B O O K R E V I E W S

Productivity in Organizations: New Perspectives from Zndmtriul and

Organizational Psychology, by John P. Campbell, Richard J, Campbell,
and Associates. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1988. 447 pp., $31.95 cloth.

This book is the second in a series from the Society for Industrial and
Organizational Psychology, each dealing with a single topic of signifi-
cance in industrial and organizational psychology. Cutting-edge theory,
research, and practice are contributed by individuals doing pioneering
work on the topic. Like most readers, these books may be more current
than texts intended to present integrated treatments of major subjects.
Productivity has long been a subject of intense scrutiny by scholars,
managers, workers, unions, and social commentators. Innovation and
experimentation in the pursuit of productivity are age-old in many set-
tings in which people produce products or services. Yet frontiers remain.
Productivity is complex, and enormous real-world needs demand better
understanding of the construct.
Many remedies have been suggested for foreign competition, trade
imbalances, and other economic ills: one is that the U.S. economy must
become more efficient, that is, produce more and higher-quality goods
and services. The purpose of this book is to describe human resource
utilization as contrasted with technical and marketing strategies. Its objec-
tives are threefold
1. To clarify the concept of productivity as it pertains to the work of
industrial and organizational psychology, to productivity as a variable,
and to dependent industrial-organizational psychology.
2. To summarize what has already been done to improve productivity.
Useful contributions take the form of theory to guide future action, re-
search findings to support the use of particular actions, and methods and
techniques that are in fact used in practice.
3. To identify the leading edges of theory, research, and practice as
they pertain to productivity improvement.
The book is in four sections, with an introductory chapter and the
editors’ concluding chapter. T h e content moves progressively from defi-
nitional issues (Part One), to critical knowledge gained from three key
areas of research (Part Two), to important findings yielded by a variety of
change strategies and techniques (Part Three), to a sampling of important
implementation issues illustrated by two distinct approaches to produc-
tivity enhancement (Part Four).
Part One deals with meaning and measurement to clarify the con-
struct as critical to progress in the enhancement of productivity. Chapter
Two, “Productivity Defined: The Relativity of Efficiency, Effectiveness,

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and Change,” presents frameworks used by economists to measure pro-

ductivity and shows how approaches used by psychologists fit into this
broader scheme. Productivity is described as an efficiency measure, and
the position of psychological interventions in the output/input ratio is
discussed. The growth-accounting model is treated as unexplained var-
iance in productivity. Chapter Three, “Productivity Assessment: Japanese
Perceptions and Practices,” describes Japan’s approach to productivity.
The purpose of the measurement system forms a centerpiece of the chap-
ter and illustrates the use of productivity measures for goal setting and
motivation. Japanese personnel systems are designed to support the eco-
nomic system; speculations are raised about the role of a superordinate
goal as the primary driving force in the Japanese approach to productiv-
ity improvement. Chapter Four, “Productivity Research: Reviewing Psy-
chological and Economic Perspectives,” provides a very useful overview
of psychological findings regarding productivity and, more important,
defines what psychologists in the specialty mean by productivity. (The
meaning is captured by the dependent variables that have occupied inves-
tigators.) Chapter Five, “Industrial-Organizational Psychology and Pro-
ductivity: The Goodness of Fit,” presents a conceptual scheme for
clarifying the fit of industrial-organizational psychology with the pro-
ductivity field, identifies the frontiers, and provides a perspective for the
parts that follow.
Part Two is concerned primarily with human resource management.
Each of the three chapters deals with an important theme in the behavior
of individuals in organizations. Chapter Six, “Recruiting, Selecting, and
Matching People with Jobs,” examines linkages between personal and
job characteristics and methods for estimating the effects of personljob-
matching systems. Taxonomies, validity generalization and meta-analyti-
cal methods, computer-based testing, utility analysis, abilities emerging
from the domain of cognitive psychology, and recent developments in
personality research are discussed. Chapter Seven, “Individual Motivation
and Performance: Cognitive Influences on Effort and Choice,” is a review
of major theories of effort and choice, including expectancy, equity, goal
setting, and social learning. Examples of applications that underscore
the complexity of practical interventions and the overlap among theories
are provided as a set of integrating concepts that emphasize the comple-
mentary nature of the theories. The chapter concludes with guidelines
for productivity enhancement, with special attention to the difficulty of
maintaining change over time. Chapter Eight, “Training Design for Per-
formance Improvement,” evaluates paradigms, methods, and research
findings regarding efforts to teach knowledge, skill, and task understand-
ing in the pursuit of performance improvement. The review encompasses
instructional psychology as well as training and development literature.
A training design model is presented in the light of what research find-
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ings suggest about the issues i t identifies.

