In the developing world, education standards have been rising for decades. More and more of the population go to university and the number of degrees, and even higher degrees, rises relentlessly. Yet, still employers maintain - as they always have done - that they cannot get employees with the right skills. Note the word 'skills'.
Japan has a highly automated industrial sector which has fuelled productivity growth over several years. However this efficient sector is only a pat of the Japanese economy (though an important part) and the rest of the economy - and especially the services sector has a very poor track record - relying on long hours of
Donald Trump is hailing his tax cutting plans as 'radical' and likely to stimulate US growth.How will they affect US productivity? Well, the way in which productivity responds to trade measures is not clear ... but if corporations are paying less tax, they may spend more on capital infrastructure or on R&D - and both
Is laziness helpful in making people more productive? does it encourage them to seek less arduous ways of achieving the same output? Well, certainly the opposite is not true Busyness is not a sign of high productivity. Too many people are busy but essentially unproductive - because they are either doing the wrong things or
The head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, has issued a stark warning that living standards will fall around the world unless governments take urgent action to increase productivity by investing in education, cutting red tape and incentivising research and development. Whether or not, you agree that her prescription is what is needed to
I have just returned from the World Productivity Congress in Bahrain - a fascinating event in a fascinating country. I am not going to report on the Congress ... but the spirit of the event is summed up in the Congress Declaration reproduced here. We, the members of the global productivity movement, gathered in Bahrain
New Roads to Innovation & Higher Productivity Date: 2nd-4th April 2017 This was the first visit to the Middle East and the Gulf region by WCPS and the World Productivity Congress. The overall Congress theme was New Roads to Innovation & Higher Productivity. Congress Patron was His Highness Shaikh Mohamed bi Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy
The 18th World Productivity Congress has just closed. It was a remarkable success - in terms of both its technical content and the quality of discussion surrounding the programme. The WCPS wishes to thank JAFCON, the local host organiser, for making the Congress such a success. Further details, including the Congress
I am travelling today from the UK to Bahrain for the World Productivity Congress. I do not expect world-shattering insights ... but I do expect to think and act a little differently from next week after the presentations and discussions. When I stop learning - and being able to use that learning to think and
Most of us will admit that we are not experts in all areas. (Some of us will even admit to not being an expert in any area.) So, we take advice, help and support from those who know more than we do - or at least we do if we are sensible. Of course we