M.Com. (Business Management) / The question of quality in the workplace is considered within a framework where structural and process variables, leadership, personal filters and behavioural patterns are addressed. Viewpoints regarding quality of work by Rosow, Piskurich, Bennet, Fulmer, Callahan and Drucker, amongst others, were examined. Problems associated with the feasibility of measuring quality is briefly analysed in the light of viewpoints of writers such as Tuttle and Romanowski...

Este trabalho teve por finalidade estudar o comportamento da produtividade brasileira entre 2002-2015 e identificar a influência de alguns determinantes para o seu desempenho. Este enfoque é importante porque a produtividade é considerada elemento fundamental do crescimento econômico e neste trabalho, especificamente, seu desempenho foi estudado por meio das medidas de produtividade do trabalho e total dos fatores, desagregadas por grandes setores econômicos e regiões geográficas, de modo a constatar quais regiões e setores mais contribuíram para a produtividade agregada do país. Ademais, após analisado o desempenho da produtividade, foram realizadas as decomposições do crescimento para verificar como decorreu a contribuição da produtividade para o crescimento econômico, e também como se decompôs o crescimento da produtividade setorial e regional. Por fim, considerado o comportamento da produtividade do trabalho no período, foi analisado como alguns determinantes a influenciaram, categorizados em criação, transmissão e absorção de conhecimento; educação, saúde e dimensão social; infraestrutura física; eficiência no mercado (de produção, financeiro e de mercado de trabalho) e economias de aglomeração; e instituições e integração comercial. A análise foi realizada utilizando a metodologia de regressão quantílica com efeitos fixos para dados em painel para as 27 unidades federativas brasileiras. Dentre os principais resultados, verificou-se a estagnação da PTF agregada, apesar da contribuição positiva do setor agropecuário. As medidas de produtividade do trabalho apresentaram certa consonância com as estimativas de PTF, novamente com destaque para o setor agropecuário. As regiões que obtiveram melhor desempenho foram a Norte e Centro- Oeste. Os exercícios de decomposição de crescimento destacaram as contribuições positivas dos fatores capital, capital humano e PTF para o setor agropecuário, e a absorção de mão de obra para os setores industrial e de serviços. Também foi constatado que o desempenho da produtividade setorial no país decorreu principalmente de variações na produtividade intrassetorial, em razão das vantagens locacionais e competitivas regionais. Por fim, a respeito da análise dos determinantes, os resultados mostram que a produtividade é mais sensível às variáveis estruturais de crescimento econômico como desenvolvimento humano, educação e infraestrutura física. / This study aimed to study the behavior of Brazilian productivity between 2002-2015 and to identify the influence of some determinants on its performance. This approach is important because productivity is considered a key element of economic growth. Its performance was studied through measures of labor productivity and total factors productivity, disaggregated by economy sectors and geographic regions of the country. The study also aimed to verify which regions and sectors most contributed to the aggregate productivity performance. In addition, productivity performance was verified, growth decomposition was performed to verify how the contribution of productivity to economic growth occurred, as well as how the sectoral and regional productivity growth was broken down. Finally, considering the labor productivity evolution in the period, it was analyzed how some determinants influenced it, categorized in creation, transmission and absorption of knowledge; education, health and social dimension; physical infrastructure; market efficiency (production, financial and labor market) and agglomeration economies; and institutions and trade integration. The empirical analysis was performed using a quantile regression methodology with fixed effects for panel data for the 27 Brazilian federative units. Among the results, there was stagnation of the aggregated TFP, despite the positive contribution of the agricultural sector. Labor productivity measures were in accord with TFP estimates, with emphasis on the agricultural sector. The regions that obtained the best performance were the North and Midwest. The growth decomposition exercises highlighted the positive contributions of the capital, human capital and TFP factors to the agricultural sector and the absorption of labor by the industrial and services sectors. It was also verified that the performance of the sectoral productivity in the country was mainly due to variations in the intrassetorial productivity and due to the regional competitive and locational advantages. Finally, regarding the analysis of determinants, the results demonstrate that productivity is more sensitive to the structural variables of economic growth such as human development, education and physical infrastructure.

