What's in Pogue's Travel Bag? Literally.

Since Efficient Traveling is Productivity and vice versa, I thought this article was great for our APS Blog. Happy Traveling!! Bob

Via New York Times

By David Pogue

I'm always surprised at how many people seem to like reading about what hardware and software I use. Last week's "Pogue's Productivity Secrets" e-column, for example, got blogged and passed around far more than I would have expected.

On a plane yesterday, I was flipping through an in-flight magazine and saw one of those "What's in your bag?" photo features, where they have some celebrity dump out her purse and provide little descriptions (no doubt after careful pruning and arranging by a PR person).

Want me to dump out MY bag?

I travel a ridiculous amount, so I've thought a lot about, and spent a lot of time refining, what I carry and how I carry it.

It starts with a Timbuk2 bike-messenger bag, which I sling over my shoulder whenever I have to dash out. The inner wall is padded on both sides for a laptop; since the bag's flap flips right open, it's extremely easy for me to get to the laptop when, for example, I need to look up my frequent flyer number.

I keep this bag preloaded and ready to go. In the main compartment, I carry:

Complete Article

US Manufacturing Must Drive Recovery, Summit told AFP

via AFP

DETROIT, Michigan (AFP) — A revived manufacturing sector is critical to leading a recovery of the slumping US economy, underscoring the need for new policies, business leaders told a national economic summit.

The second day Tuesday of the Detroit, Michigan summit seeking an economic strategy offered more comments on the critical importance of the industrial sector in view of the global crisis.

"One of the lessons we have learned from the crisis is that you cannot create create wealth in an economy simply by spinning things around and around," said Jayson Myers, president of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

"You create wealth by building things people want to buy."

Those comments were echoed by others.

"Prosperity comes from building, creating and producing," said Chip McClure, CEO of auto parts maker ArvinMeritor.

"Can we sustain commerce based on financial engineering over real engineering? Simple answer, no way."

Complete Article

U.S. productivity Growth Points to Higher Profits

via National Post

By Jacqueline Thorpe

We have commented that the one thing the U.S. economy has going for it that many others don't is its ability to churn out strong productivity growth — even in the face of a brutal recession. In the first quarter, the United States achieved productivity growth, or output per hour per worker, of an annualized 1.6%, as companies slashed costs and jobs in reaction to the downturn. Painful for sure, but essential to lay the groundwork for recovery.

In report on Thursday, Barclays Capital says that productivity growth is the silver lining of this recession that will lead to wider profit margins and help sustain the recovery in equities.
Tim Bond, head of global asset allocation at Barclays Capital, says the 4.8 million Americans that have lost their jobs in this recession are unlikely to be hired back in one fell swoop. As is usually the case, employment will lag output, resulting in the typical early-cycle phenomena of rising productivity growth and falling unit labour costs.

While many analysts say the U.S. recovery will be weak, Mr. Bond argues that given the epic scale of inventory liquidation, the rise in output could be quite smart. Productivity will increase even more and labour costs will fall. He forecasts annualized productivity could rise as much as 2% in the first few quarters of recovery.

"Since unit labour costs are the main component of business profit margins, the outlook is strongly biased towards an unusually extensive widening of profit margins," Mr. Bond said in a note. "The early cycle revival in profits should therefore be stronger than is typically the case."

On the basis of consensus earnings forecasts, the S&P 500 currently trades at a 14.5 12-month forward PE ratio (using a four-quarter moving sum of earnings).

However if he revises earnings forecasts to take into account stronger productivity growth and wider profit margins, the forward PE ratio falls to 12.5, from which he infers "the market may have further immediate upside of 15-20%, as the more benign outlook for profits begins to be discounted."

U.S. Economy: Jobless Claims Fall, Productivity Rises

Via Bloomberg

By Shobhana Chandra & Bob Willis

Fewer American workers filed claims for jobless benefits last week, signaling that the worst phase of the employment slump has passed.

Initial applications for unemployment insurance fell by 4,000 to 621,000 in the week ended May 30, in line with forecasts, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington. Another Labor report showed worker productivity rose more in the first quarter than previously estimated.

Greater efficiency is contributing to an improvement in profits that will likely lead to fewer job cuts in coming months, analysts said. Companies such as United Technologies Corp. are among those that have slashed payrolls to control labor costs and boost earnings, a step that may help get the economy out of the worst recession in half a century.

“Employers are far advanced in the pace of job cuts,” said John Herrmann, president of Herrmann Forecasting in Summit, New Jersey. Firings “should slow materially” in coming months, he said.

