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Efficiency VS Responsiveness

Efficiency refers to generating results from optimal use of available resources in the most expedient, economical, and least costly manner. One imperative of public administration is achieving efficiency at all levels to provide public goods and services affordably. Efficiency finds a permanent place in public administration studies and government work. It has been defined over decades along distinctions of increasing output, following business models, and adding citizen value to public goods and services. Implementing e-governance has brought unprecedented efficiencies to government services by reducing communication time and increasing accountability.

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680 views1 page

Efficiency VS Responsiveness

Efficiency refers to generating results from optimal use of available resources in the most expedient, economical, and least costly manner. One imperative of public administration is achieving efficiency at all levels to provide public goods and services affordably. Efficiency finds a permanent place in public administration studies and government work. It has been defined over decades along distinctions of increasing output, following business models, and adding citizen value to public goods and services. Implementing e-governance has brought unprecedented efficiencies to government services by reducing communication time and increasing accountability.

Uploaded by

Ma Ya
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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EFFICIENCY

Efficiency is defined as the ability to generate a result (efficacy) from the rational and optimal use of the
available means. Being efficient, in this sense, refers to the use of the available means and adequate
resources to produce a determined result in the best possible way – which means, in the most
expeditious, economical, responsive and less costly and stressful manner.

One of the imperatives of public administration is the achievement of efficiency at all levels. Public
organizations are responsible to provide the necessary public goods and services to the citizens but that
too without any discrimination specifically based on affordability. Hence, the multidimensional objectives
of public administration demand that performance not only is limited to mere cost–benefit analysis but
also incorporates the essential element of providing value to citizens. In the present era where scarce
resources have become even scarcer, it is important to visit the historic viewpoints on efficiency in public
administration and attempt to foresee its future.

Public administration is traditionally grounded in the achievement of efficiency in the work of public
departments in pursuance of goals related to provision of public goods and services. Hence, efficiency
finds a permanent place in the study of public administration and the work of government. Over the
decades, scholars have discussed the topic of efficiency along two major distinctions; also, it has always
been subject to how the duties of government are defined. At one point in time, it was just to increase
output; afterward, it was defined along pure business lines; and later on, an element of value was added
to cover the expectations of citizens as the most significant part of public goods and services.

Eventually, efficiency evolved as an enduring theme in “good government” and survived political twists
and turns. However, it is considered by many that in public administration efficiency is less. Because of
extravagance, redtapism, and corruption, which may dominate in public administration, it may not be in a
position to function in an efficient manner.

Any mention of “efficiency” would be incomplete without a discussion of “effectiveness”, scholars have
used these two terms together specially in discussions related to technical efficiency. Harty (1978) has
defined efficiency as the “extent to which government produces a given output with least possible use of
resources” and effectiveness as “the amount of end product, the real service to the public, that the
government is providing".

In present times, implementing e-governance has brought unprecedented efficiencies in the work of
government to serve citizens. This has not only reduced the time (think efficiency) in communication but
also made governments more accountable. People born and raised in a technologically advanced society
may not be able to appreciate the efficiencies in public services brought by technology as much as a
person from the developing part of the world. For example, department of motor vehicles processes and
issues driving licenses within few minutes and all it takes is making an online appointment and one visit to
the department. In contrast, just imagine the (in)efficiency in a manual setup for the issuance of driving
licenses; one can only point out the wastage of time that the citizen and official can best devote to
something more productive.

An organization’s ability to satisfy client requirements in a timely manner is referred to as


Responsiveness, while Efficiency is an organization’s ability to deliver goods or services in accordance
with the clients’ expectations with least wastage in terms of raw materials, labour and cost.

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