When we talk about effectiveness, we are referring to the capacity or ability that a person, an animal, a machine, a device or any element can demonstrate to obtain a certain result from an action. Efficacy has to do with optimizing all procedures to obtain the best and most expected results. In general, effectiveness implies a process of organization, planning and projection that will have as its objective that those established results can be achieved.
The term of effectiveness is mainly applied to areas in which actions have to have specific and controlled results, such is the case of business and commercial areas. In this sense, the effectiveness of an action will first seek to access the appropriate resources, methods and procedures that generate the best consequences for the specific activity. Examples of such situations may be anticipating changes in the stock market to achieve the expected profits and thus increase the assets of a company or institution. In these areas, making these results effective is of great importance because it is the means through which they ensure the correct development of their activity.
Efficacy can normally be confused with the idea of efficiency, but here it is important to point out that the latter implies a certain level of effectiveness while maximizing resources and the investment of time or money to achieve the expected results. While something can be effective because it achieves the objectives for which such action was carried out, it may not necessarily be efficient if it does not recognize the best means or methods to ensure that such a result is the consequence of an appropriate use of resources. Efficient, then, can be a company or institution in which the expected results are achieved but with a huge expense and greater than the stipulated resources, for which the effectiveness ends up not being entirely profitable.
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