Introduction

The theme of this course paper is “Ways of improving efficiency of enterprise”. It is considered to be topical nowadays because of some reasons. Firstly, today’s period of economic development is characterized by high competition in the market which makes all businesses seek foe different ways of increasing their efficiency. Enterprises are forced to look for the steps which help them work effectively without wasting time, money or energy. The pace of business activity is getting faster and faster. Employees often have to work under pressure dealing with performing lots of task at the same time and under different circumstances. It result in the fact that employers have to provide their employees with the possibility to work in the hotel rooms, airport, lounges, remote branches etc. Secondly, at the present moment mankind is facing with the problem of exhaustion of mineral and natural resources which makes numerous plants, factories and enterprises be more economical in the use of the resources. They need to organize their production in the way which lets them produce a specific outcome effectively produce a specific outcome effectively with a minimum amount of waste, expense and unnecessary effort.
A lot of scientists and businessman have raised the problem of efficiency in their articles and books. In particular, outstanding Italian sociologist, economist and philosopher F. Parreto made a great contribution into the study of the problem of efficiency. According to Paretto efficiency is a state of economic allocation of resources in which it is impossible to make any one individual better without making at least one individual worse off. Among other scientists and enterpreuners who studied the problem of efficiency and the ways of increasing it are (фамилии)
The course paper consists of introduction, four chapters , conclusion and references. The purpose of the course paper is to give definition to the notion “efficiency” to show the difference between “efficiency” and “effectiveness”, to analyze different types of efficiency and the ways of increasing it both in the office and in manufacturing.
Conclusions
Summing up what has been said above it is possible to make the following conclusions:
The problem of efficiency is of great importance in today’s business world. Efficiency is usually defined as effective use of time, effort or cost for the intended task or purpose. In economics, the term efficiency refers to the use of resources so as to maximize the production of goods and services. An economic system is said to be more efficient than another if it can provide more goods/ services for society without using more resources.
The term “efficiency” shouldn’t be confused and misused with the term “effectiveness”
Вставка из chapter II 2й абзац
A great role in the study of the problem of efficiency was played by the Italian economist F.Paretto. according to his theory
ВСТАВКА
Paretto efficiency is a state of ///////

The notion of pareto efficiency is very useful in understanding the ways of increasing efficiency of enterprise.
Nowadays there are different classifications of ways of increasing efficiency in the office and in manufacturing.
According to имя’s approach the following ways if increasing efficiency of small and medium – sized business can be distinguished
III.1 1) ; 2. ; 3. ; 4. ; 5.
Ch. III.2 ИМЯ’S theory of increasing efficiency in the company includes the following steps: 1-9.
Ch III.3 ИМЯ suggests such ways of improving company’s efficiency as conducting an audit of the computer and electrical systems, examining the layout of the work space for efficiency.
Ch III.4 ИМЯ distinguishes some ways of improving productivity at the workplace among which are 1-12/
Electronic devices such as IPad and other tablets can also be reffered to the means of increasing efficiency of enterprise.

CH IV

It should be noted that being succesfull in today’s business world is impossible without being efficient. Efficiency has become an integral part in the policy of any employer and enterprise and is one of the primary purposes in any kind of production.

Chapter I
The notions of efficiency and different approaches to its analysis

1.1 Definition of efficiency
It is known that efficiency in general describes the extent to which time, effort or cost is well used for the intended task or purpose. It is often used with the specific purpose of relaying the capability of a specific application of effort to produce a specific outcome effectively with a minimum amount or quantity of waste, expense, or unnecessary effort. "Efficiency" has widely varying meanings in different disciplines.
The term "efficient" is very much confused and misused with the term "effective". In general, efficiency is a measurable concept, quantitatively determined by the ratio of output to input. "Effectiveness", is a relatively vague, non-quantitative concept, mainly concerned with achieving objectives. In several of these cases, efficiency can be expressed as a result as percentage of what ideally could be expected, hence with 100% as ideal case. This does not always apply, not even in all cases where efficiency can be assigned a numerical value, e.g. not for specific impulse.
A simple way of distinguishing between efficiency and effectiveness is the saying, "Efficiency is doing things right, while Effectiveness is doing the right things." This is based on the premise that selections of objectives of a process are just as important as the quality of that process [1].
A slightly broader mode of efficiency that nevertheless remains consistent with the "percentage" definition in many cases is to say that efficiency corresponds to the ratio r=P/C of the amount P of some valuable resource produced, per amount C of valuable resources consumed. This may correspond to a percentage if products and consumables are quantified in compatible units, and if consumables are transformed into products via a conservative process. For example, in the analysis of the energy conversion efficiency of heat engines in thermodynamics, the product P may be the amount of useful work output, while the consumable C is the amount of high-temperature heat input. Due to the conservation of energy, P can never be greater than C, and so the efficiency r is never greater than 100% (and in fact must be even less at finite temperatures).

