Developing and Implementing a Model to Evaluate the Effect of Technological Changes on Productivity

Abstract

Productivity is an important indicator of organizational performance and a prerequisite for national development. However, there are few published empirical studies that have provided and implemented a methodology to quantify the impact of technology changes on total productivity and partial productivities. This paper evaluates and quantifies the effects of technological changes on the productivity of (BALEXCO), as the largest aluminum extrusion company in Bahrain and one of the largest in the Arab countries. The technological changes in the company’s three extrusion presses 1, 2 and 3 - that were established in 1976, 1994 and 1996 respectively, were analyzed, compared and identified. Data covering a period of ten years were collected and a differentiation technology model capable of evaluating the effect of technology changes on productivity was developed, validated and implemented. The results showed that the total and partial productivities improved dramatically as technologies were upgraded. It is concluded that the technology improvements have had positive effects on the total and partial productivities and that the developed model is capable of evaluating the effect of technological changes on total and partial productivities.