Effectiveness

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Effectiveness or effectivity [1] is the capability of producing a desired result or the ability to produce desired output. When something is deemed effective, it means it has an intended or expected outcome, or produces a deep, vivid impression. [2]

Contents

Etymology

The origin of the word effective stems from the Latin word effectīvus , which means "creative, productive, or effective". It surfaced in Middle English between 1300 and 1400 AD. [3]

Usage

Science and technology

Mathematics and logic

Calculation of effective stress, the theory of which is an effective theory Effective stress Calculation Example.png
Calculation of effective stress, the theory of which is an effective theory

In mathematics and logic, effective is used to describe metalogical methods that fit the criteria of an effective procedure.

In group theory, a group element acts effectively (or faithfully) on a point, if that point is not fixed by the action.

Physics

In physics, an effective theory is, similar to a phenomenological theory, a framework intended to explain certain (observed) effects without the claim that the theory correctly models the underlying (unobserved) processes.

In heat transfer, effectiveness is a measure of the performance of a heat exchanger when using the NTU method.

Medicine

In medicine, effectiveness relates to how well a treatment works in practice, especially as shown in pragmatic clinical trials, as opposed to efficacy, which measures how well it works in explanatory clinical trials or research laboratory studies.

Humanities and social sciences

In management, effectiveness relates to getting the right things done. Peter Drucker reminds his readers that "effectiveness can and must be learned". [4] The term "institutional effectiveness" has been widely adopted within higher education settings [5] to assess "how well an institution is achieving its mission and goals". [6] For example, Utica University in New York State holds that "an effective institution is characterized by a clearly defined mission that articulates who it serves, what it aspires to be, and what it values. Likewise, an effective institution has clear goals that are broadly communicated to its stakeholders". [6] Pope Francis adopts the same term in a critique of governmental effectiveness when he refers to "a number of countries [with] a relatively low level of institutional effectiveness", which leads to "greater problems for their people while benefiting those who profit from this situation". He refers, for example, to countries whose laws are "well written" but not effectively enforced. [7]

In human–computer interaction, effectiveness is defined as "the accuracy and completeness of users' tasks while using a system". [8]

A US military exercise, designed to increase combat effectiveness Combined US, coalition force increase combat effectiveness during Indo-Pacific Virtual Flag exercise (2003358062).png
A US military exercise, designed to increase combat effectiveness

In military science, effectiveness is a criterion used to assess changes determined in the target system, in its behavior, capability, or assets, tied to the attainment of an end state, achievement of an objective, or creation of an effect, [9] while combat effectiveness is: "...the readiness of a military unit to engage in combat based on behavioral, operational, and leadership considerations. Combat effectiveness measures the ability of a military force to accomplish its objective and is one component of overall military effectiveness." [10] [11]

Efficacy, efficiency, and effectivity are terms that can, in some cases, be interchangeable with the term effectiveness. The word effective is sometimes used in a quantitative way, "being very effective or not very effective". However, neither "effectiveness", nor "effectively", inform about the direction (positive or negative) or gives a comparison to a standard of the given effect. Efficacy, on the other hand, is the extent to which a desired effect is achieved; the ability to produce a desired amount of the desired effect, or the success in achieving a given goal. Contrary to the term efficiency, the focus of efficacy is the achievement as such, not the resources spent in achieving the desired effect. Therefore, what is effective is not necessarily efficacious, and what is efficacious is not necessarily efficient. [12]

Other synonyms for effectiveness include: clout, capability, success, weight, performance. [13] Antonyms for effectiveness include: uselessness, ineffectiveness. [13]

Simply stated, effective means achieving an effect, and efficient means getting a task or job done it with little waste. To illustrate: suppose, you build 10 houses, very fast and cheap (efficient), but no one buy them. In contrary to building 5 houses same budget and time as 10 houses but you get all 5 sold and the buyers are happy (effective). You get the desired result selling your houses and happy customers (effect).

See also

Related Research Articles

Management science is a wide and interdisciplinary study of solving complex problems and making strategic decisions as it pertains to institutions, corporations, governments and other types of organizational entities. It is closely related to management, economics, business, engineering, management consulting, and other fields. It uses various scientific research-based principles, strategies, and analytical methods including mathematical modeling, statistics and numerical algorithms and aims to improve an organization's ability to enact rational and accurate management decisions by arriving at optimal or near optimal solutions to complex decision problems.

Specific impulse is a measure of how efficiently a reaction mass engine, such as a rocket using propellant or a jet engine using fuel, generates thrust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military</span> Organization primarily tasked with preparing for and conducting war

A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a distinct military uniform. They may consist of one or more military branches such as an army, navy, air force, space force, marines, or coast guard. The main task of a military is usually defined as defence of their state and its interests against external armed threats.

