productivity information: a key to competitiveness

Productivity Information: A Key to Competitiveness

The authors present a guide to readily available productivity information and advice, on

building an information library.

States L. Clawson and Carol Ann Meares

C o n f r o n t e d by intense world competition, American business management is finally realizing the impor- tance of improving productivity. Unprecedented effort is necessary to develop new ideas and refine old techniques.

A key to this effort is using information. But far too many business people are unaware of the vast quan- tity of productivity information that is readily available in this country. This includes step-by-step instructions on applying improvement tools and problem-solving techniques, descriptions of new technologies and processes, information on new forms of management and organization, and insights into the psychology of people at work.

Productivit y-related information can reveal many details on what competitors, both domestic and foreign, are doing to improve operations, including:

grade work-force skills. Actual planning documents, evaluative checklists, special forms, and internal guides are sometimes available; The types of technologies/processes that are in use or planned, and the resulting benefits. Among the details often revealed are those pertaining to what precipitated the decision to adopt innovations, how requirements were determined, selection, costs, implementation, applications, employee attitudes, training, the productivity improvements, cost sav- ings, and expanded capabilities; and Industry-specific data from special studies that can be used for comparisons, and industrywide surveys of improvement programs.

Improvement strategies, goals, results, management styles and organizational structur- ing, operational changes, and plans to up-

Some of the numerous and diverse sources of improvement information will be described in this article.

Winter 1983-84 15

The US. government is the largest single source of productivity information in the country.

Nongovernment sources There are over forty-five productivity centers

situated in nearly every region of the U.S. Some centers have special expertise in manufacturing productivity, engineering and technology, quality of work life, or public-sector productivity, and can provide technical assistance on improvement programs or technological applications to companies in their regions. Companies can also take advantage of the literature collections and education and training programs of the productivity centers. The Work in America Institute (Scarsdale, New York) and the American Productivity Center (Houston, Texas) sponsor peer group forums to stimu- late improvement ideas and information exchange among participants. These forums have sponsored site visits in the U.S. and abroad, ongoing “information swapping” networks, computer conferences, and interfirm productivity measurement programs. The productivity centers have courteous, experienced people to assist inquirers.

Information on a particular industry can be obtained from professional associations and societies. Many have specialized libraries. One technical library of interest to improvement managers is the Engineering Societies’ Library at 345 East 47th Street, New York, N.Y. 10017, (212) 705-7611. In addition, associations offer a wealth of knowledge in the form of expert opinion and advice from their experienced staffs. Asso- ciations also publish specialty periodicals and journals such as Industrial Engineering and Industrial Manage- ment, published by the American Institute of Industrial Engineers (Norcross, Ga.), and Manufacturing Engi- neering, published by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (Dearborn, Mich.). Associations also sponsor trade shows and equipment expositions such as the Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ AUTOFACT Conferences and Expos, which highlight new manufacturing technologies; the American Institute of Industrial Engineers’ Annual Productivity and Engineering Con- ferences, offering numerous sessions on productivity improvement; and the meetings of the American Pro- ductivity Management Association, where managers can hear presentations and discuss their productivity improvement experiences. Associations have partici- pated in joint projects to help individual firms improve productivity. Interfirm productivity measurement pro-

grams are being carried out by the American Productiv- ity Center in cooperation with the American Bakers Association and by the Oregon Productivity Center with the Northwest Food Processors Association.

Universities also have some resources for the improvement manager. Engineering and business management schools have libraries with periodicals, basic instructional texts, and handbooks. Companies can take advantage of the continuing education programs, extension services, current research, and expert opin- ions of professors who have years of experience in research and teaching. Some universities are working with the business community to match curriculum, research, and technological developments to business needs.

U. S . government sources

The U.S. government is the largest single source of productivity information in the country.

