Global rating agency Moody's Investors Service sees a persistent decline in labour productivity growth, stemming from an ageing population and slow investments, as posing a key threat to global economic recovery. The agency's report, titled

The last 2 decades have sen the inexorable rise of the robot - especially in motor manufacture.  We have all sen the robotic arms lifting and fitting panels, spray painting, and so on.  Some workers

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

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

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 ...

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

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

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

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

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

Lots of management texts and courses tell us about the details of planning, organising and managing.  One problem is that managers can tend to think that they themselves have to immerse themselves in the detail.

These two terms are often used interchangeably - but they are different.  Here I am not concerned with technical differences - but with philosophical or attitudinal differences. Organisations that pride themselves on being efficient usually

No-one is quite sure why the UK voted to leave the EU - but a recent study into the habits of 500 SMEs (small and medium enterprises), commissioned by online printing company instantprint, revealed that dealing

India is held up as the latest 'economic miracle' - transforming its economy over the last 20 years.  It is often suggested that success is down to 'hard' factors - such as technical ability, capital

I talked last week about AI - posing the question whether this is the next big technological driver of productivity improvement. Of course, some people are really worried about AI - and its effects on

Technological innovation can drive massive productivity gains - but it is some time since we have had innovations of the size of those in the 1970s and 1980s - when the PC first hit desktops

The world needs to improve productivity - if we are to raise living standards, feed the world and avoid water and fuel shortages. Yet, governments seem unable to do this - productivity has been at

GDP per hour worked is the normal way in which we measure - and compare - national productivity. This is at best a 'blunt instrument'.  There are so many factors that affect GDP besides productivity. So,

The productivity of Germany and France (GDP per hour worked) is strong - and almost identical ... even though Germany is normally regarded as a strong economy and France as a weak one. Perhaps the

We've all seen technology completely disrupt certain industries - photographic film, film cameras, music recording, etc. Sometimes what emerges from this process of disruption is a changed but equally strong industry; but sometimes the disruption

Donald Trump aims to 'make America great again' by re-patriating manufacturing and putting Americans back to work. Laudable aims - but practical? The second can't happen without the former .... but if he does succeed

Some of you will have made New year's resolutions. Well, don't make specific resolutions relating to work and productivity - unless itb is one to revert to 'first principles' and review: your mission and vision

I make no apology for my continued focus on the UK. Any government should be looking to increase national productivity - by identifying key areas and key levers they can 'pull'. In the case of

Further to last week's comments on the new UK Productivity Council, UK Chancellor Philip Hammond used the Autumn Statement to pledge new funding for fibre broadband and 5G technologies. The £400 million investment in fibre, called