INTRODUCTION TO OFFICE MANAGEMENT
,Unit – 1
Modern Office: An Overview
Learning Objectives
After completion of this unit, you should be able to:
Know the meaning of modern office.
To improve knowledge on office management and its functions.
Structure:
Introduction
Meaning and definition
Office work
Office Activities
Factors contributing towards growth of office
Types of Office
Relation of Office with other Department
Importance of Office
Challenges before Office
Key terms
Model Questions
Introduction :
Office is described as the nerve centre of the entire organization. The present day office
activities have expanded to a wider extent to keep pace with rapid globalization.
Further, office by itself has become an indispensable part of any business organization.
Modern offices are organized on scientific principles and their techno-savvy office
managers which has paved way for the sustenance of a business amidst cutthroat
competition.
In olden days, all the job of the organization had been 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 place. 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
2
,their time in copying letters for despatch 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 limited
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 through the two important profit centre, 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 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 concepts 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 does it. Here it may be noted that in
the modern time, offices are developed on scientific principles and their management
and administration is in the hands of qualified and trained managerial personnel.
Meaning and Definition :
Office is a place for transacting business where clerical and administrative functions are
carried out to coordinate and control activities of the organization. A typical office
performs tasks such as framing of
Fig. 1.1 Modern Office
3
, business policies, processing and communication of information, record keeping,
handling mails, execution of orders and managing receipts and payments. Office can be
described as any place where information converges on paper which is documented,
preserved and used for both current and future operations of business.
Office activities have undergone a vast change in the last four of five decades. The old
dingy, cluttered, stuffy office rooms have vanished and in their place we have well
ventilated well-lighted, air-conditioned offices with up to date furnishings in alluring,
designs. Gone are the day 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 same room with clerks but sit in separate rooms. The clerks
are supervised and controlled with the help of supervisors and through 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 labour. 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, Dictaphones, accounting machines, intercom, cellular
phones, internet system etc. help to save time and labour. 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 office are becoming more
and more high-tech.
Office is an important section of a business. The term business implies office work. The
dictionary meaning of office is “a place for the 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 centre of an organization. Commercial office acts as a central directing and
co-ordinating agency of the various activities of any business.
In modern age, the “office” is used in a broader sense. Prof. Dicksee 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 (analyse, arrange and classify) and put them into
understandable form on the one hand. On the other hand, the processed, information has
to be presented or communicated to the management of the business, as and when
required.
5
,Unit – 1
Modern Office: An Overview
Learning Objectives
After completion of this unit, you should be able to:
Know the meaning of modern office.
To improve knowledge on office management and its functions.
Structure:
Introduction
Meaning and definition
Office work
Office Activities
Factors contributing towards growth of office
Types of Office
Relation of Office with other Department
Importance of Office
Challenges before Office
Key terms
Model Questions
Introduction :
Office is described as the nerve centre of the entire organization. The present day office
activities have expanded to a wider extent to keep pace with rapid globalization.
Further, office by itself has become an indispensable part of any business organization.
Modern offices are organized on scientific principles and their techno-savvy office
managers which has paved way for the sustenance of a business amidst cutthroat
competition.
In olden days, all the job of the organization had been 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 place. 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
2
,their time in copying letters for despatch 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 limited
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 through the two important profit centre, 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 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 concepts 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 does it. Here it may be noted that in
the modern time, offices are developed on scientific principles and their management
and administration is in the hands of qualified and trained managerial personnel.
Meaning and Definition :
Office is a place for transacting business where clerical and administrative functions are
carried out to coordinate and control activities of the organization. A typical office
performs tasks such as framing of
Fig. 1.1 Modern Office
3
, business policies, processing and communication of information, record keeping,
handling mails, execution of orders and managing receipts and payments. Office can be
described as any place where information converges on paper which is documented,
preserved and used for both current and future operations of business.
Office activities have undergone a vast change in the last four of five decades. The old
dingy, cluttered, stuffy office rooms have vanished and in their place we have well
ventilated well-lighted, air-conditioned offices with up to date furnishings in alluring,
designs. Gone are the day 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 same room with clerks but sit in separate rooms. The clerks
are supervised and controlled with the help of supervisors and through 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 labour. 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, Dictaphones, accounting machines, intercom, cellular
phones, internet system etc. help to save time and labour. 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 office are becoming more
and more high-tech.
Office is an important section of a business. The term business implies office work. The
dictionary meaning of office is “a place for the 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 centre of an organization. Commercial office acts as a central directing and
co-ordinating agency of the various activities of any business.
In modern age, the “office” is used in a broader sense. Prof. Dicksee 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 (analyse, arrange and classify) and put them into
understandable form on the one hand. On the other hand, the processed, information has
to be presented or communicated to the management of the business, as and when
required.
5