Commerce Department

The Commerce Department’s Productivity Center (CPC) provides businesses and other organizations with information on how to improve productivity, quality, and competitiveness. As an information clear- inghouse, the CPC can provide publications, articles, referenceheferral services, bibliographies, and reading lists on a variety of productivity-related topics. The CPC has access to resources elsewhere in the Depart- ment of Commerce, including the Department’s library, which contains thousands of specialty periodicals, journals, books, reports, and reference works. The CPC is building a large collection of information on productivity and related topics. As part of the Commerce Depart- ment’s Office of Productivity, Technology and Innova- tion, the CPC has access to over thirty-five professionals with expertise in such diverse areas as economic policy, research and development, technology transfer, patent policy, industrial competitiveness, and metric conversion. The CPC is a good place to start when searching for productivity-related information.

16 National Productivity Review

The Bureau of Industrial Economics, also lo- cated within the Department of Commerce, collects and analyzes domestic and international data on production, pricing, inventories, marketing, labor, financing, taxation, energy consumption, productivity, and materials requirements for individual commodities and industries. The bureau is organized by industry classifica- tion and staffed with specialists in each industry category.

Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) offers a broad range of services designed to help U.S. firms enhance their competitiveness by developing their full export potential. Assistance includes export counseling sessions for companies, issuance of export licenses, interpretation of U.S. trade regula- tions, and special help in obtaining major contracts. ITA also collects and analyzes information on export opportunities in specific markets abroad. Additional information on ITA services is provided in its booklet, USA Exports: Commerce Export Assistance Programs, available from the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, Washington, D.C. 20230.

The National Technical Information Service, also part of the Commerce Department, is the central source for public sale of U.S. government-sponsored research and development, as well as foreign technical reports. The NTIS information collection has over 1.3 million titles, of which 200,000 contain foreign technology or marketing information.

NTIS publishes twenty-six weekly abstract newsletters, including Administration and Manage- ment, Business and Economics, Government Inven- tions for Licensing, and Industrial and Mechanical Engineering. These contain summaries of recent reports and research results.

NTIS also offers published searches, which are bibliographies containing between 100-200 document descriptions on the subject areas most frequently re- quested by NTIS customers. Published search topics include robots, incentive plans, inventory control, job- and industrial-related productivity, organizational planning and design, participative management, research management, computer-aided design of microcircuits, and machine automation and numerical control. At $35.00, the published search is an economical way to review available literature in a shorter time than a library search would require.

Other NTIS services include custom data-base searches, information on government patents, Tech Notes on new federally-developed processes and prod- ucts considered to have commercial potential, and a standing order service whereby users can regularly receive all new reports on topics selected from one or more of 38 major subject categories and 355 subcatego- ries in microfiche form for $1.10 a report.

More details on NTIS can be obtained from its general catalog of information services, available at National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, Virginia 22161.

The National Bureau of Standards provides sci- entific and technological services for industry and government to aid in increasing productivity and innova- tion. Expertise and assistance are available in such diverse areas as computer systems engineering, computer programming science and technology, applied mathematics, building technology, chemical engineering, electronics and electrical engineering, manufacturing engineering, analytical chemistry, chemical phys- ics, and materials science. Further information on assistance available from the National Bureau of Stan- dards can be obtained by contacting the Technical Infor- mation and Publications Division, National Bureau of Standards, U. S . Department of Commerce, Washing- ton, D.C. 20234, (301) 921-2318.

When assistance is needed in locating the federal agency that can best serve the needs of a particular business firm, the Office of Business Liaison (OBL) within the Commerce Department should be contacted. OBL serves as the focal point for all Department of Commerce agencies’ contact with the business community. Through its Roadmap Program, OBL provides assistance to businesses in dealing with the federal government. The Business Services Directory, which

Winter 1983-84 17

The Labor Department’s Dioision of Cooperatioe Labor-Management Programs regularly

compiles and disseminates information on labor-management cooperation.

contains information on all Department of Commerce services, including phone numbers, can be obtained by writing the U . S . Department of Commerce, Office of Business Liaison, Washington, D. C. 20230.

Labor Department

At the U.S. Department of Labor, the Office of Productivity and Technology of the Bureau of Labor Statistics conducts three major research activities. The productivity research program can provide comprehensive statistics for the U.S. economy, its major compo- nent sectors, and individual industries. The technological studies program investigates trends in technology and their impact on employment and productivity. The international program compiles and analyzes statistics on productivity and related factors in foreign countries for comparison with similar U .S. statistics. Additional information is contained in the office’s Report 671, BLS Publications on Productivity and Technology, available at the Office of Productivity and Technology, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Washing- ton, D.C. 20212.

