Productivity Blog

Climate Change And Tourism

Saving Our Global Destinations CHRISTOPHER JONES AND DANIEL SCOTT Special to Globe and Mail Update Bad weather can ruin a holiday. Global climate change can ruin a holiday destination. This is one of the urgent messages that delegates heard at an international conference on climate change, co-sponsored by the United Nations World Tourism Organization and other international bodies, in Davos, Switzerland, last month. Tourism has been both a victim and … Continue reading

Global Competitiveness Report

World Economic Forum’s2007 Global Competitiveness Report By Arpitha Bykere This year’s World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report ranks the competitiveness of 133 countries based on macroeconomic and institutional factors, health, education, market (labor/product/financial) size and efficiency, infrastructure, business and technological development. The U.S. tops the rankings due to high productive and innovative capacity, large domestic economy, and strong research affiliation between universities and businesses but the report notes that present … Continue reading

Using IT to Boost Agricultural Productivity

By Victoria Onojawww.allafrica.com The World is in the midst of what could be called a ‘knowledge revolution’ that is being spearheaded by the rapid advancement in Information Technology. This has significantly changed the way people communicate, live, and conduct their business. The revolution in communication has provided efficient ways for developing countries to grow economically, socially as well as increase productivity. Information empowers people and improves their wealth; it has … Continue reading

East Asia Productivity Jumps As U.S. Falls

Global Shift of Manufacturing Affects Productivity By Heide B. MalhotraEpoch Times Washington, D.C. StaffOct 21, 2007 WASHINGTON—Workers’ productivity in the United States has been on a downslide since 2000, as the U.S. transforms itself into primarily a service economy. U.S. productivity came in at 11th place, with a score of a mere 2.4 percent, among sixteen of its major trading partners. South Korea and Taiwan outscored everyone, putting them in … Continue reading

Efficiency Key To Bauxite Mining Expansion Plan

“In terms of productivity, we have some room to improve. “We definitely need to achieve our efficiency targets.” Jamaica Gleaner Online Alpart looks to expansion – But project awaits feasibility studypublished: Friday | September 28, 2007 By John Myers Jr.Business Reporterjohn.myers@gleanerjm.com Alumina Partners of Jamaica (Alpart), the largest bauxite mining company and a subsidiary of the Rusal group, plans to expand by 350,000 tonnes, but said the project rests on … Continue reading

Strikes And Productivity

How do strikes affect productivity?Who Wins?Who Loses? The General Motors / United Auto Workers contract provides a dynamic window into these issues. [Detroit] will have to deliver on their promises that they can create a New Detroit, with lower costs, leaner and more efficient factories and,most important, can build vehicles that more consumers want to buy. With U.A.W. Accord, G.M. Looks to a New Detroit By MICHELINE MAYNARDThe New York … Continue reading

Poor HR Departments Can Affect Productivity

Sometimes bringing people in from different departmentscan give an area a new perspective and reshape productivity … Business WeekSEPTEMBER 10, 2007 MANAGING How To Make A Microserf Smile While Google was turning heads with its employee perks, an unlikely manager took on morale in Redmond Steven A. Ballmer had an epic morale problem on his hands. Microsoft Corp.’s (MSFT ) stock had been drifting sideways for years, and Google envy … Continue reading

Save Time and Savor the Countryside

ViaNY Times Editor’s Note: Readers must register to read The New York Times. Most articles are free.As in Europe, many business travelers in the United States are relying on rail service because it is cheaper, less bothersome and often quicker than air travel because of airport logisitics. By SARAH WILDMANNew York TimesSeptember 17, 2007 RIDING the rails in Europe was once the province of backpackers wearing tattered jeans and carrying … Continue reading

Climate Change Brings Grim Forecast

Via NY Times A new study by the economist William Cline quantifies sharp reductions in agricultural productivity in many of Africa’s poorest countries by the 2080s if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase. Such declines are particularly grave in Africa, where most people still depend on farming. Mr. Cline, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and the Peterson Institute for International Economics, projects that Sudan and Senegal … Continue reading

Police Productivity

ViaBAPCO JournalPublished: September, 2007 Bedfordshire Police is currently rolling out 1100 BlackBerry smartphones to front-line officers in a move to increase efficiency. Dawn Davison-Read talks to Insp. Jim Hitch, Project Manager, Bedfordshire Police and Graham Baker, Senior Strategic Account Manager, Research in Motion, to identify how the use of these mobile handsets are helping to keep officers out on the beat… Some three years ago, Bedfordshire Police embarked on a … Continue reading