Explain how the desire to become effecient may conflict with being effective?

Answer 1

Well if you try to make lots and lots the quality of the product will drop and so will the effectiveness.

It may help to start by specifying some definitions: Efficiency is usually measured by the ratio of outputs to inputs; Thus if a process is improved such that it can now produce more output while not using any more input, we will say that it has become more efficient. (Likewise, if we could produce the same output, but we now need less input to get it, we'd be more efficient. You could even become more efficient by getting a big jump in output for a small increase in input, or a small drop in output for a big drop in input.)

Effectiveness is not as well defined, but an operating definition I use in my business classes is that a process can be considered effective if it is capable of producing a specified desired effect. Note that this depends on what effect you want to produce: Thus mild detergent might be effective for cleaning fine linens but ineffective for removing paint. Also note that we have paid no attention to the costs in time, money & effort to get this desired effect, although it seems obvious that it should be easier to achieve it if you don't care how much you're spending.

In manufacturing, it is generally cheaper to mass produce a standardized product; customization may get closer to the effect the customer wanted, but customization almost always adds to the costs of production. This is why Henry Ford, who was trying to make his cars affordable, insisted on making all of them black -- one color for all buyers was cheaper (i.e., more efficient) than allowing each to have the color they wanted (which would arguably have been more effective).

A modern example is U.S. health care: It is remarkably effective -- if we can get you to the hospital quickly enough, we can probably save your life (a highly desirable effect!). But it is hideously inefficient -- saving your life may cost $30,000 per day. A hideous counter example might be the gas ovens at Auschwitz; They managed to kill millions of Jews really, really cheaply and quickly (very efficient), but who in their right mind wants that effect?