Productivity Improvement
The scientific study into pr
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The scientific study into productivity improvement dates at least back to the pioneering work of Frederick Taylor in the second decade of this century (Sisk, 1987). His scientific management began the development of the empirical foundations for the analysis of employee productivity. Later, in the 1930s, studies by Elton Mayo led to the discovery of what was termed the Hawthorne Effect, which led to the development of the human relations approach to management (Sisk, 1987). The human relations approach postulates that treating employees less as if they are automatons will lead to improved productivity.There were studies of productivity between those of Taylor and Mayo, and there have been countless studies subsequent to Mayo's studies at Western Electric's Hawthorne plant. The studies of Taylor and Mayo remain significant, however, in that they continue to define the poles of the continuum of human resource management practices, in the context of obtaining optimal productivity. A concern with organizational performance (productivity) is one of the more significant of the many problems which confront managers in organizationsin both the public and the private sectors (Drucker, 1980). The costs to an organization of substandard performance involve (1) profit deterioration (private sector), or budget overruns (public sector), (2) the diversion of financial and human resources from productive to diagn
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tablished (Duncan, & Frumkin, 1982). In such instances, the ratio is determined by using output as the numerator, and by using input as the denominator. Often, productivity is measured by stating output in monetary terms. This approach provides false measurements, unless the constantdollar concept, which accounts for price level changes, is employed.
Another approach to the measurement of productivity is by stating output in unit quantities. In this approach, it is not necessary to adjust for the effects of inflation. This approach, however, also has its deficiencies. One example of the deficiency may be seen in the automobile manufacturing industry. In that industry (before the widespread introduction of robotics), more worker hours were required to produce an automobile in 1979 than were required in 1959. This 7difference, however, did not necessarily mean that productivity in the automobile manufacturing industry had declined between 1959 and 1979. In part, the difference was due to the fact that the more complex, and lower polluting automobiles of 1979 were more time consuming to make than were the earlier vehicles. Similarly, the 1979 automobile cost more than the 1959 automobile, even when the prices we
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Duncan Frumkin, Maslow Herzberg, Postal Service, VII SAMPLING, Taylor Mayo, MANAGEMENT/PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT, FRAMEWORK Productivity, Item Amount, XII SUMMARY, II RESEARCH, service output, proposed research, proposed research study, research study, postal service, public sector, postal service center, private sector, job autonomy, service center, sector organizations, compensation increase, public sector organizations, worker job autonomy, mcgrawhill book company,
Approximate Word count = 3296
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page)
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