Editorial

Citation

Heap, J. (2010), "Editorial", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 59 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijppm.2010.07959aaa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Volume 59, Issue 1

This is the first issue in a new volume, a volume that bears the name of our new Co-Editor, Tom Burgess. Tom has taken over the mantle of Zoe Radnor who has had a major influence on extending the reach and improving the quality of this journal. Tom is here to continue that work!

We continue to address both productivity and performance management issues and are very happy that this new volume starts with an issue that balances these areas of interest. We are also happy that the journal continues to mix “theory” and “practice” showing that effective research not only extends the knowledge base, but also makes a difference “on the ground.”

The first paper, by Bernard C. Beaudreau, addresses the “information paradox” – the fact that information and communication technology does not seem to have had the effect on productivity that it should have done. Intriguingly, Beaudreau does this through a comparison of the “engineering” inherent in the dynamo and the computer and in so doing manages to dispel the paradox by suggesting that the dynamo and the computer are fundamentally incomparable. Both can contribute to increased profits of commercial organisations but one (the computer) essentially contributes to more effective inputs and does not lead to increased productivity.

The second paper from Michael J. Mawdesley and Saad Al-Jibouri looks at the productivity of the UK construction industry and does so from a systems dynamics perspective using those factors identified within the literature as being important to project productivity. Planning and control turn out to be very important factors and the research also suggests that it is important to spread expenditure throughout the project rather than to concentrate it at the start of the project.

The third paper, by Arijit K. Sengupta, Biman Das and J. Pemberton Cyrus, is very practically oriented using computer simulation to improve the ergonomic design of a supermarket checkstand. It shows how detailed research and simulation can examine a highly variable situation with a high degree of confidence being place in the outcomes. Importantly, future performance rates can be identified before the expense of building a new checkstand is incurred.

The fourth paper, by Sunil Kumar and Rachita Gulati, looks at the performance of Indian public sector banks, using a variety of tools and techniques to identify areas on which these banks might focus in order to improve their overall performance.

The fifth paper, by Abdul Hamid Abu Bakar, Ismail Lukman Hakim, Siong Choy Chong and Binshan Lin examines supply chain performance amongst public hospital laboratories. It uses data envelope analysis to examine how these laboratories meet the needs of their customers and the scope for using improvements in the supply chain to increase satisfaction levels.

In the “Reflective practice” section, the paper by Bikram Jit Singh and Dinesh Khanduja examines the issues of changeovers in a die-casting foundry and uses the “lean” tool of single minute exchange of die to set about reducing changeover times.

So, we hope we can interest and educate you with this issue. We hope also that we can help change industrial and commercial practice by bringing this research to a wider audience and making the practical implications known.

John Heap