People key to profits

Firms that concentrate too much on technology at the expense of people lose out, according to research from the London School of Economics.

The study, for the Institute of Personnel and Development, found that people management accounts for 19 per cent of the variation in profitability between companies, more than double that of research and development, which accounts for just 8 per cent.

The development of new technology is responsible for only a 1per cent variation between profitability.