The Division of Cooperative Labor-Manage- ment Programs at the Labor Department (Washington, D.C. 20210) assists employees and unions in joint efforts to improve productivity and enhance the quality of work life. The division works closely with trade associations, international unions, area labor-management committees, and national, state, and regional productivity/quality-of-work-life centers. In addition, it regularly compiles and disseminates information on labor-management cooperation through publications, conferences, and workshops.

Locating the appropriate government office

To discover which of the hundreds of federal government offices can provide the answer to a particular question, any individual can phone, visit, or write to a local Federal Information Center. The FIC will either answer the question or locate the expert who can. There are centers in forty-one major metropolitan areas, with

forty-three other cities connected to the nearest center by toll-free telephone tie lines. Toll-free statewide FIC service is offered in five states.

Another aid in locating federal information sources is The United States Government Munuul, which comprehensively describes the agencies of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches. A typical agency description includes a list of principal officials, a summary statement of the agency’s purpose and role in the government, a brief history of the agency, a description of its programs and activities, and a “Sources of Information” section. The 1983/84 edition of this manual can be purchased for $9.00 from the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Print- ing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 (stock no. 022- 003-01099-8).

Publications

Published information on productivity improvement can be found in a variety of forms, from brief articles to comprehensive handbooks.

Books, articles, and reports

Here are some of the thousands of worthy productivity-related books, articles, and reports.

American Productivity Center Publications Program (Houston, Tex.): Productivity Briefs-a four-page briefing on a different productivity-related topic each month; Pulse Report-experts comment and advise on a different productivity-related topic bimonthly; Cuse Studies-a six-to-eight-page description of the productivity program of a selected U.S. company each month; Benchmarks-a two-page statistical treatment of a productivity topic bimonthly; Productivity Letter-productivity news, views, and reports of the American Productivity Center’s activities; Multiple Inpur Produc- tivity Indexes-quarterly statistical reporting of U .S. productivity performance and annual industry report; Productivity Perspectives-annual analysis of international and national productivity (essential for preparing presentations on U.S. productivity); Special Reports-


The Productivity Problem: Alternatives for Action, published by the Congressional Budget Office,

offers options for productiuity performance improoement.

recent reports include Comparative Productivity Dy- namics-Japan and the United States, Productivity Di- gest (extensive bibliography on productivity), and White-collar Productivity: The National Challenge.

The Art of Japanese Management: Applications for American Executives, by Richard Pascale and Tony Athos (Simon & Schuster, N.Y.: 1981)-Japanese and American experiences illustrate McKinsey’s “Seven S’s of Management”-strategy, structure, systems, staff, skills, style, and superordinate goals.

“Building a Program for Productivity Management: A Strategy for IEs,” by Scott Sink. Industrial Engineer- ing 14(10):42-50, October 1982-a blueprint for a companywide productivity improvement strategy.

Improving Life ai Work: Behavioral Science Ap- proaches to Organizational Change, by J. Richard Hackman and J. Lloyd Suttle (Goodyear Publishing Co., Santa Monica, Calif.: 1977)-a basic text on improving quality of work life through career development, work design, reward systems, group and inter- group relations, and managerial practices.

Improving Total Productivity: MBO Strategies for Busi- ness, Government, and Not-For-Profit Organizations, by Paul Mali (Wiley-Interscience, N.Y.: 1978)-a step- by-step guide to improved productivity through planning, measuring, evaluating, and motivating.

In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best Run Companies, by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman (Harper & Row, N.Y.: 1982)-a look at organizational excellence in selected U. S. companies.

Introduction to Work Study (third revised edition) (In- ternational Labour Office, Washington, D.C. : 1979)- over 400 pages of step-by-step instructions and illustra- tions on work study techniques.

Japanese Manufacturing Techniques: Nine Hidden Les- sons in Simplicity, by Richard Schonenberger (The Free Press, N.Y.: 1982)-Japanese management approaches to cost and quality control, inventory, and worker productivity.

