Chester Barnard’s view: Can an organization be efficient without being effective?
It has been seen that organization can be efficient but it cannot be effective. It is stated that efficiency is the amount of the resources used to attain the overall goals of the company, while it has been stated that effectiveness is the overall degree in which the company can achieve its goals. In this paper the focus will be given on the view given by Chester Barnard. The view given by him is related to the statement that organization can be efficient without being effective. Therefore, the company can use the overall amount of the resources to accomplish the goal but they are not able to achieve it. Like a company set the goal to make 400 sneakers by the month end, but made only 350 sneakers. The process that is considered to make the shoe can be stated as an efficient framework but it is not effective approach as there are not able to attain the goals of the company.
On the other hand, if the company is inefficient, then it cannot be considered as effective. If the company does not take into consideration proper resources which are required to be successful then there can be a chance that will never focus on the overall goals of the company. For instance: if the company does not have proper machinery for making shoes then they will not be able to focus on producing a lot thus it can be considered as ineffective. If there is efficiency but there are no resources then it can be seen that negative impact can be seen on the entire activities of the company. It can affect the entire effectiveness of the company (Cardy and Leonard, 2014).
Being efficient in the workplace can be possible but it cannot lead to the overall effectiveness of the company. If in the workplace, the managers force the employees to work by deducting their salary on monthly basis then it has been seen that employees will work with efficiency but it cannot lead to the overall effectiveness. In this case the direct impact will be seen on the long term goals which are set by the company (Jackson, Schuler and Jiang, 2014).
It can also impact the overall operation of the company and can lead to satisfaction between the employees who are engaged in managing the overall operations. It can be stated that efficiency can be maintained of the employees by giving feedback or warning but it cannot lead to the overall effectiveness in the workplace. It is necessary for the employees to be efficient so that top management cannot be able to impose penalties on them (Arnold, 2017).
The organization can be efficient but it cannot be effective for long time. This statement simply states that the company can be efficient by improving the overall function of the employees but if top management pushes the employees to work in a proper manner then it can give benefit for short time but for long run the effectiveness in the workplace cannot be determined.
Defining efficiency and effectiveness
It can also been seen that organization can be efficient without being effective. Efficiency is related with how the company resources are being considered without considering the overall results. Effectiveness emphasizes on the explaining that how well the results are attained without saying anything about the entire resources that are related to the actions. Efficiency and effectiveness are two different things that can be managed without considering the each other (Bucata and Rizescu, 2016). For example: The person can be efficient in managing the workload but still attain the poor outcomes. So, it can be stated that the person is efficient in the work but effectiveness cannot be seen as the negative outcome is attained.
One of the examples is also related with the overall task management. It has been seen that the person can manage the task which are allocated to them but by completing the task the positive outcome is not achieved. So, it can lead to efficiency in the work but there is no effectiveness which is analyzed from the overall work done by the employee. It is necessary for the employees to bring efficiency in the work so that it can be simple for the top management to control the other activities of the company (Barrett, 2014).
Like a company set the target to make 500 chocolates by the month end, but made only 400 chocolates. So, it has been seen that the entire process of in making the chocolates can be considered as the efficiency of the employees but the approach which is considered is not effective as the company is not able to achieve the set target. This can be considered as the perfect example as through this the overall efficiency is given by the employees but the organization is not able to be effective by considering the overall work. So, the statement given by Chester Barnard can be stated as true as the organization can be efficient but it is not possible to maintain the overall effectiveness in the workplace.
The employees in the workplace can be made efficient towards work but it is not assured that effectiveness will be attained in future. There are many cases where employees are efficient towards work but it is not possible for the company to be effective in the high level of competition prevailing in the market. It is also the concept where efficiency can be maintained but there are few chances for the company to be effective in the market or between the customers. It is important for the company to focus on enhancing the efficiency of the employees so that growth can be attained in the market (Brewster, 2017).
One of the functions of the top management is to motivate the employees so that they can give their best. Through motivation an organization can be efficient but there is no assurance of the effectiveness in the workplace. The factor related to motivation can help the employees to be efficient in the work but it cannot be possible to ensure the effectiveness in the workplace. It is necessary for the managers to enhance the confidence level of the employees towards the work so that it can be easy to achieve the overall goals. Also it will help the companies to enhance the overall profits in the workplace (Shemilt, Khan, Park and Thomas, 2016).
The impact of efficiency on organizational performance
If there is efficiency then it is not important that there will be effectiveness in the workplace as employees give their best. It also helps to ensure efficiency but it not always ensures effectiveness in the workplace. So, the statement is right which states that an organization can be efficient without being effective. If the employees who are rendering their activities are not able to achieve positive outcome then this statement can be supported in reference to the overall efficiency at the workplace (Bratton and Gold, 2017).
As it has been seen that the employees of the organization are dedicated towards work but they are not able to achieve the targets which directly affect the overall level of profits in the workplace. It is necessary to maintain the efficiency in the workplace as it can assist the company in managing the overall tasks which are assigned to the employees. Effectiveness is related to the workplace when they achieve goals in the competitive market. So, it can be seen that an organization can be efficient but it is not sure that the activities which are delivered by the employees will bring effectiveness in reference to the overall activities of the company (Ahmadi, Nami and Barvarz, 2014).
So, by analyzing the paper it can be stated that the view given by Chester Barnard is correct as organization can be efficient without being efficient. The employees in the workplace can give their best towards the activities but it is not possible that by giving the best the company can be effective in the market. It can be seen that it is important for the management to focus on motivating the employees so that they can be efficient towards the work but the management is not sure that the work which is delivered by the employees is effective or not. So, by rendering the work with efficiency cannot guarantee the success of the company. It can help the company to manage the activities but it is not possible that they will achieve success in the competitive market.
So, the statement which is given by Chester Barnard is true. So, the companies can maintain their efficiency but to success related to effectiveness cannot be assured. It is necessary for the management to train their employees in such a manner that they deliver the good work as it can help to maintain the workplace culture and can also affect the employees who are managing their activities in the workplace.
References:
Ahmadi, S., Nami, Y. and Barvarz, R., 2014. The relationship between spirituality in the workplace and organizational citizenship behavior. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 114, pp.262-264.
Arnold, M., 2017. Fostering sustainability by linking co-creation and relationship management concepts. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140(2), pp.179-188.
Barrett, B., 2014. Training global managers to prepare and train expatriates for more efficiency and effectiveness. Journal of Economics, Business and Management, 2(3), pp.196-201.
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Brewster, C., 2017. The integration of human resource management and corporate strategy. In Policy and practice in European human resource management (pp. 22-35). Routledge.
Bucata, G. and Rizescu, A.M., 2016. Management style as a triggering factor for organization effectiveness and efficiency. Journal of Defense Resources Management, 7(2), p.159.
Cardy, R. and Leonard, B., 2014. Performance Management: Concepts, Skills and Exercises: Concepts, Skills and Exercises. Routledge.
Jackson, S.E., Schuler, R.S. and Jiang, K., 2014. An aspirational framework for strategic human resource management. The Academy of Management Annals, 8(1), pp.1-56.
Shemilt, I., Khan, N., Park, S. and Thomas, J., 2016. Use of cost-effectiveness analysis to compare the efficiency of study identification methods in systematic reviews. Systematic reviews, 5(1), p.140.
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