THE PRODUCTIVITY CHALLENGE: How to Make It Work for America and You

by Michael LeBoeuf ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 22, 1982

A productivity wrap-up for the pop market: what the government, business-management, and individuals should do to ""get us working smarter and increasing our standard of living."" LeBoeuf (Working Smart, Imagineering) hasn't an idea in here that hasn't been in countless other books, including his own previous ones. The one slightly individual aspect of his text is a Friedmanite bias against ""the red, white and blue security blanket."" Otherwise: ""we can learn from Japan. . .that productivity improvement begins with people improvement."" We can take heed from the American auto industry, ""a classic example of management opting for short-term results at the expense of long-term prosperity."" We can emulate the eight basic attributes of well-managed American companies (see Peters and Waterman, below); adopt ""three cardinal rules for motivating people to work harder""; introduce quality circles--and reduce paperwork. On our own, we can manage our time better; utilize the creative, right sides of our brain; eliminate stress and imagine the best. But LeBoeuf's explanation of the components of quality-of-work-life improvement, for example, is unpretentious and accessible. And insofar as some of these ideas do pertain to ordinary folks, there's no harm and there might be some good in this diluted version.

Pub Date: Nov. 22, 1982

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1982

Categories: NONFICTION