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It is sometimes easy to overlook the importance of productivity. National figures are often reported in the media. They may seem to be ho-hum; there's nothing glamorous about them to get our attention. But make no mistake; they are key economic indicators barometers, if you will, that affect everybody. How? High productivity and high standard of living go hand-in-hand. If a country becomes more service-based, as the United States has become, some (but not all) high-productivity manufacturing jobs are replaced by lower-productivity service jobs. That makes it more difficult to support a high standard of living.
Productivity levels are also important for industries and companies. For companies, a higher productivity relative to their
competitors gives them a competitive advantage in the market- place. With a higher productivity, they can afford to undercut competitors' prices to gain market share, or charge the same prices but realize greater profits! For an industry, higher relative productivity means it is less likely to be supplanted by foreign industry.
Questions

1.Why is high productivity important for a nation?
2. Why do you suppose that service jobs have lower productivity
than manufacturing jobs?
3. How can a company gain a competitive advantage by having
higher productivity than its competitors have?

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Solution Summary

It is sometimes easy to overlook the importance of productivity. National figures are often reported in the media. They may seem to be ho-hum; there's nothing glamorous about them to get our attention. But make no mistake; they are key economic indicators barometers, if you will, that affect everybody. How? High productivity and high standard of living go hand-in-hand. If a country becomes more service-based, as the United States has become, some (but not all) high-productivity manufacturing jobs are replaced by lower-productivity service jobs. That makes it more difficult to support a high standard of living.
Productivity levels are also important for industries and companies. For companies, a higher productivity relative to their
competitors gives them a competitive advantage in the market- place. With a higher productivity, they can afford to undercut competitors' prices to gain market share, or charge the same prices but realize greater profits! For an industry, higher relative productivity means it is less likely to be supplanted by foreign industry.
Questions

1.Why is high productivity important for a nation?
2. Why do you suppose that service jobs have lower productivity
than manufacturing jobs?
3. How can a company gain a competitive advantage by having
higher productivity than its competitors have?

Solution Preview

1.Why is high productivity important for a nation?

The main reason why high productivity is important for a nation is because it leads to continued economic growth. When productivity remains stagnant or slows, after a period of time, it begins to slow the economy, and the once thriving nation begins to show signs of economic despair caused by a lack of productivity, compared to the level of productivity that the nation experienced before it began to decline. Productivity is the cornerstone of economic growth, and when this factor slows, it also lessens our competitive position in the global marketplace. We see in global statistics that countries that have a low production are either undeveloped, or still developing nations, and that countries with the highest rates of production are also the ...

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