Impact Of Filling, Indexing And Record-Keeping On The Attainment Of Organizational Goals

Project and Seminar Material for Office Technology and Management OTM

Abstract

The research work which titled ‘’Filling, indexing, and Record keeping on the attainment of organizational goals, a case study of The Ibarapa Polytechnic, Eruwa. It is designed to look into how fitting, indexing, and record-keeping enhances the growth of a firm.

Chapter one presents the introduction. These includes; objectives of the study, statement of the problems, significance of the study, limitation of the study and statement of hypothesis.
Chapter two highlights literature review among other things.
Chapter three; research methodology, target population, study sample, instruments for data collection, validation of instruments, methods of data collection and method of analysis.
Chapter four; deals with presentation of data, analysis of data.
Finally, chapter five bring the summary of findings, conclusion and recommendation.

Chapter One

Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

Right from years of conception of institution, filling, indexing, and record keeping had been vital to individuals, organization and many who have posterity to protect. I hold sublime pride in writing this titled ‘’Filling, indexing, and record keeping on the attainment of organizational goal. Indeed to be perfect, accurate for this assertion.
Filling is the process by which documents, correspondence paper are systematically classified, arranged, stored, and preserved so that they will easily be retrieved at a later day for reference purpose. File is a memory of organization without file, there is no record.Record keeping on the order hand serves as a source of reference to events, actions, and decisions that manifest at a point in time. It also aid management in decision making. It serves as account of fact or even set down writing as a means of preserving knowledge of information. Index is an indicator which may be found in file or books. In another word, index is a device for finding the position of records in a system guide. It can also be defined as an essential aid for finding materials already field for reference.Good Filing system in offices leads to the achievement of organizational and educational objectives. In some offices the filing and storage of data, whether in the form of paper letters, invoices or memos or as computerized electronic files, is regarded sometimes as a chore or necessary evil. And, not surprisingly, it is in just these same offices that tempers become frayed and staff frustrated and irritable when vital documents cannot be found before, say, a meeting which the Chief Executive Officer is attending! Indeed, a recent survey found that one in every ten (10) documents or files stored become immediately lost forever, thanks to inadequate and careless filing techniques and practices. Accomplished records management skills and techniques form a most important part of a secretary’s repertoire today, particularly since developments in electronic office automation are transforming the speed at which data may be stored and accessed and extending massively the amount of data which organizations wish to retain and refer to at intervals.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Poor filing system in most offices has been one of the major challenges over the years. It is in this regard that Harrison (1986) observes that Administrators, Stakeholders of firms, Organizations and Educational Institutions have been holding series of workshops, conferences and seminars with the view to facilitating the process of filing system. Harrison John (1986) observes that a delay in locating a paper will interfere with and delay the other sections of the business. Sparling Allan (1970), further stipulate that the misfiling of even one important letter may cause serious inconvenience to an executive, financial loss to the business, and considerable embarrassment to the person who misfiled the letter. Evans Desmond (1986), states that a recent survey found that one in every ten documents or files stored becomes immediately lost forever, due to inadequate and filing techniques and practices.
The efficiency and effectiveness of every office work basically depend on the systems of filing and indexing that have been put in place. This is particularly so where there is a large amount of manual work. Even if automation (computerization) is adopted on a very large scale, filing and indexing are equally important. A reliable filing and indexing systems supported by competent staff that is well-versed in the art of filing and indexing are great assets to the Office Management and Administration. It is, therefore, incumbent on every Office Manager in consonance with modern ways of filing to ensure that a good and efficient system of filing and indexing is being adopted and used in the various offices.

1.3. Objectives of the Study

To investigate the relevance of effective records management in the organization.
To identify problems associated with records and information management in the organization.
To examine the effect of proper records management on the performance of the organization.

1.4 Research Questions

The study has the following research questions:

What is the impact of record keeping on an organization?
What are the problems associated with record keeping in an organization?
Are there any effective ways to manage records in an organization?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

H0: There is no significant impact of record keeping on an organization’s management.
H1: There is a significant impact of record keeping on an organization’s management.
H20: There are no problems associated with records keeping in an organization.
H21: There are problems associated with record keeping in organizations

1.6 Significant of the Study

The finding of the study will not only be beneficial to the staff of the institution. The study provides insights into the contribution of records management on organizational performance. It also creates new methods and principles of records management to aid management of organizations in decision making. This study is a sort of additional guide to the polytechnic management to re-adjust in order to be stable in the competitive market. Future researchers can also use the study to do other work which has not been stated in this work.

1.7 Organization of the Study

The study is divided into five chapters. Chapter one deals with the study’s introduction and gives a background to the study. Chapter two reviews related and relevant literature. The chapter three gives the research methodology while the chapter four gives the study’s analysis and interpretation of data. The study concludes with chapter five which deals on the summary, conclusion and recommendation.

Chapter Five

Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation

5.1 Introduction

It is important to reiterate that the objective of this study was to examine the impact of filing, indexing and record keeping on the attainment of organizational goals.

In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be veritable methods for effective record keeping, filing and indexing.

5.2 Summary

The study was introduced in the chapter one with a background to record keeping, filing and the need for these concepts. The literature review was undertaken to examine what other authors and reserachers have done on the topic. The methodology was described in the third chapter where it was stated that the descriptive method of data analysis was adopted. The data was presented and analyze statistically using the SPSS and the result of the findings were discussed.

5.4 Conclusion

The importance of a good filing system should not be under-rated since it promotes efficiency and effectiveness of office activities and operations. The efficiency and effectiveness of every office work basically depend on the systems of filing and indexing that have been put in place. This is particularly so where there is a large amount of manual work. Even if automation (computerization) is adopted on a very large scale, filing and indexing are equally important. A reliable filing and indexing systems supported by competent staff that is well-versed in the art of filing and indexing are great asset to the Office Management and Administration. It is, therefore, incumbent on every Office Manager in consonance with modern ways of filing to en sure that a good and efficient system of filing and indexing is being adopted and used in the various offices. Sparling Allan E. (1970) opined that correspondence and records of a business are essential to its successful operation, and every important paper must be filed so that it can be found at a moment’s notice. He stipulates that a good filing system is the best place to keep important papers, but it is also one of the worse places to lose them. The misfiling of even one important letter may cause serious inconvenience to an executive, financial loss to the business, and considerable embarrassment to the person who misfiled the letter. A poor filing system may lead to loss or misplacement of records and documents. It may also lead to a hold up of some of the activities to be carried out in the office. A poor filing system can lead to waste of precious time used to search for documents and records. It is also an indication of office mismanagement and maladministration. When there is poor filing in an office, it can bring about malfunctioning of other departments, sections or units. A good filing system is, therefore, a facilitator to quick references and retrieval of documents and records. To ensure “perfect filing” of papers, “perfect filing” is necessary.

5.4 Recommendation

The following recommendations are proffered;

Preservation of Records and Documents: Preservation of records and documents is a very vital activity which every office cherishes. In the absence of a good filing system of preservation of records and documents, organizations can hardly achieve their objectives. Occasionally, it becomes necessary out of emergencies, to make references to certain documents and records such as payroll, receipts, invoices and other statistical data. When these are not properly stored or preserved, they cannot be referred to immediately and will create a lot of inconveniences and hamper office activities. The frustrating experience of searching for a customer’s or student’s records for hours an end before a service can be rendered is a nightmare that can easily destroy the corporate image of the organization. When records and documents are properly preserved, retrieval becomes easy. This promotes fasters processing of office information and other activities. On the bases of the above, an Organization will be paying dearly for neglecting the importance of good filing system in the areas, of preservation and retrieval of documents and records.

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