British firms 'lack ambition'

By Evan Davis BBC Economics Editor

The poor productivity of British firms is often the result of a culture of low aspirations on the part of management, a study has concluded.

The report, by The Work Foundation, also found British firms have been too prone to management fads and quick fixes which have achieved little.

Productivity measures how much we each produce - how effective we are at work.

And Britain's performance is rather poor. We may have a strong economy, but take a British firm with the same number of people and equipment as an American firm, and the British one will produce 15% less than the American.

Management focus

So who should we blame?

Well, the study says it is down to the bosses.

The best companies - with ambitious management - show that high performance is achievable.

But it won't be the result of pushing the workers too hard, or sweating the machines.

Management needs to concentrate across the board on staff, customers, shareholders and innovation.

The Foundation says there's little point in an Atkins Diet approach - trying to make an extreme effort at one thing. Good firms tend to be good at all of them.