The Age-old Question: What is Effectiveness in Relation to Efficiency and Vice-versa ?
Is efficiency a result of effectiveness, or vice versa ?
Or is it a never ending chicken-and-egg matter where effective implementation of things results in greater efficiency, which in turn spur further effectiveness and the loop goes on ?
How can I differentiate between what is efficiency and what is effectiveness ?
Any advice would be very much appreciated.
Answer:
Efficiency is more related to processes (like Information Technology) where Effectiveness is more related to the people utilizing the processes. For instance, one can have the most marvelously efficient processes ever developed but if the people using them are not trained in their use properly, they are useless.
In a nutshell:
Efficiency = Design of Processes / Technology
Effectiveness = Training and Ability of Labor / Management
Processes also include management theory: Human Resources Policies; Strategy; Microeconomics (Incentive Programs); Etc.
Both are the responsibilities of management but the line workers are ultimately responsible for their own performance if incentive programs are designed correctly. The main difficulty in incentive programs is managing manipulation, which goes back to holding personnel accountable for integrity issues (Human Resources Policy).
I hope this helps define and separate the 2 for you but show how they are interrelated.
dl Other Questions and Answers: