Final answer:
The primary objective in measuring productivity is to make operations more efficient by either using fewer inputs to maintain the same output or by generating more outputs with the same inputs, with the latter being the focus of your question. Option c is correct answer.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question you've asked is about the primary objective in measuring productivity in an operational context. Measuring productivity effectively allows for improvements in operations to be identified and implemented. Productivity, as you've noted, is concerned with the output produced per unit of input; where inputs can include labor, capital, materials, and energy. A company or economy aims to use fewer inputs while maintaining the same output or to maintain the same inputs while increasing output.
The productivity measurement is often quantified through GDP per worker or GDP per hour worked. Additionally, concepts such as the marginal product are relevant, which relates to the increase in output resulting from an additional unit of input, and economies of scale, which suggest that larger production scales can lead to cost advantages.
When we talk about improving operations in terms of productivity, we are not necessarily looking to produce more outputs with more inputs.
This would suggest a linear scale-up rather than productivity improvements. Instead, the goal is to produce either more outputs with the same inputs (option c), more quickly, with fewer constraints, or at a higher quality level. In the context of your question, the correct answer would be option c: more outputs with the same inputs.