1.2 Pareto efficiency
Among the scientists who studied problems of economic efficiency was an outstanding Italian economist Pareto (1848-1923).
According to Pareto efficiency is a state of economic allocation of resources in which it is impossible to make any one individual better off without making at least one individual worse off. Given an initial allocation of goods among a set of individuals, a change to a different allocation that makes at least one individual better off without making any other individual worse off is called a Pareto improvement. An allocation is defined as "Pareto efficient" or "Pareto optimal" when no further Pareto improvements can be made.
For example, suppose there are two consumers A & B and only one resource X. Suppose X is equal to 20. The resource has to be distributed equally between A and B and thus can be distributed in the following way: (1,1),(2,2),(3,3),(4,4), (5,5),(6,6),(7,7),(8,8),(9,9),(10,10). At point (10,10) all resources have been exhausted. No further distribution is possible - if redistribution continues, it will lead to a position (11,9) or (9,11) that makes one better off and the other worse off. Hence, point (10,10) is Pareto optimal; no further Pareto improvements can be made.
Pareto efficiency is a minimal notion of efficiency and does not necessarily result in a socially desirable distribution of resources: it makes no statement about equality, or the overall well-being of a society. The notion of Pareto efficiency can also be applied to the selection of alternatives in engineering and similar fields. Each option is first assessed under multiple criteria and then a subset of options is identified with the property that no other option can categorically outperform any of its members.
This example of a Production-possibility frontier provides a simple example for illustrating Pareto efficiency. Suppose that there are two agents in an economy, one that only values guns and one that only values butter. Point A is not Pareto efficient because it is possible to produce more of either one or both goods (Butter and Guns) without producing less of the other. Thus, moving from A to D enables you to make one person better off without making anyone else worse off (Pareto improvement). The locus of the point D is a curve BC, representing the limits of the current production efficiency. However, the curve BC is not in itself Pareto efficient. Moving to point B from point A, is not a Pareto improvement, as less butter is produced. Likewise, moving to point C from point A is not a Pareto improvement, as fewer guns are produced. However, the arc EF, joining points E and F on the frontier curve is Pareto efficient within the achievable limits of current production capacity, with respect to A, i.e., only the arc whose endpoints are created by the lines perpendicular to the co-ordinate axes subtended from the point A and extended to meet the said curve at the respective endpoints, is Pareto efficient.

It is commonly accepted that outcomes that are not Pareto efficient are to be avoided, and therefore Pareto efficiency is an important criterion for evaluating economic systems and public policies. If economic allocation in any system is not Pareto efficient, there is potential for a Pareto improvement—an increase in Pareto efficiency: through reallocation, improvements can be made to at least one participant's well-being without reducing any other participant's well-being.
It is important to note, however, that a change from an inefficient allocation to an efficient one is not necessarily a Pareto improvement. Thus, in practice, ensuring that nobody is disadvantaged by a change aimed at achieving Pareto efficiency may require compensation of one or more parties. For instance, if a change in economic policy eliminates a monopoly and that market subsequently becomes competitive and more efficient, the monopolist will be made worse off. However, the loss to the monopolist will be more than offset by the gain in efficiency. This means the monopolist can be compensated for its loss while still leaving a net gain for others in the economy, a Pareto improvement.
In real-world practice, such compensations have unintended consequences. They can lead to incentive distortions over time as agents anticipate such compensations and change their actions accordingly. Under certain idealized conditions, it can be shown that a system of free markets will lead to a Pareto efficient outcome. This is called the first welfare theorem. It was first demonstrated mathematically by economists Kenneth Arrow and Gérard Debreu. However, the result only holds under the restrictive assumptions necessary for the proof (markets exist for all possible goods so there are no externalities, all markets are in full equilibrium, markets are perfectly competitive, transaction costs are negligible, and market participants have perfect information). In the absence of perfect information or complete markets, outcomes will generically be Pareto inefficient, per the Greenwald–Stiglitz theorem.
Weak Pareto efficiency
A "weak Pareto optimum" (WPO) is an allocation for which there are no possible alternative allocations whose realization would cause every individual to gain. Thus an alternative allocation is considered to be a Pareto improvementonly if the alternative allocation is strictly preferred by all individuals. When contrasted with weak Pareto efficiency, a standard Pareto optimum as described above may be referred to as a "strong Pareto optimum" (SPO).
Weak Pareto-optimality is "weaker" than strong Pareto-optimality in the sense that any SPO also qualifies as a WPO, but a WPO allocation is not necessarily an SPO.
Use in engineering
The notion of Pareto efficiency is also useful in engineering. Given a set of choices and a way of valuing them, the Pareto frontier or Pareto set or Pareto front is the set of choices that are Pareto efficient. By restricting attention to the set of choices that are Pareto-efficient, a designer can make tradeoffs within this set, rather than considering the full range of every parameter [2].
The Pareto frontier is defined formally as follows. Consider a design space with n real parameters (corresponding to the allocation of goods in the economics interpretation), and for each design space point there are m different criteria by which to judge that point (corresponding to the utility of the different agents in the economics interpretation). Let be the function which assigns, to each design space point x, a criteria space point f(x). This represents the way of valuing the designs. Now, it may be that some designs are infeasible; so let X be a set of feasible designs in , which must be a compact set. Then the set which represents the feasible criterion points is f(X), the image of the set X under the action of f. Call this image Y. Now construct the Pareto frontier as a subset of Y of the feasible criterion points. It is often assumed in engineering that the preferable values of each criterion parameter are the lesser ones (e.g. lower emissions or lower cost), thus minimizing each dimension of the criterion vector is desired. Then compare criterion vectors as follows: One criterion vector y strictly dominates (or "is preferred to") a vectory* if each parameter of y is not strictly greater than the corresponding parameter of y* and at least one parameter is strictly less: that is, for each i and for some i. This is written as to mean that y strictly dominates y*. Then the Pareto frontier is the set of points from Y that are not strictly dominated by any other point in Y. Formally, this defines a partial order on Y, namely the product order on (more precisely, the induced order on Y as a subset of ), and the Pareto frontier is the set of maximal elements with respect to this order.
Example of a Pareto frontier. The boxed points represent feasible choices, and smaller values are preferred to larger ones. Point C is not on the Pareto Frontier because it is dominated by both point A and point B. Points A and B are not strictly dominated by any other, and hence do lie on the frontier.

