"By Opening up horizons one can cross the boundaries" The world is changing fast in many ways impacting our Economies, social and political lives. Assumptions associated with it have also undergone a complete makeover. Old Economies are collapsing and at the same new economics are rising. There are collaborations across the world.

Old industries are replaced by new ones Old industries are replaced by new ones. Technology has worked as a rapid change agent. Most of the industries and individuals that are finding it persistently difficult to cope with these changes as skills and knowledge soon become irrelevant and obsolete The change on Macro level has its impact on micro level. Therefore it is utmost important to understand macro & micro level changes for making necessary adjustments on each level.

Problems within the firm: Out dated and rigid work norms Restrictive and narrow job description Too many non value adding activities Idle manpower on one hand and high incidents of overtime on other hand Maladjusted production schedule Shortages of critical items on one hand and growing inventory on the other hand Unbalanced work load and bottlenecks Break-downs Rejection and reworks Absenteeism and labor turn over Lack of accountability Discontent, low morale and responsibilities. Mismatch between authorities and responsibilities

Remedial approaches: Organizational: Promoting transparency and participation Role enrichment, versatile and flexible job description Integrating functions like quality control and maintenance with production function Flat and lean organization Information and communication systems Job rotation and group working

B. Normative: Instead of fixed targets, agreeing to overall work load levels and rest periods Day to day target modifications as per incidence of forced idle time and outside cycle work Dynamic formulae for establishing targets with varying product mix and changing techniques Continuous rebalancing of work load for fair distribution and removal of bottlenecks Making traditionally non measurable work measurable

C. Technical: Effort reducing techniques Minimum transport layout Multiple operative facilities Ergonomic improvement Health and safety measures

D. Economic: Evaluation of individual contribution Sharing gains and loses with various stakeholder, especially employees “Make or buy” decision

Remedial Devices used for these approaches: Work measurement devices like: time and motion study, MOST etc KAIZAN Lean manufacturing, single piece flow, 5 S, TQM etc. Agreement as a vehicle of participation Audit of critical variables Productivity linked remuneration schemes Company performance linked schemes Crisis situation plans Monitoring the economics of a firm

THANK YOU Arvind Shrouti OPTION POSITIVE Pune,INDIA Email: optionpositive@rediffmail.com