Quality and Appearance Are Impo*ant

Manage For Productivity

A sound management information system is the key to measuring productivity and understanding and developing programs to irnprove it.

Doug Rossiter, author of "Productivity and Technology in Retailing: A Strategic Perspective," suggests that a sound management information system should have the following characteristics: o Consistent and organized information for management decision making. o Support of the basic business planning and control process. o Reports which highlight operative causes as reflected by financial performance.

Rossiter stresses, "a management information system and other computerized systems are not ends in themselves. When technology can improve productivity and a retailer's performance in general, then it ought to be adopted in a way and to the extent that makes sense for supporting the organization's objective. This makes productivity through information systems a strategic issue, as opposed to a matter of operational efficiency. The goal should not be to automate the organization, but to organize the automation so that computer support is consistent with company objectives."

Leaders in the application of technology to the retail organization are well-positioned to secure a strong market advantage. To achieve this position, however, it is important to recognize that system development takes time and continuous effort.

Historically, productivity improvement programs tied to computerization frequently have been conceived too narrowly. According to Rossiter, "Our perspective involves the role of management information systems primarily as a means to effectively increase the outputs, rather than concentrate only on efficiency aspects of decreased inputs, as an alternative pathway to profits."

To this end, information is the common link for understanding the interrelated factors which influence productivity, and for acting in a way that is consistent with those interrelationships and with organizational objectives in general.

According to Rossiter,"...it is necessary to apply computers correctly and apply them to the right problem in order to have a significant impact on profits, productivity, and long-run viability. Achieving this proper fit within an organization requires that one understands the internal and external environment, and in this context carefully define the role of the management information system, developing strategies that fit the two environments together."

This perspective of productivity improvement hinges on achieving the right mix of stability in routine operations with innovation in adapting to new conditions in the marketplace. These two productivity factors are, in turn, the outgrowth of two conflicting processes:

. A drive toward internal efficiency; o The need to introduce variation to gain new advantages.

In this process the retailer faces the dilemma of benefitting from stability but also needing to constantly introduce change. That is, productivity is benefitted by predictable. routine operations on the one hand (some of which include the opportunity to decrease inputs without jeopardizing the basic business) and by seeking to gain market advantage on the other hand (which derives and is supported in part from our technological ability to increase outputs through new strategies).

Western States Up Production

Softwood lumber production of 18.002 billion board feet last year was a 3l9o increase over 1982's low mark of 13.7 billion feet; according to the Western Wood Products Association.

The '83 mark was the highest output since 1979, which totaled 20.U5 billion feet. The 1983 production had an estimated wholesale value of $4.924 billion, while 1979's production had a value of $6.139 billion. The '83 average for all grades and species was $273.51 per thousand board feet, compared with $306.54 in 1979.

Oregon, the traditional leader in western and national lumber output, produced 6.579 billion board feet of softwood lumber during 1983, a 1.897 billion feet or Q.50/o increase over 1982. All other western states gained, including Washington, up 762 million feet (2590) to 3.821 billion feet; California/Nevada, up 587 million (20V0)to 3.574 billion feet; Idaho, up 412 million (3390) to 1.657 billion feet; Montana, up 421 million (47o/o) to 1.316 billion feet; Arizona, up 88 million (3590) to 337 million feet; New Mexico, up 9 million (590) to l9l million feet; South Dakota, up 52 million (4190) to 178 million feet; Wyoming, up 36 million (26.70/o) to l7l million feet; Colorado, up 5 million (4v/o) to 123 million feet; and Utah, up 9 million (19.590) to 55 million feet.