Algorithms for computing the Pareto frontier of a finite set of alternatives have been studied in computer science, sometimes referred to as the maximum vector problem or the skyline query.

1.3 Economic efficiency
In economics, the term economic efficiency refers to the use of resources so as to maximize the production of goods and services. An economic system is said to be more efficient than another (in relative terms) if it can provide more goods and services for society without using more resources. In absolute terms, a situation can be called economically efficient if: * No one can be made better off without making someone else worse off (commonly referred to as Pareto efficiency). * No additional output can be obtained without increasing the amount of inputs. * Production proceeds at the lowest possible per-unit cost.
These definitions of efficiency are not exactly equivalent, but they are all encompassed by the idea that a system is efficient if nothing more can be achieved given the resources available.
There are two main strains in economic thought on economic efficiency, which respectively emphasize the distortions created by governments (and reduced by decreasing government involvement) and the distortions created by markets (and reduced by increasing government involvement). These are at times competing, at times complementary – either debating the overall level of government involvement, or the effects of specific government involvement. Broadly speaking, this dialog is referred to as Economic liberalism or neoliberalism, though these terms are also used more narrowly to refer to particular views, especially advocating laissez faire.
Further, there are differences in views on microeconomic versus macroeconomic efficiency, some advocating a greater role for government in one sphere or the other.
A market can be said to have allocative efficiency if the price of a product that the market is supplying is equal to the value consumers place on it, represented by marginal cost too little output gets produced. Because productive resources are scarce, the resources must be allocated to various industries in just the right amounts, otherwise too much or too little output gets produced [3]. When drawing diagrams for firms, allocative efficiency is satisfied if the equilibrium is at the point where marginal cost is equal to average revenue. This is the case for the long run equilibrium of perfect competition.
Productive efficiency is when units of goods are being supplied at the lowest possible average total cost. When drawing diagrams for firms, this condition is satisfied if the equilibrium is at the minimum point of the ATC curve. This is again the case for the long run equilibrium of perfect competition.

Chapter II
Difference between efficiency and effectiveness

Efficiency and effectiveness are both commonly used management terms. At the same time though they sound similar and start with the same letters, they both mean different things.
As it has been already mentioned above, efficiency refers to doing things in a right manner. Scientifically, it is defined as the output to input ratio and focuses on getting the maximum output with minimum resources. Effectiveness, on the other hand, refers to doing the right things. It constantly measures if the actual output meets the desired output. Since efficiency is all about focusing on the process, importance is given to the ‘means’ of doing things whereas effectiveness focuses on achieving the ‘end’ goal.
Efficiency is concerned with the present state or the ‘status quo’. Thinking about the future and adding or eliminating any resources might disturb the current state of efficiency. Effectiveness, on the other hand, believes in meeting the end goal and therefore takes into consideration any variables that may change in the future.
In order to be efficient time and again, discipline and rigor is required. This can build inflexibility into the system. Effectiveness, on the other hand, keeps the long term strategy in mind and is thus more adaptable to the changing environment.
Since efficiency is about doing things right, it demands documentation and repetition of the same steps. Doing the same thing again and again in the same manner will certainly discourage innovation. On the other hand, effectiveness encourages innovation as it demands people to think, the different ways they can meet the desired goal.
Efficiency will look at avoiding mistakes or errors whereas effectiveness is about gaining success.
In the earlier days of mass production, efficiency was the most important performance indicator for any organization. However, with consumers facing an increasing number of choices, effectiveness of an organization is always questioned. In order to be a successful organization, there needs to be a balance between effectiveness and efficiency. Only being efficient and not meeting the requirements of the stakeholders of the organization is of little use to anybody. Effectiveness may also result in success but the cost will be much bigger. Summing up what has been said above we can make the following conclusions: * Efficiency means doing the things right whereas effectiveness is about doing the right things. * Efficiency focuses on the process or ‘means’ whereas effectiveness focuses on the end. * Efficiency is restricted to the present state whereas effectiveness involves thinking long term. * Organizations have to be both effective and efficient in order to be successful.

