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Walter Schroeder Library, Milwaukee School of Engineering
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Hannes, Joseph William.
Subjects
Industrial productivity
Production management
Organizational effectiveness
Supervision of employees
MSEM Thesis.
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Hannes, Joseph William.
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A study of the human...
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A study of the human side of productivity / by Joseph William Hannes.
by
Hannes, Joseph William.
Subjects
Industrial productivity
Production management
Organizational effectiveness
Supervision of employees
MSEM Thesis.
Description:
iv, 61 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm.
Contents:
Productivity crisis -- Motivation -- How to create a productive work environment -- Building a productivity plan.
The topic for this thesis was chosen due to my personal interest in examining the effects human resource has on productivity. Early in my engineering career, I found myself involved in the justification of capital equipment as a means of increasing productivity. Today, I find myself working closely with people in making things happen. In the latter situation, I’ve experienced many instances where an improvement in human relations by itself greatly improved productivity. In some cases, it eliminated the need for better or faster machinery. This situation has repeated itself so frequently, that I became convinced that American industry is not directing its expenditures for productivity improvement into the right areas. I don’t mean to suggest that technological improvements should be restrained. But, I do feel that our human resources can be tapped more constructively. Why American industry finds this a difficult task is the objective of this thesis. While researching materials to support my conviction, I found that productivity had been a popular buzzword in industry since the Industrial Revolution. Since that era, American industry is still struggling to manage its productivity. During the last decade, our productivity rate has declined to the critical point where America has lost its competitive leadership in the world marketplace. Currently, we continue to lose jobs and industry to other foreign nations, notably Japan. The ironic fact is that Japan learned how to optimize their productivity from America. How and why did this phenomenon occur? Very simply, American industry traditionally treats its workers as subservient to management. Further research has shown, that if American industry is to reverse its declining productivity, it will need to change its style of management. It must initially replace its adversarial image among its workers and the government. Next, it must foster creative plans which cause workers to help their company’s to survive. Another prime factor is to get industry, government, and workers to identify their efforts with a common goal. Japan’s goal is survival. Without manufacturing, it could not meet the needs of its people. America’s goal will need to be similar, however, our means of achieving it can be different. Without goals, people and nations begin to stagnate and slide backwards. In order to get workers to “want to” participate in the survival of America, industry and government will need to gain the confidence of the workers.
Simplistically, confidence is going to have to be built on trust and honesty. This will undoubtedly be difficult, because our industries are not nationalized. However, it is believed, that the majority of workers can be made to feel secure and wanted rather than self-satisfied. Few people actually reach total self-fulfillment. With this thought in mind, the leadership in companies will need to stress participative and reciprocal style of management. Issues that will help win the confidence of workers are; job security, challenging work, internal training and promotion, praise and rewards, enthusiastic leaders, constructive appraisal, incentives, quality of work life, and two-way communications. Herein, I have found that people are the key factor in improving productivity. People are responsible for controlling and utilizing resources. People design and operate the equipment and the facility. They design and implement methods and procedures. They purchase and use raw materials. They produce, provide, sell and service products. All these things are provided by people in varying degrees. People are undoubtedly a key factor in improving productivity. A fact which must be repeated is, the company which best understands the nature of its people and of the organization in which they work, will lead in the productivity race. This thesis will help managers lead the way to increased productivity. I feel confident that it shows that the potential for boosting productivity growth through the better management of people is enormous.
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Walter Schroeder Library
Master's Theses
AC805 .H36 1986
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