The desire to write on this particular topic “The Importance of Computer to Secretarial Profession in Business Organization grew out of the Present significant roles. It plays secretaries day to day activities, secretaries therefore as the stronghold should equip themselves with the computer. This project report is going to be useful and helpful to studying data processing as a major course in the universities and polytechnics. However, I have taken the pain to present this project report in a tense and simple language, so as to make it readable and comprehensive to any of the users, to achieve the aim the researcher look into such as; whether the secretaries with computer knowledge are able to serve much time and increased productivity. Whether the services rendered by the secretaries with computer in any organization can achieve their set out goals, objectives and aspirations. Whether the assistance of computer in our secretarial duties would be able to increase feasibility. Whether the computer helps the secretary perform specialized duties in the office with which they contribute to the attainment of organization goals. Whether the secretaries using computer to perform administration functions in the addition to their specialized secretarial functions, hence they can be elevated to administrative posts.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page i

Approval page ii

Dedication iii

Acknowledgement iv

Abstract v

Abstract vi

Table of contents vii

List of tables ix

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of the Study 1

1.2 Statement Of Problem 11

1.3 Purpose Of Study 12

1.4 Limitation And The Scope Of The Study 13

1.5 Significance Of The Study 13

1.6 Definition Of The Terms 14

1.7 Research Questions 14

CHAPTER TWO

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 16

2.1 Definition of Computer 17

2.2 Types of Computer 18

2.3 Definition of a Secretary 21

2.4 Computer In The Secretary’s Office 22

2.5 Different Computer Training For Secretary 24

2.6 Impact Of Computer training To Secretaries 26

2.7 Summary Of Literature Review 27

2.8 Uses and Effects on the Function of

Secretarial Profession 29

2.9 Uses of Computer 30

2.10 Advantages of Computer 30

2.11 Disadvantages of Computer 31

2.12 Organization of a simple digital 32

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY 34

3.1 Research Design 34

3.2 Area of the Study 34

3.3 Population of the Study 35

3.4 Sample/Sample Techniques 35

3.5 Instrument for Data Collection 36

3.6 Validity of the Instrument 37

3.7 Reliability of the Instrument 37

3.8 Method of Data Collection 38

3.9 Method Of Data Analysis 38

3.10 Decision Rule 39

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS 40

4.1 Presentation and analysis 40

Summary of the Findings 48

CHAPTER FIVE

DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 Discussion of Findings 50

5.2 Conclusion 51

5.3 Recommendations 52

5.4 Suggestion for Further Studies 54

5.5 Limitations of the Study 54

Reference: 57

Appendix 1 58

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1: As a secretarial profession, do you

use computer in your daily work? 40

Table 4.2: If yes what type of computer do you

use? 41

Table 4.3: Has the use of computer

helped accomplishment of your job

as a secretarial staff? 42

Table 4.4: How far has computer helped

in accomplishment of your

secretarial profession? 43

Table 4.5: Does computer facilitate the secretarial

function in your organization? 44

Table 4.6: Did your organization install other

computer equipment for the staff? 45

Table 4.7: Are you computer literature? 46

Table 4.8: Does these computer equipment

reduce your working hours? 46

Table 4.9: Is computer training compulsory

Among the training needs in

your organization? 47

Table 4.10: Have you been sent on training

for computer literacy? 48

CHAPTER ONE

3.0 INTRODUCTION

3.1 Background of the Study

A secretary is a person who has a wide knowledge into the art and science of handling office correspondence and machines. In other words, a secretary is that person who has under gone secretarial courses and having the knowledge to operate all office machine available, such as typewriter, franking machines, adding machines, duplication machines etc. He or she also received information, makes calls, receives calls either within or outsides the organization. It is important to identify the functions a secretary performs in the modern business world, by this we would be able to appreciate the role computer plays in secretarial activities.

Computer has been defined by many authors and computer analysis as an electronic device that has the ability of automatically accepting data, applying sequence of process to data, store and automatically execute a program of instructions and supplying the results of the process. Computer evolved as results of man’s search for fast, accrual calculating devices. But it will be wrong to think that computers just arrived unto sense of secretarial profession and organization. Computer comes into existence between 15^th and 16^th century. The first known data processing devices consisted of the use of fingers, stones and sticks for counting on a string, Socrates on a rock and abacus as keeping devices. In addition, a follow-up development on the data processing was the introduction of manual computer and machinery to perform arithmetic and science operations, but with the dynamic nature of business worlds. Its importance has been stretched beyond these spheres of operations, but business offices or organizations and even to private homes.

The introduction of computers and machines to perform arithmetic operations is often attributed to blaze passels of France and Volition of Germany in the seventeenth century A.D. In order to honor blaze Pascal, the programming language was named after him, Pascal with the introduction of electronic computer since then a series of radical breakthrough, the computers based upon the order form of electronics have been replaced by a new “generation of computer based upon a new form of electronics.

3.2 Importance of Computer

Until the evolution of computers into the sense of industries, most duties were performed manually but after the introduction of computer, most of jobs that were carried out traditionally now become computerized such computer has its own unique code. Computer is an important management tool for the following reasons;

a. It performs operation quickly

b. It stores data compactly

c. It handles effectively the routing large scale data processing tasks, such as wages and salary calculations and billing etc.

d. It handles large quantities of data

The introduction of Computer to the secretary

The computer is a wonderful tool but not a “spoon feeder” which can restructures an inefficient organization. The computer will aid secretary in processing information Note that the first thing that connects a company and its customers is the business letter or other information sent. It is the duty of the secretary to check the quality of output from the organization, with computer the secretary can actually of work without stress, produce work or which she can be proud recall information on a screen on this screen all corrections can easily be made.

The performance/Role of the Secretary

In many organizations, managers are likely to find out that running the computer system of computer without the personal back up of a secretary has the effect of actually covering up the management mistake so there might be found a high degree of complimentarily computer according to Robert (181-8) he had observed that.

“The secretary is the interface between technology and the manager”. This does not mean that she has to have expert knowledge of the whole computer. This also falls in line with Cameroon (1982-5) who claim that the computer has no altered the time honoured role of secretary. The same idea was expressed by Eni (1991-5) when he pointed out that: the secretary is often the company’s first contact with prospective customers. Her effectiveness can either give the customers a good impression to call again on the company”.

So from what Robert and Eni said one can see what the secretary has a very important role to play in an organization. She connects the technology in the office to the outside world which includes the customers. The most vital features of what a secretary produces is data. The most vital features of what a secretary produces in actually must be harmonized with her top event loss or corruption of data.

So a secretary should see the computer as a “catalyst by which her careers will become more explicit, it will even aid her to distinguish between responsibility and competence the computer with the secretarial performance it poses yet another set of question dealing with employee attitudes according to Benson et al (1980-1995) computer is:

When computer is brought into an organization old pasterns of interaction … are altered or entirely destroyed and new pasterns are faced upon employees and managers.