The impact of office automation on service delivery : a case of uMshwathi Municipality

Abstract

The adoption of automation at the uMshwathi Municipality has been often associated with reform programmes aimed at reducing the inefficiencies generated by the administrative load. The uMshwathi Municipality’s mission is to promote social and economic development through sustainable, effective and efficient use of resources and dependable delivery of basic services in line with the constitutional mandate, and to continually strive to remain a green municipality. The purpose of this quantitative study is to ascertain the effectiveness of automated systems towards the improvement of service delivery within the uMshwathi Municipality and reveal the challenges and opportunities of automation within the uMshwathi Municipality. Based on the empirical findings, automation facilitated the workflow, thereby improving work performance at uMshwathi Municipality, which impacted the service delivery. This study found that computer programmes were most commonly used in the automation process. This was followed by other tools and programmes including the scanner, intranet, selfservice, digital signature and filing system. The study concluded that automation improves the process of service delivery within the uMshwathi Municipality. This study therefore recommends that uMshwathi Municipal management should consistently maintain its strong reputation of quality service to regularly meet customer service expectations and also keep a good administrative environment that has a compatible automation system that will assist in enhancing employee work satisfaction. The study also recommended that the uMshwathi Municipality should provide a comprehensive training for employees on how to use automation effectively and efficiently as well as how to fix possible automation errors. Furthermore, the study recommends that the uMshwathi Municipality to use remote technical support whereby a technician can resolve computer problems without being physically present in the area where the computers are located. Municipal management should improve the work environment by providing adequate equipment such as work equipment and modernised automation to personnel in order for them to perform their jobs more effectively and efficiently. Automation advancements such as an updated website can facilitate the development of an intranet system and interactive software could encourage more communication between municipal employees and the citizens. Continuous training of administrative employees is also very important as it helps all the municipal departments to improve quality service delivery to its citizens.