Productivity Puzzles Season 3: mid-season overview
The intertwining roles of business and economic productivity has been the focus for the third season of the Productivity Puzzles podcast. Host Bart van Ark and his guests have discussed the mechanism between productivity and business dynamism, how government can better support business productivity and a deep dive into what business leaders actually think about productivity. The snap election in July also provided a focus to support the Institute’s Plan for Productivity.
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Business Dynamism: is turbulence good for productivity?
What is business dynamism? Do we need a bit more turbulence in business creation, growth and change to get productivity up again? This episode, the first of three on the productivity of firms, looks at the mechanism between productivity and business dynamism, whether there are big differences between countries, and whether and how we can get a bit more turbulence.
Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by a co-host:
- Rebecca Riley, Professor of Practice at King’s College London; Director of the Economics Statistics Centre of Excellence; Lead on Measurement and Methods theme at The Productivity Institute.
Bart and Rebecca are joined by two guest speakers:
- John Van Reenen, Ronald Coase Chair in Economics at the London School of Economics Professor, where was also the Director of Centre for Economic Performance. Currently John is Director of the Programme on Innovation and Diffusion (POID).
- Javier Miranda, Professor of Economics, Productivity Research at Friedrich-Schiller University (Jena), and Head of Center for Factor Market Transformation and Productivity Growth at the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH). Co-director of The Competitiveness Research Network (CompNet).
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Government policy and business productivity: does it help or harm?
What is the best thing government can do to help improve business productivity? Provide more business support? Create better conditions for doing business? Or simply, get out of the way. In other words, can government policy and business growth ever become a happy marriage?
Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by a co-host:
- Stephen Roper, Professor of Enterprise at Warwick Business School, founding Director of the Enterprise Research Centre, Co-Director of the Innovation Research Caucus, and Research Programme Lead on “Firms in Transitions” at The Productivity Institute.
Bart and Stephen are joined by two guest speakers:
- Jane Galsworthy, Managing Director of Oxford Innovation Advice and Steering Group Chair at the Enterprise Research Centre.
- Tera Allas, Director of Research and Economics at McKinsey & Company, UK, and Chair of the Advisory Committee at The Productivity Institute.
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How do business leaders think about productivity?
Why should firms care about productivity? How does it add to the bottom line? What exactly drives productivity? And how can you get better at it? This episode, the final in a trilogy on productivity in firms, is a conversation with three current and former business leaders talking about how they think about productivity, what it means to them, and what practical productivity measures their firms use.
Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by:
- Katy Davies, Managing Director of Evolve Your Future.
- Lou Cordwell, Special Advisor to the Office of the President and Vice-Chancellor at The University of Manchester and Professor of Innovation at the Alliance Manchester Business School.
- Greg McDonald, Founder and Executive Chair of Goodfish.
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UK Election 2024: A Productivity Plan
The election manifestos published in the second week of June 2024 sparsely recognised the importance of productivity. This is perhaps because it’s not the most glamorous topic for voters to be excited about being canvassed on their doorstep. But for any government, productivity needs to run through the core of the policy agenda in the coming years. This special episode covered the 2024 election through the lens of productivity.
Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by:
- Sir Anton Muscatelli, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow.
- Dame Diane Coyle, Co-Director of the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, and Co-Director of The Productivity Institute.
- Andy Westwood, Policy Director at The Productivity Institute and Professor of Government Practice at The University of Manchester.
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Business model innovation and strategic productivity
Why is business model innovation the key to an organisation’s productivity? What does it take to do it right? New technologies and new business practices don’t just come out of the blue. They happen because firms embed them in their processes so they can create a valuable proposition for their customers. This episode explores the challenges and opportunities for both large incumbents and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in adopting new business models, particularly in the context of digital transformation and the transition to a net-zero economy.
Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by:
- Sir Charlie Mayfield, former executive chair of John Lewis. Chair of QA Limited and founder and chair of Be the Business.
- Chander Velu, Professor of Innovation and Economics at the Institute for Manufacturing in the Engineering Department at Cambridge University.
