Principled Productivity: Why Ethical Treatment of Everyone in an Organization Will Result in Increased Productivity

This book demonstrates that ethical treatment of everyone in an organization:

1. Will increase productivity in all the functional activities of the organization as well as its members.

2. Will ensure the growth of the organization as a result of continuous improvements that may have been initiated by management but will be continuously improved by motivated employees.

It achieves this by:

1. The presentation of examples from personal experience and a review of the literature.

2. Providing a list of critical questions for each function whose correct solutions will provide a metric that enables and establishes obtainable goals for improvement.

This book is unique because it requires the decision-maker to examine each potential decision and ask the questions:

1. Do alternative methods exist that will achieve the desired goals, which will minimize the long-term adverse effects on affected employees and the future viability of the organization?

2. When is the appropriate time to implement this decision?

3. What is the best way to implement this decision?

The decision may involve a reduction in force (RIF), a potential change in a vendor or a manufacturing process, the formation of a safety team, and/or the installation or modification of an incentive system. The decisions could be involved in manufacturing, logistics, quality, or healthcare. This work will benefit everyone in leadership positions in all branches of government, manufacturing, logistics, human relations, and healthcare, especially those working with frontline employees, staff, and customers.

Gerald J. Watson earned a BS and MS in Industrial Management from The Georgia Institute of Technology, was commissioned, spent two years in the Army with the last tour of duty in Viet Nam. His previous teaching experience was as a graduate teaching assistant at his alma mater and at a community college which motivated him to return to earn a Ph.D. (2009) in Industrial and Systems engineering after working as a manufacturing engineer/manager and safety manager and consultant for over thirty years. The terminal degree combined with his experience has enabled him to provide students the tools needed for success in their chosen profession before leaving academia.

Dixon Belk received a BA degree in Political Science and History and a JD Degree in Law from Mercer University and Walter F George School of law. He began his legal career as an Assistant District Attorney Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit. After private practice as a general practitioner, he became a judge with the Georgia State Board of Worker’s Compensation serving as a mediator, judge, chief judge legal division, chief judge State of Georgia, and chairman of Ga legislation committee. He held Worker’s compensation hearings and mediations throughout the state of Georgia. He served as speaker and panelist at many Worker’s Compensation Seminars holding chairmanships at various learning venues.

William Page, a native of North Carolina, graduated in 2015 from North Carolina A&T State University with a B.S. in Applied Engineering Technology. His rural and military background resulted in the development of essential skills of working in a methodological, purposeful, and optimistic manner enabling him to successfully graduate and obtain his current position as a design engineer for a company that produces custom specialty vehicles. Over his 4-year career as a design engineer, he has taken the opportunity to sharpen his interpersonal skills. He understands that a successful work environment starts with relationships built between all the levels of a company.