Measuring Productivity in a Service Economy

[kelley]

A
>kelley wrote:
>
>>MEASURING PRODUCTIVITY IN A SERVICE ECONOMY
>
>Found the source of this at 
><ftp://146.142.4.23/pub/news.release/prin.txt>. Some of these figures are 
>just incredible, in the literal sense. Radio, TV, computer, and music 
>stores up 20.4%. Used merchandise stores, 14.8%. Paint, glass, and 
>wallpaper stores, up 15.5%. Hardware stores, 12.7%. Commercial banks, 
>0.0%. It's nearly impossible to believe that the organization of work 
>changed that much in one year in retail, but not in banking. I wish some 
>Congressperson would ask the GAO to audit the BLS productivity division.
>
>Doug

my quick guess is that aside from strange accounting, it could well be that 
there is a lag.  it takes a while to see the results of tech change in a 
service workplace. my experience with it is that, initially, you invest 
quite a bit of time in learning how to use the damn technology--upping the 
wages paid out.  plus, you get a lot of resistance and a great deal of 
folks who have no idea what they're doing and how the technology can work 
for them.

you numbers folks:  how exactly *do* they measure productivity?  i mean, 
how do they account for, say, increased spending on products/traffic which 
makes the staff you're operating with appear more efficient.  e.g., you 
have  one waitress taking care of the floor during slow season.  same 
waitress on floor as it picks up but isn't quite busy season.  waitress is 
working hard, making the bucks, is tired but the wad of bills in her pocket 
is the reward. (productivity numbers are going to look good at that interim 
point).  when it gets busier you add one or two more servers, a fourth part 
time for the rush hours.  productivity goes down.

but then again i could be fucked and this is simplistic thinking since i 
have no clue how the bls measures this and didn't take time to look to see 
if they have some explanation.

kelley