Chapter III
Ways of improving efficiency in an office

3.1 Tom DeMarco’s approach to the problem of increasing efficiency of SMB.
Small and medium-sized business (SMB) customers and suppliers are increasingly savvy, with high expectations for immediate and personalized service and support. Expectations are rising and yet SMBs are also under pressure to do more with the same or fewer resources.
"The pace of competition is accelerating and SMBs must compete with larger, better-funded businesses while keeping ahead of smaller, leaner competitors," says Ray Boggs, vice president of SMB research for IDC [4].
The solution can be seen in finding new ways to optimize operational efficiency in order to improve productivity and reduce costs. "The network can play a significant role in improving business efficiency by ensuring that customers, employees, and suppliers get secure access to real-time data to improve business decisionmaking and, ultimately, customer service," says Lauren Ventura, senior director of commercial market management at Cisco Systems [4].
According to IDC research, 60.2% of SMBs with 100 to 999 employees cited improving efficiency as their top business priority in 2005. And yet, only 23% of those same businesses rated efficiency-enhancing infrastructure investments, such as expanding or upgrading a network, as a high priority [4].
The following five ways of increasing efficiency of SMB can be distinguished: 1. Providing Easy Access to Information
Delivering speedy access to information so employees can make solid business decisions is a challenge nearly all SMBs face. Networks that are slow, frequently down, or unsecured don't allow employees to move quickly, which could result in lost opportunities and revenues.
For example, Elliance, an online-marketing firm in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, had a simple hub-based network which frequently slowed to a crawl when employees downloaded large files. Elliance built a new high-performance network, reducing response time to "milliseconds," says CEO Abu Noaman. As a result, employees can now quickly post and access core business intelligence on customers, vendors, team members, and processes. "This technology keeps the sales and brand manager in front of the clients at all times,", and that has enabled Elliance to enter new markets while maintaining the same size sales team. 2. Delivering Anywhere, Anytime Access
SMBs today have to provide employees working out of hotel rooms, airport lounges, remote branches, and home offices with anywhere access to information. Without it, mobile and remote workers lose valuable time. Worse, sales personnel may have outdated customer information or miss urgent messages informing them of a critical business matter.
An Internet Protocol (IP) network connects remote and mobile workers to an SMB's critical applications such as customer-relationship management and sales force automation tools, along with e-mail, instant messaging, and other tools. A unified IP network supplies easy access to application data and can support voice and video applications, too. A virtual private network solution makes remote and mobile access secure. 3. Creating Effective Business Processes with Partners
Inefficient operations can prevent an otherwise qualified SMB from doing business with some organizations, according to Ventura. For example, some national retailers require their suppliers to follow certain efficiency-enhancing procedures, and SMBs that don't meet the criteria are out of the running.
According to Ventura a network with top-notch security and reliability is key to enabling SMBs to develop efficient business processes that meet their partners' needs. 4. Ensuring Regulatory Compliance
Government regulations mandating higher levels of customer or patient privacy is another ongoing challenge for companies of all sizes. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, for instance, established standardized methods for the electronic exchange, security, and confidentiality of healthcare data.
Seven Counties Services, Inc., a Louisville, Kentucky-based nonprofit organization that provides mental-health support services, deployed a secure IP network for integrated voice, video and data communications. A firewall and intrusion detection system keep patient data secure while IP Communications improves efficiency. 5. Enhancing Employee Collaboration
Without solid and frequent collaboration among employees, good ideas die and opportunities are missed. The result is the valuable workers, frustrated by the operational inefficiencies that result from poor collaboration, may become disheartened and depart for other jobs. It is important for SMB to develop a richly collaborative environment when many employees work remotely or on the go? An IP network with integrated voice, video, data, and wireless communications delivers interactive calendaring, Web-based videoconferencing, IP telephony, and other tools that foster collaboration.

3.2 Robert Cordray’s theory how to increase Efficiency in company
In order to increase efficiency in the company and reach their goals, some businesses ask their employees to work longer hours. While this is necessary in some cases, you may consider an alternative approach can be considered: finding ways to be more efficient with the time available. Smart work can increase productivity more than hard work. Regardless of the businesses product or service, there are many ways to increase efficiency.
According to the theory considered there are the folowing 9 points:
1. Get a Good Start Numerous studies, including this one from the University of Bristol, have shown that exercise increases productivity. It puts the employee a better mood and makes him more enthusiastic about work. The way he dresses should be considered as a good representation of what he wants to accomplish for that day. Waking up early, going for a walk or a run, getting to the gym can play a key role
2. Facilitate Teamwork
More gets done when people work together. Problems are more easily solved through collaboration. More creative ideas can be born when work together. Employees shouldn’t be deprived of human interaction by isolating them in dungeon-like cubicles. While talking too much amongst employees can be a distraction when they get off topic, discussion can also spark ideas.
3. Reduce Travel Time
Spending more time travelling in the car translates into more time sitting in your office. Some travel is necessary, but it’s important to make sure it’s productive. Instead of travelling to off-site meetings or training sessions, consider using technology to communicate. Should be considered programs like Skype or Google+ provide formats for individual interviews or group meetings. Staying on top of new technologies and being willing to experiment with them are advisable. As a result extra time will be available.
4. Focus on Goals
In the trenches of daily work, employees can lose track of goals over time. The goals that everyone is committed to should be set. Then employees are to be reminded of those goals periodically. Those goals can be displayed in a place where everyone can see them. Every time a task is performed, those goals can be looked at to see if those goals have got closer.
5. Provide Opportunity for Feedback
Customers of the product or service know better than anyone what works well and what doesn’t. It’s necessary to make sure they have an opportunity to voice their opinion. This can be done through a company blog, where customers can be engaged directly. Employees also generally have important concerns. Weekly or monthly interviews, depending on the size of the company are one way to learn from them. Another option is an online forum.
6. Keep Employees Happy
When a worker enjoys what they are doing, they will be more productive. There are many ways to improve company happiness. Company outings, lunches, or parties should be considered. Means by which employees can release stress and relax for a moment must be provide. While these things may not seem to contribute directly to a company’s goals, they will lead to better work from employees.
7. Remove Distractions
It’s easy to be distracted even in plain, perhaps boring office. Some people have found it necessary to put filters on their Internet to prevent from browsing around certain articles, video clips, etc. Desk accessories that will be time consuming to complete should be avoided. It’s possible to have something that may give an employee a quick break, and clear his mind. Doing this can help to keep employee productive.
8. Plan out the day
Some people benefit from writing their day out in a planner, or using their I-Phone to set reminders. Regardless of how they do it, a very specific plan will increase productivity immensely.
9. Create a Workspace
Often times people try to make their workspace in the office just as comfortable as their own home. This is not a smart idea. A desk is at the office for a reason. It’s not bad if there is a desired make it a little more appealing than the average office desk, but sometimes people go overboard. Keeping a couch or an overly-comfortable chair in the office should be avoided. This may sound ridiculous, but overtime you will realize that an office is for working, and a home is for relaxing.

