IS OFFICE WORK NON-PRODUCTIVE ?

 From the above discussion,one can understand that office is a service as well as an administrative unit,and it assists all department and organization in achieving their objectives.Thus,the ability of profit making of an organization is contributed by an office.But no tangible goods have been created by an office,it is true.However,an office plays a positive role,in the absence of which,the production or distribution would not have take place.
                       The office work is facilitating in nature.Office is a service as well as administrative unit,helping all the departments of an organization.It is not easy to measure the office work as a work in a factory.This is because office work is mainly a brain work .And it is difficult to standardise the office work
                       The office work is not confined to a particular area as production or marketing function.Every department is dependent on the office for information and other service.It is true that an office dose not produce tangible products and therefore there is no direct contribution in the earning profits.
                       Modern office provides so many supportive services to the other department in the organization without which they cannot function efficiently.Thus,it can be said that office is an important instrument in achieving the objectives of any business concern.Henry remarked,"The office has come to be recognized as a production unit whose efficiency is relatively as important as that of the manufacturing divisions."
                       Every order represents a margin of profit.When the order is handled by the office,a part of the profit is reduced.At the same time,if the order is not handled properly and efficiently,there may be no profit at all.At the same time, some people say that the paper work is unnecessary and therefore,it should be eliminated for keeping the profit intact.This view is wrong.But it is very difficult to conduct the business without the very help of office as it provides supporting services and administrative functions.Moreover,human memory has it own shortcomings.Many transactions cannot be memorized for a long time.Because of the complexities in business,it is not possible to run a business without an office.A well organized office can materialize the policies and plan to achieve more efficiency, in modern business conditions.

The office facilitates:

1. To work according to plan anticipated.
2. To help in the performance of various functions.
3. To translate the policies into action.
4. To co-ordinate the work of all department of a firm.
5. To have ready reference of all matters.

Thus,It has rightly been described as the hub or nerve center of the entire organization.

   

Administrative and Management Functions:

              Administrative and Management Function

01.Management function:The most important administrative functions of the manager include planning,organizing,staffing,directing communicating,controlling,coordinating and motivating,The office manager must organize the office on modern lines for the efficient and effective performance.

02.Development of office systems and procedures: All the jobs in the office are interrelated and interdependent.As such an office must provide better services to interrelated departments.For a smooth flow of work,development of office system and procedures is essential.

03.Form designing and control: Form are the basic tools for all types of office work.There are many operations which can be systematized with the use of printed forms.Besides the use of the form saves time and energy at every operation.Information can be collected,recorded,or processed systematically and effectively with the help of office forms.Therefore,it is the task of the management to design and to control the forms.

04.Selection and purchase of office appliances:The office manager must purchase the appropriate machines, equipment or furniture for the office.Office work requires adequate equipment,machines and furniture and they must be maintained properly for the efficient working order.Appliances must be selected for full and proper uses.They must be suitable for the purpose.They must be simple in operation and maintenance.They must be flexible and adaptable to different uses.The cost and benefit must be compared when the appliances are purchased.

05.Personnel functions:The personnel function is performed by the personnel department.It is assisted by the office.It recruits and selects the personnel.It places them in different jobs in the office.For the efficient performance of the basic functions of the office,provision of adequate and trained staff is necessary.The staff must get reasonable salary.Staff must be properly motivated to achieve the best performance.

06.Controlling office costs: Office costs may be controlled by using machines in the office,using labor saving devices and adopting improved methods of management.

07.Maintenance of records: This is secondary function of an office.Copied of all the correspondence must be retained for further reference.Form a business firm,a number of letters go out daily and a which the replies are received,and if the copies of the original letters against which the replies have been received,are not available,the decision cannot be taken wisely.Therefore all the records must be maintained through proper filing system and preserved for number of years.Certain documents need not be kept for more than a year while certain documents have to kept for a number of years.

08.Planning schemes and policies: In the present stage,production is always in anticipation of demand.Therefore for a manufacturing concern,it has become essential to plan the activities of the concern for the future period.One cannot take a decision or plan unless one goes into the previous records and relevant statistical data,studies the present market trends,and takes decisions on basis of all information of the past period.When a proper plan has been chalked out,it will be adopted as a policy.Planning and policies will be good.when they have been drown out carefully with the help of the office,through collecting and processing information.