Delegation is the process of distributing and entrusting work to another person. In management or leadership within an organisation, it involves a manager aiming to efficiently distribute work, decision-making and responsibility to subordinate workers in an organization. Delegation may result in creation of an accountable chain of authority where authority and responsibility moves down in an organisational structure. Inefficient delegation may lead to micromanagement.

Efficiency is the often measurable ability to avoid making mistakes or wasting materials, energy, efforts, money, and time while performing a task. In a more general sense, it is the ability to do things well, successfully, and without waste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public finance</span> Study of the role of government within the economy

Public finance is the study of the role of the government in the economy. It is the branch of economics that assesses the government revenue and government expenditure of the public authorities and the adjustment of one or the other to achieve desirable effects and avoid undesirable ones. The purview of public finance is considered to be threefold, consisting of governmental effects on:

  1. The efficient allocation of available resources;
  2. The distribution of income among citizens; and
  3. The stability of the economy.

Efficacy is the ability to perform a task to a satisfactory or expected degree. The word comes from the same roots as effectiveness, and it has often been used synonymously, although in pharmacology a distinction is now often made between efficacy and effectiveness.

Psychodynamic psychotherapy and psychoanalytic psychotherapy are two categories of psychological therapies. Their main purpose is revealing the unconscious content of a client's psyche in an effort to alleviate psychic tension, which is inner conflict within the mind that was created in a situation of extreme stress or emotional hardship, often in the state of distress. The terms "psychoanalytic psychotherapy" and "psychodynamic psychotherapy" are often used interchangeably, but a distinction can be made in practice: though psychodynamic psychotherapy largely relies on psychoanalytical theory, it employs substantially shorter treatment periods than traditional psychoanalytical therapies. Psychodynamic psychotherapy is evidence-based; the effectiveness of psychoanalysis and its relationship to facts is disputed.

Principles of war are rules and guidelines that represent truths in the practice of war and military operations.

Organizational effectiveness is a concept organizations use to gauge how effective they are at reaching intended outcomes. Organizational effectiveness is both a powerful and problematic term. The strength of it is that it may be used to critically evaluate and improve organisational activities. It's problematic since it means various things to different individuals. And there are other alternative methods for measuring organizational performance. Organizational effectiveness embodies the degree to which firms achieve the goals they have decided upon, a question that draws on several different factors. Among those are talent management, leadership development, organization design and structure, design of measurements and scorecards, implementation of change and transformation, deploying smart processes and smart technology to manage the firm's human capital and the formulation of the broader Human Resources agenda.

Center of gravity (COG) is a military concept referring to the primary source of strength, balance, or stability necessary for a force to maintain combat operations. Centers of gravity can be physical, moral, or both, and exist for all belligerents at all tactical, strategic, and operational levels of war simultaneously. COGs play a central role in military planning, though exact definition has been elusive, with interpretations varying substantially over time, across forces, and between theorists. Generally, a COG can be thought of as an essential part of a combatant's warfighting system, interference with which would result in disproportionate impact on their combat effectiveness.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to business management:

Effects-based operations (EBO) is a United States military concept that emerged during the Persian Gulf War for the planning and conduct of operations combining military and non-military methods to achieve a particular effect. An effects-based approach to operations was first applied in modern times in the design and execution of the Desert Storm air campaign of 1991. The principal author of the daily attack plans—then Lt Colonel, now retired Lt General David A. Deptula—used an effects-based approach in building the actual Desert Storm air campaign targeting plan. Deptula describes the background, rationale, and provides an example of how an effects-based approach to targeting was conducted in Desert Storm in the publication, "Effects-Based Operations: Change in the Nature of Warfare." The doctrine was developed with an aim of putting desired strategic effects first and then planning from the desired strategic objective back to the possible tactical level actions that could be taken to achieve the desired effect. Contrary to conventional military approaches of force-on-force application that focused on attrition and annihilation, EBO focused on desired outcomes attempting to use a minimum of force. The approach was enabled by advancements in weaponry—particularly stealth and precision weapons—in conjunction with a planning approach based on specific effects rather than absolute destruction. Deptula, speaking at the Gulf War Air Campaign Tenth Anniversary Retrospective, on 17 January 2001 on One Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, defined the goal of EBO; "If we focus on effects, the end of strategy, rather than force-on-force the traditional means to achieve it militarily, that enables us to consider different and perhaps more effective ways to accomplish the same goal quicker than in the past, with fewer resources and most importantly with fewer casualties." Others have postulated that EBO could be interpreted as an emerging understanding that attacking a second-order target may have first order consequences for a variety of objectives, wherein the Commander's intent can be satisfied with a minimum of collateral damage or risk to his own forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaccine efficacy</span> Reduction of disease among the vaccinated comparing to the unvaccinated

Vaccine efficacy or vaccine effectiveness is the percentage reduction of disease cases in a vaccinated group of people compared to an unvaccinated group. For example, a vaccine efficacy or effectiveness of 80% indicates an 80% decrease in the number of disease cases among a group of vaccinated people compared to a group in which nobody was vaccinated. When a study is carried out using the most favorable, ideal or perfectly controlled conditions, such as those in a clinical trial, the term vaccine efficacy is used. On the other hand, when a study is carried out to show how well a vaccine works when they are used in a bigger, typical population under less-than-perfectly controlled conditions, the term vaccine effectiveness is used.

