AN ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECT OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY ON THE OPERATIONS OF AN ORGANIZATION

ABSTRACT

The study examines the effects of information and communication technology on the performance of public sector

secretaries’ in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The quality of secretaries available is a function of reliable and acceptable

reporting framework that will improve productivity in the public sector. This can only be achieved through an

effective and efficient human resource development structure. To achieve the objective of the paper, primary and

secondary data were used. The primary data was obtained through a well structured questionnaire administered to

ninety five public sector secretaries’ in Bayelsa State and the data obtained were analysed with econometric

models of multiple regression and diagnostic test. The Cronbach’s alphas model was used to verify the reliability

of the instrument. The study found that the usage of computer, telecommunication and video techniques positively

and significantly related to the productivity (performance) of public sector secretaries’ in Bayelsa State, Nigeria.

Based on these findings, the implications for human resource development mechanism practice and

recommendations were discussed

CHAPTER 1-INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY.

The information and communication technology in the 21st century have revolutionized all profession worldwide

including the secretarial practice. Agbatogu et al (2011) says that technology has been a significant tool in almost

all human endeavours. Jaiyeola (2007) argues that ICT is like an engine that could be used in so many ways, the

same engine that makes the aircraft to move, could make a conveyor to convey finished product from production

line to the storage location, the same could be used for automobile, grinding machine, etc. It is an implement in the

hands of secretaries but enhances and improves its performance. Adedoyin (2010), Appah and Emeh (2012) argues

that information technology have affected every profession in the last twenty years. The accounting profession is

not left out in these profound changes to business and methods of communications. Technology is providing the

tools that are revolutionalizing the role of secretarial professionals from that of information recorders to business

strategists making them much more critical to the success of an enterprise Jaiyeola (2007). According to Uzoka

(2002), information technology is the harnessing of electronic technology in its various forms to improve the

operations and profitability of the business as a whole. It provides significant improvements with facilities such as

word processing, communication facilities in the form of electronic mail, databases in relation to filling and data

retrieval. Such advances improve business efficiency, eliminating unnecessary delays in communication between

routine filling and correspondence. Also Ofurum and Ogbonna (2008) says information technology is the

combination of computing, telecommunication and video techniques for the purpose of acquiring, processing,

storing, and disseminating vocal, pictoral, textual and numerical information. The computing techniques provide

the capacity for processing and storing of information; the telecommunicating techniques provide the capacity for

communicating the information to users; and the video techniques, the capability for high quality display of

images.

Nemine and Torunarigha (2010) also stressed that technology is the systematic application of scientific knowledge

in order to achieve practical results. It entails a combination of different approaches to solve a problem. It implies

that technology is all about methods and the way people apply them in order to get results. Therefore, we live in a

competitive environment where things are changing fast and for the better technologically and due to the growing

complexity of modern day management, the office is also changing. Secretarial functions such as tying, mailing a

letter that usually takes minutes or hours has to be carried out in seconds with high speed, accuracy and perfection.

The advent of information and communication technology which has revolutionized secretarial functions and the

office. The secretary has to be well equipped to meet the present challenges and the challenges of the future in acontemporary office. Therefore, many experts in the Secretarial profession (Boladele, 2002; Onifade, 2009;

Igbinedion, 2010) have concluded that there will be changes, dramatic changes that will reshape the office, and

work environment with information and communication technology, work habits, impact on the personal lives of

professionals and the way they work. The information and communication technology has revolutionized the work

of the office, changing work patterns and attitudes of employees and this people are now working towards an

acceptance of change (Khalid, 2000). The objective of this study therefore, is to examine the effect of information

and communication technology on secretaries in contemporary organizations. To achieve this objective, the paper

is divided into five interconnected sections. The next section presents the review of relevant literature. Section

three examines the materials and methods used in the study. Section four presents the results and discussion and the

final section examines the conclusion and recommendations

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Information and Communication Technology

Information technology is the combination of computing, telecommunication and video techniques for the purpose

of acquiring, processing, storing, and disseminating vocal, pictoral, textual and numerical information. Uzoka

(2002) defined information technology as the harnessing of electronic technology in its various forms to improve

the operations and profitability of the business as a whole.Brightman and Dimsdale (1986) traced the root of the

high-tech revolution back to 1828 when Charles Babbage produced the first programmable calculating device, the

Analytical Engine. We might look to the more recent past, 1944, and mention Howard Aiken’s Mark I, the first

programmable computer. We might cite the first electronic computer, the slow, gigantic but ground-breaking

ENIAC developed in 1946 by John Mauchly and Presper Eckert at the University of Pennsylvania. To be precise,

we should also mention, dozens of other major developments in computers and electronic communications –

known together as telecommunications. The genesis and notion of management information systems originated

during the early 1960s largely through the effort of Kennedy Era, the “Whizkids”. The introduction of new

technology to process and transport data and information has proceeded at exceptional rates for more than three

decades. This innovative introduction has significantly affected employees, managers, and their organizations. It

was eighteen-year-old Frenchman, Blaise Pascal by name that first developed a mechanical adding machine in

1642. Later, this was improved upon by Gottfried Beibnitz – a German mathematician who developed a

calculating machine that could multiply by a repeated addition and divide by a repeated subtraction in 1694.