The claims report also showed the number of people collecting unemployment insurance fell to 6.74 million in the week ended May 23 from 6.75 million the prior week. It was the first decrease in almost five months, breaking a string of 17 consecutive records.

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Engaging Gay Workers Increased Productivity, study suggests

Via CANADA.COM

by Amy Husser, Canwest News Service

Corporate Canada can improve productivity and decrease turnover if more active steps are taken to engage gay workers, results of a study suggest.

According to research released Wednesday by Catalyst — a non-profit organization that promotes diversity in the workplace — "invisible" lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers are likely to be less engaged than their openly gay counterparts because of the time spent "self-editing" and an associated general lack of authenticity.

"When employees are working in an environment where it doesn't feel inclusive . . . that creates a situation where there is invisible diversity within an organization that an employer may not even be aware of," said Deborah Gillis, vice-president, North America of Catalyst. "(The employer) then doesn't have the opportunity to tap into that diversity and support those employees so they can contribute fully to the success of the business and advance in their own careers."

The study found that LGBT employees working in organizations with effective and inclusive diversity practices reported better workplace relationships, greater organization commitment and greater career satisfaction.

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Ahead of the Bell: Productivity and Labor Costs

Via FORBES

WASHINGTON -- Worker productivity, the key ingredient to rising living standards, likely grew at a faster pace in the first quarter than the government previously estimated, while labor costs increased less.

Productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, is expected to increase at an annual rate of 1.2 percent in the January-March period, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters. That's up from the government's estimate of 0.8 percent last month and much better than the 0.6 percent drop in last year's fourth quarter. The Labor Dept. is scheduled to release the report at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

Higher productivity is crucial for rising living standards because workers that produce more can earn higher wages without forcing companies to raise prices.

Productivity grew in the first quarter even as economic output plummeted, because the number of hours worked fell even faster. The government estimated in May that nonfarm business output fell by 8.2 percent in the first quarter, while hours worked fell by 9 percent.

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Does It Pay to Reduce Pay?

Via Business Week

By Jena McGregor

Once considered off limits for salaried managers and professionals, base pay reductions are becoming increasingly common in today's brutal recession. Many human resources experts believe the recent moves by major companies—household names such as FedEx (FDX), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Saks Fifth Avenue are all trimming salaries—could present perils when the economy turns back up again. They argue that star performers could bolt to other companies and that morale and productivity could suffer.

But others see an upside to reducing pay rather than making more layoffs. One of them is Dan Ariely, the author of the popular behavioral economics book Predictably Irrational, and a professor at Duke University. He believes that in the right environment, pay cuts can even boost morale and loyalty. He spoke recently with Management Editor Jena McGregor. Below is an edited excerpt of their conversation:

You're a behavioral economist. How do you think people will respond to pay cuts when the economy turns back around?

People hate pay reductions as a procedure. We don't want to think that as we get older, we get paid less and less and less. Then our productivity will go down and down and down. But [the current salary cuts] are supposed to be a one-time thing, and that's more acceptable.

It also helps that salary is very much what we call a positional good. At some level you care more about how much money you make compared with other people than the absolute level. For people who struggle, of course, the absolute level of how much they make is important. But for people at high positions, it's basically a chase to the top. We see other people making more, we feel bad—not so much because we need the money, but just because it tells us something about who we are. So if you reduce pay at the whole company, you in a sense keep the relative position the same.

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Impact of Overactive Bladder on Work Productivity in the United States

Via Uro Today

By Chris Sexton, Center for Health Outcomes Research
United BioSource Corporation

Little research has focused on the impact of overactive bladder (OAB) on work productivity. Consequently, the impact of OAB and other lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) on work productivity was evaluated in employed men and women aged 40 to 65 in the United States.

Data from a population-based, cross-sectional Internet survey were used to examine the impact of OAB symptoms on work productivity. US participants aged 40 to 65 working full- or part-time were included in the analysis. Participants were asked about the incidence of OAB and other LUTS and a series of questions about work productivity.

Descriptive statistics and linear and logistic regressions were used to evaluate outcome differences for men and women by the OAB groups of no/minimal symptoms, continent OAB, and incontinent OAB.

The response rate was 60%, and a total of 2876 men and 2820 women were analyzed. Men and women with incontinent OAB reported the lowest levels of work productivity and highest rates of daily work interference. Storage symptoms associated with OAB were most consistently associated with work productivity outcomes; however, significant associations were also found for other storage, voiding, and postmicturition LUTS.

In this large US population-based study, OAB was highly prevalent and was associated with lower levels of work productivity. These findings add to the literature documenting the burden of OAB and other LUTS, underscoring the need for increased screening and treatment.