Contextual influence on productivity behaviour of manufacturing firms in Singapore : an empirical study

• Main Author: Lee, Tuck Suen.
• Other Authors: Foo, Check Teck
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Manufacturing
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/19951
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The aim of the research was to study the influence of contextual factors on the use of technology and emphasis on training for productivity improvement in manufacturing firms. A total of 496 valid survey responses was collected from 1988 to 1994, from which a post hoc analysis of the empirical data was conducted. A consolidated analysis of the findings suggests that the control perspective is able to provide an intuitively meaningful paradigm to account for firms' behavior. Three modes of control were highlighted in the analysis. There is the direct mode of control through technology use, the indirect mode through training emphasis ('responsibilization' of employees), and the combination mode through an emphasis on technology-training relationship.