ABSTRACT
Every politician and corporate executive should know that it is possible to improve the productivity of an enterprise, while generating more jobs and dramatically reducing pollution. This may appear a bold claim to the proponents of downsizing with their focus on the productivity of labour—how to produce more with less people. Management has taken pride in years in turning over higher and higher levels of capital per employee. Environmental management within the paradigm of incremental change is the environmental management of Homo non sapiens. The creation of wealth for shareholders is equated with slashing jobs—as if labour productivity is the only type of productivity one could target. While there are several personalities arguing in favour of resource productivity, the best role model for high levels of resource productivity is not hard to find. In fact, the obsession with labour productivity and downsizing is an incomplete and inadequate drive towards competitiveness.