3.3 How to improve the company's efficiency according to Lisa McQuerrey
Improving the company’s efficiency involves looking for ways to streamline operations, ensuring employees are qualified and well-trained, and taking measures to reduce waste. Increasing productivity in the workplace can also improve the company’s efficiency. According to Lisa McQuerrey idea the following steps should be undertaken:

1
Conduct an audit of your computer and electrical systems to ensure they are energy-efficient and running at full capacity. Consult your country’s Energy Department website for guidelines and advice.
2
Examine the layout of your workspace for efficiency. Group office equipment and shared work spaces in close proximity so workers don't have to waste too much time walk back and forth to communicate with each other or use equipment.
3
Hire support staff to reduce the amount of time employees spend fielding phone calls, handling paperwork, updating databases and performing clerical functions. If your business sees walk-in traffic, use a receptionist, cashier or other greeter who can direct the customer to the appropriate place without taking other employees away from their work.
4
Replace outdated or poorly-functioning equipment with upgraded technology. Supply workers with ergonomically-correct workstations to reduce fatigue and improve efficiency.
5
Encourage frequent short breaks to reduce eye strain and improve cognitive function.
6
Analyze job descriptions and pay for each position at your business. If you find redundancy in some jobs, eliminate them or reassign personnel to new positions. Whenever possible, outsource work to more cost-efficient, highly-trained free-lancers or independent contractors.
7
Develop a workflow chart to outline individual responsibilities, deadlines and goals. Post the chart in public view and review it on an hourly, daily or weekly basis to ensure projects are on track.
8
Reduce the number of mandatory group meetings and replace them with time-limited small-group discussions. Follow an agenda for each meeting to keep participants focused and on schedule.
9
Provide ongoing training to ensure workers are well-versed and updated on the best practices in your field.
10
Solicit regular feedback from employees, asking what internal measures would help them perform their jobs more efficiently. Offer job shadowing, mentoring and cross-training. This can help reduce employee turnover, increase morale and improve overall efficiency.

3.4 Daniel D. Chiras’s vision of ways to improve productivity at the workplace

It is enough to simply have a job, an office or organization to work in, and get a get a cheque and the end of the week. A workplace however large or small has to be driven by efficiency and achievement that manifests itself in the form of tangible results for the organization, and is rewarding for the employee. Less productive inputs and lower efficiency levels are bound to affect the business and jeopardize its sustainability and survival.
Employee productivity is a major concern for employers and lower productivity cannot be blamed on the employee entirely. * A lot of it has to do with the environment at the work place, and the work conditions along with a series of factors that define the work culture. * Employers have to implement wide spread changes in their setup to improve the productivity of their work force. * Employee talent is a valuable asset for a company or organization, and it needs to be tapped to its fullest by keeping the employees motivated to perform and deliver the results they are qualified for and capable of. * Employers may often believe that once they have recruited the best talent in the field, the results will inevitably follow. Not necessarily, if you look beneath the surface to see the environment this talent works in.
A few factors that can help to improve the employee productivity at the workplace are:
1. Accountability
Every employee needs to be well aware that he is accountable for his actions and decisions, and he can neither pass the buck or pass the blame to someone else. * This will help him work more meticulously , * Take cautious rather than reckless decisions, and not take advantage of his place, position or relationship with his superiors.
2. Follow up
Employers often set targets and feel their job is done. * No, every target or milestone set needs to be followed up as well, to see if the progress is sufficient and if not, whether any interim measures can be taken before it is too late to salvage a situation. * It also keeps the employee on track, ensuring there is consistent effort throughout the lifetime of the project
3. Manage the work force but avoid micromanagement
It is well known that a large pool of employees does need to be managed, provided direction and given assistance. But with this they must also be trusted, given freedom to operate in their style and adopt measures which they think are the best to deliver results. * This freedom to act as they deem fit helps to keep them encouraged, motivated and happy in the belief that they are trusted. * Micro management is a human tendency but one that is detrimental to achievement, since it makes mere puppets out of employees, who are expected to toe the boss’ line and not think for themselves. * Employees need to think for themselves, analyze the consequences of every decision or action to be able to give their best to their jobs. And the employers must make it possible for their workers to do so.
4. Encourage, motivate, reward and recognize
The employer must ensure that on his part he always has words of encouragement for his staff. Encouraging them helps them move forward and do even better, and makes the worker feel happy. Innovative ways of motivating them spurs them even more. For example, holidays or conferences paid for by the company have been found to motivate employees immensely. * Rewarding the hard work put in by employees makes them continue to work in the same fashion, and if the employee feels that his work is not appreciated in words or in material terms, he may gradually stop doing so, since he may feel that others working less are given the same too, so he need not work more. * Rewards, and other ways of keeping employees happy makes them feel that their effort is being recognized and that they are needed by the company. * Without these, they may soon start looking for greener pastures and new jobs.
5. Reach out to employees by seeking them out
Every employee loves to feel he has the ears of the management who will recognize him and listen to what he says. Display of inter personal skills in which the boss appears humane and one of them, rather than a larger than life, distant figure, helps to have employees warm up to him and feel happy working for him. * A bit of effort to reach out helps them all do better. * If this extends beyond the work place it may prove to be even more encouraging to increase employee productivity.
6. Demand realistic targets
Employers need to set realistic goals that are within the limits of achievement. While an aggressive employer may want his people to outstretch themselves to achieve farfetched goals, it may also burn them out.
7. Team work
Team work always helps in increasing workplace productivity since there is more input in the form of more ideas and minds at work. Working alone is not always the happiest situation either, especially in the field. Successful team building and working together is bound to bring out the best out of the employees who may also then compete with each other ensuring the business is the winner.
8. Ensure that people enjoy their work
The best performing employee is the happy employee, and the employer has to find ways of making his people happy. Besides working conditions and the work culture implemented, he has to devise ways of making the work seem challenging and interesting rather than mundane and boring.

