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Over the years, productivity performance has been the subject that generated enormous interest amongst economic scholars.  This shows the value of productivity on business growth.  Hence, the implementation of improved interventions for productivity improvement requires appropriate innovative practices for industries.  This sentiment supports the importance of innovation for productivity improvement.   Consequently, this study assesses the influence of innovation on labour productivity in an automotive assembly organisation in South Africa.  It has been established that the manufacturing industry in South Africa has low labour productivity compared with its BRICS counterpart countries like Russia, India and China.  As a result, this study centres its attention on innovation, considering low levels of labour productivity in the manufacturing sector of South Africa. It was quantitative in design and the investigation was achieved by collecting pre-and post-innovative quarterly data for spoilage and the achievement of production targets.  The study analysed the production and related experiences of an automotive assembly organisation, operating in KwaZulu-Natal in the eThekwini Municipality that had adopted an innovative seat-handling manipulator in its assembly process.  The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model, using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), was used to analyse data.  The study indicates that spoilage rate and the achievement of production targets have the relationship with labour productivity after an innovative seat handling manipulator was implemented in the organisation.

This research examines the correlation between human capital and economic growth in South Africa. Human capital is represented by Government Expenditure on Health (GEH), Government Expenditure on Education (GEE), and Secondary School Enrolment (SER). Notwithstanding substantial investments in these domains, South Africa has enduring economic difficulties, prompting apprehensions regarding the efficacy of existing human capital policies. This research aims to evaluate the influence of differences in GEH, GEE, and SER on economic productivity, consequently guiding policy decisions. We utilised a quantitative methodology employing annual time series data obtained from the World Bank and the South African Reserve Bank. The analysis incorporated unit root tests (ADF) to determine data stationarity and Johansen cointegration tests to examine long-term correlations among the variables. The data indicate that GEH positively influences economic productivity, suggesting a correlation between increased health spending and elevated GDP. Conversely, SER exhibits a negative correlation with economic growth, indicating that merely augmenting enrolment numbers does not yield enhanced economic results. While Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has a favourable correlation with economic growth, it is statistically insignificant. The report advocates for South Africa to prioritise educational quality over enrolment figures and to ensure continuous investment in healthcare services. Furthermore, subsequent research ought to investigate the ramifications of human capital within particular sectors, such as tourism, to yield focused policy recommendations for fostering economic growth.