However, Computer technology has undergone series of changes which reflect big size to miniature size of

computers with their increasingly high processing speed of data into information for decision making (Nicholas, et

al. 2009). Information technology according to Oliver, Chapman and French (1990) is a technology which

supports activities involving the creation, storage, manipulation and communication of information (principally

computing, electronics and electronic communications) together with their related methods, management and

applications. It has also created countless opportunities and challenges for millions of individuals. In particular,

the challenges of managers’ responsible for introducing this technology have been exceptionally high. In our

information and knowledge -based society, management must attempt to capture the advantages offered by

information technology, yet they must also avoid the pitfalls along the way toward increasing automation. As

information has altered the way many people do their jobs and has changed the nature of work in industrialized

nations, the practice of management has been greatly affected. The management of many firms and their managers

must therefore understand the implications of this new information technology revolution which require

substantial future readjustment and quickly learn how to benefit from it (Frenzel, 1992). The explosion in

electronic commerce is just one example of the many ways information technology is influencing how people do

business and how they account for business financial and economic events (Moscove, et al., 2003). The

blending of internet technologies and traditional business concerns impacting all industries and is really the latest

phase in the ongoing evolution of business infrastructure and change the way to respond more immediately to

customer needs (Grant, et al 2000). The role of accountant and objective of accounting systems which is to

process financial and economic data into information for decision making is still the same. Also, the audit

objective which is to render an opinion on the “true and fair view” of a client’s financial statement still holds,

however, the technical expertise that the auditor must possess to evaluate computer-based accounting systems has

undergone considerable changes and the change will ever continue to be more radical and rapid (Ofurum and

Ogbonna, 2008). ICT is seen as a way to promote educational change, improve the skills of secretaries and

prepare them for the global economy and information society. ICT is used to improve delivery of and access to

effective and efficient management of office and the organization as a whole. ICT as focus on secretaries, it tends

to improve the understanding of the secretarial practice and functions, increase quality of secretaries work attitude

thereby increase the impact of secretaries on the management of the office. While basically ICT based innovations

History of Secretarial Profession

Literature on the history of the secretarial profession shows that nobody knows when secretaries originated, but

that the Romans were first to employ men as scribes who took down dictation. Men dominated secretarial jobs

until the late 1880s. However, in the 1930s, women started to dominate the profession. In Nigeria, there were few

secretaries in the early 1900’s because there were no government established training institutions. Organizations

employed typists and stenographers as secretaries. These “secretaries” trained in road-side secretarial institutes.

These institutes did not have qualified instructors and adequate machines. Therefore, those who employed them

were skeptical about their administrative competence, thus limiting their activities to routine or chore office jobs.

In the late 1900’s, the state and federal governments started recognizing the need to employ efficient secretaries

and established Federal Training Centres in Lagos and Kaduna. The state governments later established Staff

Development Centres. Admission requirements into these centres were low. Later, polytechnics were established

by both state and federal governments in order to have better trained secretaries. At present, we have a few

universities with a Secretarial Administration department where secretaries are trained. The polytechnics are still

regarded as the best place to train secretaries. Secretaries command high respect and they easily get jobs. They are

versatile because all organizations need them. In the early days of producing secretaries in Nigeria, people

regarded those who went to commercial secondary modern or commercial secondary schools as dullards. The

public regarded those who went to secondary grammar schools as highly intelligent – those who would become

doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. Things have interestingly reversed as commercial or business courses are

becoming more versatile than the science courses. We now find doctors and other professionals who write

accounting examinations.

Secretaries Roles and Responsibilities in Contemporary Organisation

The secretarial function, though a supportive function, requires a large amount of initiative, tact and

resourcefulness to succeed. Ugiagbe (2002) defined a secretary as an assistant to an executive, possessing mastery

of office skills and ability to assume responsibility without direct supervision, who displays initiative, exercises

judgement, and makes decisions within the scope of his/ her authority. Boladele (2002) expressed that a secretary

is a warm, endlessly helpful and under-standing individual whose sole aim is to alleviate, solve, prevent or soften

problem workload and upsets for his/her executive. He/she is the means by which the executive initiates, handles

and complete a project. According to Onifade (2009), a secretary is an assistant to a manager. Apart from the

traditional responsibilities, such as typing, taking dictation and transcribing, managing records, receiving, storing

and retrieving information or operating the computer, attending meetings, answering telephone calls, he now

carries out research, prepares the manager’s itinerary, makes travel bookings and hotel reservations, supervises the

junior workers, and makes some decisions using his initiatives. He should be able to answer some questions on

behalf of the boss. For example, a client who wants the price of a product should not wait to see the boss. A

secretary who is familiar with the company’s policies, price list and handbooks should relieve the boss of such

burden by providing accurate information. He should be able to coordinate the administrative activities and

organize the office for efficient performance. He should be able to use the internet and train new staff on the

computer. The secretary is a member of a team in the workplace and therefore should always be cooperative and

supportive. He should be able to write and present reports and disseminate information using websites and e-mail.

