the present study in the sense that they both seek to
identify and evaluate the effect of the new office technology on secretaries. However, the
difference in the two studies is that while the previous study was in United Kingdom and
Malaysia, the present study is in Nigeria.
Akpomi and Ordu (2009) carried out a study to explore modern office technology and
secretaries’ productivity in private business organisations in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Three research questions were formulated to guide the study. A structured questionnaire was
developed for collecting data, and the instrument was administered to 40 office secretaries of
40 randomly selected private business organisations within the study area. Mean and chi-
square were used in the analysis of data collected. The findings from the study revealed the
availability of modern office technologies in private business organisations and their use by
secretaries cause increase in productivity. Both studies seek to identify modern office
technologies that are used in business organisations secretaries. Nonetheless, they differ in
the sense that the present study considers the challenges posed to the secretaries of business
organisations in relation to the utilisation of emerging office technologies.
Adedayo and Akinyele (2012) carried out a study to explore the approach to successful
professional secretarial practice in Nigeria. Adopting SWOTT Analysis, the study revealed
that tactic to successful professional secretarial practice require the application of ethical
values and demands by the secretaries, secretaries need to possess precise secretarial
competencies and skills needed in workplace, and in the ever changing technological
workplaces; secretaries need to be more concerned with updating their skills acquisition and
development. The study is related in the sense that both studies seek to identify traits and
competencies of a professional secretary, and emphasising skills acquisition and
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development. Yet, these studies will differ in the sense that this study did not emphasise on
emerging secretarial technological supports which is a key subject in the present study.
Onifade (2010) conducted a study to explore the secretaries’ perceptions on the
innovations and inventions of new office technologies. The study revealed that emergence
and introduction of modern office technologies in various organisations have thrown some
secretaries out of job and thus causing apprehension amongst the still employed office
secretaries. The study further revealed that for a secretary to remain relevant and keep his job,
he needs retraining to gain more knowledge on how to operate and manipulate these
technologies and also keep abreast of their novel challenges. This study is similar to the
present study such that both seek to identify effects of the new office technologies on the
secretaries. However, unlike the present study, this study failed to evaluate the utilisation of
the modern secretarial technological supports.
Islam and Alam (1999) conducted a study to explore the prospects and challenges of
office systems automation in Bangladesh. The study revealed that new office technology
offers new opportunities for improving the organisations and their employees; its integration
however requires foresight, careful planning and good magnet because not all impacts of
technology are beneficial, and poorly planned applications and implementations may produce
undesirable results to both employers and employees. The study however recommended that
for an organisation to take full advantage of modern office automation, such organisation
need to develop long-range strategic plans based on business development, old workforce
must be frequently trained to use the new technology and to adopt to changes in occupation
and the work environments, the executive should assume an active role as a change agent and
be ready to cope with the global competition. This study is related to the present study
because both studies seek to explore the implementation and application of modern office
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technologies. Yet, the studies differ in the sense that this study covered all types of
workforces while the present study primarily focuses on the office secretaries.
Marino (1993) carried out a study to examine the use of information technology and
its relationship to the job characteristics of administrative support personnel. Responses from
408 of 673 administrative support personnel including the office secretaries indicated that
they are proficient majorly in the use of text-intensive tools and substantially possess higher
skill levels using spreadsheets, databases, desktop publishing and graphics. Both studies
would be related because they seek to evaluate the use of secretarial technological supports
by office secretaries. However, the studies differ with respect to period of study and the study
population – Marino’s study encompassed all administrative support personnel while the
present study concentrates only on the secretaries.
Agervold (1987) conducted a study to examine the attitudes of office workers towards
the introduction of new technology, the evaluation of the impact of the technology and the
connection between work with new technology and stress. The study sampled 907 white-
collar workers. Findings revealed that factors concerning both the quality of work and
workload increased or remained the same as a consequence of the introduction of new
technology. The study further showed that incidence of mental fatigue, stress and
psychosomatic complaints was the same among those working with and without new
technology. But where new technology had had a negative influence on factors such as work
quality, personal influence, etc., there was a higher incidence of stress and stress related
complaints. The studies would be related in the sense that both studies seek to evaluate the
impact of new office technology, but they differ in relation to period of study and study
population. This study was carried out in 1987 and its study population included all classes of
workforce, whereas this present study is conducted in 2014 and its study population is
basically the secretaries.
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Summary of Reviewed Literature
The reviewed literature pointed out that emerging office technology has transformed
the work in the office and it has dramatically changed the nature of work patterns of the
secretaries. Secretaries now have significantly improved roles to play in their different
employments due to the adoption of new technological supports by their organisations. The
rapidly changing work environment, as a result of office automation, has brought about novel
methods in carrying out job functions, so also challenges and initiatives. Secretaries now
have to upgrade their skills and initiatives in executing their job responsibilities and combat
the challenges faced with. To keep their jobs, secretaries are now expected to participate in
development programmes to remain relevant in their organisations.
Moreover, the related literature reviewed by this study was in the following areas:
conceptual framework covering such concepts as business organisation, office, secretary,
emerging office technologies, challenges in the utilisation of emerging office technologies,
and secretarial skills acquisition and development. This guided the researcher to obtain a
framework of activities that was discussed in the study. The theoretical framework of the
study which is centred on Theory of Skill Acquisition, Theory of Work Adjustment, and
Theory of Performance provided a guide for the researcher in deciding the direction of the
study.
Literature reviewed on concept of an office aided the researcher in ascertaining the
meaning of office and thus facilitating the understanding of the classification of office and its
primary functions. The literature reviewed on the overview of business organisation assisted
the researcher in identifying the specific types and forms of business organisations facilitating
the simple and easy understanding of various establishments in which the services and skills
of secretaries are required.
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With respect to emerging office technologies, the literature reviewed assisted the
researcher in identifying and distinguishing of various technological supports in offices, and
in developing questionnaire items for collecting data in order to ascertain the level of
availability and usage of these technologies in various establishments. It was observed that
the introduction of modern and sophisticated office technologies is with varying degrees of
issues and challenges and thus required specific skills acquisition and development amongst
the office secretaries. Besides, literature reviewed on office secretary aided the researcher in
understanding the importance and responsibilities of an office secretary to his organisation, it
also facilitated the questionnaire design in relation to ascertaining the traits, and specific
skills and competencies required of an office secretary, the challenges encountered in the
utilisation of emerging office technologies, and required staff development activities.
The literature reviewed on related empirical studies guided the researcher in selecting
the appropriate design, instrument for data collection and method of data analysis adopted for
the study.
Nonetheless, no comprehensive study known to the researcher has been carried out on
the challenges and initiatives of office secretaries in the utilisation of emerging office
technologies by the Lagos State based private business organisations. By and large, the
literature reviewed will provide the gap to be filled by this study. This is because it will
enable the identification of the distinctive challenges, and appropriate secretarial skills
required and skill development in relation to the utilisation of emerging office technologies
by secretaries of business organisations.
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CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the step by step procedure of how the study was conducted and
this has been organised under the following subheadings; design of the study, area of the
study, population for the study, sample and sampling technique, instrument for data
collection, validation of the instrument, reliability of the instrument, method of data
collection and method of data analysis.
Design of the Study
Survey research design was used for the study. A survey research design, according to
Olaitan (2003), is the category of research design in which the entire population or
representative sample is studied by collecting and analysing data from a group through the
use of questionnaire. The design was considered appropriate for the study because it was
meant for eliciting responses from secretaries of private business organisations operating
within Lagos Metropolis to determine the challenges experienced by them from emerging
office technologies and the initiatives for solving the problems.
Area of the Study
The area of the study was Lagos State. Lagos State is the second most populous State
in Nigeria and in fact in Africa in which over 8 per cent of the estimated population of
Nigeria resides (NACCIMA, 2011). With its five divisions - Ikeja, Badagry, Ikorodu, Lagos
Island and Epe, Lagos State is the Nation's financial, commercial and industrial nerve centre
with over 2,000 manufacturing industries, several operational private business establishments
and over 200 financial institutions (Lagos, 2008; NACCIMA, 2011). Besides, the selected
study area alone harbours 60 per cent of the country's (total) industrial investments and
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foreign trades while also attracting 65 per cent of Nigeria's commercial activities
(NACCIMA, 2011).
Population for the Study
For the purpose of this research work, the study population was primarily the
secretaries of Lagos State based private business organisations that are corporate members of
the Nigerian Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mining and Agriculture (NACCIMA).This
study population constituted the respondent for the purpose of questionnaire administration.
As provided in the NACCIMA Online Business Directory & Nigeria Economic Guide
(NACCIMA, 2013), an aggregate of 179 Lagos State based private business organisations
belongs to the total of 222 NACCIMA corporate members nationwide. Invaraibly, a sum of
179 secretaries is the sampling frame of the study because these secretaries work with the 179
Lagos State based private business organisations.
Sample and Sampling Technique
Due to the size of the population, no sampling was adopted for the study. The entire
population was used because it is manageable for the study.
Instrument for Data Collection
The instrument used for data collection was the structured questionnaire tagged
Challenges of Emerging office technologies and Initiatives of Secretaries of Business
Organisations (COETISBO) developed by the researcher after intensive literature review.
The questionnaire was divided into two parts: Part A contained items which sought to elicit
the personal information of the respondents. Part B was further divided into four sections in
line with the specific purposes of the study. Section one with 31 items, sought information on
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emerging office technologies utilised in business organisations in Lagos State. Section two
with 20 items sought information on challenges encountered by secretaries of business
organisations in the utilisation of emerging office technologies. Section three with 12 items
sought information on initiatives required by secretaries for coping with the challenges
encountered in utilising the emerging office technologies. Finally, section four with eight
items sought information on staff development programmes for building capacities of the
secretaries to cope with emerging office technologies in Lagos State.
Section 1 was structured on a two point scale: Utilised and Not Utilised while section
2, 3 and 4 were structured on Likert scale: Strongly Agree, Agree, Undecided, Disagree and
Strongly Disagree. The respondents marked against the response category that best satisfy
their opinion.
Validation of the Instrument
The instrument EOTCISBO was subjected to face validation by three experts from
the Department of Vocational Teacher Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Each of
these experts was requested to identify ambiguities and make independent comments,
suggestions and criticisms for improving the quality of the instrument. Their suggestions
served as a guide to produce the final copy of the questionnaire for the study.
Reliability of the Instrument
The validated instrument was trial tested on 30 office secretaries of selected private
business organisations in Abeokuta Township of Ogun State. Ogun State is outside the study
area but have similar features with the study area. Cronbach Alpha reliability technique was
applied to ascertain the internal consistency of the instrument, and the reliability coefficient
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of .756 was obtained which indicated a high correlation giving credence that the instrument is
reliable and it can be used to obtain data for the study.
Method of Data Collection
Data for the research work was collected by the researcher with the help of two
research assistants. The researcher explained to the research assistants the purpose and nature
of the study, and how to distribute and collect the completed copies of the questionnaire from
the respondents.
Method of Data Analysis
The data collected for this study were analysed using simple percentage, mean score,
standard deviation and t-test. The simple percentage was used to analyse the data collected
for answering research question one, mean and standard deviation are used to analyse the
data collected for answering research questions 2 - 4 while the t-test statistic was used in
testing the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance at relevant degree of freedom.
In analysing research question one, the possible total score of levels of utilisation of
emerging office technologies ranged between 50% and above with the higher score indicating
a higher level of utilisation. The computed score was categorised as follows:
 Below 50% Not Utilised
 50% and Above Utilised
Research questions 2 – 4 were answered using the real limit of numbers as follows:
 4.50 – 5.00 Strongly Agree
 3.50 – 4.49 Agree
 2.50 – 3.49 Undecided
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 1.50 – 2-49 Disagree
 1.00 – 1.49 Strongly Disagree
Standard deviations with values less than 1.96 from the mean value were regarded as
responses relatively not in variance. The null hypothesis with probability value (P) less or
equal 0.05 was rejected, while those with P value greater than 0.05 was accepted.
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CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
This chapter contains detailed presentation, analysis and interpretation of all data
gathered in the course of the study. The data collected were mainly through the self-
administered questionnaires which were analysed statistically and presented in tabular forms.
The data were analysed using simple percentage, mean, standard deviation and t-test. The
presentations were organised according to the research questions and the null hypotheses that
guided the study.
From the total number of 179 questionnaires administered to the secretaries of private
business organisations in the study area, 148 questionnaires were retrieved which represent a
total survey response rate of approximately 82.70%, thus this figure now forms the basis of
analysis in the research.
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Research Question 1
What are the emerging office technologies utilised in business organisations in Lagos State?
Table 4.1: Percentage of Emerging Office Technologies utilised in Business Organisations

