Wednesday, January 29, 2020
A Critical Response to the Editorial “Productive Labour†Essay Example for Free
A Critical Response to the Editorial â€Å"Productive Labour†Essay â€Å"A Productive Labour†is an editorial written by Roger Martin and James Milway. This tackles on the topic of productivity – what it is, what it does, and just how important it is for a country’s economy and living. The essay’s main point can be seen in its secondary title, which states that â€Å"the only limit to productivity growth is human ingenuity.†The article’s strength lies in this statement, and supported by the many reasons the authors discussed afterwards. Although the essay is strongly put together, with the main points being clearly stated, there is still the existence of some weaknesses, evident in many parts of the article. These loopholes are either poorly explained or there is no sufficient evidence presented to actually support it.            The authors, in this essay played the role as lecturers and persuaders at the same time. They started off by discussing productivity by stating it as a practical way to raise our living standards. They gave an assertion that the only limit to productivity is the human ingenuity, unlike other methods which would use up all of the natural resources, or the number of hours to work. From here they gave specifics on how to actually increase the productivity. One of their main arguments here is the use of what they called â€Å"new value creation†(par. 10). This, together with strategies leading to innovation will drive a country’s productivity higher. The editorial also contained written benefits of productivity, and how it can help a country’s growth.            One interesting fact that the authors pointed out is that the limiting factor of increasing a country’s productivity lies in ingenuity. This seems to be partially true, because the article defined ingenuity as the only limiting factor, when in fact in a practical world it is not. The article in the succeeding paragraph stated that a â€Å"countrys ability to improve its standard of living over time depends almost entirely on its ability to raise its output per worker (par. 6). If productivity is the key to raising the standard of living, it is then limited by the output of each worker. And any worker, no matter how ingenious he or she may be, will only reach a certain level and never go beyond it. This is a practical theory of everything; no matter how long and how much energy you put into something, it will reach a point where there is no useful output produced. Then, the next step would be to find a new worker with new and fresh ideas. Over time, productivity will not only be limited by the workers’ ingenuity, but also by the number of workers available and efficient enough for the tasks.            Although compared with the limitations caused by natural resources, productivity still has an edge. Taking into account the length of a worker’s useful ingenuity and the possible number of workers available, the depletion of natural resources would come to dawn at time earlier than this.            Another eye opening fact is the information on new value creation (par 10). This is truly one important way of increasing productivity and it is covalently linked to ingenuity and innovation. These unique creations are a wonderful way to not only enhance a worker’s thinking skills, but also create an edge in the economical tug-of-war. Instead of trying to compete against a nation who perfected a certain technology, others can develop a technology different from it. And if that technology or product becomes a hit, the nation pioneering that new design would benefit greatly from it. This is just a way of showing how productivity can be translated to economics and businesses, just like the article suggests. But it should not forget the prerequisites for an actual new creation to be born. First would be the development of science and technology in the country. The chances of creating a new product would greatly rely on the technology readily available. A man may have designs on creating the world’s greatest car but if the society lacks the tools and techniques required in making one, these innovation would not be manifested as a usable object. Again, it is not always practical for a new creation to make its way into the conceiving stage.            Finally, the article speaks to a very broad audience. Its first paragraph ended with a challenge to governments, businesses, and citizens (par. 1). The whole article in a sense is then dedicated to every single one person of a country or nation. The productivity challenge is something that everyone must be a part of. It is true that although many think of productivity as a term only used in labour, or businesses, it should actually encompass every being that contributes to the society. Citizens, by the simple due of paying their taxes, enters the world of productivity and contributes a part of that to the government, which in turn must make use of these taxes in a very much productive way. For the work force, productivity would be of benefit for them since it means higher wages.            In a nutshell, the editorial speaks clearly of the purpose and strength of productivity in our daily lives. Its arguments are supported by concrete examples and the essay is in fact very persuasive. There are just some little details which may not be noticeable at first. These usually jump in the practicality of the suggestion. We must always take into consideration the practical events that would happen and define them differently from the hypothetical or theoretical events. This way, factors can be explained much better without bias. References Martin, R., Milway, J. A productive labour; the only limit to productivity growth is human ingenuity.
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