He now shares with the manager the responsibilities that were hitherto reserved for the manager.

Igbinidoin (2010) identifies the secretary’s responsibilities to include; taking dictation and transcribing it into

correspondence which is at once dispatched to its business destination. He highlights of some forms of these

correspondence to include: letters, memos, circulars, orders, quotations, acceptances, contractual terms, and

conditions, invitations, etc. Each of these items he claimed will invoke a response from the addressees, who will

perhaps order materials, proceed to manufacture, insure cargoes, book hotels or engage in some other expensive

activity which forms part of the intricate network of business life. Therefore the secretary must be regarded with

some respect with reference to these onerous functions that impinge on the success of the organization.

Prior Empirical Studies

An extensive body of literature exists on the usage, adoption, and implementation of IT. However, most of the

existing studies have focused on the use of IT in general. Regrettably, empirical studies and the theory on how IT

influences organizations is still underdeveloped. One area receiving little attention in the research on successful IT

use is secretarial profession (Seyal, Rahim and Rahman, 2000). Some researchers investigated the relationship

between organization characteristics and the use of IT, and factors influencing the use of IT in organizations. Seyal

et al.(2000) examined the extent of use of IT in various small and medium business organizations in Brunei

Darussalam. Their study attempted to assess the depth and breadth of IT usage in business. They concluded that thechief executive’s computer knowledge is positively associated with the use of IT and that businesses in different

sectors have different information processing needs. Calhoun et al. also studied the impact of national culture on

information technology usage in organizations and reported the association between some organizational

characteristics and use of IT. On the other hand, culture, control and competition as the constitution of subjectivity,

determine the locus of IT application in organizations. These studies do not consider the relationship between types

of software used in organizations and their internal operations. It is evident from previous studies that types of IT

tools in HRM functions were given due consideration. Elliott and Tevavichulada85 bring some data that shed light

on the types of software applications taking place in HRM and their integration to HRM activities (Mishra and

Akman, 2010). Baldwin and Sabourin (2002) raise an important caveat that must be kept in mind when interpreting

the results of these studies. Firm performance critically depends on how information and communication

technologies are implemented. Successful implementation of these technologies requires a human resource

strategy to develop the necessary worker skills. It requires that firms overcome financing problems associated with

acquiring new and untried technologies. And, it requires innovation accompanied by the development of best

practices in quality control and engineering.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This study examined the effect of information and telecommunication technology on the performance of public

sector secretaries’ in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The review of relevant literatures provides strong evidence of the

relationship between information and telecommunication technology and the performance of employees. This

current study empirically substantiated the results of prior studies with regard to the association between the

variables. The empirical results suggest that the usage of computer, telecommunication techniques and video

techniques does improve the performance of public sector secretaries’ in Bayelsa State of Nigeria. Hence, the

paper concludes that the information and technology revolution with the advent of modern IT facilities has

contributed to the quality of work performed by secretaries in Bayelsa State and Nigeria. The study shows that

ICT use is correlated with workers skills suggesting that firms that use high levels of ICT also employ more

knowledge workers. ICT use is also found to be correlated with organizational innovations in production and

efficiency practices, HRM practices and product/service quality related practices, supporting the view that ICT and

organizational changes are complements. More important, our findings seem to suggest that to be successful, firms

typically need to adopt ICT as part of a “system” or “cluster” of mutually-reinforcing organizational approaches.

We find that while ICT is productive on its own, it is more productive in firms that combine high levels of ICT with

high levels of organizational changes in the areas of production and efficiency practices, HRM practices,

product/service quality-related practices. The firms that combine ICT with organizational changes have a high

incidence of productivity improvement and have high rates of innovation. Our results also suggest that ICT and

human capital are complements in dynamic service and distribution service sectors. The firms that combine high

levels of ICT and high levels of human capital have a higher incidence of productivity improvement and higher

rates of innovation in this sector. Firm-level studies in both the U.S. and Canada show that ICT investment, when

accompanied by organizational change and investment in human capital, has a significant impact on productivity

and economic performance (Brynjolfsson and Hitt, 2000; Bresnahan, Brynjolfsson and Hitt, 2002; Black and

Lynch, 2001; Baldwin and Sabourin, 2003). The most interesting finding is that new work practices are associated

with improved firm performance only when the practices are implemented as a bundle – and not separately. In

other words, successful firms adopt ICT as part of a system or cluster of mutually reinforcing organizational

changes. The paper therefore recommends amongst others that constant training and retraining of employees using

relevant ICT facilities should be used to improve the quality of secretaries.

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