Productivity Measurement is Becoming Complex

The simple definition of productivity is that it is the ratio of output to input.The concept is simple, yet there were difficulties in measurement. Historically, the variety of input has given measurement difficulties. Today, even the output side is giving measurment difficulty. The production has to meet customer needs, quality expecations and time of delivery and productivity measurement is expected to meet those dimensions also.

The chapter "THE CONCEPT AND IMPORTANCE OF PRODUCTIVITY" written by Kenneth E. Smith, H. B. Maynard and Company, Inc. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in Maynard's Handbook of Industrial Engineering 5th Edition deals with the complexities of the issue. I wrote a small review of it on google knol platform.

http://knol.google.com/k/narayana-rao-k-v-s-s/review-of-the-concept-and-importance-of/2utb2lsm2k7a/2297#