ASSESSMENT OF INFORMATION AND MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGYCOMPETENCIES REQUIRED BY OFFICE TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT (OTM)GRADUATES FOR GLOBALIZED EMPLOYABILITY IN TODAY’S DIGITAL AGE

Abstract

The study examined the information and management technology competencies required of Office
Technology and Management (OTM) graduates for globalized employability in today’s digital age.
Two research questions guided the study and two hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance.
The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study
consisted of 98 office executives and 55 secretaries from chosen organizations in Aba, Abia state. The
simple random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 81 (56 office executives and 25
secretaries) as respondents for the study. A well structured questionnaire on a 4-point scale was used
as instrument for data collection, while the reliability test for the instrument yielded co-efficient 0.80
for the clusters using Cronbach Alpha. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard
deviation to answer the research questions, and t-test for the hypotheses testing. Finding revealed that
internet research, computer skills, data management, email and communication, word processing,
spreadsheet management, data security and privacy, and file and document management are the major
information and management technology competencies required of OTM graduates for globalized
employability in today’s digital age. While limited access to ICT resources, lack of ICT training for
tutors, inadequate ICT infrastructure, digital literacy gap, technological obsolescence, and confidence
and self-efficacy are the major challenges impeding OTM graduates from acquiring information and
management technology competencies for globalized employability. The study concluded that that
graduates in office technology and management need information and management technology
competencies in order to advance professionally and find employment in the current digital era. Based
on the findings, it was recommended among others that graduates in office technology and
management must be dedicated to lifelong learning and professional development in order to stay
abreast of emerging trends and technologies in their industry.