Doing things “right”, i.e., in accordance with predefined procedures/ policies, etc. In the broader context of business, efficiency is the ability to accomplish a task or process (or performance) with a minimum wastage in terms of time, economic resources, and effort or performance competency. Efficiency mainly focuses on standardized or repetitive processes involving pre-defined tasks and performance criteria. Therefore, it is more about the short term, and does not generally encourage thinking out of the box.

For example, a production line worker is said to be efficient if all steps and procedures are properly performed as per the set policies/ criteria, etc.