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8/13/2019 Aom Finals Reviewer ..

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MANAGEMENT OF OFFICE SYSTEMS

SYSTEM Interrelated procedures necessary to

achieve a well-defined goal.

PROCEDURE Related method necessary to

complete work process.

METHOD Specific clerical or mechanical

operations or activities.

For each operation within a procedure,

there is a method for accomplishing that

phase of work. For instance, in an order

processing procedure, there is a method for

acknowledging the incoming order,

checking the credit status of the customer,

preparing the sales invoice and distributing

the copies of invoice.

A method is thus concerned with sequence

of motions used in performing an operation

and with the specific equipment.

OBJECTIVES OF SYSTEMS AND PROCEDURES

Some of the major objectives for using the systems

concepts are the following:

1. To bring efficiency in the utilisation of

the organisational resources. It means

greater effectiveness and more economy.

Effectiveness here means prompt services

to the customer and economy means higher

productivity at lower costs.

2. To control operating costs. Systems are a

basis for controlling operating costs. Current

working results can be measured against

standards.

3. To improve operating efficiency.It means

that wasteful motions, delay and uncertainty

are to be minimised.

4. To help achieve the objectives of the

organisation. If systems are well-designed

and are used effectively, they help achieve

the objectives of the organisation.

DESIGNING AN EFFICIENT OFFICE SYSTEM

Efficient office system is the result of carefu

planning and design. When a new system is

required to be developed, it would be appropriate to

proceed through the following steps sequentially:

1. Determination of objectives and forms o

office services.

2. Study and analysis of various office

services.

3. Development of simple procedures and

methods.

4. Simplification and improvement in

procedures.

5. Development of the system itself.

VALUES AND LIMITATIONS OF MANAGEMENT

SYSTEMS

Systems make the following contributions to

management effectiveness:

1. Focus upon end results. Purposed mus

be clearly discerned if systems are to be

used effectively.

2. Plan of action that is purposeful, orderly

and efficient. Managers and employees

are given a track to run on.

3. Coordination of specialised activities

The conflicting interests of functiona

specialists can be fitted together in an over-

all pattern.

4. Basis for control. Current work can be

guided, consistency can be achieved

results measured against the standard, then

reported to provide feedback necessary to

adjust methods.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A WELL-DESIGNED

SYSTEM


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If the System Analyst has done a good job of

design, the resulting system should possess the

following characteristics:

1. Effectiveness. A system is effective if it

accomplishes the purposes or achieves the

goals for which it was established.2. Efficiency. Not only a good system must

accomplish its purpose, but it must also

achieve it at a cost less than the value of

the objective.

3. Dependability. A well-designed system

produces consistent results; its output is

reliable.

4. Flexibility.The ability to absorb changes in

environmental conditions or input factors

and the ability to accommodate exception.

5. Simplicity.The system does not need to be

complex to be good.

6. Acceptability.If a system is not acceptable

to those who are using it, it is destined to fail

either through disuse or overt sabotage.

THE MEANS OF INTEGRATING SYSTEMS

A generalised approach to integrating systems has

already been indicated. There are 2 basicapproaches in the integrated system:

1. Defining the outputs or goals desired from

the total system.

2. Then defining major inputs which influence

achievement of these goals.

There are two major steps needed to move towards

integration of systems:

Development of a master plan of

systems and subsystems.

Development of information flow

which guides operative activities.

THE MASTER SYSTEMS PLAN

There are different levels of system likely to be

found in an enterprise:

1. The total system of operations, designed

to achieve general enterprise goals.

2. Integrated systemssuch as the linking of

production control with inventory control, oof sales with accounts receivable or of

purchases with accounts payable.

3. Subsystems such as the entire inventory

control made up of separate procedures for

requisitioning, issuing, reordering, receiving

an updating records.

4. Procedures such as the inventory

requisitioning procedure, made up of a

series of operations such as checking stock

preparing a materials requisition, securing

proper authorisation and transmitting the

requisition.

5. Methods which are simply the means o

performing individual operations.

A SPECIAL ROLE OF PROCEDURES

A PROCEDUREas suggested earlier:

o

A specific work sequence.o A series of operations pointed

towards achieving a particula

objective.

o It stands between a system and an

operation.

o It layouts the sequence of steps

usually followed in performing a

recurring type of work.

o It also specifies work steps

necessary and assigns

responsibility.o Is the working level of system.

o It is an actual guide to employees on

how to proceed each time in a

particular recurring type of work.

A well-designed procedure serves as:

1. A standing plan of work.


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2. A means of coordinating effort.

3. A tool of communication.

4. A basis for control of performance.

FLOW CHART

It is concerned with the way the work

moves along from one operation to

another, the quantity or volume of

work done through, the rate at which

it moves along and the smoothness

of its passage.