09.Safeguarding the assets: The job of an office is not only extended from the receipt of information to the supply of processed information,but also to take care of various assets.To keep the record of customers (debtors) and keep the management to be informed of about the doubtful debts so that necessary steps may be taken to prevent the occurrence of bad debts.

                 Books of accounts of all type (personal,real and nominal) are to be kept regularly.Among them the most important are fixed assets plant,machinery,fixtures,buildings and current assets goods,stationery,debtors,bills receivable,cash in hand,cash at bank,etc.All these are the properties of the concern and the office must arrange to protect and safeguard the assets against destruction,damage,loss by theft,fire etc.The management must be informed of all types of misappropriation matters so that its occurrence will be prevented in future through investigations.

10.Public relations: Public relations signify the relations of a business organization with the general public,usually through the distribution of information.Public relations guide business enterprise.Public relation are guided by public opinions.

      

The following are the basic functions of an office III

The following are the basic functions of an office:III

1. To receive or collect information
2. To prepare a record of such information
3. To process and arrange such information
4. To supply ready made information to the authorities when asked for.

04. To supply ready made information to the authorities:

An office is a machine which receivers raw materials (scattered information) and produces various items through processes . The office receives information through letters,phones,meetings,complaints,business transactions,etc.These pieces of information are further recorded in paper books processed and thus converted into charts,graphs,statements,diagrams etc.which show the complete picture of one type of dealings.The processed information is ready made information and is easy to understand at a glance.usually, the office supplies information relating to estimates,statements of accounts,progress report,book debts,sales,costing etc.The information kept by the office must be complete and accurate and supplied to the authorities as and when required,without wasting time.if the supply of information is also kept in such place where it is easily visible and available at any time,it is a great advantage. 

The following are the basic functions of an office: II

The following are the basic functions of an office:II

1. To receive or collect information
2. To prepare a record of such information
3. To process and arrange such information
4. To supply ready made information to the authorities when asked for.

03.To process and arrange information:
                      The information received by the office may be lengthy and the same in its original form may not be much useful to the management.Therefore,after collecting such information,it will be processed,categorized,arranged and systematically kept for ready made information.certain letters will have to be converted into charts,statements etc.by doing calculations or analysis over such information.For instance,orders have been received every day and complied.The orders themselves will not serve any purpose to the departmental head because the orders may be in the form of letters.Therefore,it will be most useful to the sales manager,if these have been shown in a compact form,say sales week wise.This can be done through charts,statements etc.Then the sales manager is at ease to understand the position of the sales by looking at the statements or charts and come to a decision within no time.Thus it is possible for all the departments or the management to understand the position easily and quickly and come to certain conclusion.If the information is not properly analyzed or arranged,much time will have to be spent.An efficient office supplies ready made information to departments or managers who take proper decisions on the basis of such information supplied.Therefore,a good office is the foundation of a business organization. 

The following are the basic functions of an office: I

          The following are the basic functions of an office:I

1. To receive or collect information
2. To prepare a record of such information
3. To process and arrange such information
4. To supply ready made information to the authorities when asked for.

01.To receive or collect information.
                 The primary function of the office is to receive information from the various departments of the organization or from outside through inquiries,reports,orders,circulars,complaints,messages etc.If the information received is not complete,the office tries to collect information by sending out inquiries of clarifications.There may be different types of meeting within or outside the organization and pieces of information will be helpful to the management and therefore the office has to collect it.

02.To prepare records of information.
               Information is usually received in the form of letters,inquiries,pone calls etc.and this information has to be converted into other forms,which an easily be followed by the management.These are orders,quotations,price-list,replies to inquirers and complaints,account books,etc.,within the organization.All these record will be retained for further reference.According to the nature of the information,the record may be retained for many years or they may be safely kept for a few years,after which they can be destroyed.The records of information prepared in the office must be preserved safely,made available to the management within no time and must be easy to understand.These records maintained by the office will be reference for further dealing.Moreover,every business has to keep up-to-date books of accounts which are required to record all business transactions.The books like cash-book,purchase book,sales-book,goods returns book,productive expense and other ledgers are to be kept by ever office.Besides the account-books,other books will have to be maintained by the office in order to have a smooth function of the organization.   

FUNCTIONS OF AN OFFICE

                                   Functions of an office.

