On the LinkedIn group which I moderate (Productivity Futures) we have recently had a discussion about which come first - motivation or productivity. One side of the argument (conventional wisdom) suggests that we motivate staff

In the measurement field.there seems to be an assumption that, if you set targets, people will - by default - be motivated to achieve them. However, clearly you need also to have a plan ...

We often see statements that such and such an issue cost so many millions of money.  The latest case was the US government 'shutdown'.  I have seen various estimates of the cost to the economy.

This week I have been at an event organised by RKW in Germany and involving representatives of the European Association of National Productivity Centres (EANPC) and the European Management Association (EMA). We have been discussing

MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are becoming fashionable. The World Confederation of Productivity Science can put an online course on our website and make it available to all free of charge. (and perhaps we should!)

U.K. labour productivity rose for the first time in two years in the second quarter, led by manufacturing industry. Productivity measured by output per hour increased 0.5 percent from the first quarter according to the

How much can you improve the productivity of a process without changing the underlying technology? Sometimes we look for the major changes that major process change can bring about.  However, real gains can often be

Success comes from being clear about what you are aiming for ... and then single-mindedly executing the strategy to get you there. What you don't need are distractions - the little problems along the way

I normally post to this blog on a Saturday ... but this is not a normal week. Firstly I am in St Johns, Newfoundland attending a Board Meeting of the World Confederation of Productivity Science.

So, Blackberry seems to have gone.  A few years ago, business executives were addicted to the mobile email platform ... for that is what it was.  Then Apple - and Google via Android - showed

Many organisations are thinking through their 'corporate social responsibilities'.  They see this as either a good means of getting positive PR (the cynical ones) or as a means of making their contribution to the communities

One by one the BRIC countries seem to be losing their lustre.  Most of them are growing at a considerably slower rate than they were a few years ago ... some are really struggling. Is

On one of the forums (groups) on LinkedIn there has been  a very interesting discussion recently about the relationship of productivity to profitability.  The relationship is certainly there but it is not necessarily direct or

I've just returned from India - one of the world's economic success stories over the last decade. Yet it doesn't feel like that. Partly because the rupee is in free fall. Partly because the government

I read some data the other day on the level of absence in the Australian public sector.  It was astonishingly high. Why is this ... it seems to be a pattern in public sector employment

Increasingly our workplaces are filled with 'knowledge workers'. The way in which they work differs from the working patterns of 'traditional' office workers - much more participative, team-based and relying on research and discovery. How

There is a number of things we, collectively, have to improve over the next 10 or 20 years. Food supply, energy supply, waste disposal, and so on. Governments have a role to play … but

The IMF recently called on Sri Lanka to increase government spending on education and healthcare saying it would lead to increased labour productivity. However for a government under real pressure, increasing public spending is a

Both the US and the UK are experiencing a mini-revival in manufacturing with firms re-locating manufacturing processes from offshore to back home. Well, that's what the media - and the companies involved - would have

The recent revelations that Western Governments (particularly the US and UK?) are involved in widespread monitoring of digital communications challenges what many think of as the' right' to privacy. Many of us are moderately happy

The EU is one of the world's largest trading blocs - yet too often we view it as a collection of nation states, in competition with each other rather than collaborating with each other to

We know there are some big questions to ask (and answer) to solve some of the current world problems - poverty, food security, energy capacity and so on. It seems however, that we have known

The financial crisis of the last few years led to the eurozone crisis. Recently, there have been signs that the EU - and the Eurozone itself - is making progress in terms of solving some

Do you know which factors of your business are important? What, if it changed, would have the biggest impact? A 5% reduction in your material costs, your energy bill,your wage bill, or ...? If you