“ Japan-Where Operations Really Are Strategic,” by Steven C. Wheelwright. Harvard Business Review 59(4):67-74, JuIy- August 1981-how operational improvements support long-term business strategy.

Managing Productivity, by Joel E. Ross (Reston Pub- lishing Co., Reston, Va.: 1977)-a systematic ap- proach to productivity improvement through management action.

“The New Industrial Relations .” Business Week, May 11, 1981 (pp. 84-98)-a special report on labor-management cooperation.

The One Minute Manager, by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson (William Morrow and Co., N.Y.: 1982)-how to develop a management style for effective problem resolution.

People and Productivity, by Robert A. Sutermeister (McGraw-Hill Book Co., N.Y.: 1976)-a text on the people aspect of productivity, including thirty-eight background readings by such leading experts as Mas- low, Herzberg, Likert, Drucker, Argyris, and McGregor. Productivity and the Economy: A Chart Book, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.: 1983)-the chart book of facts on U.S. productivity; very helpful in preparing presentations.

Productivity By Objectives: Results-Oriented Solutions to the Productivity Puzzle, by James L. Riggs and Glenn H. Felix (Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N. J. : 1983)-step-by-step procedures for employee involvement, productivity measurement, productivity skills training, improving managerial performance, quality improvement, and using productivity-enhanc- ing techniques and technologies.

“Productivity Management,” by Marta Mooney. Re- search Bulletin No. 127 (The Conference Board, N.Y.: 1982)-a report on the productivity management function.

The Productivity Management Process, by John G. Belcher, Jr. (Planning Executives Institute, Oxford, Ohio: 1982)-includes chapters on: the productivity improvement process; commitment and organization; reinforcing, sustaining, and integrating productivity; productivity measurement; quality of work life; and opportunity assessment.

The Productivity Problem: Alternatives for Action, Congressional Budget Office (U. S. Government Print- ing Office, Washington, D.C.: January 1981)-“just the

Winter 1983-84 19

facts” on U.S. productivity performance and options for its improvement.

Productivity Sharing Programs: Can They Contribute to Productivity Improvement? (U.S. General Account- ing Office, Washington, D.C.: March 3, 1981)-an objective evaluation of productivity sharing programs including the Scanlon, Rucker, and Improshare plans.

Quality is Free, by Philip B. Crosby (paperback, New American Library, N.Y. : 1979)-suggests approaches and provides tools for initiating a successful quality control program.

The Quality of Working Life, Vol. 1: Problems, Pros- pects, and the State of the Art; Vol. 2: Cases and Commentary, ed. by Louis E. Davis and Albert B. Chems (The Free Press, N.Y.: 1975)-thirty-six origi- nal articles address quality-of-work-life issues, including enhancement, measurement, change, technology, industrial relations, organizational structure, and job design.

Quality, Productivity, and Competitive Position, by W. Edwards Deming (MIT Center for Advanced Engineer- ing Studies, Cambridge, Mass.: 1982)-the father of statistical quality control explains how to improve quality and productivity through a system of statis- tically-based process control.

“The Reindustrialization of America.” Business Week, June 30, 1980 (pp. 55-114, 120-142)-a special issue that documents the U.S. industrial decline and its causes, and suggests some specifics for reindustrialization.

R&D Productivity: An Investigation of Ways to Evalu- ate and Improve Productivity in Technology-Based Or- ganizutions (Hughes Aircraft Co., Culver City, Calif.: 1978)-a valuable guide for developing productivity improvement approaches; discusses organizational, managerial, employee, and personal productivity; contains numerous checklists, evaluative work sheets, and an extensive bibliography.

Robotics in Practice: Management and Applications of Industrial Robots, by Joseph F. Engelberger (AMACOM, N.Y.: 1980)-an introduction to robotics, including robot types, selection, applications, costs, benefits, sociological impact, and future systems.

12 Common Sense Steps to Productivity Improvement,

by William F. Schleicher (National Productivity Re- port, Wheaton, Ill.: 1978)-a twenty-two page, step- by-step productivity improvement plan that incorpo- rates many of the elements common to successful programs.

