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The “Be more productive” forum on Linkedin is promoting some stimulating debates. These are four of the threads currently open. Click the link below to join the debates.


Tapping into Europe’s productivity potential?


A recent paper from the Work Foundation has suggested that the UK’s skills shortage is related not only to the supply of skills, but also to poor skills utilization. This reflects research by Oxford Economics which highlighted how investment in the necessary mix of people, skills and processes around ICT investment is just as vital as the investment itself.


Productivity growth as a result of automation distorts the picture. Higher levels of automation mean less need for unskilled labor. In many advanced countries, jobs demanding lower skills are being taken by workers from outside the country because of economic migration.


Globalization also has an impact, with design, marketing and high-end activities taking place in advanced countries and production in emerging markets. Because innovation, rather than manufacturing, is key to growth in the globalized economy, education, rather than productivity appears to be the priority.


Cloud computing - increasing productivity and saving the planet?


Do you think that cloud computing delivers ‘green’ benefits? The Carbon Disclosure Project found the adoption of cloud computing by UK organizations could achieve major annual energy savings and carbon reduction by allowing companies to maximize performance, drive down costs and reduce inefficiencies.


SME adoption of public cloud services is showing the way for big business. Over time more businesses will grasp that without cloud services providing pervasive access across devices, applications will start to become legacy.


Once larger businesses see applications that are relevant and secure, then we will see a faster rate of adoption.


The ‘way forward’ for business is to become social. What do you think?


Social media, Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) and mobile applications provide a range of ways in which organizations can foster dynamic innovation and accelerated decision making, driving further productivity.


Businesses are now more willing to look at integrating ICT investment into business processes outside of the IT tower to drive a wider corporate return.


Social tools can produce massively improved employee interaction within the workplace increasing interaction, involvement, collaboration and innovation.


The risks of waiting


In times of economic uncertainty there is a tendency for big ticket projects such as investment in ICT to be pushed to the wayside. However, research finds that to maximize productivity improvements this type of investment should be seen as part of a broader growth strategy.


Almost all the telecom leaders in the USA and in Europe stopped their R&D programs. In the meantime the Asian challengers invested a lot. The winners were the ones choosing to be bold when the others where careful.


Benefit can come from the productivity increase, the sales increase, the strategic positioning move, the services revenue increase, and the innovation increase.


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