The Information and Research Services (IRS) department strives to provide reliable Productivity and Competitiveness information to enable the BNPC and its stakeholders to make informed and innovative decisions that will propel the Productivity drive towards the attainment of a Prosperous, Productive and Innovative Nation.

The department is made up of three (3) units. These Units are:

• - Research and Measurement (R&M),
• - Resource Centre (Library) and
• - Editorials and Publications.

The Research and Measurement Unit and the Resource Centre provide services to both internal and external clientele while editorial services are exclusively for the Centre’s internal needs.

The role of the R&M unit is to provide research-based information on productivity and related areas. Such information is central to understanding productivity leverage points and logjams, with the intention to guide policy decisions.

The functions are to:

• - Provide up-to-date statistics and information on productivity trends in Botswana and elsewhere,
• - Conduct productivity research and measure performance;
• - Identify productivity leverage points and focus areas so as to direct and stimulate appropriate action;
• - Continually challenge and where necessary, influence the realignment of programmes and focus areas to the BNPC vision with the benefit of good reliable data;
• - Establish institutional cooperation, smart network partnerships and stimulate appropriate productivity related research efforts with other institution; and
• - Develop productivity and performance improvement tools.

Research and Measurement Capability Statement

The Research and measurement section has a total establishment of nine social science researchers,. Overtime the section has been able to re-skill and up-skill its capabilities in order to adapt to research needs for productivity and quality improvement. These include developing various company diagnosis tools using financial data to measure performance. Another competency in R&M includes customer satisfaction measurement using structural equation modeling methodology highly acclaimed for the success of the America Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). R&M has also successfully applied lean management and six sigma methodologies for continuous improvement in various companies in Botswana. The R&M unit continues to search for alternative avenues to remain aligned to its mandate internally within BNPC and external stakeholders. One such avenue is through collaboration with external stakeholders. Currently there is an ongoing collaboration with University of Botswana- Industrial Engineering Department and the World Economic Forum.

Below is a short brief of ongoing projects/avalable services

COMPETITIVENESS PROJECT

The Botswana National Productivity Centre (BNPC) has been a partner institute with the World Economic Forum (WEF) since 2007. The partnership entails annual data collection through the Executive Opinion Survey (EOS) and dissemination of information produced by WEF through several Competitiveness Reports, including the following

• - The Global Competitiveness Report,
• - The Travel and Tourism Report,
• - The Global Information Technology Report,
• - The Enabling Trade Report Launch, and
• - The Global Gender Gap Report

The BNPC, through the Competitiveness Project, also advices policy makers and conducts further Research on emerging issues from the WEF reports.

To produce the Competitiveness Reports, as well as other regional and industry benchmarking reports, the WEF relies on a large set of data sourced from international organizations such as the World Bank, the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund, and from the EOS. The Survey captures invaluable information on a broad range of economic and social factors, for which data sources are non-existent, too scarce, unreliable, or outdated.

The various Competitiveness Indices, like the Global Competitiveness Index, Network Readiness Index, Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index, etc, are based a comprehensive framework that measures the microeconomic and macroeconomic foundations of national competitiveness. According to WEF, 

“Competitiveness is defined as the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine a country’s level of productivity. The level of productivity, in turn, sets the level of prosperity that can be reached in an economy. It also determines the rates of return obtained by investments in an economy, which are the fundamental drivers of its growth rates.”

UPCOMING EVENTS  (Actual Dates TBC)

Productivity Statistics

Pursuant to its broad-based mandate of contributing to high, sound and sustainable levels of economic growth, employment creation and general rising of living standards using productivity tools and methods, Botswana National Productivity Centre (BNPC), publishes Productivity Statistics Report. The Report presents measures of productivity growth using conventional indicators of productivity.

The Productivity Statistics Report is the only comprehensive publication in the country thus far, used to provide guidance to the various productivity measures aimed at analysts, policy makers and business community.  The Report also presents the technical notes used as a foundation for productivity measurement and high level sectoral productivity indicators.

Resource Centre (Library)

The BNPC Resource Centre, based in Gaborone, has a comprehensive collection of books, journals, newspapers, audio-visual tapes and CD-ROMs on productivity, quality and management related subject areas.

Membership and Services

Services offered to BNPC staff and external members at minimal cost include: borrowing, printing, photocopying, and internet access.

 External membership is annual and falls into three categories:

• Individuals Subscriptions – P100.00 (with borrowing privileges of up to four (4)  books only per respective loan period)
• Corporations – P500.00 per annum (with borrowing privileges of up to 8 items - books and/or video – per respective loan period)
• Consulting firms – P1000.00 per annum (with borrowing privileges of up to 10 items: books and/or video-per respective loan period

Loan Periods

The loan periods per items are as follows:

• Books - four  (4) weeks,
• Training packages - five (5) days and videos two (2) days.

Audio-visuals can also be previewed and/or viewed in-house (within the Resource Centre).

Satellite Library

In addition to the Head Office (Gaborone) library, there is a satellite library with a limited collection at the Regional Office in Francistown. Services offered at the main library are also available in Francistown. Materials from either library can be borrowed and returned to the other.

For enquiries and/or additional information relating to the Resource Centre please, Email: ResourceCentre@bnpc.bw, or use the BNPC postal address indicated below. To get intouch by telephone please call Resource Centre: (267) 3626 311 / (267) 3626 341 or (267) 3626 300

Editorials and Publications

In addition to providing in-house editorial support the unit coordinates the production of BNPC publications such as the Productivity and Quality Forum, a quarterly magazine. The main objective of the magazine is to stimulate interest in debating productivity issues through well researched articles with the aim of promoting widespread interest in the subject.

Those interested in receiving the magazine or joining the productivity debate through articles or cartoons can contact the BNPC Editor. The following are some of the magazine’s areas of coverage:

• - Service Quality
• - Performance Management  
• - Corporate Governance
• - Communication
• - Gain-sharing and Collective Bargaining
• - Labour Issues
• - Safety and Health in the work place
• - Measurement and Productivity
• - Process Mapping and Re-engineering
• - Performance Measurement
• - Stress Management
• - Labour/Management

For enquiries and/or additional information relating to ALL BNPC publications please, email

 the Editor:  editor@bnpc.bw or use the BNPC postal address indicated below.

Contacts Details

For enquiries and/or additional information relating to the activities under the IRS department please, contact:

IRS Administrator: (267) 3626 324 or (267) 3626 300

• CONSULTING & TRAINING

• Capability
• Training Calendar
• Prospectus
• Regional Office (Francistown)

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• Marketing
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• Productivity and Quality (P&Q)
• Research Services (IRS)