Modern Management: concepts and skills, 14/e

Production and productivity

To reach organizational goals, all managers must plan, organize, influence, and control in order to produce some type of goods or services. Naturally, these goods and services vary significantly from organization to organization. This section of the chapter defines production and productivity and discusses the relationship among quality, productivity, and automation.

Defining Production

Production is the transformation of organizational resources into products.2 In this definition, organizational resources are all the assets available to a manager to generate products; transformation is the set of steps necessary to change these resources into products; and products are various goods or services aimed at meeting human ...