Efficiency and effectiveness are similar words and are often considered synonymous. However, there are subtle differences in the definition and usage of both terms..
Efficiency would be the act of "make things right", while effectiveness consists of "do the right things".
Within the scope of business and business administration, the differentiation between the concept of efficiency and effectiveness becomes more accentuated.
To exemplify, efficiency would be the classification of the behavior of someone who acted with perfection in performing a certain job.
Example: "The boy cleaned the room efficiently”.
Effectiveness, on the other hand, encompasses a broader plan, not limited to carrying out a job, but rather to the total resolution of a situation.
In the organization of a business, for efficient results to be useful it is necessary to carry out effective orders and tasks.
Effectiveness is knowing what to do. A work done efficiently, but without effectiveness for the completion of a given plan, becomes useless, as it will not add anything substantial, no matter how well done it has been performed.
A classic example that helps to visualize the difference between efficiency and effectiveness: a man who digs a well perfectly and on time does a job efficiently; a man who knows the right place to dig the well and find water does a job efficiently.