In the recent global Connectivity Scorecard produced by Professor L. Waverman from London Business School in collaboration with LECG and Nokia Siemens Networks they have again studied how countries stack up when it comes to “Useful connectivity”

Connectivity Scorecard is a global ICT index – the first of its kind to rank 50 countries not only on their deployment of ICT infrastructure but also to measure the extent to which governments, businesses and consumers make use of connectivity technologies to enhance social and economic prosperity, so called “useful connectivity”.

Connectivity Scorecard 2010 highlights the continued need for investment in information and communications technology (ICT) to stimulate a return to economic growth. Here is the top 10 list for 2010. If you’re interested in comparing the development over time I suggest you visit their homepage and download the whole report.

With the winter Olympics just starting I was hoping that this list would be as contagious to the medal count as is a flu in a kindergarten. Bring it on.

In a recent research study conducted by the Conference Board it’s concluded that in 2009 the global productivity fell by 1% on average which is the first time in 19 years it’s declined as measured as output per worked hour. On a global basis it is expected to grow by more than 2% in 2010.

There are significant differences between different regions that are noteworthy. In the US productivity (in per hour terms) actually grew 2.5%. This was explained by how companies in the US quicker and more drastically reduced their workforce to make the cost side of the productivity equation smaller. Productivity growth in the US is projected at 3%.

It’s interesting to contrast this to the European productivity growth that turned negative in 2009 where output per hour fell 1 percent.

“These are unusually large differences in productivity growth between the United States and Europe,” said Bart van Ark, chief economist of The Conference Board. “U.S. employers have reacted much more strongly to the recession than their European counterparts in terms of cutting jobs and hours. In 2010, both Europe and the United States will see higher productivity growth coming out of recession. However, a jobless productivity recovery is the most likely scenario in both regions.”

It’s also very interesting to see how for example the Chinese market at the same time had a productivity growth of 8.2%.

Good luck with your growth and productivity gains in 2010.

To execute you need to make sure your staff knows what to do and are doing it. At some level it’s that simple.

I read this blog from a recent customer of ours http://www.core3solutions.com/home/ A small niche IT -solutions provider.

As a small business in a service industry, productivity and profitability depend almost entirely on our employees performing at their full potential. The challenge is then how do you effectively manage performance? How can a small organization streamline human resources through meaningful performance reviews, aligning employee goals to organizational goals, and make informed decisions when recognizing top performers…

For them the answer is to leverage our Business Execution software.

By the way you have to check out Roxie – their Director of Entertainment