In addition to operations research, what other tools and techniques are used by organisations to improve productivity?

Keeping employees engaged in their work, with a high level of morale, is critical to productivity. Everyone has a different reason for working; money, paid vacation, promotion, prestige - the possibilities are virtually endless. It's up to management to determine what motivates each employee, and then work to insure that motivators are in place for individual employees to help keep them doing their best.

Another opportunity to increase productivity is to set goals for employees and reward them when these goals are reached. The reward doesn't have to be large - human beings are by nature competitive, and working to reach or exceed a goal frequently helps people become more productive.

Human beings aren't the only factor in productivity. Keeping an eye on how raw material is delivered, how materials move through a manufacturing environment, looking for bottlenecks in any given process, all provide opportunities to increase productivity as well. Study the process, improve the process, and restudy the process to see how much improvement in productivity has been gained.