Date of Award

7-1-1970

Document Type

Independent Study

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Management

Abstract

In many cases, past business graduates from secondary schools were unable to secure job-entry office positions due to their lack of business experience. Concern over this problem caused many business educators to seek improved methods of training for practical office work experience.

Today, much attention is being focused on the Simulated Model Office Method for work experience. However, simulated model office programs have been hampered by a lack of organizational principles concerning the philosophy, design, and operation of simulated model offices.

The problem in this study was threefold: (1) to determine the philosophy, design, and operation of model office simulation, as indicated in relevant business education literature; (2) to identify from this literature pertinent issues regarding model office simulation; and (3) to investigate the attitudes of Canadian business educators towards selected issues concerning simulated model office instruction. Eighty Canadian business educators participated in the study. The researcher found that simulated model offices are used in many high schools, particularly in the provinces of Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Alberta.

The study revealed almost unanimous agreement (80 to 100 per cent) with each of the following:

    1. A simulated model office should reproduce in the classroom those tasks and procedures that are representative of local offices in the community.
    2. Published practice sets for simulated model office training are not preferred by a significant majority of the respondents.
    3. Model office simulation should be concerned with creating a variety of job situations encountered by an office worker in a specific POSITION.
    4. The following facilities, systems, or items should be placed within a simulated model office: telephones, paper cutter, stencil duplicator, spirit duplicator, photo copier, electric typewriters, legal-size file cabinet, alphabetical file system, and a transcribing machine.

The following items received less than a 50 per cent majority, and could be considered highly controversial:

      1. How many periods per week, and what length of period should be devoted to simulated model office instruction?
      2. What proportion of the school year should be devoted to model office simulation?
      3. The following facilities, systems, or items should be placed within a simulated model office: fixed partitions, movable partitions, carpeting, imitation flowers and planter, intercom system, switchboard, time-clock, letter-size file cabinet, geographical file .system, bookkeeping machine, full-keyboard adding-listing machine, rotary calculator, electronic calculator, postage meter, addressograph, offset duplicator, collator, electric stapler, coffee percolator, cheque protector, and copyholder.

Based on the findings of this study, the significant conclusions are:

      1. A simulated model office complements, rather than replaces the Cooperative Office Work Experience Program.
      2. The Concurrent Operations Plan lends itself to realistic model office simulation experiences.
      3. Canadian business educators prefer one general model office simulation that can be applied to all students— bookkeeping, clerical, and secretarial.

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