The United States Army DEVCOM Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC) (formerly United States Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC)), located in Warren, Michigan, is the United States Armed Forces' research and development facility for advanced technology in ground systems. It is part of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM), a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Futures Command. GVSC shares its facilities with the United States Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM). Current technology focus areas include Ground Vehicle Power and Mobility (GVPM), Ground System Survivability and Force Protection, among others.

Capability management is a high-level management function, with particular application in the context of defense.

Public budgeting is a field of public administration and a discipline in the academic study of public administration. Budgeting is characterized by its approaches, functions, formation, and type.

William James Reddin also known as Bill Reddin was a British-born management behavioralist, theorist, writer, and consultant. His published works examined and explained how managers in profit and non-profit organizations behaved under certain situations and conditions. The focus of his work was to understand to what extent managers were effective in their role and successful in managing situations to have the right impact on the organization's objectives.

Work motivation is a person's internal disposition toward work. To further this, an incentive is the anticipated reward or aversive event available in the environment. While motivation can often be used as a tool to help predict behavior, it varies greatly among individuals and must often be combined with ability and environmental factors to actually influence behavior and performance. Results from a 2012 study, which examined age-related differences in work motivation, suggest a "shift in people's motives" rather than a general decline in motivation with age. That is, it seemed that older employees were less motivated by extrinsically related features of a job, but more by intrinsically rewarding job features. Work motivation is strongly influenced by certain cultural characteristics. Between countries with comparable levels of economic development, collectivist countries tend to have higher levels of work motivation than do countries that tend toward individualism. Similarly measured, higher levels of work motivation can be found in countries that exhibit a long versus a short-term orientation. Also, while national income is not itself a strong predictor of work motivation, indicators that describe a nation's economic strength and stability, such as life expectancy, are. Work motivation decreases as a nation's long-term economic strength increases. Currently work motivation research has explored motivation that may not be consciously driven. This method goal setting is referred to as goal priming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Team effectiveness</span> A teams ability to accomplish their goals or objectives

Team effectiveness is the capacity a team has to accomplish the goals or objectives administered by an authorized personnel or the organization. A team is a collection of individuals who are interdependent in their tasks, share responsibility for outcomes, and view themselves as a unit embedded in an institutional or organizational system which operates within the established boundaries of that system. Teams and groups have established a synonymous relationship within the confines of processes and research relating to their effectiveness while still maintaining their independence as two separate units, as groups and their members are independent of each other's role, skill, knowledge or purpose versus teams and their members, who are interdependent upon each other's role, skill, knowledge and purpose.

References

  1. Effectiveness vs. Efficacy vs. Efficiency – Differences | Dictionary.com.
  2. Dictionary.com, LLC. "Effectiveness | Define Effectiveness Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. 2011. Web. 28 Sept. 2011. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/effectiveness>.
  3. Harper, Douglas. "effective". Online Etymology Dictionary . Retrieved 2011-10-04.
  4. Peter F. Drucker (2006). The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done. New York: Collins.
  5. Mintz, S., New Approaches to Assessing Institutional Effectiveness, Inside Higher Ed, published 2 December 2020, accessed 9 February 2024
  6. 1 2 Utica University, Guide to Institutional Effectiveness, revised September 2020, accessed 8 February 2024
  7. Pope Francis (2015), Laudato si', paragraph 142, accessed 2 February 2024
  8. DIN EN ISO 9241-11. Ergonomic Requirements for office with visual display terminals – Guidance on usability. Beuth, Berlin (1998)
  9. Commander’s Handbook for Strategic Communication and Communication Strategy, US Joint Forces Command, 2010.
  10. "Combat effectiveness". Encyclopaedia Britannica. 24 Jan. 2019.
  11. "Combat Effectiveness", The Oxford Companion to American Military History. Encyclopedia.com. 24 Jan. 2019. https://www.encyclopedia.com>.
  12. Longman, Pearson. "Effective - Definition from Longman English Dictionary Online." Longman English Dictionary Online. 2011. Web. 04 Oct. 2011. <http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/effective>.
  13. 1 2 STANDS4 LLC. "Effectiveness Synonym." Synonyms.net. 2011. Web. 28 Sept. 2011. <http://www.synonyms.net/synonym/effectiveness>.