When times are tough (as they are now), we tend to turn in all directions looking for some help So, will technology help us out of the current mess we are in? It is possible

China's productivity record over recent years has been excellent - yet most of the improvement has come from capital investment. As such it has been relatively low-hanging fruit. If growth is to be maintained, the

This, of course is the time for resolution- determination to do more and/or better, to improve. But this shouldn't happen at new year- or, at least, not only at new year. Such determination should be ingrained in you at all times - and across your

Information from India, provided by the ILO, shows that economic growth from 2008 to 2011 was over 7%. However real wages rose by about 1.6%. This suggests that the fruits of productivity growth are not

Many workers sit - at desks, at PCs, at assembly stations at ... It has been known for many years that it s beneficial to give people the choice as to whether to sit or

Regular readers will know i have just been in Mauritius helping to promote their national productivity campaign. I talked to lots of stakeholders - employers, trades unions, educators, government agencies and even senior figures in

Maneesh Sethi wrote on his blog that he hired a "slapper" to smack him in the face whenever he logged onto Facebook while working and boasted that it increased his productivity. Of course, Sethi must

Thomas Friedman suggests that “big breakthroughs happen when what is suddenly possible meets what is desperately necessary.” So, leaders of successful companies are those that recognise both sides of that formula - they know what

If you read lots of press releases ... as I do (yes, I know I should 'get a life'), you soon realise that just about everything is claimed to improve productivity. Most often such 'stories' relate to what is termed 'personal productivity'

Too often, managers assess worker performance - especially in knowledge jobs - on how long they work ... not on what they achieve. Of course workers react to such measurement schemes and will extend their hours ... taking longer than necessary to complete

I went to a presentation recently on Israel's approach to innovation ... and to Research & Development in particular. What struck me was the 'joining of the dots' ... the fact that Israel seems to

Most countries go through a development cycle from Agriculture to Manufacturing and then on to Services. However many services are labour intensive ... and therefore dramatic productivity gains are difficult Productivity in manufacturing industry can be transformed using technology and automation. Does,this mean that those countries that have moved

The Guardian (UK newspaper) this week raised the question of how the UK has managed to create jobs whilst GDP is falling. It suggests that the answer must be that the productivity of the workforce

Behind many productivity problems is a learning problem. It is astonishing how often employees are poorly trained ... and in many cases, completely untrained, to do the job they are supposed to do. We then

In 2007, the state of Iowa in the USA hired Mike Rohlf, a black belt in Six Sigma, to apply 'Lean' to the various processes and procedures of state government. Mike is still there ...

A recent report from IDC Manufacturing Insights suggests that the IT spend in Indian manufacturing organisations will double by 2016. Will this give them a rise in productivity? Almost certainly.  Not necessarily as a direct

I'm writing this in Pakistan ... whilst taking a look at some aspects of Pakistan's horticultural sector. If you take a look at 'the figures' they suggest that this sector is quite 'inefficient', yet when

Did you see what I did there.  Possibly too clever for my own good but I carried on the title of this post from the title of my last one. How often have you felt

Anyone who has practiced 5S will know the value of tidiness and cleanliness. Yet, all too often we see dirty, untidy workplaces ... creating inefficiency. Wherever you see untidiness, think "This is costing me money"

Imagine for a moment that you are in charge of the country. Your country needs you to increase its competitiveness… you know the best way to do this is to improve its productivity. Of course,

Sometimes we want output to go down .. sometimes we even want people doing as little work as possible. Think of maintenance engineers ... we want them efficiently and effectively involved in preventative maintenance. We