S/ Office Technologies Utilised Not Utilised Decision
N Frequency (%) Frequency
(%)
1. Computer system 148 (100.00%) 0 (0.00%) Utilised
2. Internet connectivity 148 (100.00%) 0 (0.00%) Utilised
3. Electronic mail 148 (100 .00%) 0 (0.00%) Utilised
4. CD-ROM/DVD 148 (100.00%) 0 (0.00%) Utilised
5. Application software 148 (100.00%) 0 (0.00%) Utilised
6. Flash pen/drive 148 (100.00%) 0 (0.00%) Utilised
7. Laptop 148 (100.00%) 0 (0.00%) Utilised
8. High-tech mobile facilities 143 (96.60%) 5 (3.40%) Utilised
9. Electric/scientific calculator 140 (94.60%) 8 (5.40%) Utilised
10. White board 137 (92.60%) 11 (7.40%) Utilised
11. External Drive/Backup/Portable HDD 136 (91.90%) 12 (8.10%) Utilised
12. Wireline technologies 136 (91.90%) 12 (8.10%) Utilised
13. Wireless technologies 133 (89.8%) 15 (10.1%) Utilised
14. Multipurpose copying/printing machine 130 (87.80%) 18 (12.20%) Utilised
15. Photocopying machine 127 (85.80%) 21 (14.20%) Utilised
16. Overhead projector 126 (85.10%) 22 (14.90%) Utilised
17. Scanning machine 124 (83.80%) 24 (16.20%) Utilised
18. Electronic calendaring 120 (81.10%) 28 (18.90%) Utilised
19. Phone/answering machine 118 (79.70%) 30 (20.30%) Utilised
20. Binding machine 115 (77.70%) 33 (22.30%) Utilised
21. Paper trimming/folding and sealing machine 108 (73.00%) 40 (27.00%) Utilised
22. Videoconferencing 94 (63.50%) 54 (36.50%) Utilised
23. Audio conferencing 88 (59.50%) 60 (40.50%) Utilised
24. Digital fax machine 85 (57.40%) 63 (42.60%) Utilised
25. CCTV monitor 69 (46.60%) 79 (53.40%) Not Utilised
26. High-tech security facilities 65 (43.90%) 83 (56.10%) Not Utilised
27. Shredding machine 24 (16.20%) 124 (83.80%) Not Utilised
28. Audio cassette tape/midget 8 (5.40%) 140 (94.60%) Not Utilised
29. Video camera/camcorder 3 (2.00%) 145 (98.00%) Not Utilised
30. Franking machine 1 (6.70%) 147 (93.30%) Not Utilised
31. Electric typewriter 0 (0.00%) 148 (100.00%) Not Utilised
Source: Fieldwork, 2014
The data in Table 4.1 demonstrated the emerging office technologies utilised and not
utilised by secretaries of business organisations. The percentage values for items 1 – 24
ranged between 57.40% and 100.00% depicting extensive utilisation of these office
technologies. However, items 25 – 31 have percentage values of 0.00% – 46.60% which
showed that they are not utilised.
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Research Question 2
What are the challenges encountered by secretaries in utilising the emerging office
technologies in business organisations in Lagos State?
Table 4.2: Means and Standard Deviations of Challenges encountered by Secretaries

