Modern Office and Functions

MODERN OFFICE AND FUNCTIONS

Introduction:

An office is the center point of any business activity. It is like the brain in a human body. As human physical activities are regulated and controlled by the brain, the activities of department and people in an organization are as well regulated and controlled from office. In simple terms, we can say office is a place where business is carried on.

Today the modern, business houses do not limit the scale of their operation to local markets. They have expanded their operations to different countries of the world and have plants and sales offices all over the world. This vast expansion of business operations needs a well-equipped and different office to co-ordinate its affairs.

Meaning of Modern Office:

The term Office comes from the Roman Latin, Officium, a term loosely defined as a ‘bureau’ or ‘a formal position’. In common parlance, it is a place where clerical work is performed and where all kinds of paper work (letters, correspondence, files, records etc.,) are dealt with. It is “a central place where all sorts of clerical work is done to co-ordinate and control the affairs of the whole organization”.

In the modern days, with growth of industry and commerce, the amount of writing work, correspondence, filing, indexing, computing, scheduling etc. have increased to huge extent. Making or preparing records, using them and presenting them for future reference are office work. In this sense, the office work can be called as a facilitator of the modern management.

Definition of Modern Office:

According to Mills &Standingford “The office is the administrative center of a business. The purpose of an office has been defined as the providing of a service of communication and record”.

As per Random House of Dictionary “An office is a place where business is transacted or professional services are available”.

In modern times, the term ‘office’ is used in a broader sense to represent the functions performed by the clerical staff rather than the place where such work is performed.