Impact of Information and Communication Technology on the influence performance of secretaries in government ministries 2

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Most government ministries seem to have lost sight of the importance of information and communication technology to the growth and development of the secretarial career. Some fails to understand that secretaries need information and communication technology to perform their jobs faster, better, accurately and precisely. Thus, Iwuamadi (2011) observes that, in some organizations the management prefer to employ computer operators, promote managers and web designers at the expense of providing adequate training and education for their secretaries to handle such machines and equipment. Suffice it to say that where this kind of act is done, there is always unnecessary duplication of function waste of resources and making the secretaries to redundant, brain drained and irrelevant in administrative activities.

Also, some secretaries seem to regiment and restrict themselves to the crude practices of secretarial career. Most of them seem to have failed in the area of improving themselves in information and communication technology, either as a result of ignorance or negligence. Hence, the introduction of information and communication technology equipment seem to have thrown some secretaries out of job. This is mostly because of the increasing demands of ICT in business offices was well as the complexity of office services automated devices.

Again, in government offices, there seem to be ineffective and unorganized teaching and training framework of educating secretaries on the uses of information and communication technology. A training session that lasts for barely one hour or two probably once or twice a week and contain more than five hundred trainees with few trainers and few computers can hardly yield positive results in the secretaries under training. Because this seem to be a recurrent experience in most government ministries, it becomes doubtful whether or not information and communication technology has influence the performance of secretaries in Ebonyi State civil service system.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of this study is to determine the impact of information and communication technology on the performance of secretaries in Ebonyi state government ministries. Specifically the study sought to:

1. To determine extent of the relevance of information and communication technologies in secretaries performance in government ministries.
2. To determine the extent of availability of information and communication technologies in government ministries. 
3. To determine extent of utilization of information and communication technologies by secretaries in government ministries
4. To ascertain if there are problems associated with the use of information and communication technologies by secretaries in government ministries.

1.4 Significance of the Study

This study will be relevant or significant to government ministries, private business organizations, professional secretaries, undergraduate students in business education and members of the general public.

The findings and recommendations of the research will help government ministries to effectively utilize the services of secretaries by equipping them with the necessary ICT skills which will make them to be more proficient, skillful, accurate and diligent in their service delivery. The findings and recommendations of the research will help government ministries to intensify effort on how best to organize ICT trainings and empowerment programmes for secretaries. 

The research will help private business organizational to invest more on their secretaries by providing them with ICT skills necessary for the competitive, global and ever growing business environment that is anchored on information and communication technology. In the same vain, the research will help professional secretaries to understand the need to develop themselves in the area of ICT so as to remain relevant in the “computer-aged” business environment. 

Again, the research will serve as a source of reference for further studies especially for undergraduate students in business education and other related disciplines. It will also provide them with some of the methodological guides and techniques needed for carrying out similar researches. 

Finally, the research will serve as a source as educative material to members of the general public as it will enlighten them on the importance of ICT in carrying out secretarial jobs.

1.5 Scope of the Study

This research focuses on the impact of information and communication technology in influencing the performance of secretaries in government ministries in Ebonyi state. The research explores the level of performance of secretaries in government ministries in the area of ICT.

1.6 Research Questions

The following research questions were formed to guide this study;

1. What is the extent of the relevance of information and communication technologies in secretaries’ performance in government ministries?
2. What is the extent of availability of information and communication technologies in government ministries?  
3. What is the extent of utilization of information and communication technologies by secretaries in government ministries?

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