ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 deals with the concepts related to productivity and efficiency in a didactic manner. Understanding the difference between productivity and efficiency is important because, although they are distinct concepts, in many cases they are treated as synonyms. Productivity and efficiency are covered in this book from a systemic perspective, analyzing the system as a whole (equally for the production of goods as for the provision of services), avoiding distortions derived from evaluation that considers the whole as the sum of the parts. This discussion is supported by the concepts of the discipline, Systemic Thought. Also addressed are the differences that need to be considered when measuring productivity and efficiency in productive systems. Besides this, other important concepts, such as efficacy, effectiveness and benchmarking are presented in this chapter. Finally, a step-by-step guide to benchmarking, followed by a discussion on this topic, are presented to show how this concept is considered in the application of DEA.
