When quality remains constant and productivity goes up. Of course, it's the last condition we'd like to obtain. These days, people talk about quality and productivity as being two sides of the same coin. Nothing could be further from the truth. There may be some overlap, but the two concepts aren't the same.
Organizations can drive themselves into bankruptcy by focusing too much on productivity.
Organizations do the same thing by focusing exclusively on quality. A balance is essential between quality and productivity. Management is still buying quality improvement, but it needs to be sold differently than it was in the 1980s. Any new quality program must be justified based upon how it improves organizational performance. Changes in this measurement reflect how an individual program affects productivity.