“Why Japanese Factories Work,” by Robert H. Hayes. Harvard Business Review 59(4):56-66, July-August 1981-shows how close attention to the details of opera- tion is a cornerstone of success in Japanese factories.

Performance measurement guides

Two books offer numerous examples of performance measures for various activities:

How to Measure Managerial Performance, by Richard S. Sloma (Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., N.Y.: 1980)-sample performance measures are given for managers in marketing, sales, purchasing, production, quality assurance, personnel, EDP/MIS, plant and fa- cilities management, materials handling, accounting, and industrial engineering.

Measuring Productivity in Physical Distribution (Na- tional Council of Physical Distribution Management, Chicago, 111. 1978)-offers suggestions on establishing productivity programs, measurement techniques, and measurement data bases in the physical distribution functions of transportation, warehousing, purchasing, inventory, production management, and administration.

Detailed implementation instruction materials

Handbooks and articles offering detailed instructions are available on many productivity-related topics:

Company Productivity: Measurement for lmprove- ment, by Irving H. Siege1 (Upjohn Institute for Em- ployment Research, Kalamazoo, Mich. : 1980).

“Graphic Indicators of Operations,” Robert L. Janson, Harward Business Review 58(6): 164- 170, November- December 1980.

Handbook of Business Administration, ed. by H.B. Maynard (McGraw-Hill Book Co., N.Y.: 1967).


Bibliographies can serve as gateways to the vast literature on productivity and related topics.

Handbook of Industrial Engineering, ed. by Gavriel Salvendy (John Wiley & Sons, Somerset, N.J.: 1982).

Handbook of Modern Manufacturing Management, ed. by H.B. Maynard (McGraw-Hill Book Co., N.Y.: 1970). Improving Productivity: A Self Audit and Guide for Federal Executives and Managers, National Center for Productivity and Quality of Working Life (U.S. Gov- ernment Printing Office, Washington, D.C.: Fall 1978).

Improving Productivity in State and Local Government, ed. by George Washnis (Wiley-Interscience, N.Y.: 1980).

Improving Productivity Through Advanced Ofice Con- trols, by Robert E. Nolan, et al. (AMACOM, N.Y.: 1980).

Industrial Engineering Handbook, ed. by H.B . May- nard (McGraw-Hill Book Co., N.Y.: 1971).

Measuring Productivity in Accounting and Finance Ofices (Joint Financial Management Improvement Program, Washington, D.C.: September 1981).

“Measuring Your Productivity: How To Do It,” by George E. Sadler. Plastics Technology 28(1):74-81, January 1982.

Production and Inventory Control Handbook, ed. by James H. Greene (McGraw-Hill Book Co., N.Y.: 1970).

Putting Quality Circles to Work, by Ralph Barra (McGraw-Hill Book Co., N.Y.: 1983).

Quality Circles Master Guide: Increasing Productivity With People Power, by Sud Ingle (Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: 1982).

Quality Control Handbook, by J.M. Juran (McGraw- Hill Book Co., N.Y.: 1974).

Starting a Labor-Management Committee in Your Or- ganization: Some Pointers for Action, National Center for Productivity and Quality of Working Life (U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.: Spring 1978).

Implementing a Productivity Program: Points to Con- sider (Joint Financial Management Improvement Pro- gram, Washington, D. C. : 1977).

Techniques of Structured Problem Solving, by Arthur B. VanGundy, Jr. (Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., N.Y.: 1981).

White Collar Productivity, by Robert Lehrer. (McGraw-Hill Book Co., N.Y.: 1982).

Case study volumes

Two recent books offer a variety of productivity improvement experiences:

Productivity Improvement: Case Studies of Proven Practice, ed. by Vernon M. Buehler and Y. Krishna Shetty (AMACOM, N.Y.: 1981)--case studies of Corn- ing Glass Works, Nucor Corp., Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corp., Beatrice Foods, Crornpton Co., Hughes Aircraft Co., General Foods Co., Continental Group, Burger King Corp., Chicago Title and Trust Co., Detroit Edison, and Tanner Cos.

