order to a clieve you efficiently. MANAGING PRODUCTIVITY Improving productivity has become a major goal in virtually every organization. By pro- of goods ductivity, we mean the overall output of goods or services produced divided by the inputs needed to generate that output. For countries, high productivity generates "costless s needed growth," Employees can receive higher wages and company profits can increase without 'causing inflation. For individual organizations, increased productivity gives them a more put competitive cost structure and the ability to offer more competitive prices. Increasing productivity is a key to global competitiveness. For instance, a great deal of Japan's prosperity in the 1980s can be explained in terms of its growth in manufacturing pro