Thesis (M.Com. (Management))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic and Business Sciences, 2016. / In an economic environment where knowledge based-work is the strategic component of value creation and competitive advantage, knowledge workers have become the engine that drives sustainability and profitability. Knowledge workers are described as workers with high degrees of education, expertise and whose primary task is to create, distribute and apply knowledge. With the increasing demand and number of knowledge workers in the work force, the productivity of knowledge workers has become an imperative management task as well as a decisive economic factor. Despite the continuous stream of research on knowledge worker productivity, knowledge worker productivity continues to be one of the greatest challenges facing managers today. Knowledge worker productivity refers to ability of knowledge workers to effectively collect, create and use inherent knowledge to produce goods and services. Inherent knowledge is highly personal and cannot be separated from the person who holds it. Further, inherent knowledge is closely related to the technical skills that an individual has and are only known to the person who possesses those skills. If organisations wish to leverage this inherent knowledge to their competitive advantage, they need to know how to engage and stimulate the deepest parts of the human mind. However, no two individuals are the same. Personnel psychology literature has long stressed that meaningful differences exist between people. These individual differences influence individual work performance and behaviour. Although several studies have addressed the issue of personality predicting job performance, there is a lack of knowledge of the relationship between personality, motivation and knowledge worker productivity, specifically in the South African context. This study attempts to address this lack of knowledge through a quantitative study of the relationship between personality, motivation and knowledge worker productivity. The study investigated whether the intrinsic personalities of knowledge workers and motivation predict knowledge worker productivity. Although several studies have directly addressed the issue of personality predicting job performance, few studies have directly investigated whether motivation mediates the relationship between personality and specifically knowledge worker productivity. Consequently, there is limited evidence to support the arguments of the present study. The theoretical and practical implications for knowledge worker productivity are discussed.

A Thesis Submitted to Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Johannesburg, August 2017 / This research investigates how on-site craft gangs adapt to the production environment on-site and how on-site learning is affected by prior learning in orders to optimise productivity. To achieve the aim of the study, previous experience of construction production process of craft gangs, site supervisors and the project managers working in Nigerian construction firms was evaluated. The researcher employed a mixed method research approach utilising qualitative and quantitative approaches. The research strategies used in this investigation included interviews and observation method. A face-to-face semi-structured interviews of (15) participants comprising of craft gangs, site supervisors and the project managers was used in the qualitative method of the data collection to explore the project specific constraints and the response mechanism used to resolve the various constraints. A standard observation data form was used in all the observed seven (7) gang’s blockwork craft gangs on the construction site. The interview transcript results collected were analysed using content analysis, an objective and systematic form of data analysis applicable to analysing interview data. In the application of the learning curve model to the blockwork craft gang’s, the straight-line model was used in the preliminary analysis of the application of learning curve theory to blockwork craft gang’s. In this study, the ordinary least squares technique, frequently referred to as linear regression was used for the data analysis. 0.05% significance level was used as a satisfactory degree of the inferences in the observation part of this study. Blockwork craft gang’s observed at the site shows approximately an overall average learning of 94.21%, resulting in 5.79% improvement in blockwork gang’s productivity. In addition, substantial impact on productivity of blockwork construction was achieved in wall construction. This research work is fundamental in construction management by way of developing an understanding into the changing aspects of on-site blockwork craft gangs learning and its impact on productivity. The repetitive nature of blockwork activities has an important influence on the optimisation of productivity. Construction craft gangs productivity constraints and response mechanism generated in this study provides a methodological instrument for addressing the major constraints influencing craft gangs productivity. This instrument will also permit future research on the project specific constraints and the response mechanisms used to resolve the constraints. / MT 2018

