OFFICE AUTOMATION: A TOOL FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE IN WORK DELIVERY BYOFFICE TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT (OTM) GRADUATES IN OYO STATE,NIGERIA

Abstract

This paper examined office automation as a tool for quality assurance in work delivery by Office
Technology and Management (OTM) graduates. Two research questions guided the study. The study
adopted descriptive survey method. Questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. The instrument
was validated by three experts from Business Education Department, Emmanuel Alayande College of
Education, Oyo. Test re-test method was used to determine the reliability coefficients of 0.85. A total of
360 Office Technology and Management graduates selected from public and private organizations in Oyo
and its environs formed the population of the study. The sample of the study consisted of 108 graduates of
Office Technology and Management which was selected using simple stratified random sampling
technique. The data collected from the respondents was analysed using mean and standard deviation. The
findings shows that quality assurance is important to the effective delivery of office work by the OTM staff
and equally training and purchasing of required software could serve as a strategy for the adoption of
office automation in an organization. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others, that all
tertiary institutions in Nigeria that offer Office Technology and Management should lay more emphasis on
the use of automated devices. Equally, secretaries should not entertain fear that an automated device will
displace them but rather, they should see it as something which has come to assist them to do their jobs in
order to improve their efficiency and productivity. Employers should also send their secretaries for further
training on the use of the computer among others.