CSEC - Office Administration

Office Administration
MODULE 1: OFFICE ORIENTATION
Content: Role and Functions of the Office, Size and Nature of a Business, Office Equipment, Ski ...
1. Describing the role and functions of the office in business activities
Functions of an Office
The office is the centre of all business activities, whether it is located in one room or several rooms, and needs
a certain amount of information in order to function properly. The office acts as an intermediary between the
public and the organization.
The roles and function of an office
Production
Production is a combination of factors - land, labour, capital and enterprise - to create goods and services in
order to satisfy consumer needs. In the production of goods and services, machinery has to be bought,
personnel have to be recruited and paid, and materials will have to be bought locally or from overseas. All
these activities generate a great deal of information.
Functions of the Production Department
The functions of the production department include ensuring that goods are not only produced, but that they
conform to an acceptable quality standard. This standard is maintained by quality control. The production
department must liaise with the purchasing department so that the correct quantity and quality of raw material
is purchased.
2. Distribution
When goods are produced, they must be distributed to the consumer. Distribution entails transporting the
finished product. The method of distribution will depend on the nature of the product, i.e., whether it is bulky
or perishable. It is important for you to be conversant with the channels of distribution.
CHANNELS OF DISTRIBUTION
Producer

Agent

Distributor

Wholesale

Retail

Consumer
3. The Exchange of Goods and Services
In the exchange of goods and services, money is used as a medium of exchange in the process of buying and
selling. An article sold for cash is an example of an
3. The Exchange of Goods and Services
In the exchange of goods and services, money is used as a medium of exchange in the process of buying and
selling. An article sold for cash is an example of an exchange of goods for money. On the other hand, the
dressmaker charges a fee, also the hairdresser for services rendered.
Some of the office activities generated by the exchange of goods and services include:
preparing sales slips
writing cheques
preparing receipts
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making ledger entries.

The office worker employed in the production, distribution and exchange of goods and services departments
must have the necessary skills to perform tasks such as:
preparing orders for raw material
preparing sales invoices
preparing accounting statements
demonstrating good communication skills
exercising good interpersonal relationships.
Functions of an Office
There are some office functions which are common to both large and small
organisations. They are:
issuing instructions to departments regarding projects
filing all essential documents carefully so that they can easily be retrieved
implementing all statutory laws and policies governing the kind of business and its activities
using reports as a means of evaluating feedback systems
controlling the financial activities to make sure that funds are always available
hiring and training of staff to provide services and support the functions of the business
make public aware of goods/services available.
Collecting of information
1. External collection
Information may be collected by general means. For example, an individual may telephone a company to
request information on its products, its line of business activities or to place an order. Written communication
is received via the post office or the Internet. In today's modern world, the use of computers enables
organisations to collect information quickly and in great volume.
2. Internal collection
In a large organisation there are several departments which deal with many aspects of the business activities.
Information from one department must be communicated to another department within the organisation so that
decisions can be made. The collection of information internally in an organisation is effected by person to
person and through written communication, that is, memoranda, routing slips, etc.
Processing Information
Where there are many departments dealing with different aspects of the organisation, the data received must
be distributed in such a way that each department is supplied with the information concerned with the
operation of that department. The relevant information must be arranged in a form in which it can
be interpreted. The following steps are taken when processing a document:
sorting the information received
extracting the relevant facts
arranging the document(s) for classification
interpreting the document for decision making and
routing through various department heads for execution.
All these processing of information may be performed manually, mechanically or electronically.