Achieving Efficiency and Effectiveness through Systems
This chapter discusses the four components of information systems and the role information technology plays in business. Read it to gain a basic understanding of these two critical topics, then attempt the two case studies and answer the questions that accompany each case.
Efficiency
Efficiency is often referred to as "doing things right" In this chapter, we define efficiency in general terms as the ratio of output to input. In other words, a firm is more efficient when it produces more with the same amount of resources, produces the same amount of output with a lesser investment of resource, or - even better - produces more output with less input. The firm achieves efficiency improvements by reducing resource waste while maximizing productivity.