Quality and Productivity Improvements: U S . and For- eign Experiences (Utah State University, College of Business, Logan, Utah: 1982)-Japan Steel Works, Nippon Electric Co. , Nippon Kokan, Fujitsu Ltd., Toyota, TRW, Matsushita Industrial Co., AT&T, Xerox Corp., American Express Co., and other presentations on European experiences and selected productivity issues.

Bibliographies and directories

Bibliographies can serve as gateways to the vast literature on productivity and related topics. The Work in America Institute (Scarsdale, N.Y.) offers twenty- eight single-subject studies, each containing a review of the literature, abstracted bibliographic citations, and numerous additional references. Topics in this study series include managerial productivity, human- resource accounting, alternative work schedules, oc- cupational stress, job redesign, worker attitudes, productivity measurement, absenteeism, the impact of technology on manufacturing and service industries, white-collar productivity, productivity sharing, productivity in Japan, quality circles, participative rnan- agement, and labor-management cooperation.

Winter 1983-84 21

The Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics has published four bibliographies available from the U.S. Government Printing Office: Productiv- ity: A Selected, Annotated Bibliography, 1976-78, BLS Bulletin 2051, April 1980; Productivity: A Se- lected, Annotated Bibliography, 1971-75, BLS Bul- letin 1933, 1977; Productivity: A Selected, Annotated Bibliography, 1965-71, BLS Bulletin 1776, 1973; and Productivity: A Bibliography, BLS Bulletin 15 14, July 1966. These bibliographies would be helpful to those seeking documents that provide a historical perspective on macro-productivity.

Two directories useful to those involved with productivity improvement are a directory of professional associations (the subject index will guide the user to the organization that may have the appropriate expertise), and the Resource Guide to Labor Management Cooperation (U. S. Government Printing Office, Wash- ington, D.C.: October 1983). The latter contains fact sheets on cooperative programs to improve productivity and quality of work life in U.S. companies and federal, state, and local government agencies. Contact persons’ addresses and phone numbers are included for each entry.

Productivity periodicals

Some of the periodicals dedicated to productivity are:

Executive Productivity (Productivity Newsletter Asso- ciates, Boca Raton, Fla.)--eight pages monthly of brief articles containing methods for improving productivity, advice and insights from experts, personal productivity tips, and news items of interest to white-collar workers.

Manufacturing Productivity Frontiers (Manufacturing Productivity Center, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago)--over fifty pages each month of feature articles, meeting reviews, brief articles and notes, book reviews, announcements, upcoming meetings, and abstracts of relevant articles.

National Productivity Report (Wheaton, I11 .)-four pages biweekly featuring a case study, improvement

technique review, or research findings; also, news items, expert advice, and productivity tips. National Productivity Review (Executive Enterprises Publications, Co., Inc. , N. Y. )-a quarterly journal in which experts write in depth on productivity-related topics; usually nine or ten articles per issue, plus a productivity forum, book reviews, article summaries, a listing of QWL and productivity centers, and a calendar of symposia, conferences, and workshops.

Productivity (Productivity, Inc., Stamford, Conn.)-a twelve-page monthly offering case studies, instructions for applying improvement tools, technology reports, book reviews, interviews, expert advice, and news. White-collar and production improvement information is featured. (NOTE: This organization sponsors two conferences each year featuring keynote addresses and numerous workshop sessions. Cassette tapes of the conference presentations are available.)

Productivity Management (Oklahoma Productivity Center, Oklahoma State University Engineering Exten- sion, Stillwater, Okla. )--seven-page quarterly present- ing feature-length and brief articles on management of productivity improvement, plus news items.

Productivity Primer (Oregon Productivity Center, Ore- gon State University, Corvallis, Ore.)-four-page monthly, and occasional eight-page special issues, offering case studies, short articles on improvement techniques, book reviews, brief discussions of national productivity issues, and news items.

Public Productivity Review (National Center for Public Productivity, John Jay College, N.Y.)-a quarterly journal of articles, book reviews, interviews, and case studies on public-sector productivity.

QWL Focus (Ontario Quality of Working Life Center, Ontario Ministry of Labour, Toronto)-over twenty pages quarterly of in-depth examination of QWL topics, case studies, international QWL news, and short abstracts of selected readings.