9. Break the monotony and rotate
While employers assign tasks according to an employee’s core competence, even the task they are best at, can make an employee bored and his work seem monotonous. * This monotony can be broken with rotation and giving people new tasks and exposure to other divisions. * This adds their learning and helps them get a holistic view of the business.
10. Courses and improvement options
Employees are delighted when they can enhance their skills and get additional learning opportunities sponsored by the employer. This helps them learn, feel indebted for the money being spent on them, which also adds to their resume, and are obliged to perform better by applying all the knowledge gained in these courses.
11. Spend less time on meetings and more on action
The current trend to have more meetings and discussion rather than spending more time working to achieve results, leads to precious productive time loss. * Meetings for reviews and sharing of ideas can be limited and kept short. * Employees should have more time to show results.
12. Tools and equipment to raise productivity
Finally, the workplace must have the best machinery, devices and equipment that yield error free results in the minimum possible time. Efficient electronic equipment with no connectivity issues and breakdowns will help to save precious time. They should take the place of paper work, and yield fast results. Some of these include: * Smart phones * Laptops * Tablet computers * Latest applications and software that offers quick connectivity and access * Digital recorders-these help to record thoughts and new ideas when they strike, when no paper is available and the fear is of forgetting the idea * Bluetooth to stay connected * Personal digital assistants or PDA’s * GPS to stay on track on the road
Thus the idea is to have devices that enhance efficiency and subsequently productivity at the work place. The devices help to reduce the response time, improve customer service and cutting costs, all imperative for workplace productivity.

3.5 iPad as a means of increasing efficiency

Productivity, a measure of the efficiency of production, can also be referred to as a measure of output from a production process, per unit of input. It is the ratio of what is produced to what is required to produce it. Usually this ratio is in the form of an average, expressing the total output divided by the total input.
Productivity it is merely a measure of efficiency.
Efficiency can considerably be increased by using different electronic devices such as iPad and other tablets. With the onset of BootCamp, tablets and the App Store, my IT systems have been transformed. People now carry an iPad, laden with productivity Apps for when they are away from the office, and all of the tools they need to manage their email, calendar and contacts and create documents in a space that they specifically don’t have to secure (the “cloud”).
The major benefits to re-addressing the IT systems as a small business are: * We can move our work to the cloud (or iCloud) * We (and our Accountant) can manage our books remotely * We can access email, calendar and contacts through the cloud * The cloud can be infinitely safer for the small business owner * The iPad and certain other tablets allow for complete productivity * A tablet / phone is far lighter than the lightest notebook * We do tasks in shorter spurts than previously, and tablets allow quicker access to applications.
Another major breakthrough is the fact that an iPad can only display one app at a time. This has completely cut down on having 20 tabs open in the browser, and allows me to focusing on one task at a time.
While looking for productivity tools to download, it should be realised that actually the iPad itself is a supreme productivity tool, in terms of effectiveness.

