China productivity project: General description and analysis of productivity

Abstract

The amount of work that people do is a focal point of human life, an outcome with extraordinarily complex roots. The physical task itself, the natural setting, biological work capacity, and behavioral patterns presumably condition productivity. This paper presents a model by which work output of Chinese cycle haulers was investigated, and outlines investigative techniques including work physiology, health assessment, cold response, and ethnography of the workplace and home. The objective is to explain variation in work done on a daily, monthly, and seasonal basis. This paper also quantifies work output, or productivity, using long-term pay records as measures of productivity. While pay records, which show statistically normal distributions, serve as the primary dependent variable in the analysis, field observations and experiments offer supplementary data on the behaviors that produce work output. In a sample of 48 men, various measures of biological capacity and behaviors, such as motivation, predict overall productivity regardless of season. Since mean daily pay and monthly pay have different predictors, there is much individual choice in how many days per month one works. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

The China Productivity Project: Results and conclusions

“…The directions of assumed productivity causation are shown by arrows. Past research, reviewed by Steegmann et al (1995a), indicated that all of the independent variables shown would be expected to affect work outcomes. It was anticipated that multivariate analysis would eventually simplify this picture due to interactions between independent variables.…”

“…Productivity (mean daily and mean monthly pay) is the dependent variable category, and arrows show causation by categories of independent variables. For simplicity, not all of the potential interactions between variables are shown (Steegmann et al, 1995a). and Collins and Roberts (1988). The necessity for using multidisciplinary, holistic research strategies is expressed in all of these sources.…”

“…Chinese physicians and health technicians conducted health examinations, including a general health history, days missed due to illness (2 week recall), blood pressure, electrocardiogram, hemoglobin (HemoQue photometer), hematocrit, alcohol and to- (Consolazio et al, 1963;McArdle et al, 1991;Steegmann et al, 1995a) Maximum heart rate The highest sustained rate reached at peak performance during the maximum oxygen uptake tests; determined using the chest strap sensor supplied with the Monark ergometer Boss's estimate, overall contribution to the unit A five-point rating that reflects the worker's general effectiveness; includes judgments about taking orders, ability to get along with customers and fellow workers, dependability, endurance, and so on; a rating of 1 represents a marginal employee, although presence in the work unit shows the person can at least do the work; those clearly superior in performance and human relations are rated 5 Boss's estimate, physical work capacity A five-point rating of the hauler's physical capacity for the strenuous work of hauling; a rating of 1 indicates someone who has the lowest capacity to do hauling and may have to be given lighter loads; while 5 indicates someone who can haul the heaviest loads long distances multiple times per day; since these subjects are all working as haulers, however, even a person rated 1 passes minimal physical ability expectations; scoring discussed further in Bernard (1994), Hewner and Sun (1995), and the text Heart rate:speed ratio…”

“…That is, a hauler who worked 4 months could be compared directly to someone who had recently joined the organization and had only accrued 3 months of pay records. Steegmann et al (1995a) offer detailed discussion of productivity measurement. (Fig.…”

“…We chose two different pay measures because each has potentially different causes of variation. Mean monthly pay (MMP1 in Steegmann et al [1995a]) is the total pay earned by the worker divided by the number of months worked and serves as our primary measure of productivity. Months when there was less than 100 yuan income were eliminated from calculation.…”