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Scholar and author of the Anatomy of Melancholy Robert Burton, in the early-seventeenth century, first used the phrase "penny-wise, pound-foolish". It implies the need to avoid wasting too much time saving small amounts of money while liberally spending large amounts.
In similar vein, managers need to avoid wasting time and effort on minor things when they should be devoting their precious time to strategic and value-creating activities.
Many organizations simply do not develop the environment for efficient, productive outputs. Senior executives spend too much time on trivial matters that should be left to middle managers and other supervisors.
Top managers who issue memos and write letters that deal with trivial matters that could easily be resolved through dialog are penny-wise, pound-foolish. The classic case would be a boss who asks for a long trail of paperwork in order to sanction, say, $100 to expedite a piece of work. The senior manager and the employee end up spending more than the $100 in management and employee time - to the great frustration of the employee concerned.
Productivity, effectiveness and efficiency in performance
[2] Sink and Tuttle (1989) define effectiveness as "doing the right things", while efficiency means "doing things right". Performance effectiveness is when someone meets a target or goal but the use of the resources may...