The efficiency of an office should be judged by the degree of promptness in supplying correct information.The information dealt with by an office will be on accounts,orders,prices,complaints,personal matters,etc.To will go to the credit of manager,if his office gives out needed information at a moment's notice.George R.Terry says,"the act of collecting processing,storing and distributing information comprise functions of the office."
              Modern business is complex.A business organization today a faced with the ever changing conditions.The present decade of change and challenge.With the development and advances in the field of science and technology,the manufacturing techniques have undergone rapid change.The ever-widening markets also pose a challenge by themselves.All the problems can be satisfactorily tackled only when adequate information is available.thus man's greatest tool today is information.To identify new markets,to design new products,to make decisions,to keep people informed and to keep abreast of knowledge,requires information.It is not only man's greatest tool,but it is also one of the greatest needs.Information is required by all members of enterprise and one of the problems in its management is to determine the nature of the information required,by whom,and in what form.Information is to help;it should assist its recipient in performing his assigned job.In short,the acts of controlling,Processing,storing,striving and distributing information comprise the function of the OFFICE. 
  
 The functions of a modern office can be divide into the following categories;and they are:

1. Basic routine functions.
2. Administrative management functions or ancillary functions.

The following are the basic functions of an office.

1. To receive or collect information.
2. To prepare a record of such information.
3. To process and arrange such information.
4. To supply ready made information to the authorities when asked for.
      

Office Work

                                         Office Work 

Office work is mainly concerned with clerical work or paper work.But this is a very narrow view and is an old concept of office work,Now a days,Office work has very wide scope.Office work is primarily concerned with making,preserving and using records.The records are concerned about purchasing,producing,selling,accounting and correspondence,inventories and written or printed memorandum of all kinds.These records are essential for an efficient and effective control of operation of the organization.
                        An office serves as the memory center and control center of an organization.The office performs many services like communication,reproduction,mechanical data,processing,procuring of stationery,furniture and equipment,secretarial assistance etc.to other departments is an organization.
                        Office is unit where relevant records for the purpose of control,planning and efficient management of the organization are prepared,handled and preserved office provides facilities for internal and external communication and co-ordinates activities of different departments of the organization.

 The purpose of an office is:

1. To preserve all the records of the business.
2. To handle incoming correspondence.
3. To plan the policies of the business and ensure their implementation.
4. To direct and co-ordinate the activities of the various departments.
5. Ta maintain accounts,statutory and non-statutory books etc.of the business.

Changing Office Scene III

                                 Changing Office Scene III

It is generally seen,in commercial offices,there are some persons to receive information,process them (made understandable in form) and supply the processed to the management.Doing so,can be called clerical job.Clerical job includes correspondence (to


collect information or clarify the information received) serving (filling),typing,book-keeping,handling of money etc.so it is confirmed that an efficient management of the organization helps the managers or executives to formulate planning,organizing,controlling and supervising the activities of a business concern.Prompt and accurate decision depend upon timely information.

                              An office is a place to record the information for the purposes of control through collection(of information) handled and serviced and where the control mechanism for a business is located-paper work is to attain an aimed result.One must give importance to the office function rather than to the place.An office is a place of paper processing and memory center for all its departments.In office,policies and ideas are formulated through collection and analysis of obtained information.An office maintains all these records.And these ready made,scrutinized and processed information are made available to the management to attain the best result.On the other hand,if the office supplies incomplete,wrong,misleading or delayed information,decisions taken on these defective pieces of information,are bound to be wrong.In small firms,the proprietor himself dose all the jobs,but in large and complex firms,the proprietor or the Board of Directors alone cannot run the concern.Therefore,the office is there to assist the management in their day-to-day business.The office is the servant of the management.
                             Most of the definitions underline "paper work done" at a particular place as the main and perhaps the only function of  an office.However, today the world "office" is used in a broader sense.The modern approach to the study of an office is to view it as a function instead of a certain place.When it is taken as a function,the office can plan,organize,direct,control and coordinate the office work wherever it is done and whosoever dose it.But if it is restricted to a certain place only, it will not cover the work which by its nature is office work,but is done outside the boundaries of that place.Therefore,the term 'office' should be used broadly to represent the functions which it performs rather than the place where they are performed.
                         In a business organization,the chief executive and his management team cannot deal personally with all the communications and cannot remember all the facts connected with it.There,the office comes to their rescue by providing with relevant facts and figures on the basis of which the management exercises its managerial functions of planning ,co-ordination and control.According to Leffingwell and Robinson "A well organized office makes it possible for the management to plan its operations intelligently,to put its plans into effect surely, to follow their progress currently,to determine their effectiveness promptly,to appraise the results without delay and to co-ordinate all the activities of the business."     