It is basically an exercise aimed at

greater efficiency in every sphere of

office activity so that not only costs

are cut down but also delays are

eliminated.

Flow charts are prepared to know

whether the flow of work is ideal or

whether there is scope for

improvement.

NEUNER AND KEELING has suggested three

types of charts for the analysis of flow of work:

1. FLOW OF WORK

It should be planned in such a way

that there is least possible wastage

of time.

It must always move forward from

beginning to end.

It depicts the actual flow of work in

offices.

Advantages of having a straight line of flow of work:

o The work will be speeded up.

o There will not be backtracking of work.

o There will not be any interruption in the flow

of work.

o Avoidance of delay.

2. OFFICE LAYOUT CHART

This chart analyzes the flow of each

part of office activity throughout the

organization.

In every chart, lines are drawn to

indicate the movement of various

business throughout the office

Charts are compared to spell out the

waste of effort, motion, and backtracking.

Consists of a series of connected

steps where each step follows

without delay or gap and ends jus

before the subsequent step may

begin.

Fig. 1 Office Layout Chart

3. FLOW PROCESS CHART

Also known as work simplification

chart as they aim at simplifying office

work.

It seeks to depict the flow of work

under a specific system or

procedure to make its presentation

more effective.

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers

New York published the operation and process flow

charts. These symbols are given below.


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Fig. 1.1 Flow Process Chart

STAGES IN COMPUTERISING SYSTEM

STEP 1: AREA SELECTION

Preliminary examinations are done to

examine the unit which needs

computerisation.

In this step, they ascertain the strengths and

weaknesses of present system.

They also assess the attitude of union

leaders towards computerising system.

STEP 2: OVERALL ANALYSIS

Documentation of the current system.

Analysis of the present system

Determining several alternatives

Producing preliminary schedules and

budgets. Feasibility Study is conducted.

STEP 3: MASTER DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Objectives of the proposed system.

Capabilities of the organization.

Possible technological development.

Compiles the specific plan which comprises

a hardware and a software.

STEP 4: SYSTEM ANALYSIS

Involves in collection, recording, verification

and analysis of how the operations arebeing carried out presently.

STEP 5: SYSTEM DESIGN

Designing input files and output layouts

Specifying the media to be used and

methods of file accessed.

Construction of decision tables.

STEP 6: PROGRAMMING ANALYSIS

Breaking down the designs into input/outpu

calculation, logic/comparison, and

storage/retrieval operations etc.

STEP 7: PROGRAM PREPARATION

It comprises translation (coding) by

Programmers of the specific operations.

STEP 8: SYSTEMS IMPLEMENTATION

Concerned with those tasks which are

necessary to make the system ful

operational.

It also includes software writing and also the

final testing.

The other tasks are space management

training of staff and operators, training

supervisors, installation of equipments and

development of files.

STEP 9: SYSTEM MAINTENANCE AND REVIEW

Examines whether the system in use is

suitable to meet the changing conditions.

Analysts also ensure if the system fully

meets the objectives of the system for which

it was created.


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EDUCATION AND TRAINING

The changeover to the computerized

system can indeed be traumatic to the Managers.

Those affected by the change have therefore to be

educated in the new system. Education is to be

imparted to the departments carrying out thechangeover.

Ways of achieving this are the following:

1. Articles in magazine.

2. Organising visits to the computer room.

3. Discussion meetings.

The education is aimed at broadening

people`s mind to accept the change,

dispelling mystique, and allaying any

apprehensions. There has also to be a

comprehensive training programme that is

intended to train the employees in their new

assignments.

BENEFITS OF OFFICE MANUAL

o

PRINTED INSTRUCTIONS. It reduces theneed to explain the procedures/methods.

o UNIFORMITY. It relieves the managemen

the necessity to repeat the same instruction.

o ASSISTS IN TRAINING OF NEW

EMPLOYEES. It gives the employees a

handy form the policies, instructions

practices, systems and procedures.

o REDUCES DUPLICATION OF EFFORTS

Reduces the overlapping of responsibilities.

o AUTHORISED GUIDE.Serves as a record

of standards and record of operatingsystems and procedures.

FORMS DESIGN AND CONTROL

Office forms are one of the important tools used in

an office for its efficient functioning. A form is a

piece of paper used for communication purposes.

In the words of Frank M Knox "nothing happens in

an office except to or by means of pieces of paper".

There are different forms used in the office, and

they are:

Continuous

It is a set of forms that are attached to one another.

In order to separate one form from another,

perforations are used. Continuous forms are

especially suited for automatic printing equipment

such as computer printers. It saves considerable

amount of time because continuous forms are

automatically fed through the equipment. This

process eliminated the task of individuality insertingeach form in the equipment.

Unit set form

As the name indicates, it is an individual form or a

separate form and is not attached to another set

like continuous form. This type of forms may be

either single or multiple copy forms. Where multiple

copies are desired, a sheet of carbon paper is

inserted within each form.