In the first chapter of this dissertation, I estimate the cyclicality of real wages for job stayers, and hires from both employment and from unemployment, using an administrative matched employer-employee dataset from Germany. I find that the wages of new hires appear to be lessprocyclical than the wages of job stayers. I propose an explanation based on countercyclical selection on match quality: when aggregate productivity is low, worker-firm matches have to be unusually productive to warrant job creation. The presence of the match quality selection effect is supported by the relationship between the initial aggregate conditions and the subsequent risk of separation: jobs started when unemployment is high are at a decreased risk of ending with a separation to unemployment, which suggests that they are positively selected. Motivated by the findings of the first chapter, I build a Diamond-Mortensen-Pissarides search and matching model with match-specific productivity and turnover costs. The model-generated wages and job durations have cyclical properties empirically established in the previous chapter: the wages of new hires are less procyclical than the wages of job stayers, and jobs started when productivity is high are at a higher risk of subsequent separation. I show that the relative cyclical properties of wages are generated by changes in average match-specific productivity for new hires relative to job stayers. Match-specific productivity is subjected to countercyclical selection: when aggregate productivity is low, match-specific productivity has to high to justify creating or maintaining a match. Due to turnover costs, countercyclical selection for new hires is stronger than for job stayers. Low match-specific productivity of matches started when aggregate productivity is high generates the positive relationship between initial aggregate productivity and subsequent risk of separation. In the third chapter, I examine the behavior of wages within employment spells, before separation from a job and after movement between jobs in order to evaluate hypotheses concerning job-to-job transitions. Using German administrative microdata, I establish three empirical findings. First, the properties of wage changes within employment spells and associated with job-to-job transitions are broadly similar. Second, wages deteriorate in the year preceding separation from a job, for all separations, including job-to-job transitions. The wage deterioration manifests as slower wage growth and lowering of real wages expected given workers' characteristics. Third, for job-to-job transitions wage growth after accession is faster if the initial wage is lower than the last wage in the previous job. This effect is not present for job-unemployment-job transitions. The second finding supports the notion that some job-to-job transitions are induced by the worsened job situation. The third suggests that, to some extent, workers might voluntarily make job-to-job transition that decreases their wages in expectation of higher wage growth in the future.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 363-368).

Thesis (M.S.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science, Department of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

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Advanced technology plays a more and more important role in economic growth. With increasing international transactions, technology spillover between countries is becoming more important for especially developing countries. The main objective of this essay is to investigate the relationship between labor productivity and technological spillovers measured by Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), import and Research and Development expenditure (R&D). We use data covering 41 developing countries for the time period 2005 to 2008 to assess the extent to which technological spillovers from US influence labor productivity in the selected developing countries. Our results show that the relationship between technological spillovers and labor productivity in developing countries are highly sensitive to model specification and estimation techniques. Simple pooled data estimations revels a clear relation between technological spillover an labor productivity while more complex models such as  dynamic panel data models fails in this task.

Bakalauro baigiamajame darbe nagrinėjamas darbo užmokesčio ir darbo našumo ryšys Europos Sąjungos šalyse. Darbas susideda iš dviejų dalių. Teorinėje darbo dalyje nagrinėjami Lietuvos ir užsienio šalių autorių moksliniai straipsniai apie darbo užmokesčio ir darbo našumo ryšį. Empirinėje darbo dalyje analizuojami 2000-2010 m. laikotarpio duomenys apie vidutinį bruto darbo užmokestį ir pridėtinę vertę vienam užimtajam, atlikta rodiklių kaitos analizė. Taip pat darbe atskleistas darbo užmokesčio ir darbo našumo ryšys bendrai Europos Sąjungoje, senosiose ir naujosiose Europos Sąjungos šalyse bei kiekvienoje šalyse atskirai. / In Bachelor‘s final work the relationship of wage and labour productivity in the European Union countries are analysed. The work consists of 2 parts – theory and practice. In theoretic part Lithuania’s and foreign countries’ science articles about relationship of wage and labour productivity are analysed. In Empiric part there are analyses of 2000-2010 years data about average gross wage and value added per person employed, performed analysis of indicators change. Also, in this work there has been revealed connection between wage and labour productivity in aggregate European Union, in old and new European Union countries and in each European Union country separately.