The Work Life Review (Michigan Quality of Work Life Council, Troy, Mich.)-a quarterly journal on quality- of-work-life and employee involvement theory and practice.

World of Work Report (Work in America Institute,


In any firm seeking productivity improvement, the organized gathering, reuiew, and use of

information are required.

Scarsdale, N.Y.)-an eight-page monthly offering international coverage of new work-place trends, experi- ments, and developments and other contemporary organizational, industry, and national productivity issues.

Business and management periodicals

Of the general business periodicals, the biweekly Industry Week (Penton/IPC, Cleveland, Ohio) excels in its coverage of U.S. industrial competitiveness. Its spotlight on contemporary national, industry, and organizational issues is right on target. It highlights timely information for business managers through feature articles, executive commentaries, news analyses, technology reviews, executive profiles, and coverage of business, management, and economic trends.

There are numerous management periodicals to be explored by the productivity professional. Useful information can always be found in Harvard Business Review (Woburn, Mass.), Industrial Management (American Institute of Industrial Engineers, Norcross, Ga.), Management Review (American Management Associations, Saranac Lake, N.Y.-available only to AMA members), Organizational Dynamics (AMACOM, N. Y.), Personnel Administrator (Amer- ican Society of Personnel Administration, Berea, Ohio), Personnel Journal (Costa Mesa, Calif.), Re- search Management (Lancaster, Pa.), Sloan Manage- ment Review (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.), and Training and Development Journal (American Society for Training and Develop- ment, Washington, D.C.).

Tkade, technical, and specialty journals

Of the trade, technical, and specialty journals, the American Institute of Industrial Engineers’ Indus- trial Engineering easily qualifies as a productivity pub- lication. This superb monthly has recently devoted en- tire issues to productivity projects in service/support industries, improving productivity corporatewide, high-tech projects in manufacturing, work sampling

and measurement, incentive systems, the automated factory, and quality control and reliability engineering.

Other specialty journals that provide useful information for improvement managers include Assembly Engineering (Hitchcock Publishing, Wheaton, Ill.), CADICAM Technology (Society of Manufacturing En- gineers, Dearborn, Mich.), Information and Records Management (PTN Publishing Corp., Woodbury, N.Y.), Infosystems (Hitchcock Publishing, Wheaton, Ill.), Management Technology (Norwalk, Conn.), Man- ufacturing Engineering (Society of Manufacturing En- gineers, Dearborn, Mich.), Modern Machine Shop (Gardner Publications, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio), Mod- ern Ofice Technology (Penton/IPC, Cleveland, Ohio), The Ofice (Office Publications, Inc., Stamford, Conn.), Office Administration and Automation (Geyer- McAllister Publications, N.Y.), Production (Bloom- field Hills, Mich.), Production Engineering (Penton/ IPC, Cleveland, Ohio), Robotics Today (Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Dearborn, Mich .), Today’s OfJice (Hearst Business Communications, Inc., Garden City, N. Y.), and Tooling and Production (Huebner Pub- lications, Inc., Solon, Ohio).

The improvement manager should seek out periodicals appropriate to type of organization (i.e., Hospitals, Public Administration Review, ABA Bank- ing Journal), function (i.e., Graphic Arts Monthly, Equipment Management, Modern Materials Handling, Design News, Sales and Marketing Management), and product (i.e., Iron Age, Plastics Technology, Chemical Engineering, Textile World) and scan them for work- able ideas.

National conference proceedings

The sponsoring organizations compile informa- tive proceedings of the following national conferences: the American Institute of Industrial Engineers’ (Nor- cross, Ga.) productivity and engineering conferences and expos; the Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ (Dearborn, Mich.) AUTOFACT (automated factory) conferences and expos; and the Illinois Institute of Technology Research Institute’s (Chicago, Ill.) national conferences on “Improving the Productivity of Techni- cal Resources.”

