Discuss the importance of the concepts of effectiveness and efficiency for a manager.

Management is almost entirely concerned with getting things done and determining how to get things accomplished. In each manager's mind there is a debate over whether more concern should go into low-cost production or to disregard production costs and go after complete satisfaction of goals and objectives. These two paths are known as the decisions which separate effectiveness and efficiency. Efficiency alone may put the company on the fast track of failure. Effectiveness alone may allow the company to survive, however the company will not reach its maximum potential if it is inefficient. Effectiveness and efficiency together will almost guarantee success.

Efficiency means doing things right, accomplishing tasks with a minimum of time and resources. An efficient organization will do what it does with the least waste it can reasonably achieve. Nothing wrong with that, but it is not enough. A great manufacturer of buggy whips would have been efficient and would have made a nice profit in the mid 1900's. Such a company today may go out of business because it is doing the wrong thing for today's markets.

An effective organization does the right things. It won't make buggy whips unless they are needed in the market. Such an organization will spend a lot of time deciding just what it should do. This type of company will never suffer due to change in business climate, no matter how quickly and efficiently they can do it.

The effective company is at least going the right direction, even if it is not getting there very fast. The efficient company is taking the fast track to wherever it is going, be that a good or bad direction. The company that is effective and efficient will grow and take business away from companies that do only one or the other.

Managers have the responsibility and pressure to make the decisions of a company. Their job is to make sure that those decisions are done effectively and efficiently, which puts a lot of pressure on the managers to try to make the right decision for the company. This makes the company run as smoothly as possible.

It's easier to look at how well an organization are accomplishing a task than to determine if that task really helps to reach its goal. The result can be disaster. Management from every company should regularly review what the company is doing and if those activities are the right actions for the current

climate. Every employee should know what the company is doing and why and how his or her work helps reach those goals.

Managers has an instrumental role in implementing efficient practices such as cost controlling and cost saving, and in executing effective process in order to suitably realize an acceptable, sustainable outcome. Implementing efficient and effective practices require several skills. These skills include understanding the factors behind efficiency and effectiveness and striking a balance by establishing individual daily habits, performing effective communication, accepting change, motivating individuals, training, measuring success to justify the means, building and leveraging the right tools etc. Managers have a responsibility in driving these skills to encourage efficient and effective behavior in order to ensure organizational success.

Conclusion

Managers face challenges in making their unique opinion within their organization to ensure continuous improvement and growth potential. Management must educate and push within an organization as an integral part of their responsibilities to achieve efficiency and effectiveness. In today’s environment, managers must keep an open mind and be willing to express patience in their pursuit.

Drucker described the difference between effectiveness and efficiency, as thus, unless a leader is effective, his efficiency is meaningless. Conversely, the most effective intentions and steps are weakened if not nullified by inefficient implementation. Inefficiency (increasing procedural cost) and ineffectiveness (decreased quality of outcomes) independently or jointly frustrates the consumers, and makes them indifferent to organizational affairs, and consequently reduces their confidence on the organization. Expedient short-term gains are likely to be made at the expense of improved systems that might yield benefits for people at large. For example, managers are unable to introduce new service approaches that will encourage recovery, facilitate innovation, and bring positive change to a system and as a result, they cannot meet the consumer expectations.