Assignment #3: Productivity, Trade-offs, and Global Outsourcing BUS 644 Operations Management

Assignment #3: Productivity, Trade-offs, and Global Outsourcing

Productivity is defined as the ratio between the output volume and the volume of inputs. It is a measurement of how efficiently production inputs are being used an economy to produce a given level of output (Krugman, 1994). There are several types of inputs that effect productivity such as labor, capital, and material. Labor productivity is divided into direct labor, people who work in producing goods, and indirect labor, such as quality, supervision, and maintenance (Vonderembse, 2013). Labor can be determined by measuring the output per labor-hour. Capital includes all money invested in labor, facilities, and...