Productivity: A Competitive Tool
Article by -
Pradip Sinha
Associate Consultant,
The ICMR Case Studies and Management Resources.
Sadhu Ramakrishna
Research Associate,
The ICMR Case Studies and Management Resources.
Abstract
It's important for today's organizations to be productive
and further use this productivity as an effective tool to beat competition.
|
Business is where things change in the blink of an
eye. Today's right strategy may not be right tomorrow, i.e., it may become
obsolete in a short span of time. So the adage, "old is gold", does not
hold true at least in business. But, in this fast moving business
environment where nothing is static, one thing that has remained constant
is the goal of the organization, i.e., profit-making, irrespective of its
nature and size.
The performance of the organization has been traditionally
linked to profitability in one way or other. Profitability means gain,
advantage, improvement or that output which results from the employment of
capital, which is usually expressed or interpreted in financial terms.
Jason Jennings (Jason), a California-based management consultant and the
author of the best seller, Less is More: How Great Companies use
Productivity as a Competitive Tool in Business, defines profitability as
the simple act of increasing the output while maintaining or decreasing
the input.
|
|
Jason further cites an example to explain the meaning of
productivity. According to him, if McDonald's can figure out a way to
serve an extra 25 customers an hour (output) without having to increase
the staff (input), they'll have increased productivity.
Now, if the definition is so simple and straight, then why
are we making a fuss over productivity? As a matter of fact, productivity is not
as simple as it sounds; that's why only a few names feature in the list of
productive companies, which have been successful in retaining this magical word
with them on a constant basis.
The Competitive Edge
The old days when businesses used to run on mediocricity and laid down sticky
traditional rules are gone. Today, it has become vital for an organization's
long-term stability, survival and growth to understand the true cost of doing
business and the sources of profit. Productivity plays the role of a sheet
anchor for today's companies by giving them the much needed edge in the market.
More >>
2005, ICMR Case Studies and Management Resources. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted
in any form or by any means - electronic or mechanical, without permission.
|
More Classifications...