Part Three deals with a variety of organizational interventions. Many
independent variables introduced in early chapters-for example, partici-
pation, work redesign, financial incentives, and goal setting-are treated.
These variables are said to be closest to the frontiers and are not really a
part of selection, training, or motivational techniques: they seem to work
by some combination of better matching of jobs and abilities, the learn-
ing of new knowledge or skills, and motivation enhancement. Chapter
Nine, “Job Enrichment and Performance Improvement,” evaluates theo-
retical expectations, examines conditions under which improved perfor-
mance should be observed, and describes methodological and design
issues that may affect research findings. After a review of studies reporting
quantitative results of job enrichment-performance links and an analysis
of potential moderators, the authors present the results of their meta-
analysis. Chapter Ten, “The Quality Circle and Its Variations,” reviews
quality circle designs, their history of performance and attitudinal out-
comes, and their life cycle. Design options and environmental contingen-
cies that influence effectiveness and success are described and ways in
which quality circles may be moved toward other forms of participative
management are provided. Chapter Eleven, “Groups and Productivity:
Analyzing the Effectiveness of Self-Managing Teams,” deepens the theme
of participation. Three important early studies are reviewed, design lim-
itations evaluated, and conclusions about the effectiveness of self-manag-
ing teams are offered. Considerable attention is given to the interaction
of human, organizational, and technological variables and the simplicity
of conceptual models as contrasted with the complexity of actual treat-
ments or interventions. Chapter Twelve, “New Developments in Profit
Sharing, Gain Sharing and Employee Ownership,” deals with financial
incentives. Its conceptual anchor is the labor exchange, the employer/
worker trade of pay for effort. The chapter compares and contrasts the
three approaches, comments on the current state of their theoretical under-
pinnings, and evaluates relevant research findings.
The two chapters in Part Four deal with different traditions. Both rely
heavily on participation. They deal with systemwideintervention and illus-
trate what must be done in organizations to turn research and theory into
practical interventions. Chapter Thirteen, “Flexible Job Models: A Produc-
tivity Strategy for the Information Age,” describes the technology and its
use, including performance measurement, training and development, and
career management. A large case study shows how the technique places
strong emphasis on what is to be produced, what must be mastered, and the
need to design jobs for future conditions. Chapter Fourteen, “Employee
Involvement: A Sustained LaborIManagement Initiative at the Ford Motor
Company,” recounts in some detail Ford’s efforts to increase employee
involvement and participation. Considerable attention is given to the role
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of the union and the pattern of relations between management and the
union.
Chapter Fifteen, “Productivity: Conclusions and Forecasts for Indus-
trial-Organizational Psychology,” presents the editors’ view of where
industrial-organizational psychology should be investing its resources in
the quest for better understandings of productivity enhancement. It does
not summarize or recapitulate content of earlier chapters, but rather syn-
thesizes concepts, issues, and directions that appear most promising.
The most striking feature of this book is its architecture. Many editors
of readers compromise design as deadlines approach. Loosely knit com-
pilations with obvious voids and some slovenly chapters result, major
themes are clouded, and audiences are befuddled. Apparently such mis-
haps did not befall this fine book. It is a readable, usable, cogent treat-
ment of productivity as a concept, construct, and result of organizational
structures and behaviors critical to the posture of the United States in the
world economy. Few works are so well constructed.
The work of twenty-one authors is difficult to coordinate. Fourteen
are professors. One might have expected even more, because professors
have the most time to give to vigorous searching, reading, and writing.
Fortunately, the professors are well balanced by three practicing manag-
ers, two research scientists from USC, and two doctoral students. The
authors are widely dispersed geographically. Each has very impressive
academic and experiential credentials.
The editing is good and evinces a concern for common terminology.
The chapters are really chapters, not articles in data-based, refereed jour-
nals. Yet bibliographies and copious citations satisfy the replicability and
other principles that concern scholars.
The book’s primary audience is professional industrial and organiza-
tion psychologists, but it will also be useful to undergraduate and gradu-
ate students in business, human resource development, and related fields
and to practicing managers in various settings.
It is state-of-the-art. It should be widely read and discussed, because it
contains both well-founded theory and commonsense solutions to critical
issues about the effective organization of people.

RONALD W. STADT
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY &

Enhancing Human Performance; Issues, Theories, and Techniques,

edited by Daniel Druckman and John A. Swets. Washington, DC:
National Academy Press, 1988. 299 pp., $32.50 cloth, $22.50 paper.