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    VV

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    1. The productivity paradox referred to concern that increases in IT investment did not translate to increases in productivity. This topic has faded as more recent studies have found that productivity gains from IT occur with a lag and are best measured over longer time horizons. 2. Comparing the productivity of two manufacturing plants, one in the US and one overseas, without accounting for differences in automation and labor use can produce misleading results. A more meaningful comparison accounts for these factors. 3. The "efficiency improvement trap" refers to a situation where constant efficiency gains do not necessarily translate to overall productivity increases when the gains are small and incremental.

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    VV

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    Atlas Atlantis
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    1. The productivity paradox referred to concern that increases in IT investment did not translate to increases in productivity. This topic has faded as more recent studies have found that productivity gains from IT occur with a lag and are best measured over longer time horizons. 2. Comparing the productivity of two manufacturing plants, one in the US and one overseas, without accounting for differences in automation and labor use can produce misleading results. A more meaningful comparison accounts for these factors. 3. The "efficiency improvement trap" refers to a situation where constant efficiency gains do not necessarily translate to overall productivity increases when the gains are small and incremental.

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    1. The productivity paradox referred to concern that increases in IT investment did not translate to increases in productivity. This topic has faded as more recent studies have found that productivity gains from IT occur with a lag and are best measured over longer time horizons. 2. Comparing the productivity of two manufacturing plants, one in the US and one overseas, without accounting for differences in automation and labor use can produce misleading results. A more meaningful comparison accounts for these factors. 3. The "efficiency improvement trap" refers to a situation where constant efficiency gains do not necessarily translate to overall productivity increases when the gains are small and incremental.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    27 views1 page

    VV

    Uploaded by

    Atlas Atlantis
    1. The productivity paradox referred to concern that increases in IT investment did not translate to increases in productivity. This topic has faded as more recent studies have found that productivity gains from IT occur with a lag and are best measured over longer time horizons. 2. Comparing the productivity of two manufacturing plants, one in the US and one overseas, without accounting for differences in automation and labor use can produce misleading results. A more meaningful comparison accounts for these factors. 3. The "efficiency improvement trap" refers to a situation where constant efficiency gains do not necessarily translate to overall productivity increases when the gains are small and incremental.

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    1. In the past there was concern about a “productivity paradox” related to IT services.

    More recently,
    there have been few references to this phenomenon. Using the Internet, explain the term productivity
    paradox. Why do you think that the discussion of that topic has faded? 2. A U.S. company has two
    manufacturing plants, one in the United States and one in another country. Both produce the same
    item, each for sale in their respective countries. However, their productivity figures are quite different.
    The analyst thinks this is because the U.S. plant uses more automated equipment for processing while
    the other plant uses a higher percentage of labor. Explain how that factor can cause productivity figures
    to be misleading. Is there another way to compare the two plants that would be more meaningful? 3.
    While it is true that increases in efficiency generate productivity increases, it is possible to get caught in
    an “efficiency improvement trap.” Explain what this means. 4. It is common knowledge that Sam’s boss
    Dom has been fudging the weekly productivity figures. Several employees, including Sam, have spoken
    to him about this, but he continues to do it. Sam has observed a drop in morale among his coworkers
    due to this. Sam is thinking about sending an anonymous note to Dom’s boss. Would that be ethical?
    What would you do if you were Sam? 5. Give two examples of what would be considered unethical
    involving competition and the ethical principles (see Chapter 1) that would be violated. CRITICAL
    THINKING EXERCISES 1. A catering company prepared and served 300 meals at an anniversary
    celebration last week using eight workers. The week before, six workers prepared and served 240 meals
    at a wedding reception. a. For which event was the labor productivity higher? Explain. b. What are some
    possible reasons for the productivity differences? 2. The manager of a crew that installs carpeting has
    tracked the crew’s output over the past several weeks, obtaining these figures: Week Crew Size Yards
    Installed 1 4 96 2 3 72 3 4 92 4 2 50 5 3 69 6 2 52 Compute the labor productivity for each of the weeks.
    On the basis of your calculations, what can you conclude about crew size and productivity? 3. Compute
    the multifactor productivity measure for each of the weeks shown for production of chocolate bars.
    What do the productivity figures suggest? Assume 40-hour weeks and an hourly wage of $12. Overhead
    is 1.5 times weekly labor cost. Material cost is $6 per pound. Week Output (units) Workers Material (lbs)
    1 30,000 6 450 2 33,600 7 470 3 32,200 7 460 4 35,400 8 480 4. A company that makes shopping carts
    for supermarkets and other stores recently purchased some new equipment that reduces the labor
    content of the jobs needed to produce the shopping carts. Prior to buying the new equipment, the
    company used five workers, who produced an average of 80 carts per hour. Workers receive $10 per
    hour, and machine cost was $40 per hour. With the new equipment, it was possible to transfer one of
    the workers to another department, and equipment cost increased by $10 per hour while output
    increased by four carts per hour. a. Compute labor productivity under each system. Use carts per worker
    per hour as the measure of labor productivity. b. Compute the multifactor productivity under each
    system. Use carts per dollar cost (labor plus equipment) as the measure. c. Comment on the changes in
    productivity according to the two measures, and on which one you believe is the more pertinent for this
    situation.

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