of Business Organisations
S/N Challenges encountered by Secretaries Mean Standard Decision
Deviation
1. Stressful work environment 4.21 .574 Agree
2. Extended working hours and days 4.13 .749 Agree
3. Poor electricity distribution 4.11 .429 Agree
4. Displacement of people 4.01 .742 Agree
5. Virus and malware attacks 4.01 .655 Agree
6. Payment for self-induced trainings and development programmes 3.99 .481 Agree
7. Low job satisfaction 3.93 .677 Agree
8. Inadequate training facilities 3.93 .607 Agree
9. Exposure to life threatening emissions and other health risks 3.89 .813 Agree
10. High cost of self-development and training 3.86 .706 Agree
11. High level of distraction 3.77 .826 Agree
12. Electromechanical problem 3.57 .984 Agree
13. Inadequate ICT infrastructure, e.g. hardware and software 3.47 1.046 Undecided
14. Reduced autonomy of employees 3.40 1.067 Undecided
15. Excessive monitoring of work 3.40 1.042 Undecided
16. Job uncertainty 3.37 .992 Undecided
17. Poorly designed work areas, resulting in discomfort 3.32 1.010 Undecided
18. Resistance to change from traditional to modern methods 3.28 1.206 Undecided
19. Lack of skilled manpower to manage available systems 3.38 1.157 Undecided
20. Lack of social support in work areas 3.10 1.216 Undecided
Clustered Mean and Standard Deviation Values 3.71 .840 Agree
The data in table 4.2 indicated that the mean values for items 1 – 12 ranged from 3.57
to 4.21 which showed agreement, while the mean values for items 13 – 20 ranged from 3.10
to 3.47 indicating slight agreement of respondents on challenges encountered by secretaries.
The clustered mean value of 3.71 showed that all items are challenges encountered by the
secretaries of business organisations.
The standard deviations of all the items ranged from 0.429 to 1.216, while the
clustered standard deviation is 0.840. Since the values of the standard deviations are not equal
to 1.96, then it implies that the respondents are relatively in consensus, homogenous and
clustered around the mean values.
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Research Question 3
What are the initiatives required by the secretaries for coping with the challenges encountered
in utilising the emerging office technologies in business organisations in Lagos State?
Table 4.3: Means and Standard Deviations of Initiatives required coping with Challenges
S/N Initiatives required by the Secretaries Mean Standard Decision
Deviation
1 Personal procurement of specific modern office machines and software 3.78 .708 Agree
2 Willingness to be engaged in lifelong learning programme 4.05 .365 Agree
3 Helpful collaboration with other staff by being a good team player 3.89 .665 Agree
4 Willingness to fashion ways to improve the techniques to perform 4.07 .381 Agree
secretarial and related job functions
5 Engaging in productive social networking activities 3.98 .501 Agree
6 Willingness to accept changes in working patterns and practices 4.07 .278 Agree
7 Readiness to indulge in self-investment and development 3.99 .528 Agree
8 Installation of premium antivirus and antimalware software programme 4.22 .506 Agree
9 Mandatory relaxation at work during break time 3.54 .936 Agree
10 Implementation of protected back-up and disaster-recovery plans 4.11 .429 Agree
11 Assessment of performance and work measurement 3.95 .736 Agree
12 Mental alertness and willingness attitude 4.07 .388 Agree
From the data presented in Table 4.3, the mean values and standard deviations of all
the responses ranged from 3.54 to 4.11 and 0.278 to 0.936 respectively. Specifically, the data
revealed that the mean values for items 1 to 12 correspond to agreement on the initiatives
required by secretaries for coping with the challenges encountered by business organisations.
The clustered mean value and clustered standard deviation are 3.98 and 0.535 respectively,
which imply that all the respondents agreed on the initiatives required by the secretaries for
coping with the challenges in utilising the emerging office technologies.
Since the values of the standard deviations are less than 1.96, then the respondents are
relatively in consensus, homogenous and clustered around the mean values.
Research Question 4
What is the staff development programmes required for building capacities of secretaries of
business organisations in Lagos State?
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Table 4.4: Means and Standard Deviations of Staff Development Programmes required
for Building Capacities
S/N Staff Development Programmes Mean Standard Decision
Deviation
1. Education conferences or seminars 3.98 .553 Agree
2. Qualification programmes 4.01 .680 Agree
3. Courses or workshop 4.05 .668 Agree
4. Participation in a network of professional 3.79 .890 Agree
5. Mentoring and/or peer observation and coaching 3.63 .978 Agree
6. Individual or collaborative research 3.61 .829 Agree
7. Reading professional and related literatures 3.99 .577 Agree
8. Engaging in formal dialogue with peers on how to improve a 3.96 .419 Agree
specific profession
The data presented in Table 4.4 showed that the mean values and standard deviations
of the responses on all the items ranged from 3.61 to 4.05 and 0.419 to 0.978 respectively.
The data indicated that the mean values and standard deviations for items 1 to 8 correspond to
agreement on the staff development programmes required for building capacities of
secretaries of business organisations. The clustered mean value of 3.89 also indicates that all
the items of staff development programmes are required for building capacities of the
secretaries.
The responses of the respondents are relatively in consensus, homogenous and
clustered around the mean values, since the values of the standard deviations are below 1.96.
Hypothesis 1
There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of male and female secretaries on the
challenges encountered by secretaries in the utilisation of emerging office technologies.
Table 4.5: T-test Analysis of Mean Ratings of Male and Female Secretaries on Challenges
Encountered by Secretaries in the Utilisation of Emerging Office Technologies
Male Secretaries Female Secretaries

(n = 14) (n = 134)
S/N Item statement Mean Standard Mean Standard t-value Prob. Decision
Deviation Deviation Value
1 Displacement of people 4.29 .469 3.98 .761 1.484 .14 Not Significant
2 Virus and malware attack 4.29 .469 3.98 .666 1.686 .09 Not Significant
3 Reduced autonomy 4.14 .363 3.32 1.087 6.086 .00 Significant
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167
4 Excessive monitoring 4.07 .267 3.33 1.067 6.370 .00 Significant

5 Lack of social support 2.29 1.204 3.19 1.190 -2.692 .01 Significant
6 Poor working area 3.57 .852 3.29 1.025 1.148 .28 Not Significant
7 Exposure of life threatening 4.36 .497 3.84 .824 2.318 .02 Significant
emissions
8 Extended working hours 4.50 .519 4.09 .761 1.969 .05 Not Significant
9 Stressful working 4.21 .426 4.21 .589 .033 .97 Not Significant
environment
10 Low job satisfaction 4.14 .770 3.91 .666 1.225 .22 Not Significant
11 Payment for self-training 4.00 .000 3.99 .505 .110 .91 Not Significant
12 High level distraction 3.71 .994 3.78 .810 -.266 .79 Not Significant
13 Job uncertainty 3.07 .340 1.141 .974 -1.192 .24 Not Significant
14 Inadequate ICT infrastructure 3.29 .994 3.49 1.053 -.677 .50 Not Significant
15 Resistance to change 1.86 1.027 3.43 1.126 -4.994 .00 Significant
16 Lack of skilled manpower 2.71 1.383 3.45 1.114 -1.921 .74 Not Significant
17 Inadequate training facilities 3.71 .994 3.95 .553 -.865 .40 Not Significant
18 Poor electricity distribution 4.36 .497 4.09 .415 1.944 .07 Not Significant
19 Electromechanical problems 3.71 .994 3.55 .985 -.585 .56 Not Significant
20 High cost of self-training 3.71 .726 3.88 .705 .-838 .40 Not Significant
The data presented in table 4.5 showed that the computed probability values on items
1, 2, 6, 8, 9 - 14, and 16 - 20 are each greater than the probability value chosen by the
researcher, which means that there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of the
male and female secretaries on the challenges they encounter on the utilisation of the
emerging technologies. However, the computed probability values on items 3, 4, 7 and 15 are
less than the probability value selected by the researcher which indicates significant
difference in the mean ratings of the male and female secretaries.
Summarily, the null hypotheses were accepted for 16 items but rejected for four
items.
Hypothesis 2
There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of male and female secretaries on the
initiatives required for coping with the challenges encountered by them in utilising the
Table 4.6: T-test Analysis of Mean Ratings between Male and Female Secretaries on Initiatives
Required by Secretaries in the Utilisation of Emerging Office Technologies
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168
Male Secretaries Female Secretaries