MICR forms Magnetic Ink Character

Recognition forms

It is a type of form frequently used by banks on

which MICR number appear. Such forms are used

by banks to expedite the sorting and processing of

numerical data found on banking documents. Theequipment reads the number printed with a

magnetic ink and then transmits the data to the

computer.

OCR Forms / Optical Character recognition

The ocr forms are both alphabetical and numerical

date as compared to MICR forms which use only

numerical data. When the data is read on the ocr

form, the data is transmitted to the computer where

it is processed.

Mark sense forms

It is a type of form that involves the use of a special

pencil for entering the data in appropriate areas on

the form. The location of the mark which is in coded

form, can be read by the special data processing

equipment.


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Forms design

Forms design is concerned with the

1 size of the form

2 the content

3 the colour

4 the number of copies each form

5 the thickness and quality and paper used

IMPORTANCE OF GOOD FORMS DESIGN

1 Forms serve as tools of office work.Forms are

one of the most important tools of office

management as they assist in performing some of

the important functions such as recieving,

recording, arranging, and giving info in the office.

2. It improves the morale of the staff. A badly

designed form will have a psychological effect on

the staff using such forms. And can reduce the

efficiency of office work.

3 It avoids clerical mistakes.The decisions based

on such wrong information will lead to serious

consequences on the mgt.

4. It reduces cost of maintenance.A well

designed form results in saving in the cost involved

in preparing, recording, and filing the forms.

5. It improves the prestige of the organization. A

well designed form results in building up the

goodwill and public image of the concern.

6. It helps in effective implementation of the

office system.Office forms are closely related to

office system. A well designed form enables thesuccessful implementation of office system.

Factors affecting forms design

1. Quality of paper. Frequent handling of paper

and long preservation of records call for better

quality of paper.

2. Good printing. Elegant type of printing

enhances the appearance of the paper itself.Itshould be read with in natural and artificial light.

3. Paper size. Planning the standard size of forms

will avoid unnecessary wastage of paper.

4. Tilting and numbering. Each form must have a

title and number. It must be short and simple.

5. Simplicity. It means clear column heading,

adequate space for numbering and simple

language of instructions for use.

6. Punching and perforating. It must be ensured

that forms must allow for punching and perforating.

Perforation means punching small holes in a

straight line so that some portion can be detached.

Method of form designing

The different methods of form designing as given

below should be carefully considered,

-Boxing.Under this plan the entire surface of theform is boxed in with most of the printing to show

the data to be inserted in the upper left hand corner

or top of every boxed area.

-Lines.This plan of designing forms provides for

the use of lines chiefly as a basis both of printing

and entering the data.


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-Headings.In designing forms, headings are used

commonly to call attention to the information areas

in which data is to be entered.

-Columnar Design.This type of design is

particularly applicable to tabulation of figures where

this is a form of information to be recorded.

-Spacing.Spacing is the important for both

appearance and use. Typing requires spacing in

multiples of one sixth inch. Handwriting requires

one fourth inch to one third inch between lines.

FORMS CONTROL

Forms are basic tools for an office work, officesystems and procedures. It has become essentialto exercise control over forms in order to haveeffectiveness in use.

The cost of producing and processing form maytotal a sizeable amount. Forms control is a mean ofexercising management control over these costs.

Specific purposes of forms control include:

1. Proper design of forms, which will insuremaximum clerical efficiency.

2. Elimination of obsolete forms.

3. Consolidation of forms to minimize duplicateeffort.

4. Minimization of printing costs.

5. To lessen clerical work.

6. To minimize the use of number of forms.

7. To make alterations whenever required.

8. To economically use the forms.

Steps involved in efficient form controlprogramme

1. Forms cataloging: Enables those individualsresponsible for the forms control program todetermine the nature, type, and purpose for formsused throughout the organization.

2. Form classification: Function: Forms areorganized according to their specific purpose.

Functional file uses classification forms collected bysubject, operation and function served

Number: Forms are organized according to theidentification number each is assigned. Numericalfile includes a sample of form, specifications andchanges that may affect the design or quantity tobe ordered at the next printing.

3. Eliminating Forms: Eliminating forms that are nolonger needed.

4. Consolidating forms: Once the unwanted formswere eliminated, the remaining forms may revealthat certain forms contain same details.

5. Design guidelines: This are established fordeveloping new forms or revising the existingforms. It helps with the consistency with the otherforms.

6. Development of forms. This refers to thepreparation of either a new form or revising anexisting form by taking into consideration the formdesign discussed earlier.

7. Continuous supply of forms. Under this step,efforts are made to get continuous supply of formswithout interruption.

Advantages of forms control

1. Saving in costs.

2. Simplification of work.

3. Reduction of errors.

4. Improvement in communication.

5. Ensures continuous supply.

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