Chapter IV
Ways of improving efficiency in manufacturing

4.1 Lean manufacturing structure |
Lean manufacturing entails coming up with a management program in order to cut waste as a measure to reduce costs in your business. So, for example, if you are involved in the manufacturing industry, one place where you could cut costs by cutting waste is by reducing the amount of time between when a customer places and order and when that order is shipped by eliminating any waste in the process of production.
One of the key things to remember about lean manufacturing is that it is intended to eliminate waste or anything that does not add to the value of your product. Whether or not something adds to the value of your product is determined by your customers, rather than by you. Here's an example of something a customer would consider to be waste: equipment downtime. Your customers don't want to pay for it, and so you can reduce costs by eliminating it, as much as you can. Lean manufacturing is not just beneficial to your customers, however. If you implement a lean manufacturing program in your business, it can aid you in becoming more competitive by helping you streamline your manufacturing processes. Industry Week has done a survey of 967 manufacturing plants, and discovered that 35.7% of those manufacturing plants and factories are using lean manufacturing. Some of these manufacturing plants are Boeing, John Deere, and Caterpillar. In addition to implementing lean manufacturing in their own companies, these three companies also offer training opportunities to their suppliers so that they can become more efficient and more cost-effective.
Lean manufacturing is based on a management approach that is called Five S. The first S is sorted: you need to prioritize. The second S is straighten up: straighten up your workplace so that time is not wasted in searching for things. The third S is swept: clean up your workplace so that nothing is in the way. The fourth S is sustain: sustain your operations. Maintain them well. The fifth S is standardize: the idea is that standardized operations are more efficient and effective operations. By implementing these 5 S's, you can cut down on the time wasted in waiting for the arrival or the availability of different tools and machines, the time wasted in moving equipment around. You can also cut down on time and people wasted on taking care of avoidable processes, like taking care of problems with your inventory, taking care of queue problems, moving people around, or the problems caused by a poor use of space.
There are a number of different important benefits that come from implementing a lean manufacturing strategy. For example, you can obviously reduce costs by streamlining and no longer wasting money on unnecessary processes. You reduce the time of the product cycle. You can also reduce inventory that is taking up space. Furthermore, you can both increase your capacity for production and reduce the amount of work that is in process. And if that's not enough, you can improve productivity, efficiency, and quality. And who wouldn't want that?
The numbers also show that lean manufacturing pays off. The Manufacturing Performance Institute performed an annual survey with Industry Week. This survey demonstrated that a manufacturing plant's return on invested capital, or ROIC, will increase with the implementation of lean manufacturing. Plants with lean manufacturing measures have a median ROIC of 17%, in contrast to the median ROIC of 10% of plants that don't use ROIC. This is true for both large manufacturers and small manufacturers.

4.2 Implement an Enterprise System for Manufacturing Operations Management to Lower Operating Costs, Reduce Cycle Times and Improve Customer Satisfaction
To achieve and sustain manufacturing excellence, you have to eliminate waste across your global production while at the same time you need to continue to implement new processes that are embraced and replicated across your enterprise. This is the goal of Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, Just-in-Time and other initiatives. But, how do you improve manufacturing efficiency, asset utilization and materials synchronization on a daily basis across your enterprise? How do you manage the myriad details and realities of manufacturing across plants, regions and continents?
Apriso's FlexNet solutions have been providing the answers to these challenges for leading manufacturers around the world. Apriso delivers a unique combination of visibility and control, allowing you to synchronize operations not just on the plant floor, but across all related activities within your own four walls and across your product supply operation. You can see and respond to every important event across your global facilities in near real-time, resulting in continued improvement of Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE).
Use Apriso to better understand the impact of the decisions you make on manufacturing efficiency while continuing to improve your processes using rich, detailed feedback from your shop floors. Apriso customers have realized several benefits including: 50% cycle time reductions, zero logistics PPM (across multiple plants), and increased productivity from 15% to 20%, just to name a few. Simply reducing paper and manual data entries can generate savings of $100K to $870K per plant. One client estimates they will save over $1M per year based on reducing manual data entries!
FlexNet enables the improvement of manufacturing efficiency and customer satisfaction through lowering costs, eliminating waste and reducing cycle times by: * Supporting multiple manufacturing models from batch to discrete manufacturing and plants sizes from small to large, streamlining information flow on a single, unified architecture * Providing actionable and embedded Key Performance Indicators to proactively address problems before impacting customer demand and containing costs * Modeling business processes for operations execution to a level of detail required to identify value and non-value activity to eliminate the waste * Enabling material synchronization from the warehouse to the production line and streamline inventory levels beyond WIP * Providing deep and broad histories of process information, allowing Lean "Kaizen" teams to quickly locate waste to continuously improve processes * Deploying best-practice processes consistently to any plant with FlexNet's Global Manufacturing Suite to ensure sustainable continuous improvement and best practices sharing * Managing Just-In-Time (JIT) and Just-In-Sequence (JIS) to support advanced Pull-based production models that support Lean initiatives * Integrated and embedded quality throughout the operations to eliminate human error, product defects, and process variability to ensure zero defects

