Organizational Linkages Understanding the Productivity Paradox (1994) / Chapter Skim
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1 INTRODUCTION
1 INTRODUCTION
Pages 1-12
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These and related questions frame the productivity paradox addressed by this report. The position of the Panel on Organizational Linkages, a study panel convened by the National Research Council, is that the answers are to be found in a better understanding of the linkages among individual, group, and organizational productivity.
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On the other hand, the United States has actually been investing heavily in advanced technologies to enhance productivity growth. The returns, however, do not appear commensurate with the investments.
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Although specific applications of IT have made positive contributions to productivity, the overall investment does not seem to have improved industrial productivity in the United States.i This and similar evidence presents a paradox: Why have the enormous investments in IT not resulted in clear-cut increases in organizational productivity? It is clear from the analyses reviewed in Chapter 2 that enhancing productivity is a major national challenge and that this productivity paradox must be understood.
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Industrial and organizational psychologists have attempted to enhance productivity principally by improving the capabilities of the individuals performing the work or through interventions in groups or organizations. Their approaches have included matching individuals to jobs and tasks, training individuals in job skills and knowledge, changing the structure of groups, and motivating individuals and groups toward job objectives.
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This question is addressed from the views of many different disciplines psychology, engineering, information technology, and others. As a consequence, the report does not speak with a single voice in answering the question, nor does it examine from a single perspective the various influences that inhibit or facilitate productivity linkages in organizations.
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In addition, because the panel believes that understanding organizational linkages will require additional research, each of the chapters makes recommendations for research that derive from the discussion in that chapter. Mu/tip/e Levels of Reciproca/ Linkages The concept of organizational linkages provides a useful framework within which to examine the productivity paradox.
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Finally, even if the system does in fact augment individual productivity there may be no resulting improvements in organizational productivity. This leads to the requirement for an organizational systems framework to clarify the multiple reciprocal linkages that determine organizational productivity.
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Thus, this volume addresses measurement from two important perspectives as an explanation of the productivity paradox and as a critical tool in the understanding of organizational linkages. Defining Productivity The panel deliberated at length about the appropriate concept and definition of productivity within which to address measurement issues, but without satisfactorily resolving the issue.
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In such a system, individual productivity depends on the extent to which individual measures are in line with organizational goals and the extent to which those goals form a logical hierarchy across organizational levels. He also presents two models that provide alternative views of factors affecting individual productivity.
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The technical project team approach employed in software engineering is actually a paradigm for how various types of technical work are now accomplished. Organizations create a project team when the required technical tasks transcend the assigned functions or capabilities of individuals.
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The mounting evidence that downsizing initiatives do not yield commensurate gains in productivity is another form of the productivity paradox. It is a particularly troublesome version of the paradox because removing sizable amounts of overhead slack from an organization would be expected to lead directly to increased organizational productivity.
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Wohlers, E., and G Weinert 1988 Employment Trends in the United States, Japan, and the European Community: A Comparative Economic Study.
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