The modern experience of time is defined by a paradox: despite living in an era of unprecedented material wealth, we are increasingly time-poor. By 2018, 80% of employed Americans reported a persistent lack of time, up from 70% in 2011. This sense of urgency is driven by complex societal, institutional, and psychological factors. Societally, the […]
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In a world of open-office plans and bustling coffee shops, the ability to focus on a difficult task while ignoring background noise is a vital professional skill. A study from researchers at the University of Helsinki and University of Turku explores how our brains achieve ‘cognitive control’ by both guiding task performance while at the […]
Read More… from Why Background Chatter Drains Your Brainpower
This working paper investigates why training investments, essential for productivity, often suffer from low participation rates and insufficient worker engagement. It addresses a gap in existing literature by examining how middle managers influence the execution of centrally designed training programs. The study uses detailed administrative data from three large firms in Latin America: an Argentinian […]
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While new technology is intended to make work more efficient and effective, it often helps the professionals in a company while increasing the workload and decreasing the autonomy of assistants and other administrative-level or lower-level employees. Finding solutions to address workload issues related to new technology is hampered by three challenges: MIT’s Katherine Kellogg studied […]
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As robotics continues to advance, companies are finding more and more opportunities to transfer repetitive and tedious tasks to robots, freeing up their employees to focus more on tasks that can only be performed by humans. One of the challenges of humans and robots working side-by-side (what researchers call human-robot work collaboration or HRWC) is […]
Over a period of six days, a team of researchers recreated a variety of air quality conditions, and simultaneously conducted cognitive tests of volunteers under the various conditions to determine whether poor or even average air quality impacts our cognitive abilities. Manipulating in a laboratory setting the amount of airborne Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), which […]
Read More… from Typical Air Quality in Offices Hurts Cognitive Function
Developed in Japan, lean manufacturing introduced tools, processes and a mindset that eliminated waste and ensured the smooth flow of production without sacrificing quality. Kanban, a system that sounds the alert when a component in the production process is running low, and TPM, a proactive approach to equipment maintenance, are just two examples of lean […]
Read More… from Lean Manufacturing More Effective in Collectivist Cultures
Collaboration, either formal or discretionary (informally approaching others for guidance, information or assistance), is considered a virtue in today’s workplace. The advantages of collaboration are many, ranging from creativity and knowledge sharing, to teamwork, employee engagement and improved long-term results. However, an in-depth study of the interaction of physicians and health care personnel in one […]
Read More… from The Overlooked Productivity Costs of Collaboration
Research has shown that downsizing will often have a direct negative impact on customer satisfaction, and this negative impact results in a decline in business performance. This causal chain seems clear and intuitive. New research confirms the assumption that downsizing hurts customer satisfaction, and as a result, reduces the financial performance of the company. However, […]
Read More… from When Does Downsizing Hurt Customer Satisfaction?
An employee’s work usually consists of two types of tasks or behaviours: in-role tasks, which are the tasks required by the job or position; and discretionary behaviours, which are undertaken by the employee in order to help others or the organization but that are not required tasks or responsibilities. Of course, employees are not always […]