Winter 1983-84 23

Building an intrafirm information base

Choosing from the following dedicated productivity periodicals those which best meet your organization’s needs (request a free sample first to help determine which meet those needs): Manufacturing Productivity Frontiers ($100.00 per year), Executive Productivity ($72.00 per year), Productivity ($126.00 per year), National Productivity Report ($66 .OO per year); and National Productivity Review ($96.00 per year).

In many organizations, people keep magazines here and clip articles there. But what’s needed is organized information gathering, review, and usage activity wherever productivity improvement is sought. Many companies across the nation are developing their own productivity information collections. Intended for the use of all employees from top management to the assembly line or office employee, these mini-centers are stocked with books, instructional guides and handbooks, periodicals, bibliographies, films, and other information resources.

Those planning a productivity information collection should survey the organization to determine the interests of key managers and the information support needed in work groups. Some of the basic necessities in the mini-productivity collection include instructional guides on productivity measurement, work study, and problem-solving techniques; basic texts on productivity management; basic texts on behavioral science and cooperative approaches to improving productivity and QWL; case studies; information on improving productivity in work functions; and appropriate periodicals. Be sure that some of the information can be understood by people without technical sophistication, because the collection should be of use to everyone in the organization.

Keeping a constant flow of productivity improvement ideas into the organization need not be ex- pensive. Steps for establishing a modest productivity information portfolio in an organization that has both production and office functions might include:

Trying to qualify for free subscriptions to Industry Week, Production, Production Engi- neering, Tooling and Production, The OfJice, Modern Ofice Technology, Today’s Ofice, and Information and Records Management; Subscribing to Industrial Engineering ($35.00 per year), Industrial Management ($22.00 per year), Productivity Management ($25 .00 per year), Productivity Primer (free), Management Review (available to American Management Associations members only); and

The modest investment required can probably be re- covered by the adoption of one or two good ideas.

A nonprint source of information is factory tours or visits to other offices. They can provide insights into one’s own organization’s operations and might reveal new ways to utilize technologies, more effective staffing patterns, or how a competitor maintains a higher level of service. Many U.S. executives have benefited enormously from visits to factories in Japan. They return with a fresh perspective and an eagerness to apply the new ideas stimulated by observing Japanese production and work-force management practices.

Using the information

Once an organization is committed to using information, the productivity manager or company librarian must devise ways to disseminate it and encourage its use. There are several ways to accomplish this.

Through in-house publications and newsletters, the manager or librarian should advertise that the information is available to all employees, suggest how it might be used, and discuss the benefits of using it. In addition, he or she should distribute personal productivity tips, results of improvement team efforts, facts to illustrate the need for improvements, etc.

Selected information can be sent regularly to key managers and employee groups. The development of “interest profiles” can guide in the selection of information for individuals or groups.

Circulating reading lists of articles on competitiveness issues can encourage employees to broaden their perspectives beyond the scope of their daily activities.

Study guides can be compiled for groups per- forming particular functions, such as maintenance or


word processing. Subject guides can be compiled to complement the improvement approaches being em- ployed, such as quality circles or work simplification.

Productivity information can also be used as a motivational tool. Presentations can be developed to illustrate the competitive nature of today’s business environment and the consequences of improvement inaction.

Companies should also regularly monitor information to provide early warnings on developments that could affect their competitiveness.

All employees can use information to improve their personal productivity and to contribute to company productivity improvements. Individuals or employee groups can collect information to develop improvement suggestions and to assist in the accomplish- ment of their daily work in such areas as time management, stress reduction, interpersonal communications, and problem solving. It is interesting to note that a recent survey of 453 large Japanese companies showed that the average employee made 39.2 suggestions per year. Armed with the appropriate information and motivation, the U.S . work force could develop this same “power of suggestion.”

Conclusion

Learning is the first step to improving productivity. Time and money can be saved and mistakes avoided by learning from the experience of others and from the experts who have devoted lifetimes to the study of working smarter. The learning process is continuous and will always reveal new paths for improvement. Any organization not taking advantage of the wealth of good ideas available in improvement information is ignoring a powerful tool for boosting productivity.

States L. Clawson and Carol Ann Meares are manager and assistant manager, respectively, of the Commerce Productivity Center, U. S. Department of Commerce.

This article is in the public domain.

Winter 1983-84 25