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Four Day Work Week & Productivity

The structure of work in the American economy was in a period of transition in the early1990s. Externally, both international and domestic pressures demanded increased productivity from organizations. Internally, employees demanded greater participation in the organizational decisions which affected their lives. One of the factors involved in each of these pressure areas was the scheduling of organizational work time for employees.

In the scheduling context, several different alternatives to the standard 40hour per week, eighthour per day work week had been suggested, and, on limited scales, implemented. Among these alternatives were job sharing, flextime, and the fourday work week. This current research study examined the fourday work week alternative.

In the 1990s, organizations must develop structures and systems which will permit them to integrate often conflicting demands. One set of often conflicting demands pits employee pressures for changes in the standard 40hour per week, eighthour per day work week against organizational demands for

productivity increases. A change in the standard work week need not lead to productivity reductions. The effect of such a change on productivity will depend largely on the structure of the new system, and how well the characteristics of the new system meshes with organizational requirements. An ill considered, hasty change could, potentially, cause a serious deterioration in productivity to occur, while a well planned change in the system might not only maintain productivity levels, but could conceivably lead to improvements in productivity. Within this framework of potentially conflicting demands on the organization, this current research study investigated the following questions:

1. Can productivity levels be maintained if a fourday work week is substituted for the standard work week?

2. Can productivity levels be improved if a fourday work week is s...

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Four Day Work Week & Productivity. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 16:03, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1691723.html