(n = 14) (n = 134)
S/N Item Statement Mean Standard Mean Standard t-value Prob. Decision
Deviation Deviation Value
1 Personal procurement of 3.71 .994 3.78 .676 -.348 .73 Not Significant
machines and software
2 Lifelong learning programs 4.00 .000 4.06 .383 -.581 .56 Not Significant
3 Collaboration with other 3.79 1.051 3.90 .616 -.384 .71 Not Significant
staff
4 Improved techniques in job 4.14 .363 4.06 .383 .776 .44 Not Significant
delivery
5 Involve in social networking 4.14 .3.63 3.96 .512 1.282 .20 Not Significant
6 Accepting changes 4.14 .363 4.06 .268 1.067 .29 Not Significant
7 Indulge in self-development 3.93 .917 4.00 .475 -.480 .63 Not Significant
8 Install premiums antivirus 4.07 .267 4.24 .523 -1.981 .06 Not Significant
9 Mandatory relaxation at 2.93 1.492 3.60 .841 -1.668 .12 Not Significant
work
10 Back up storage facilities 4.36 .497 4.09 .415 1.944 .07 Not Significant
11 Perform measurement 3.93 .917 3.95 .718 -.093 .93 Not Significant
12 Mental alertness 4.07 .267 4.07 .400 -.029 .98 Not Significant
The data presented in table 4.6 indicated that the computed probability values on all
items are each greater than the probability value chosen by the researcher, which implies that
there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of the male and female secretaries on
the initiatives required for coping with the challenges encountered by them in utilising the
emerging office technologies. The null hypothesis is therefore upheld for all the items.
Major Findings of the Study
The following findings emerged from the study with respect to the research questions
answered and the hypotheses tested:
1. The findings identified some of the emerging office technologies utilised by
secretaries in business organisations to include computer system, internet
connectivity, electronic mail, CD-ROM/DVD, application software, flash pen/drive,
laptop, high-tech mobile facilities, electric/scientific calculator, white board, external
drive/portable HDD and wireline technologies. Others are wireless technologies,
multipurpose copying/printing machine, photocopying machine, projector, scanning
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169
machine, electronic calendaring, phone/answering machine, binding machine, paper
trimming/folding and sealing machine, videoconferencing, audio conferencing and
digital fax machine. However, franking machine, electric typewriter, audio cassette
tape/midget, video camera, shredding machine, high-tech security facilities and
CCTV monitor are the not utilised emerging office technologies by secretaries in
business organisations.
2. The findings revealed some of the challenges encountered by secretaries of business
organisations in the utilisation of the emerging technologies to include displacement
of people, virus and malware attack, reduced autonomy of employees, excessive
monitoring of works, lack of social support in work areas, poorly designed work
areas, exposure to life threatening emissions, extended working hours and days,
stressful work environment, low job satisfaction, payment for self-induced trainings,
high level of distraction, and job uncertainty. Others are inadequate ICT
infrastructure, resistance to change, lack of skilled manpower, inadequate ICT
infrastructure, poor electricity distribution, electromechanical problem and high cost
of self-development and training.
3. Other finding of the study was that the initiatives required by secretaries for coping
with the challenges encountered in utilising the emerging office technologies are
personal procurement of specific modern office machines and software, willingness to
be engaged in lifelong learning programmes, helpful collaboration with other staff by
being a good team player, willingness to fashion ways to improve the techniques to
perform job functions, engaging in productive social networking activities,
willingness to accept changes in working patterns and practices, and readiness to
indulge in self-investment and development. Others include installation of premium
antivirus programmes, mandatory relaxation at work during break time,
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170
implementation of protected backup, assessment of performance and work
measurement, and mental alertness and willingness attitude.
4. The study also identified staff development programmes for building the capacities of
the secretaries as follows; education conferences or seminars, qualification
programmes, courses or workshops, participation in a network of professional,
mentoring and coaching, individual or collaborative research, reading professional
and related literatures, and engaging in formal dialogue with peers on how to improve
a specific profession.
5. The findings revealed no significant difference in the mean ratings of male and female
secretaries on some challenges encountered by secretaries in the utilisation of
emerging office technologies. Some of the items with no significant differences
include displacement of people, virus and malware attack, poor working area,
extended working areas, stressful working environment and high cost of self-training.
However, significant difference was found on the challenges such as reduced
autonomy, excessive monitoring and lack of social support.
6. The findings revealed no significant difference in the mean ratings of male and female
secretaries on the initiatives required for coping with the challenges encountered by
the secretaries in utilising the emerging office technologies. Some of these items
include personal procurement of machines and software, lifelong learning
programmes, collaboration with other staff, improved techniques in job delivery,
perform measurement and mental alertness.
Discussion of Findings
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171
This study sought to determine the challenges and initiatives of secretaries of business
organisations in the utilisation of emerging office technologies. The findings of the study
were organised and discussed in accordance with the research questions answered and
hypotheses tested as follows:
Emerging office technologies utilised in business organisations
The result of the study revealed that many emerging technologies were utilised by the
secretaries in business organisations. Some of the technologies utilised are computer system,
electronic mail, application software, laptop, binding machine, digital fax machine and
phone/answering machine. The findings of this study are in consensus with that of Khalid,
Swift and Cullingford (2002) and Akpata (2013) which found that the emerging office
technologies such as data processing, internet and telecommunication were utilised by
secretaries of business organisations. The findings are also in agreement with the findings of
Akpomi and Ordu (2009) which found that the emerging office technologies such as digital
fax machine and binding machine were utilised by secretaries to improve their proficiencies
in carrying out office functions. Incidentally, the study found that such technologies as
electric typewriter and franking machine were not utilised by the secretaries.
Challenges encountered by secretaries of business organisations
Twenty challenges to effective utilisation of emerging office technologies were found
from the study. Those challenges include displacement of people, virus and malware attacks,
reduced autonomy of employees, excessive monitoring of works, lack of social support in
work areas and poorly designed work areas. These findings are in consensus with that of
Onifade (2010) and Nna (2012) which state that there are many challenges encountered by
secretaries in the utilisation of modern office technologies such as inadequate ICT
infrastructure, resistance to change from traditional to modern methods and
electromechanical problems.
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172
In line with the research question, the findings from the tested hypothesis revealed
that significant difference in the mean ratings of the male and female secretaries does not
exist for 15 of the identified challenges encountered; displacement of people, stressful
working environment, low job satisfaction and extended working hours. While significant
difference does exist for five identified challenges encountered which includes reduced
autonomy, excessive monitoring and lack of social support.
Initiatives required by secretaries for coping with the challenges encountered
The study identified many initiatives required by secretaries for effective utilisation of
the emerging office technologies. Some of the initiatives include personal procurement of
machines and software, willingness to be engaged in lifelong learning programmes and
helpful collaboration with other staff.
The findings from the corresponding hypothesis revealed that significant difference
does not exist between the mean ratings of male and female secretaries as regards the 10
initiatives required by secretaries of business organisations. Some of the initiatives include
improved techniques in job delivery, back up storage facilities and mental alertness.
Staff development programmes required for building capacities of secretaries of business

organisations
The results of the data analysis showed that many staff development programmes are
required by secretaries of business organisations in order to build capacities to counter the
challenges to utilising the emerging office technologies. The findings of this study are in
consonance with that of Marchington and Wilkinson (2006), and Adedayo and Akinyele
(2012) which found that a secretary needs improvement in carrying out his duties for
effective job performance.
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CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
This chapter discusses the re-statement of the problem, summary of procedures used,
summary of findings of the study, implications of the findings, conclusion, recommendations,
limitations of the study, and suggestion for further findings.
Re-statement of the Problem
The reliance on technology continues to expand in office functions and the
responsibilities of the secretaries have greatly evolved. Office automation and organisational
restructuring have brought about some new office practice opportunities and innovations as
well as new challenges and uncertainties for the secretaries. Secretarial roles and
responsibilities in business organisations have moved to higher levels occasioned by
technologies. For instance, secretaries increasingly assume job functions once reserved for
managerial and professional staff, and they are being required to be lifelong learners and to
develop new approaches in executing their primary duties.
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174
Secretaries are office personnel needed in every business organisation to assist their
superiors or executives in carrying out their responsibilities. These secretarial functions
basically require a large amount of initiative, tact and resourcefulness to succeed, but the
dynamism of the business environment has brought about obvious problems. Some office
secretaries find it difficult to accept the fact that the conventional office machines and
techniques have become rather obsolete and dysfunctional to modern secretarial practice.
Their poor training, unassertive background, underdeveloped intellectual ability,
unprofessional, stereotyped, and inadequate and weak technical skill of secretaries are also
posing more challenges to modern office functions especially with emerging technologies.
Based on the above situation, it is therefore necessary to determine the challenges

