I'm currently writing (or more accurately co-writing) a book on productivity improvement in the retail sector. It seems that retailers have broadly 'got it right' ... they work hard at productivity improvement ... but they always maintain a balance with maintaining excellent customer service. Of course those of us in the know about the the

I've just spent some time in India. The educational system is india is large and varied - it includes state provision and much private provision. the system is 'good'if you measure it in terms of knowledge transfered from tutors to learners - Indian students know lots of stuff and can regurgitate it in examinations However,

The Asian Water Development Outlook (AWDO) report reveals that not even one out of 49 countries of the Asia Pacific region can be considered ‘water secure’. South Asia and parts of Central and West Asia are faring the worst, with rivers under immense strain, it adds. In the Asia Pacific region, the study highlights two

I talked last week about employability skills. During the past week I have delivered a pilot program with Indian students developing employability skills using productivity as the 'engine' or focus. The students really enjoyed the program - in India they rarely get asked to 'do' something - and within a week had been in a

I  have been doing some work in India recently and have been talking to employers about the process of employing recent graduates and post-graduates. What came across loud and clear and often were comments that such graduates are not 'work-ready' because they lack the knowledge and skills to become an effective member of an organisation

I have just got back from Turkey where I attended an event - a 'Leadership Camp' - organised by students for students - mainly students of industrial engineering. They had assembled an impressive set of speakers and sponsors and pulled off the whole event very well - complete with social programme. Of course not only

I was reading something the other day which reminded me of the number of keyboard shortcuts available within some software packages.  If you take the time to learn these, they can shave seconds off simple tasks - improving your performance and productivity.  Yet each individual time you use one, the benefit is tiny. Performance improvements in any process are like this.  Each one may be very small ...

I don't know whether you know about the horsemeat scandal in the UK - where horsemeat has been found in a range of pre-produced 'beef' products but it  does remind us that each of us is responsible for securing our own supply chain - and knowing what goes on within  it. We can't blame our

Some productivity methodologies and techniques seem to be more used in specific sectors.  This suggests that either they are in some way particularly suited to the processes involved in that sector .... or perhaps just a historical accident that the methodology or technique started in that sector and has not yet broken our into wider

Two old adages say "Measurement creates understanding" and "You get what you measure".    The first is self-explanatory - if you want to understand a situation, measure it, once you know how mant/much, when, at what rate and at what quality levels things happen, you can take sensible decisions about processes. The second adage implies that measuring things changes the behaviour of those associated with those things