PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT EXPENDITURES AND LABOR PRODUCTIVITY

Empirical evidence relating personnel department budgets to desired or ganizational outcomes remains sketchy and inconclusive. An analysis wa s conducted of the relationship between previous year's personnel depa rtment expenditures and total annual output, for 11 large railroads ov er a six-year period. There was a significant partial correlation betw een these two variables. However, after controlling for total assets a nd workforce size, a regression analysis indicated that individual rai lroads were unable to adjust their personnel department expenditures o ver time to maximize productivity. Implications for research and pract ice are discussed.