An Action Research Approach to Productivity Measurement

To overcome the weaknesses of individual approaches to productivity management several viewpoints have to be integrated. Such an approach is appropriate for different organisations or for different stages of one organisation within its life cycle according to variables in and around the problem area. It is then feasible to evolve appropriate productivity measures for the people and circumstances involved. Hence a systems view is much more desirable. Different people have different perceptions of the process of productivity management due to expectational, definitional, temporal, valuational and spatial incongruencies. Productivity measures can be classed broadly as quantitative (e.g. Input‐Output Indices) or qualitative (Appraisal Method). A critical review of these models and their limitations is presented. The need for an Action Research Model, which aims to contribute both to the practical concerns of people in a problematic situation and to the goals of the organisation by joint collaboration within a mutually acceptable framework, and its potential, is discussed and an example given.