News

Citation

(2013), "News", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 62 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijppm.2013.07962faa.002

News

News

Article Type: News From: International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Volume 62, Issue 6.

India needs a boost

India's economy has been a major success in the last decade but there are some worrying signs now … exports are stagnant but imports are growing. There is a need to boost the productivity of the manufacturing sector – and to provide the underpinning infrastructure, modern labour laws and reduced bureaucracy. There is also a need to address new markets – Africa, for example, where growth is strong (unlike Europe where they have economic problems of their own).

Florida's successes

For Florida state employees, the annual Prudential-Davis Productivity Awards are the highest honours and most coveted recognition that a person in service to Florida government can receive. This year's awards have just been announced.

Robert Weissert, Florida TaxWatch's vice president for research and general counsel, said the programme recognizes and rewards the efforts of those in state government who find ways to stretch tax dollars.

Weissert said two numbers reflect the programme's value: “$514 million is the amount state employees this year have produced through cost savings, cost avoidance and revenue enhancements”, he noted. “Cumulatively over the 25 years, these state employees who have been recognized through this programme have saved $8.1 billion in taxpayer dollars”.

Mike Jennings, Prudential's vice president for government affairs, said the awards programme is unique in the US. “It's one that we are looking at trying to transport to other states”, he said. “We think it's so innovative, so productive and so unique that it deserves a broader cast throughout our nation”.

Australia has new chairman for Productivity Commission

Peter Harris, the new chairman of the Productivity Commission grew up in Queensland, where his father, who ran a small business in the meat industry, leased boning rooms from abattoirs, preparing meat for export, but was repeatedly subject to changes in the abattoir owners’ terms, and the family frequently moved from one town to another.

As an economist and public servant, Harris has helped devise policies to bring competition and commercial discipline to Australia's infrastructure, including breaking Telstra's phone monopoly in the late 1980s, privatizing airports and setting up a national business to own the main rail lines so that private rail freight companies can compete.

“If you look at what industry is looking for from government, there are two basic themes: one is the regulatory burden and the other is infrastructure”, he said recently in his first interview since taking up the job.

“Those are the areas where I would expect any government wanting to review the things it has a genuine role in might want to get some advice from us”.

Concern for the environment

People who use posters and photos to mark out their space in an open-plan office are happier at work than those who try to place barriers between themselves and their colleagues, according to a pilot study by The University of Queensland Business School.

The study, funded by an Australian Research Council grant, aims to find out more about how the physical work environment and its configurations affect employee productivity.

Senior Lecturer in Management Dr Remi Ayoko is working on the project with Professor of Management Neal Ashkanasy.

A sample group study found that workers in open-plan offices tend to claim ownership of their work area through items such as novelty mugs, photos and posters.

“Employees who express themselves in this way also seem to experience positive emotions”, Dr Ayoko said.

In contrast, those who were more defensive about their space, “especially in anticipation and fear of intrusion”, were more likely to experience negative emotions.

The study found that 15 per cent of open-plan office workers had had a disagreement with a colleague, 12 per cent had felt frustrated, 8 per cent were not satisfied with their job and 11 per cent said they were not performing their work effectively.

Dr Ayoko said the results were not conclusive and further research was needed, but it suggested open-plan offices made for easier communication and were cheaper to design, but could result in frustration and conflict due to noise, distractions and lack of privacy.

More women, please

The World Economic Forum has found a strong correlation between a country's competitiveness and how it educates and uses its female talent.

It states: “[…] empowering women means a more efficient use of a nation's human talent endowment and […] reducing gender inequality enhances productivity and economic growth. Over time, therefore, a nation's competitiveness depends, among other things, on whether and how it educates and utilizes its female talent”.

In the coming year, over 600 Singapore firms stand to enjoy productivity gains from a S$21 million government scheme.

The initiative was announced recently by Minister for Communications and Information Dr Yaacob Ibrahim. The money will fund up to 70 per cent of costs borne by companies in adopting computer software to improve work processes.

Dr Yaacob also stressed the need to strengthen public engagement and tap new technologies to improve not just productivity, but also the quality of life and to build a better Singapore.

Several sectors, such as real estate, pre-school, retail and travel have been identified to benefit from the programme.

Under the scheme, the government has selected 13 vendors to provide the necessary software to the sectors.

Different vendors have been appointed for different industries. Firms use software provided by the vendors to expedite work processes.