Automation brings rewards to companies that invest. The auto industry has installed many thousands of robots over the last 10 years - numbers of employed people have fallen, quality has risen, productivity is up. Great for the companies -and their shareholders: not so good for those now unemployed workers whose jobs have gone to the
Japan is offering employment subsidies to organisations that improve their productivity. So 'winning' companies get a double boost. Is this a sensible role for government - to reward the successful? One reason for their action is to prevent companies from using job cuts to fuel growth. What does matter is that the aims of any
The relentless rise of technology and the willingness of men to experiment means we are likely to see a merging of mankind and technology over the next couple of hundred years - producing real cyborgs. These will be highly efficient and productive workers. Eventually, the human race as we know it will disappear - unless
More firms are allowing workers to come to the office in less formal attire. Does this have an impact on productivity? There is little research on the issue. The arguments seem to boil down to: allowing people to dress casually makes them more comfortable, more relaxed and more content - and this has a positive
Nations are (quite rightly) urged to improve educational standards and attainments to help boost national productivity. An educated - and skilled - workforce is a key underpinning of higher productivity. This is actually a vicious circle (or cycle). Low education standards results in lower productivity - and lower productivity results in less money to invest
We know that teams that share values tend to knit together better. A culture in which people 'get on' and work for each other is considered to be productive. Yet, tension can provide creative sparks; competition raises effort; oysters need an irritant to produce pearls. So, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Allow
Some countries are much more productive than others. One would assume that this gives the less productive countries lots of scope to learn what works and what doesn't - and boost their own productivity ... but this doesn't seem to be the case. This suggests that either those countries are not trying to learn the
As i write this, Donald Trump has just accepted the nomination as Republican candidate for the US presidency. Now Trump is certainly a controversial figure and i am not going to give my view on his suitability to be president - if for no other reason that, here from the U K, making any judgement
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI)together with Lloyds Banking Group, the ScaleUp Institute & Aston Business School, has launched a new report, Lifting the Trophy, profiling scale-up insights into raising productivity within firms. In 2013, 4% of firms contributed 17% to total UK productivity Between 2012 – 2015, over 18,500 businesses rapidly scaled-up their turnover
Many people are not at their most productive on Friday afternoons. They procrastinate, prolong and prevaricate - picking issues up on Monday when they are (hopefully) refreshed and revitalised. So, why not use this fact to your advantage. Give your staff Friday freedom. Not the freedom to take time off - but the freedom to