CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1  BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The term management refers to the process of getting activities completed efficiently with and through other people. The process represents the functional or primary activities engaged in by office managers.  It is the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals working together in groups efficiently accomplishing organizational aims. This base definition can be expanded as follows.

Office managers carry out the managerial function of planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling (Okolo, & Nwisienyi, I. 2009). Management applies to any kind of organization; it applies to office managers at all organizational levels (Onouha, 1993). Organizations operate by making decisions, the effectiveness and quality of these decisions determine how successful the office managers will be.

Decision making is a daily activity for any human beings. There is no exception about that. When it comes to business organizations, decision making is a habit and a process as well. Effective and successful decisions make profit to the company and unsuccessful ones make losses. Therefore, corporate decision-making process is the most critical process in any organization (Akpalap, 2004).

In the decision-making process, office managers choose one course of action from a few possible alternatives. In the process of decision making, an office manager may use many tools, techniques and perceptions. In addition; managers may make their own private decisions or may prefer a collective decision (Akpalap, 2004).

Usually, decision making is hard. Majority of corporate decisions involve some level of dissatisfaction or conflict with another party. In recent times, effective decision making has been discovered to be one of the most effective ways through which office managers achieve organizational set goals and objectives (Onouha, 1993).

Good management is a basic requirement for a successful business  enterprise. The worker’s effectiveness and input is determined largely by the way it is been managed. For an organization to achieve its goals and objectives, there must be a relationship between the management and his/her subordinate or the management and the manger. In the history of management, a manager could simply be defined as an individual who guide and control the activities of others in an organization (Okolo, &Nwisienyi, 2009).  Alugbuo, (2004), defines a manager as someone who is responsible for the work of other people. The definition serves as a useful purpose at this time because; a manager is simply a hired hand with some level of authority and salary above that of other workers.

A manager is a person who gets things done through the effort of organizing, directing and controlling of organizational resources in a manner that will lead to effective and efficient actualization of organizational goal(s). Office managers are individuals in an organization who direct the activities of others. They are those responsible for supervising the use of an organizations resources to achieve its goals. (Njoku, and Nwosu, 2010).

An office manager can be defined as a person who is in charge of planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training, promoting and other managerial activities in the office. An office manager is also concerned with record creation, maintenance, use and disposition in order to achieve adequate and proper documentation of the policies and transaction of any organization, state (Nna 2009). An office manager is responsible for the smooth operation of the day to day business of the company. An office manager makes it possible for other people to function efficiently, the office offices managers work closely with the company partners, owners or president to meet their company’s staff, equipment and organizational needs (Onuoha1993). An office manager must exercise sound judgment day in day out, and any lapses can result to determination.

According to Wikipedia decision-making is regarded as the cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several alternative possibilities. Every decision-making process produces a final choice, which may or may not prompt action. Decision-making is the process of identifying and choosing alternatives based on the values and preferences of the decision-maker.

Akpalap, (2004) in (Dapper 2011) defined decision making as a series of steps that starts with the identification of a problem to be solved, collection and analysis of the information relevant to the problem, outlay of alternative approaches to the solution of the problem and alternately, a selection from several alternatives to solve the problem under consideration.

This is the researcher found it necessary to examine the role of the office manager in ensuring an effective decision-making process in modern office.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS

There is need to bring out these problems which the office manager encounters in effective decision-making process, which affect the efficiency and effectiveness of day to day work in modern offices and to determine how that problem can be solved. The problems identified in effective decision-making process are the inability to identify the problems that bothers office managers in ensuring effective decision-making in an organization, most office managers lack information in effective decision-making process, office manager’s fail to choose alternatives for the problems identified in the decision-making process and lack of control and evaluation system against the identified problems.

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The main purpose of the study is to examine the role of the office manager in ensuring an effective decision-making process in the modern office.

Specifically the objectives of this study are:

1. The extent to which the timing of information affects decision making.
2. The extent to which the accuracy of information affect decision making.

• The extent to which clarity of information affect decision making.

1. The extent to which the completeness of information affect decision making.

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The findings of this research will be of great benefit to office managers of public organization to arrest the incessant problem associate inefficient communication within an outside the organizational environment.

Secondly, this study with also help the lecturers in the institution to understand the problem and possible solution that is involve in the teaching and learning of effective communication in the institution.

This study will also help the student to know the tremendous importance of effective communication in the environment where they may carry the research work. This study will also serve as a reference point to student and may be inspired to carry out for the research on this subject.

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

For the objectives above, the research questions would be as follows:

1. To what extent does the timing of information affects decision making?
2. To what extent does the accuracy of information affect decision making?

• To what extent does clarity of information affect decision making?

1. To what extent does the completeness of information affect decision making?
   • RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

The following hypotheses were tested at 0.5 level of significance.

H0: There is no significant effect of timing of information on decision making.

H0: There is no significant effect of accuracy of information on decision making.

H0: There is no significant effect of clarity of information on decision making.

H0: There is no significant effect of completeness of information on decision making.

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY OR DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The study is limited to find out role of the office managers in ensuring an effective decision-making process in modern offices. Only office managers and Top level managers in the selected firms will be used in the study. One oil companies were used and one public institutions. Agip oil company of Nigeria limited, Power holding company of Nigeria.