The effectiveness of paper-based reporting within the Department of Social Development, Women, Children and People with Disabilities in the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of paper-based reporting within the Department of Social Development, Women, Children and People with Disabilities, in the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality.The objectives of the study were to evaluate if paper-based reporting addresses the concerns of compliance and quality to reporting requirements, to establish the kind of evaluating and effectiveness research that meets paper-based reporting and also to identify what can be done to improve reporting mechsnisms within organisations. The study explained what paper-based reporting is and outlined the reporting practices in different fields as well as the metrics used in paper-based reporting. The study further explained the environmental, human and control factors associated with reporting. The quality of reporting and its social responsibility in relation to reporting was also indicated.The study focused on a population size of 45 staff member working in the Department of Social Development, Women, Children and People with Disabilities. All forty five (100%) of the total population selected participated. Thirty (67%)participants were females and fifteen (33%) were males. No preference was given according to any sex; the sample breakdown was considered as being a fair representation of the demographics of paper-based reporting. The findings of the study concluded that paper-based reporting role is occupied by thirty (71 %) respondents who were involved in the paper-based reporting and from an organisation perspective, the paper-based reporting cycle was successful. This indicates that the majority of respondents are familiar with the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of technology including electronic reporting. The bulk of respondents are thus specialists, and this can be attributed to the profile of paper-based reporting, who are highly skillful, qualified and with the ability to work without supervision. Furthermore, about 56% of the respondents indicated that the concurrent restructuring and centralisation process had a negative effect on the paper-based reporting implementation in the organisation. This indicates that organisations must refrain from the practice to improve reporting mechanisms.