Productivity growth has been falling or stagnating for the last couple of decades. Everyone seems surprised. (Well pundits, journalists and politicians do!) I'm not! The growth referred to above was mostly in the manufacturing sector - where productivity growth is relatively easy to accomplish ... especially with the help of new technologies. But most developed nations
Though this post refers specifically to the UK, there are lessons for most nations … so don’t turn the page… read on! UK productivity stagnated some time ago and has been bouncing along the bottom of most nationality comparison charts for too long. Serval people far more important than me have tried to explain the
At the personal level, many people associate the word ‘productivity’ with working (too) hard, suffering a poor work-life balance and increasing stress. At the organisation level, many people associate the word ‘productivity’ with working harder, restructurings and layoffs. At national level, few people understand the word ‘productivity’ - talk about it confuses and frightens them.
Just imagine you were the CEO of Walmart several years ago. You can see that Amazon is starting to gain a foothold in markets beyond the books and music where it started. You know you have to have some kind of response, some preparation for when Amazon (or someone like Amazon) starts to intrude on
For most (all?) countries, at the moment, that headline could ha de been rewritten as ‘Its Productivity Weak”. Productivity, globally, has been fading as a result of general economic decline, the COVID pandemic, the war in Ukraine- and the effects on global supply chains. So what should governments do? Well, one tactic employed fairly regularly is
In a changing world, business leaders are looking for more training options that provide greater flexibility and variety. They are looking for a mix of formats and delivery options, with a preference for short courses. industrial certifications, and vocational qualifications. dip-in, dip-out and online learning is seen as being most beneficial by time-poor, resource-constrained small businesses. If
Lots of countries that expanded their productivity through the 1980s and 1990s have slowed to a crawl. Their 'growth engines' seem to have disappeared or been dismantled. COVID-19 may have been the final nail in the coffin (or the puncture in the tyre). Many of these companies are still trying to restart their engines -
The UK has a new monarch and a new Prime minister- one avowedly committed to economic growth as the way to climb out off the abyss we are in. But, as yet, apart from the long-espoused commitment to tax cuts, we have seen little evidence of what will create that growth. Where is the infrastructure
The UK has a new monarch and a new Prime minister- one avowedly committed to economic growth as the way to climb out off the abyss we are in. But, as yet, apart from the long-espoused commitment to tax cuts, we have seen little evidence of what will create that growth. Where is the infrastructure
Especially in difficult times (and current times certainly count as ‘difficult’ for most businesses), business asks for help from government. Yet in the good times (and they will come again), they want government to stop ‘interfering’. They can’t expect to have it whichever way they like. The role of government in improving productivity is simple. They