MEASURING AND RAISING PRODUCTIVITY IN ORG ANIZATIONS

Improving organizational productivity has received a great deal of att ention because of its ties to important issues such as international c ompetitiveness, the success of industries, the survival of specific or ganizations, and the quality of life of individuals (Campbell & Campbe ll, 1988; Kendrick, 1984; Kopelman, 1986; Pritchard, 1992). This paper describes the results of a research program that has been conducted s ince 1982 land is geared toward the measurement and improvement of org anizational productivity It has assumed that there are two major ways of improving productivity. The first is through technological improvem ents and the second is through the motivation and behavior of the peop le doing the work. The first approach is largely the domain of enginee rs and other technical experts, the second is the domain of social sci entists. The approach described here, the Productivity Measurement and Enhancement System (ProMES), is of the second type: it is designed to improve productivity through changes in behavior and motivation. This paper briefly describes the background behind the approach, explains how it is done, discusses its advantages, summarizes the research done on the approach, and draws some conclusions.