Changing Office Scene II

                                    Changing Office II

Office is an important section of a business.The term business implies office work.The dictionary meaning of office is "a place for transaction of business ,the room or department, where the clerical work is done,"or we can say "a place where business is carried on",or it is "a place where all sorts of activities of organization are dealt with". Office is the center of an organization.Commercial office acts as a central directing and coordinating agency of the various activities of any business.

                     An office is understood to be a place where clerical work is performed and where all kinds of paper work (letters,correspondence,files.records.etc.) is maintained and dealt with.It is a central place where all sorts of clerical work is done to co-ordinate and control the affairs of the whole organization.
                   In modern age,the 'office' is used in a broader sense.'prof.Dick-see states," An office is to a business what the mainspring is to a watch." An organization cannot be carried on without an office ,as a watch without the mainspring is useless.In the present times,the modern office organization has so much importance as the brain in a human body.Thus a commercial office can be called "a clearing house of all essential business information." The office has to receive or collect all information of the business,process the collected information (analyze,arrange and classify) and put them into understandable from on the one hand.On the other hand,to processed information has to be presented or communicated to the management of the business,as and when required.
                    According to the random House Dictionary  "An office is a place where business is transacted or professional services are available." An office is the place where the control mechanisms for  an enterprise are located, where records are initiated for communication control and efficient operation of the enterprise.According to Mills and Standing Ford "The office is the administrative center of a business.The purpose of an office has been defined as the providing of a service of communication and record."

         "An Office is the place where work in connection with the preparing and furnishing of information is done."

CHANGING OFFICE SCENE 1

                             CHANGING OFFICE I

Office activities have undergone a vast change in the last four or five decades.The old dingy,cluttered,stuffy office rooms have vanished and their place we have well ventilated,well-lighted,air conditioned offices with up to date furnishings in alluring designs.Gone are the days when the head of the concern personally supervised the work of clerks.Today,modern offices are organized on scientific principles and their management and administration are in the hands of specialized office manager .Managers do not share the some room with clerks bur sit in separate rooms.The clerks are supervised and controlled with the help of supervisors and though standard office systems,routines,office manuals etc.

            The vast changes have led to an expansion in the scale of production and business activities.As the size of business enterprises grows,there is corresponding increase in the volume of office work.The office activities of today are not performed by general clerks but by specialized clerks-Receptionist,Cashier,Typist,telephone Operators etc.There is also a greater division of labor.Departmentalization of office has been effected.The office managers of today welcome greater use of machines and minimal use of human beings in the office work.Machines-typewriter,telephones,computers,calculators,duplicating machines,dicta phones,accounting machines,intercom,cellular phones,internet system etc.help to save time and labor.Computers are the latest additions to the long list of office machines.They are capable of performing most clerical operations at high speed without errors,Thus modern offices are becoming more and more high-tech. 

   

Modern Office

                                         Modern office

*Introduction.
The complexities at business activities are increasing day-by-day.An office is a vital segment of any commercial enterprise.An office may be small or large according to the size of the concern.In olden done mostly by the proprietors.If the work was more,two or three persons were to be appointed.They sat in small rooms and worked in poorly lighted and congested places.There were no modern office amenities as today;clerks were found copying letters tiresomely turning leather bound registers etc.Since the typewriters had not come into general use,most of the office work had to be performed manually and clerks would be found in spending most of their time in copying letters for dispatch to customers.All the internal and external communications were performed through human agency.The telephones and intercom systems were not generally in use.The proprietor of a business would be found sitting in the office room and supervising the office work.He personally deals with the customers and visitors.in earlier period,production was generally from a limiter number of raw materials,that too available locally,and marketing the products was also,in most cases,confined to local market.Thus,in those days,the businessmen were interested in maximizing profits though the two important profit centers,i.e.production and marketing.A few decades ago,the office had been defined as a place where clerical work is performed for the successful operation of an institution.Office work many may be done by a clerk within the four walls of a building.

                  Office activities have undergone vast changes in the last few decades.the world has witnessed spectacular developments and advances in the field of science,technology,industrialization,transport.communication etc.,In modern concept is to view office as a function.When it is taken as a function,it (office) may direct,control and coordinate the office work wherever it is done and whosoever dose it.Here it may be noted that in the modern time,office are developed on scientific principles and their management and administration is in the hands of qualified and trained managerial personnel.