68
facing the secretaries and required initiatives to ameliorate the challenges in relation to the
Summary of the Procedures Used
The study reviewed literature to determine the challenges and initiatives of secretaries
of business organisations in the use and application of emerging office technologies. The
descriptive survey research design was adopted in this study. The main purpose of the study
was to determine the challenges and initiatives required of secretaries of business
organisations in the utilisation of emerging office technologies in Lagos State. The specific
objectives were to:
1. Identify the emerging office technologies utilised in business organisations.
2. Determine the challenges faced by secretaries of business organisations in the
utilisation of emerging office technologies.
3. Ascertain the initiatives required by secretaries of business organisations in coping
with the challenges associated with the utilisation of office technologies.
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175
4. Determine staff development programmes required for building capacities of
secretaries of business organisations to deal with emerging office technologies.
In order to determine the challenges and initiatives, four research questions were
raised and answered. Two hypotheses were formulated and tested. The instrument used for
data collection was structured questionnaire. The population for the study was 179 secretaries
of business organisations in Lagos State, and the entire population was sampled.
The questionnaire was validated by three experts and the reliability coefficient of 0.76
was obtained through Cronbach alpha method. The data was collected by the researcher with
the help of two research assistants. The data was analysed using simple percentage, mean,
standard deviation and t-test. It was therefore found that there are challenges encountered and
initiatives required of secretaries of business organisations in the use and application of
Summary of Findings of the Study
A summary of the major findings of this study is as follows:
1. The respondents, in relation to research question one, confirmed that 24 out of the 31
items of the emerging office technologies are utilised, and the other 7 items are
categorised as not utilised by the secretaries of business organisations. The
extensively utilised emerging office technologies include computer system, scanning
machine, photocopying machine, electric/scientific calculator, shredding machine,
phone/ answering machine, paper trimming/folding and sealing machine, binding
machine, digital fax machine, internet connectivity, electronic mail, electronic
calendaring and projector. While electric typewriter, video camera, audio cassette and
franking machine are not utilised by the secretaries.
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176
2. The study found out that, displacement of people, virus and malware attacks,
exposure to life threatening emissions and other health risks, extended working hours
and days, stressful work environment, low job satisfaction, payment for self-induced
trainings, high level of distraction, inadequate training facilities and poor electricity
distribution are challenges to effective utilisation of the emerging technologies by
secretaries in business organisation. However, the respondents are undecided on the
following supposed challenges encountered by secretaries of business organisations;
reduced autonomy of employees, excessive monitoring of works, lack of social
support in work areas, poorly designed work areas resulting in discomfort, job
uncertainty, inadequate ICT infrastructure, resistance to change from traditional to
modern methods and lack of skilled manpower.
3. The study also identified the initiatives required by secretaries for coping with the
challenges encountered in utilising the emerging office technologies. The initiatives
include personal procurement of specific modern office machines and software,
willingness to be engaged in lifelong learning programmes, fashion ways to improve
the techniques to perform secretarial and related job functions, accept changes in
working patterns and practices.
4. Other findings of the study were the staff development programmes for building
capacities of secretaries of business organisations. These programmes include
education conferences or seminars, qualification programmes, courses or workshop,
participation in a network of professional, and mentoring and/or peer observation and
coaching. Other programmes are individual or collaborative research, reading
professional and related literatures, and engaging in formal dialogue with peers on
how to improve a specific profession.
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177
5. Furthermore, it was found from the study that both the male and female secretaries
have similar opinions on the challenges encountered by secretaries of business
organisations.
6. The findings on the hypothesis showed that the respondents have related opinions
about the initiatives required by secretaries for coping with the challenges
encountered in utilising the emerging office technologies.
Implications of the Findings
The findings of the study have some implications for practising and prospective office
secretaries, heads of public and private establishments, school administrators and fellow
researchers. For the practising and prospective office secretaries, the findings of the study
will enable them to build the required initiatives and attitudes as well as development of
professional concepts to counter the challenges encountered in the utilisation of the emerging
office technologies.
The findings of the study will serve as an eye opener to organisations, institutions of
learning, administrators and executives on the importance of developing and contributing to
programmes that centre on facilitating the use and application of modern office technologies
for capacity building for practising and prospective secretaries, and teachers and instructors
in the technical and vocational education training.
The implication to fellow researchers is such that the findings of the study will be
useful as a reference point, and a support for improving their understanding and more
contribution to the use of emerging technologies in other institutions in the society.
Conclusion
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178
Indeed, business offices have rapidly changed as a result of office technology
advancement which has brought about novel challenges and approaches in executing diverse
job responsibilities for the secretaries. Many emerging technologies are used by secretaries in
their office functions. However, many factors are challenging the effective utilisation of the
technologies by secretaries. Incidentally, the initiatives and staff development programmes
identified in this study would help the secretaries and managers to cope with the challenges
and improve on the utilisation of the technologies.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations are made:
1. Secretaries must attend periodic training and development programmes towards
effective and efficient utilisation of emerging office technologies.
2. Curriculum planners and institutions should include in the curriculum the initiatives
and contents that would help the secretaries in the utilisation of emerging office
technologies.
3. Business organisations must endeavour to permit and sponsor their secretaries for
mandatory continuing development programmes (MCPD) and other office related
lifelong learning activities for effective use of the emerging technologies.
4. Practising secretaries must be willing to personally train and develop themselves
through personal funding of relevant trainings, procurement of certain new
technologies such as application software, buying of relevant books and participating
in professional social networks activities.
Suggestion for Further Studies
In view of the findings of this study, the followings are suggested for further studies:
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179
1. Evaluation of training facilities for office technology and management in higher
institutions.
2. Examination of the approach to promote lifelong learning and capacity building for
office secretaries.
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182
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Training. Moscow: UNESCO.
APPENDICES
Appendix A:
List of Registered NACCIMA Business Organisations
183
184
184
185
185
186
186
187
Appendix B: Sample of Administered Questionnaire
Dept.of Vocational Teacher Education,

University of Nigeria,
Nsukka.
Dear Respondent,
REQUEST TO RESPOND TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE
I am a postgraduate student carrying out research on the topicChallengesof Emerging Office

Technologies and Initiatives of Secretaries of Business Organisations in Lagos State. Kindly respond to the
questions below as objectively as you can. Your honest contribution will help make this study a success.
The information you will provide shall be treated confidentially and strictly for educational purpose
only. Thank you for your cooperation.
187
188
SECTION A: PERSONAL BACKGROUND/WORKING EXPERIENCE
1. Sex:
(a) Male [ ] (b) Female [ ]
2. Highest educational qualification:

(a) OND[ ](b) HND/B.Sc.[ ] (c) PGD/M.Sc./MBA[ ] (e) Ph.D.[ ]
3. Name of business organisation: ….………………..……….....................................…
4. Age bracket:
(a) Below 18 [ ] (b) 18-30 [ ] (c) 31-50 [ ] (d) Above 50 [ ]
5. Cumulative years of experience in secretarial job functions:

(a) Below 5 [ ] (b) 5-9 [ ] (c) 10-15 [ ] (d) 15 and above [ ]
SECTION B: EMERGING OFFICE TECHNOLOGIES UTILISED IN BUSINESS

ORGANISATIONS
For this section, the response options are Utilised and Not Utilised. Please tick the response option that
better expresses your opinion.
S/N Office Technologies Utilised Not Utilised

1. Electric typewriter
2. Video camera/camcorder
3. Audio cassette tape/midget
4. Computer system
5. Scanning machine
6. Photocopying machine
7. Electric/scientific calculator
8. Shredding machine
9. Franking machine
10. Phone/answering machine
11. Paper trimming/folding & sealing machine
12. Binding machine
13. Digital fax machine
14. Internet connectivity
15. Electronic mail
16. Electronic calendaring
188
189
17. Overhead projector

18. White board
19. External Drive/Backup/Portable HDD,
20. CD-ROM/DVD
21. Application software (e.g. word processors, graphics, spreadsheets,
databases, desktop publishing)
22. Wireline technologies (analogue modern, ISDN, DSL, cable, LAN)
23. Wireless technologies (satellite, wireless broadband, fixed wireless)
24 Audioconferencing
25 Videoconferencing/interactive television
26 CCTV monitor
27 High-tech security facilities (Clock in clock out card, microchip door
key)
28 Multipurpose copying/printing machine
29 Flash pen/drive
30 Laptop
31. High-tech mobile facilities (Blackberry, tablets, iphone, PDA)
SECTION C: CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED BY SECRETARIES OF BUSINESS

ORGANISATIONS
For this section, the response options areStrongly Agreed (SA), Agreed (A), Undecided (U), Disagree (D)
and Strongly Disagree (SD).Kindly tick the response option that best expresses your opinion.
S/N Challenges SA A U D SD
1. Displacement of people
2. Virus and malware attacks
3. Reduced autonomy of employees
4. Excessive monitoring of works
5. Lack of social support in work areas
6. Poorly designed work areas, resulting in
discomfort
7. Exposure to life threatening emissions and other
health risks
8. Extended working hours and days
9. Stressful work environment
10. Low job satisfaction
11. Payment for self-induced trainings and
12. High level of distraction
13. Job uncertainty
14. Inadequate ICT infrastructure, e.g. computer
hardware/software
15. Resistance to change from traditional to modern
methods
16. Lack of skilled manpower to manage available
systems
17. Inadequate training facilities
189
190
18. Poor electricity distribution

19. Electromechanical problem
20. High cost of self development and training
SECTION D: INITIATIVES REQUIRED BY SECRETARIES FOR COPING WITH THE

CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED IN UTILISING THE EMERGING OFFICE
TECHNOLOGIES
For this section, tick the response option that best expresses your opinion. The response options areStrongly
Agree (SA), Agree (A), Undecided (U), Disagree (D) and Strongly Disagree (SD).
S/N Initiatives SA A U D SD
1 Personal procurement of specific modern office machines and

software
2 Willingness to be engaged in lifelong learning programme
3 Helpful collaboration with other staff by being a good team

player
4 Willingness to fashion ways to improve the techniques to

perform secretarial and related job functions
5 Engaging in productive social networking activities
6 Willingness to accept changes in working patterns and practices
7 Readiness to indulge in self-investment and development
8 Installation of premium antivirus and antimalware software

programmes on systems
9 Mandatory relaxation at work during break time
10 Implementation of protected back-up and disaster-recovery

plans
11 Assessment of performance and work measurement
12 Mental alertness and willingness attitude
190
191
SECTION E: STAFF DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES FOR BUILDING CAPACITIES
For this section, tick the response option that best expresses your opinion. The response options areStrongly
Agree (SA), Agree (A), Undecided (U), Disagree (D) and Strongly Disagree (SD).
S/N Programmes SA A U SD D
1 Education conferences or seminars
2 Qualification programmes
3 Courses or workshop
4 Participation in a network of professional
5 Mentoring and/or peer observation and coaching
6 Individual or collaborative research
7 Reading professional and related literatures (i.e journals,
evidence – based papers, thesis papers)
8 Engaging in formal dialogue with peers on how to improve a
specific profession
Appendix C: Computation of the Reliability of COETISBO using Cronbach Alpha
Scale: ALL VARIABLES
Case Processing Summary

N %
Cases Valid 30 100.0
a
Excluded 0 .0
Total 30 100.0
a. Listwise deletion based on all variables in the procedure.
191
192
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's Alpha Based on
Cronbach's Alpha Standardized Items N of Items
.756 .624
Item Statistics67
Mean Std. Deviation N
GENDER 1.8667 .34575 30
ELECTRICTYPEWRITER 1.1333 .34575 30
VIDEOCAMERA 1.1000 .30513 30
AUDIOCASSETTEMIDGET 1.1333 .34575 30
SCANNING 1.7000 .46609 30
PHOTOCOPY 1.7333 .44978 30
CALCULATOR 1.9667 .18257 30
SHREDDING 1.1000 .30513 30
FRANKING 1.0333 .18257 30
ANSWERINGMACHINE 1.6333 .49013 30
TRIMMINGSEALMACHINE 1.8000 .40684 30
BINDINGMACHINE 1.7000 .46609 30
DIGITALFAXMACHINE 1.4667 .50742 30
INTERNETCONNECTIVITY 1.9667 .18257 30
ELECTRONICCALENDARING 1.6333 .49013 30
PROJECTOR 1.7333 .44978 30
WHITEBOARD 1.8667 .34575 30
EXTERNALHDDRIVE 1.8667 .34575 30
CDROMDVD 1.9667 .18257 30
WIRELINETECH 1.8667 .34575 30
WIRELESSTECH 1.8000 .40684 30
AUDIOCONFERENCE 1.2333 .43018 30
VIDEOCONFERENCE 1.6333 .49013 30
CCTVCAMERA 1.1333 .34575 30
HIGHTECHSECURITY 1.2333 .43018 30
MULTIPURPOSECOPYPRINTSCANMACHINE 1.9000 .30513 30
LAPTOP 1.9333 .25371 30
HIGHTECHMOBILES 1.9667 .18257 30
DISPLACEMENTOFPEOPLE 4.2333 .89763 30
VIRUSANDMALWARESATTACK 4.2667 .63968 30
REDUCEDAUTONOMY 3.2000 1.24291 30
EXCESSIVEMONITORING 3.2000 1.12648 30
LACKOFSOCIALSUPPORT 2.9000 1.39827 30
POORWORKINGAREA 3.2000 1.03057 30
EXPOSURETOLIFETHREATENINGEMISSIONS 3.7000 1.11880 30
EXTENDEDWORKINGHOURS 4.4667 .50742 30
STRESSFULWORKENVIRONMENT 4.1333 .57135 30
LOWJOBSATISFICATION 3.9333 .58329 30
PAYMENTFORSELFTRAINING 3.8333 .79148 30
HIGHLEVELDISTRACTION 4.0667 .25371 30
JOBUNCERTAINTY 3.7000 .91539 30
INADEQUATEICTINFRASTRUCTURE 3.2000 1.18613 30
RESISTANCETOCHANGE 3.1667 1.34121 30
LACKOFSKILLEDMANPOWER 3.1333 1.35782 30
INADEQUATETRAININGFACILITIES 3.5333 1.07425 30
POORELECTRICITYDISTRIBUTION 4.2333 .43018 30
ELECTMECHANCIALPROBLEMS 3.7000 .91539 30
HIGHCOSTOFSELFTRAINING 3.9333 .58329 30
PERSONALPROCUREMENTOFEMACHINESANDSOFTWARES 3.5333 .89955 30
LIFELONGLEARNINGPROGRAMS 4.1667 .37905 30
COLLABORATIONWITHOTHERSTAFFS 3.3667 1.18855 30
192
193
IMPROVEDTECHNIQUESINJOBDELIVERY 4.1000 .30513 30

INVOLVEINSOCIALNETWORKING 3.8000 .88668 30
ACCEPTINGCHANGES 4.1667 .37905 30
INDULGEINSELFDEVELOPMENT 3.8667 .93710 30
INSTALLPREMUIMSANTIVIRUS 4.2667 .44978 30
MANDATORYRELAXATIONATWORK 3.4000 1.03724 30
BACKUPSTORAGEFACILITIES 4.2667 .44978 30
PERFORMEASUREMENT 4.1667 .46113 30
MENTALALERTNESS 4.1667 .37905 30
ATTENDINGCONFERENCESANDSEMINARS 3.9667 .41384 30
QUALIFICATIONPROGRAMS 4.0667 .82768 30
ATTENDINGWORKSHOPS 3.6000 1.19193 30
PROFESSIONALNETWORKING 4.2000 .40684 30
PERSONALANDCOLLABORESEARCH 3.4000 1.03724 30
READINGPROFESSIONALANDRELATEDLITERATURES 3.6667 1.09334 30
INVOLVEINPEERDIALOGUE 3.8333 .64772 30
Summary Item Statistics

Maximum /
Mean Minimum Maximum Range Minimum Variance N of Items
Item Means 2.878 1.033 4.467 3.433 4.323 1.312 67
Item Variances .499 .033 1.955 1.922 58.655 .276 67
Scale Statistics
Mean Variance Std. Deviation N of Items
1.9283E2 131.040 11.44728 67
Appendix D: Result of Data Analysis Using SPSS
OUTPUT OF RESEARCH QUESTION 1
ELECTRICTYPEWRITER
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid NOT UTILISED 148 100.0 100.0 100.0
VIDEOCAMERA
UTILISED 3 2.0 2.0 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
193
194
AUDIOCASSETTEMIDGET
UTILISED 8 5.4 5.4 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
COMPUTERSYSTEM
Valid UTILISED 148 100.0 100.0 100.0
SCANNING
UTILISED 124 83.8 83.8 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
PHOTOCOPY
UTILISED 127 85.8 85.8 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
CALCULATOR
UTILISED 140 94.6 94.6 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
SHREDDING