4.3 Lean Manufacturing, Working More Efficiently
And if your customers have to pay more because of it, they might go elsewhere. Being competitive also requires a lot of flexibility. You must be able to meet the changing demands of your customers quickly and effectively, and adapt to a rapidly changing business environment.
So, how can you reduce waste and do things more efficiently? And how can you keep up with the changing demands of consumers?
First mentioned in James Womack's 1990 book, "The Machine That Changed the World," lean manufacturing is a theory that can help you to simplify and organize your working environment so that you can reduce waste, and keep your people, equipment, and workspace responsive to what's needed right now.
The idea of lean manufacturing is just as applicable to offices and other work environments as it is to manufacturing plants. It's helpful to relate words like "inventory," "customers," and "production" to whatever you're processing - data, documents, knowledge, services, and so on.
A Brief History of Lean Manufacturing
Henry Ford was one of the first people to develop the ideas behind lean manufacturing. He used the idea of "continuous flow" on the assembly line for his Model T automobile, where he kept production standards extremely tight, so each stage of the process fitted together with each other stage, perfectly. This resulted in little waste.
But Ford's process wasn't flexible. His assembly lines produced the same thing, again and again, and the process didn't easily allow for any modifications or changes to the end product – a Model T assembly line produced only the Model T. It was also a "push" process, where Ford set the level of production, instead of a "pull" process led by consumer demand. This led to large inventories of unsold automobiles, ultimately resulting in lots of wasted money.
Other manufacturers began to use Ford's ideas, but many realized that the inflexibility of his system was a problem. Taiichi Ohno of Toyota then developed the Toyota Production System (TPS), which used Just In Time manufacturing methods to increase efficiency. As Womack reported in his book, Toyota used this process successfully and, as a result, eventually emerged as one the most profitable manufacturing companies in the world.
Lean Manufacturing Basics
Lean manufacturing is based on finding efficiencies and removing wasteful steps that don't add value to the end product. There's no need to reduce quality with lean manufacturing – the cuts are a result of finding better, more efficient ways of accomplishing the same tasks.
To find the efficiencies, lean manufacturing adopts a customer-value focus, asking "What is the customer willing to pay for?" Customers want value, and they'll pay only if you can meet their needs. They shouldn't pay for defects, or for the extra cost of having large inventories. In other words, they shouldn't pay for your waste.
The first seven sources of waste were originally outlined in the Toyota production system, and were called "muda." Lean manufacturing often adds the eighth "workforce" category.
Lean manufacturing gives priority to simple, small, and continuous improvement such as changing the placement of a tool, or putting two workstations closer together. As these small improvements are added together, they can lead to a higher level of efficiency throughout the whole system. (Note that this emphasis on small improvements doesn't mean that you cannot make larger improvements if they are required!)
Although the aim of lean manufacturing is to remove as much waste as possible by continuously refining your processes, you probably won't eliminate waste completely.
Lean Manufacturing Process
The lean manufacturing process has three key stages:
Stage 1 – Identify waste
According to the lean manufacturing philosophy, waste always exists, and no matter how good your process is right now, it can always be better. Lean manufacturing relies on this fundamental philosophy of continuous improvement, known as Kaizen.
One of the key tools used to find this waste is a Value Stream Map (VSM). This shows how materials and processes flow through your organization to bring your product or service to the consumer. It looks at how actions and departments are connected, and it highlights the waste. As you analyze the VSM, you'll see the processes that add value and those that don't. You can then create a "future state" VSM that includes as few non-value-adding activities as possible.
Stage 2 – Analyze the waste, and find the root cause
For each waste you identified in the first stage, figure out what's causing it by usingRoot Cause Analysis. If a machine is constantly breaking down, you might think the problem is mechanical and decide to purchase a new machine. But Root Cause Analysis could show that the real problem is poorly trained operators who don't use the machine properly. Other effective tools for finding a root cause includeBrainstorming and Cause and Effect Diagrams.
Stage 3 – Solve the root cause, and repeat the cycle
Using an appropriate problem-solving process, decide what you must do to fix the issue to create more efficiency.
Tools to Reduce Waste
Once you have identified wastes using the three key stages above, you can then apply this next set of tools to help you reduce waste further: * Just in Time – This is the core idea of lean manufacturing and is based on the "pull" model. To minimize stock and resources, you only purchase materials, and produce and distribute products when required. You also produce small, continuous batches of products to help production run smoothly and efficiently. By reducing batch size, you can also monitor quality and correct any defects as you go. This reduces the likelihood of quality being poor in future batches.
(In manufacturing, a key way of doing this is to use Kanban, below.) * Kanban – This is one of the key ways to involve people in the lean manufacturing process. Here, you support the Just In Time model by developing cues in the system to signal that you need to replace, order, or locate something. The focus is on reducing overproduction, so that you have what you need, only when you need it. * Zero Defects – This system focuses on getting the product right the first time, rather than spending extra time and money fixing poor-quality products. By using the Zero Defects system, you'll reinforce the notion that no defect is acceptable, and encourage people to do things right the first time that they do something. * Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) – This helps you build flexibility into your production. For example, in the automotive industry, it could take days to change a line to produce a different car model. With SMED, the assembly process and machinery are designed to support quick and efficient changeovers. (Here, a "die" is a tool used to shape an object or material.) * The 5S Philosophy – Lean manufacturing depends on standardization. You want your tools, processes, and workplace arrangements to be as simple and as standard as possible. This creates fewer places for things to go wrong, and reduces the inventory of replacement parts that you need to hold. To accomplish a good level of standardization, use the 5S System.
These techniques offer proven solutions for fixing waste within your organization. However, remember first to apply the three-stage lean manufacturing process, and to deal with any issues that this raises.
Lean manufacturing focuses on optimizing your processes and eliminating waste. This helps you cut costs and deliver what the customer wants and is willing to pay for.
With a lean philosophy, you enjoy the benefit of continuous improvement. So, rather than making rapid, irregular changes that are disruptive to the workplace, you make small and sustainable changes that the people who actually work with the processes, equipment, and materials will take forward.
This systematic and simple approach is very effective across all types of industries. What's more, ultimately, a process without waste is much more sustainable.

Conclusions