Can Organizational Change Resolve the Productivity Paradox?
Large investment in information technology, particularly in the service sector over the past two decades, has not led to productivity growth commensurate with earlier significant technological advances such as electricity. This “productivity paradox” and the degree to which it may relate to organizational change is the subject of a recent literature review by Andrew Sharpe of the Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CFSLS). This review builds upon the findings of an international conference organized by the CFSLS in Ottawa in April 1997. Sharpe defines Information technology (IT) as including “computers of all types, hardware and software; communications networks, from those connecting two personal computers to the largest public and private networks; or computer equipment used primarily in offices in the business sector, including personal computers, workstations, minicomputers, servers, mainframes and related equipment.” The 1994 General Social Survey conducted by Statistics Can