UTILISED 24 16.2 16.2 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
FRANKING
UTILISED 1 .7 .7 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
ANSWERINGMACHINE
UTILISED 118 79.7 79.7 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
194
195
TRIMMINGSEALMACHINE
UTILISED 108 73.0 73.0 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
BINDINGMACHINE
UTILISED 115 77.7 77.7 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
DIGITALFAXMACHINE
UTILISED 63 42.6 42.6 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
INTERNETCONNECTIVITY
Valid UTILISED 148 100.0 100.0 100.0
ELECTRONICMAIL
Valid UTILISED 148 100.0 100.0 100.0
ELECTRONICCALENDARING
UTILISED 120 81.1 81.1 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
PROJECTOR
UTILISED 126 85.1 85.1 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
WHITEBOARD
UTILISED 137 92.6 92.6 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
195
196
EXTERNALHDDRIVE
UTILISED 136 91.9 91.9 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
CDROMDVD
Valid UTILISED 148 100.0 100.0 100.0
APPLICATIONSOFTWARES
Valid UTILISED 148 100.0 100.0 100.0
WIRELINETECH
UTILISED 136 91.9 91.9 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
WIRELESSTECH
UTILISED 133 89.9 89.9 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
AUDIOCONFERENCE
UTILISED 88 59.5 59.5 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
VIDEOCONFERENCE
UTILISED 94 63.5 63.5 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
CCTVCAMERA
UTILISED 69 46.6 46.6 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
HIGHTECHSECURITY
UTILISED 65 43.9 43.9 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
196
197
MULTIPURPOSECOPYPRINTSCANMACHINE
UTILISED 130 87.8 87.8 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
FLASHPEN
Valid UTILISED 148 100.0 100.0 100.0
LAPTOP
Valid UTILISED 148 100.0 100.0 100.0
HIGHTECHMOBILES
UTILISED 143 96.6 96.6 100.0
Total 148 100.0 100.0
Descriptive Statistics
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
DISPLACEMENTOFPEOPLE 148 1 5 4.01 .742
VIRUSANDMALWARESATTACK 148 1 5 4.01 .655
REDUCEDAUTONOMY 148 1 5 3.40 1.067
EXCESSIVEMONITORING 148 1 5 3.40 1.042
LACKOFSOCIALSUPPORT 148 1 5 3.10 1.216
POORWORKINGAREA 148 1 5 3.32 1.010
EXPOSURETOLIFETHREATENINGEMISSIONS 148 1 5 3.89 .813
EXTENDEDWORKINGHOURS 148 1 5 4.13 .749
STRESSFULWORKENVIRONMENT 148 2 5 4.21 .574
197
198
LOWJOBSATISFICATION 148 2 5 3.93 .677

PAYMENTFORSELFTRAINING 148 1 5 3.99 .481
HIGHLEVELDISTRACTION 148 1 5 3.77 .826
JOBUNCERTAINTY 148 1 5 3.37 .992
INADEQUATEICTINFRASTRUCTURE 148 1 5 3.47 1.046
RESISTANCETOCHANGE 148 1 5 3.28 1.206
LACKOFSKILLEDMANPOWER 148 1 5 3.38 1.157
INADEQUATETRAININGFACILITIES 148 1 5 3.93 .607
POORELECTRICITYDISTRIBUTION 148 1 5 4.11 .429
ELECTMECHANCIALPROBLEMS 148 1 5 3.57 .984
HIGHCOSTOFSELFTRAINING 148 1 5 3.86 .706
Valid N (listwise) 148
PERSONALPROCUREMENTOFEMACHINESANDSOFTWARE 148 1 5 3.78 .708
LIFELONGLEARNINGPROGRAMS 148 1 5 4.05 .365
COLLABORATIONWITHOTHERSTAFFS 148 1 5 3.89 .665
IMPROVEDTECHNIQUESINJOBDELIVERY 148 1 5 4.07 .381
INVOLVEINSOCIALNETWORKING 148 1 5 3.98 .501
ACCEPTINGCHANGES 148 3 5 4.07 .278
INDULGEINSELFDEVELOPMENT 148 1 5 3.99 .528
INSTALLPREMUIMSANTIVIRUS 148 1 5 4.22 .506
MANDATORYRELAXATIONATWORK 148 1 4 3.54 .936
BACKUPSTORAGEFACILITIES 148 1 5 4.11 .429
PERFORMEASUREMENT 148 1 5 3.95 .736
MENTALALERTNESS 148 1 5 4.07 .388
ATTENDINGCONFERENCESANDSEMINARS 148 2 5 3.98 .553
QUALIFICATIONPROGRAMS 148 1 5 4.01 .680
ATTENDINGWORKSHOPS 148 1 5 4.05 .668
PROFESSIONALNETWORKING 148 1 5 3.79 .890
ENGAGEINMENTORINGANDCOACHING 148 1 5 3.63 .978
PERSONALANDCOLLABORESEARCH 148 1 4 3.61 .829
READINGPROFESSIONALANDRELATEDLITERATURES 148 1 5 3.99 .577
INVOLVEINPEERDIALOGUE 148 2 5 3.96 .419
OUTPUT OF HYPOTHESIS 1
Group Statistics
GENDER N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
DISPLACEMENTOFPEOPLE MALE 14 4.29 .469 .125
FEMALE 134 3.98 .761 .066
VIRUSANDMALWARESATTACK MALE 14 4.29 .469 .125
FEMALE 134 3.98 .666 .058
REDUCEDAUTONOMY MALE 14 4.14 .363 .097
FEMALE 134 3.32 1.087 .094
EXCESSIVEMONITORING MALE 14 4.07 .267 .071
FEMALE 134 3.33 1.067 .092
LACKOFSOCIALSUPPORT MALE 14 2.29 1.204 .322
198
199
FEMALE 134 3.19 1.190 .103

POORWORKINGAREA MALE 14 3.57 .852 .228
FEMALE 134 3.29 1.025 .089
EXPOSURETOLIFETHREATENINGE MALE 14 4.36 .497 .133
MISSIONS
FEMALE 134 3.84 .824 .071
EXTENDEDWORKINGHOURS MALE 14 4.50 .519 .139
FEMALE 134 4.09 .761 .066
STRESSFULWORKENVIRONMENT MALE 14 4.21 .426 .114
FEMALE 134 4.21 .589 .051
LOWJOBSATISFICATION MALE 14 4.14 .770 .206
FEMALE 134 3.91 .666 .058
PAYMENTFORSELFTRAINING MALE 14 4.00 .000 .000
FEMALE 134 3.99 .505 .044
HIGHLEVELDISTRACTION MALE 14 3.71 .994 .266
FEMALE 134 3.78 .810 .070
JOBUNCERTAINTY MALE 14 3.07 1.141 .305
FEMALE 134 3.40 .974 .084
INADEQUATEICTINFRASTRUCTURE MALE 14 3.29 .994 .266
FEMALE 134 3.49 1.053 .091
RESISTANCETOCHANGE MALE 14 1.86 1.027 .275
FEMALE 134 3.43 1.126 .097
LACKOFSKILLEDMANPOWER MALE 14 2.71 1.383 .370
FEMALE 134 3.45 1.114 .096
INADEQUATETRAININGFACILITIES MALE 14 3.71 .994 .266
FEMALE 134 3.95 .553 .048
POORELECTRICITYDISTRIBUTION MALE 14 4.36 .497 .133
FEMALE 134 4.09 .415 .036
ELECTMECHANCIALPROBLEMS MALE 14 3.71 .994 .266
FEMALE 134 3.55 .985 .085
HIGHCOSTOFSELFTRAINING MALE 14 3.71 .726 .194
FEMALE 134 3.88 .705 .061
199
200
Independent Samples Test

