Productivity and Human Relations

• Published in: The American economic review 1947-05, Vol.37 (2), p.412-420
• Main Author: Evans, W. Duane
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic conferences; Business structures; Economic benefits; Economics; Employee efficiency; Employment; Human relations; Industrial machinery; Productivity; Productivity in the American Economy; Respect; Studies; Workforce
• ISSN: 0002-8282; 1944-7981

A technical Conference on Productivity, attended by several hundred persons from labor, industry, government, and private research agencies, was held in Washington last October. The conference was especially successful in one important respect. The conference was made up of persons who represented the most diverse points of view and who were met to discuss a highly controversial and not well-understood subject. Yet almost without exception the discussions were informative, well-reasoned, and carried through with temperance and forebearance. It should prove most encouraging to those who hope that other public issues where differences exist may yet be settled through rational discussion. It encourages me to discuss a subject which is seldom treated except in emotional terms. Many points of agreement and disagreement emerged from the conference, some important, others trivial. But back of the discussions seemed to lie general agreement that, however productivity is defined (and a multiplicity of possible definitions was conceded) or how accurately productivity is measured (and the imperfections of available measures received much comment), it is to the benefit of all groups to seek further improvement in productivity levels.