Monday, March 15, 2010
March Madness mayhem: Workplace help or hindrance?
This is an interesting article about the productivity of workers based on an externality - March Madness. This article/video focuses on the potential for companies to lose over a billion dollars collectively due to less work being done during March Madness for NCAA basketball. Although some argue that employers will lose money due to March Madness brackets, others argue that these games will create incentive for employees to come to work, thus increasing productivity. In the video, it states that March Madness creates a problem for employers because about half of all the games are watched during office hours, as well as the recent creation of an iPhone and iPod touch app that allows people to watch and get updates right from their pocket.
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2 comments:
I've never heard of this before but it brings up an interesting point of view. I have never thought that March Madness would create that much of a slow down in profits. I think with the help of the newer technologies such as the iPhone and iPod touch and the greater availability to watch the games from computers, that maybe it will become less and less of a problem. However, I'm sure it is a guilt free way for people to escape from their jobs and take a day off.
Employees need to be motivated while working so that they are productive. Employers should create incentives for workers so that workers are not watching the games on their electronic devices. For example creating targets that need to be achieved daily and if they are, the workers can watch the game. If the games are watched during office hours, to stop that the game could be recorded and watched later so that productivity and profits don't decline.
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