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Show Profit Motive Spurs Private Sector Gains Productivity gains that have been achieved in this century by the American free enterprise enter-prise system have not been matched in the public sector of the economy. This was the principal conclusion reached by the Utah Foundation, the private research organization in their latest study of increasing production of government gov-ernment in Utah. According to the report, long-term productivity gains by private industry in the United States have averaged between 2A and 3 per year. The goods and services produced per worker today is nearly four times what it was fifty years ago. Much of this productivity gain in the private sector has resulted from technological advances and the increased use of capital. It has been this steady increase in productivity that has allowed allow-ed the typical Ameircan family to achieve an ever-improving standard of living. In government, on the other hand, a common measure of success for an agency is the ability to obtain budget and staff increases in order to expand the scope of its activities. The Foundation analysis notes that administrative administra-tive salary levels in government govern-ment usually are determined by the number of persons supervised rather than by the efficiency of the agency operations. Officials who do achieve economies in their operations through good management man-agement practices often find that their influence and position in the government hierarchy have been diminished dimin-ished rather than enhanced by such action. Foundation analysts point out that the nurnber one hindrance to improved productivity pro-ductivity in government is the absence of the profit motive. In private industry, profits are the spur that prompt mangers to seek economies in cost and improvements in the products and services being produced. The report lists other impediments to improvement in government productivity. These include (1) opposition to .change by organized public employees and others, (2) civil service systems that sometimes some-times promote mediocrity by discouraging individual initiative, initi-ative, (3) the monopolistic character of government, (4) , consitutional and statutory restraints, and (5) public apathy and indifference. The greatest opportunity for improved government productivity, produc-tivity, according to the Foundation Foun-dation study, lies in strengthened strength-ened management. In addition, addi-tion, the report suggests that the management team be given the basic tools of good management - planning, budgeting, bud-geting, reporting, and auditing.'. audit-ing.'. :V '.; " ;; - Other suggestions for improving im-proving government productivity, produc-tivity, as outlined in the report, include (1) better evaluation to determine agency staffing requirements, (2) greater use of technological technologi-cal developments in governmental govern-mental operations, and (3) contracting with private concerns con-cerns for services in certain instances. |