KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 (Bernama) — Malaysians are now more productive as evident in the 3.7 percent productivity growth to RM27,221 last year — the highest in the last six years, Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz said Monday. “In 2005, the country registered a productivity growth of 2.98 percent to RM26,255,” Rafidah said in her keynote address at the launch of National Productivity Corp’s (NPC) … Continue reading
Chinese State Councilor Chen Zhili has called for more efforts to promote innovation to improve energy efficiency and work safety in the country. Chen made the appeal during her inspection tour from Tuesday to Thursday to north China’s Shanxi Province, the country’s major coal producer that sees frequent coal mine accidents and suffers environmental woes. She urged local officials to revamp traditional industries to improve productivity, saying scientific innovation is … Continue reading
Economics focus Making less with moreFrom The Economist America’s productivity growth has slowed. Does that matter? THE good news about America’s economy is that jobs are plentiful despite slower growth and the housing blues. Some 180,000 new jobs were created in March and the unemployment rate fell to 4.4%, three-tenths of a percentage point lower than a year ago. With employment and wage growth strong, consumers are unlikely to stop … Continue reading
Lower efficiency, smaller markets may share blame By KRISTEN MILLARES BOLTSEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCERP-I REPORTER Washington’s container ports are losing their tenuous grip on the West Coast market share they gained during 2004 and 2005, when the clogged harbors of San Pedro Bay, Calif., diverted cargo from the ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach to chillier northern climes. The Port of Seattle does not yet know why volume has fallen 2.1 percent so … Continue reading
By Robert A. Jacobson For nearly 40 years, a mid-western United States restaurant chain with more than 50 locations was run as a highly successful business in the family-style management of its founder. But when executives of the successor generation almost doubled the organization’s size by acquiring 40 more stores, company profits declined. The acquired stores were in much worse shape than expected and, most important, the management that came … Continue reading
India trails China, but economic race is far from over Martin WolfThe Australian “CHINDIA” is the word coined by the Indian politician, Jairam Ramesh, to denote the two Asian giants that contain 38 per cent of the world’s population between them. Nor is size their only similarity. Both are heirs of ancient civilisations; both were, until recently, desperately poor; and both are among the world’s fastest-growing economies. Yet the differences … Continue reading
Productivity in U.S. Probably Rose Less Than First Reported By Joe Richter March 6 (Bloomberg) — U.S. worker productivity last quarter grew less than the government initially estimated and labor costs accelerated, suggesting wages may pose more of an inflation threat, economists said before a government report today. Productivity, a measure of how much an employee produces for each hour of work, rose at an annual rate of 1.5 percent, … Continue reading
By ROBERT A. JACOBSON One of the world’s oldest brewers and bottlers had a virtual monopoly on beer and soft drink sales in its home region of the European nation where it was founded in the 19th century. But its sales were poor in the rest of the country, and the organization had become so used to working in its traditional mode that it had no idea of how much … Continue reading
Industry restructure key to productivity ’26-FEB-07 17:45′ JOHANNESBURG (Mineweb.com) –Chinese steel demand will increase by 50 million tonnes (mt) annually, leaving a shortfall of 44mt in the supply of finished steel by 2007. As a result, the local industry is likely to consolidate to boost supply, as the Chinese central government has not identified the sector as a major investment area. Chinese demand for steel will rise to more than … Continue reading
Monday February 26, 2007By Martin Johnston New Zealand Herald Auckland’s public hospitals could save tens of millions of dollars annually, an analysis says. The series of reports done secretly for Auckland’s three health boards is bad news for the Government, confirming Treasury advice that hospital productivity appears to be declining, despite huge funding increases. The National Party, which obtained the four reports under the Official Information Act, says they vindicate … Continue reading