Levene's Test for
Equality of
Variances t-test for Equality of Means
95% Confidence Interval
of the Difference
Sig. Mean Std. Error
F Sig. T Df (2-tailed) Difference Difference Lower Upper
DISPLACEMENTOFPEOPL Equal variances assumed .048 .828 1.484 146 .140 .308 .208 -.102 .718
E
Equal variances not assumed 2.178 20.977 .041 .308 .141 .014 .602
VIRUSANDMALWARESAT Equal variances assumed .495 .483 1.686 146 .094 .308 .183 -.053 .669
TACK
REDUCEDAUTONOMY Equal variances assumed 24.167 .000 2.805 146 .006 .822 .293 .243 1.401
Equal variances not assumed 6.086 44.900 .000 .822 .135 .550 1.094
EXCESSIVEMONITORING Equal variances assumed 34.679 .000 2.589 146 .011 .743 .287 .176 1.310
LACKOFSOCIALSUPPORT Equal variances assumed .012 .914 -2.692 146 .008 -.901 .335 -1.562 -.240
Equal variances not assumed -2.666 15.771 .017 -.901 .338 -1.618 -.184
POORWORKINGAREA Equal variances assumed 4.036 .046 .988 146 .325 .280 .284 -.281 .841
Equal variances not assumed 1.148 17.192 .267 .280 .244 -.234 .795
EXPOSURETOLIFETHREA Equal variances assumed .000 .996 2.318 146 .022 .521 .225 .077 .966
TENINGEMISSIONS
EXTENDEDWORKINGHOU Equal variances assumed .152 .697 1.969 146 .051 .410 .208 -.002 .822
RS
STRESSFULWORKENVIR Equal variances assumed .635 .427 .033 146 .974 .005 .162 -.315 .325
ONMENT
Equal variances not assumed .043 18.645 .966 .005 .125 -.256 .267
LOWJOBSATISFICATION Equal variances assumed .847 .359 1.225 146 .223 .232 .190 -.143 .607
PAYMENTFORSELFTRAIN Equal variances assumed 1.618 .205 .110 146 .912 .015 .135 -.253 .283
ING
HIGHLEVELDISTRACTION Equal variances assumed 1.775 .185 -.266 146 .791 -.062 .233 -.522 .398
Equal variances not assumed -.225 14.858 .825 -.062 .275 -.648 .524
JOBUNCERTAINTY Equal variances assumed 3.042 .083 -1.192 146 .235 -.332 .278 -.881 .218
Equal variances not assumed -1.048 15.047 .311 -.332 .316 -1.006 .343
INADEQUATEICTINFRAST Equal variances assumed .133 .716 -.677 146 .499 -.199 .294 -.781 .382
RUCTURE
RESISTANCETOCHANGE Equal variances assumed .516 .474 -4.994 146 .000 -1.568 .314 -2.189 -.948
Equal variances not assumed -5.385 16.447 .000 -1.568 .291 -2.184 -.952
LACKOFSKILLEDMANPO Equal variances assumed 4.623 .033 -2.289 146 .024 -.733 .320 -1.367 -.100
WER
INADEQUATETRAININGFA Equal variances assumed 7.289 .008 -1.373 146 .172 -.233 .170 -.569 .103
CILITIES
POORELECTRICITYDISTR Equal variances assumed 6.848 .010 2.252 146 .026 .268 .119 .033 .502
IBUTION
ELECTMECHANCIALPROB Equal variances assumed .023 .879 .585 146 .559 .162 .277 -.385 .709
LEMS
HIGHCOSTOFSELFTRAINI Equal variances assumed .885 .348 -.838 146 .404 -.166 .199 -.559 .226
NG
200
i
OUTPUT OF HYPOTHESIS 2
Group Statistics
GENDER N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
PERSONALPROCUREMENTOFEMACHINES MALE 14 3.71 .994 .266
ANDSOFTWARE
FEMALE 134 3.78 .676 .058
LIFELONGLEARNINGPROGRAMS MALE 14 4.00 .000 .000
FEMALE 134 4.06 .383 .033
COLLABORATIONWITHOTHERSTAFF MALE 14 3.79 1.051 .281
FEMALE 134 3.90 .616 .053
IMPROVEDTECHNIQUESINJOBDELIVERY MALE 14 4.14 .363 .097
FEMALE 134 4.06 .383 .033
INVOLVEINSOCIALNETWORKING MALE 14 4.14 .363 .097
FEMALE 134 3.96 .512 .044
ACCEPTINGCHANGES MALE 14 4.14 .363 .097
FEMALE 134 4.06 .268 .023
INDULGEINSELFDEVELOPMENT MALE 14 3.93 .917 .245
FEMALE 134 4.00 .475 .041
INSTALLPREMUIMSANTIVIRUS MALE 14 4.07 .267 .071
FEMALE 134 4.24 .523 .045
MANDATORYRELAXATIONATWORK MALE 14 2.93 1.492 .399
FEMALE 134 3.60 .841 .073
BACKUPSTORAGEFACILITIES MALE 14 4.36 .497 .133
FEMALE 134 4.09 .415 .036
PERFORMEASUREMENT MALE 14 3.93 .917 .245
FEMALE 134 3.95 .718 .062
MENTALALERTNESS MALE 14 4.07 .267 .071
FEMALE 134 4.07 .400 .035
Independent Samples Test
Levene's Test for

Equality of
Variances t-test for Equality of Means
95% Confidence Interva
of the Difference
Sig. Mean Std. Error
F Sig. t df (2-tailed) Difference Difference Lower Upper
PERSONALPROCUREMENT Equal variances assumed 1.745 .189 -.348 146 .729 -.069 .199 -.463 .32
OFEMACHINESANDSOFTW
ARE Equal variances not assumed -.255 14.281 .803 -.069 .272 -.652 .51
LIFELONGLEARNINGPROG Equal variances assumed 2.701 .102 -.581 146 .562 -.060 .103 -.263 .14
RAMS
Equal variances not assumed -1.804 133.000 .074 -.060 .033 -.125 .00
COLLABORATIONWITHOTH Equal variances assumed 4.486 .036 -.586 146 .559 -.110 .187 -.480 .26
ERSTAFF
IMPROVEDTECHNIQUESINJ Equal variances assumed .881 .349 .776 146 .439 .083 .107 -.129 .29
OBDELIVERY
INVOLVEINSOCIALNETWOR Equal variances assumed .180 .672 1.282 146 .202 .180 .140 -.097 .45
KING
ACCEPTINGCHANGES Equal variances assumed 3.151 .078 1.067 146 .288 .083 .078 -.071 .23
INDULGEINSELFDEVELOPM Equal variances assumed 3.776 .054 -.480 146 .632 -.071 .149 -.365 .22
ENT
i
ii
INSTALLPREMUIMSANTIVIR Equal variances assumed 8.197 .005 -1.179 146 .240 -.167 .142 -.448 .11
US
Equal variances not assumed -1.981 25.083 .059 -.167 .085 -.341 .00
MANDATORYRELAXATIONA Equal variances assumed 23.272 .000 -2.622 146 .010 -.676 .258 -1.185 -.16
TWORK
BACKUPSTORAGEFACILITIE Equal variances assumed 6.848 .010 2.252 146 .026 .268 .119 .033 .50
S
PERFORMEASUREMENT Equal variances assumed .279 .598 -.093 146 .926 -.019 .207 -.429 .39
MENTALALERTNESS Equal variances assumed .231 .631 -.029 146 .977 -.003 .109 -.220 .21
ii

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CHALLENGES OF EMERGING OFFICE TECHNOLOGIES AND

INITIATIVES OF SECRETARIES OF BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS

ALAKA, LINDA BEJIDE

DEPARTMENT OF VOCATIONAL TEACHER EDUCATION

CHALLENGES OF EMERGING OFFICE TECHNOLOGIES AND

ALAKA, LINDA BEJIDE

A M.ED PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF

University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Alaka, Linda Bejide, a postgraduate student in the Department of Vocational Teacher

Education with Registration Number PG/MEd/11/58835 has satisfactorily completed the

other diploma or degree of this or any other university.

This Work is dedicated to all Secretaries

The researcher’s heartfelt gratitude also goes to Dr. C. C. Chukwurah, Prof. E. C.

professionals were instrumental to the completion of this research.

Further thanks to Mrs. C. Enang, Mrs. S. Momoh, Miss A. N. Okeke, Mr. O. A.

Shodeinde, Mr. S. O. Chukwuedo, Mrs. C. Nwachukwu, Miss C. Nwanyanwu, Miss E.

much for everything.

ALAKA Linda Bejide

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 9

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 51

CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA 56

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 68

Background of the Study

Modern business office is rapidly changing as a result of office automation, which

of novel administrative and clerical duties encompassing information and communication

management, project management, research coordination, programme planning, scheduling,

In every organisation, be it public or private, profitable or non-profitable, creative or

of work for many types of workforces – 1executives, professionals/specialists, trainees,

Emerging office technologies are referred to as modern and sophisticated workplace

functions/processes such as text processing, information storage and retrieval,

communication, administrative support, and manipulation and analysis of information (Long,

private industries to public establishments (Khalid, 2000).

opportunities for emerging office technologies to have a wide range of prospective to

document management and office management. The application of emerging office

information, as well as building up the level of efficiency of administrative functions in

establishments, improving overall competitiveness, augmenting the effectiveness of

sustaining competitive advantage.(Alshoaibi, 1998; Agomuo, 2005). Consequently, due to the

of their use (Pinsonneauh and Rivard, 1998).

universities, polytechnics, colleges of education or related approved higher learning

institutions (Onamade and Adedayo, 2012).

Secretaries in business organisations, as earlier pointed out, have significantly

organisations adoption of emerging workplace technological supports. Their initial

programmes, multifunction printing machine, facsimile machine, electronic typewriting

amongst others (Agomuo, 2005; Onamade and Adedayo, 2012).

and inadequate training facilities, and poor electricity distribution.

competencies to perform efficiently in the workplace; willing to be lifelong learners,

modern day office irrespective of their training, background, qualification or educational

organisations in relation to the utilisation of emerging office technologies vis-à-vis

for building capacities.

Statement of the Problem

The reliance on technology continues to expand in office functions and the

their primary duties.

superiors or executives in carrying out their responsibilities. These secretarial functions

secretarial practice. Their poor training, unassertive background, underdeveloped intellectual

technologies (Oyemade, 1993).

Based on the above situation, it is therefore necessary to determine the challenges