OFFICE TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT EDUCATION (OTME): FUNCTIONAL SKILLS NEEDED BY BUSINESS CENTRE ENTREPRENEURS FOR EFFECTIVE SERVICE DELIVERY

Kire Charles Gilmour and Okunola Olawuyi Taiwo

ABSTRACT

The ‘Business Centre’ as is commonly known, is a Sole Proprietorship endeavor which provides direct basic secretarial and information reprography services to members of the public. This form of business venture has become a veritable avenue through which many school leavers, artisans and graduates of Office Technology and Management Education from tertiary institutions have gainful employment. Though easy to start, the business centre venture requires more than just an acquisition of machines and equipment. Office management, business etiquettes, and information technology, among others, are basic requirements for success. This study sought to determine the basic office technology skills needed by business centre entrepreneurs for efficient and satisfactory service delivery in national development. The population of this study consisted of 72 respondents made up of 48 computer operators and 24 managers of the 24 identified registered business centres in Yola and Jimeta metropolis of Adamawa State. The entire population was studied. Three research questions were asked to guide the study and mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the data collected. It was found that basic office technology and management skills such as system operations, human relations business communication were highly needed by the business centre entrepreneurs for effective and satisfactory service delivery for national development.

Keywords: Office, Technology, Management, Business, Skill, Service Entrepreneurship, National Development.