The Ascent of Market Efficiency weaves together historical narrative and quantitative bibliometric data to detail the path financial economists took in order to form one of the central theories of financial economics—the influential efficient-market hypothesis—which states that the behavior of financial markets is unpredictable. As the notorious quip goes, a blindfolded monkey would do better than a group of experts in selecting a portfolio of securities, simply by throwing darts at the financial pages of a newspaper. How did such a hypothesis come to be so influential in the field of financial economics? How did financial economists turn a lack of evidence about systematic patterns in the behavior of financial markets into a foundational approach to the study of finance? Each chapter in Simone Polillo's fascinating meld of economics, science, and sociology focuses on these questions, as well as on collaborative academic networks, and on the values and affects that kept the networks together as they struggled to define what the new field of financial economics should be about. In doing so, he introduces a new dimension—data analysis—to our understanding of the ways knowledge advances. There are patterns in the ways knowledge is produced, and The Ascent of Market Efficiency helps us make sense of these patterns by providing a general framework that can be applied equally to other social and human sciences.

Do you have enough time? Do you have enough money? Efficiency is a way to get more of both. It's not a compromise; it's an optimization that makes everything better. It's a way to live more lightly on the planet, and at the same time to live more comfortably. It's quality verses quantity.Efficiency rewards you the way a financial investment grows. Just as compound interest allows your money to grow over time, efficiency's benefits continue to accumulate. Efficiency has a better return with a higher guarantee than any financial investment. To get results just replace some old, bad habits with new, better ones.This book has three major sections. 1. The first third can help you organize your life so you have more time and money.2. The middle third will help you build or buy a better house. This section includes many practical details to help you design a new home or improve the efficiency of your existing one.3. If you work in a corporation and want to improve your buildings, systems, or work processes, then the final third is for you.Could you use more joy in your life? The tips in this book could provide the secret you've been missing - the joy of efficiency.

This book covers the area of unpaced, unbalanced production lines. You will find an up-to-date discussion of how designing these lines can be made more efficient by taking advantage of inherent imbalance -- for example operators who work at different speeds- a concept which has traditionally been seen as an obstacle to efficient production. A series of experiments are presented to illustrate the issues involved in improving performance through production line imbalance. This area is of interest to postgraduate and executive level students interested in the area of production, and to managers of manual or semi-automated production lines who are interested in innovative approaches to line design. In this book you will find some surprisingly easy ways to improve performance with low or zero costs. Emphasis is placed on reducing the amount of time production lines lie idle, and on reducing work in process. This is a timely contribution to the field when managers are casting around for new ways to cut waste and reduce their use of natural resources.

A "skillful and lucid" (The Wall Street Journal) way of thinking about efficiency, challenging our obsession with it—and offering a new understanding of how to benefit from the powerful potential of serendipity. Algorithms, multitasking, the sharing economy, life hacks: our culture can't get enough of efficiency. One of the great promises of the Internet and big data revolutions is the idea that we can improve the processes and routines of our work and personal lives to get more done in less time than we ever have before. There is no doubt that we're performing at higher levels and moving at unprecedented speed, but what if we're headed in the wrong direction? Melding the long-term history of technology with the latest headlines and findings of computer science and social science, The Efficiency Paradox questions our ingrained assumptions about efficiency, persuasively showing how relying on the algorithms of digital platforms can in fact lead to wasted efforts, missed opportunities, and, above all, an inability to break out of established patterns. Edward Tenner reveals what we and our institutions, when equipped with an astute combination of artificial intelligence and trained intuition, can learn from the random and unexpected.

Efficiency in Learning offers a road map of the most effective ways to use the three fundamental communication of training: visuals, written text, and audio. Regardless of how you are delivering your training materials—in the classroom, in print, by synchronous or asynchronous media—the book’s methods are easily applied to your lesson presentations, handouts, reference guides, or e-learning screens. Designed to be a down-to-earth resource for all instructional professionals, Efficiency in Learning’s guidelines are clearly illustrated with real-world examples.

Winner, 2010 Edelstein Prize, Society for the History of Technology Efficiency—associated with individual discipline, superior management, and increased profits or productivity—often counts as one of the highest virtues in Western culture. But what does it mean, exactly, to be efficient? How did this concept evolve from a means for evaluating simple machines to the mantra of progress and a prerequisite for success? In this provocative and ambitious study, Jennifer Karns Alexander explores the growing power of efficiency in the post-industrial West. Examining the ways the concept has appeared in modern history—from a benign measure of the thermal economy of a machine to its widespread application to personal behaviors like chewing habits, spending choices, and shop floor movements to its controversial use as a measure of the business success of American slavery—she argues that beneath efficiency's seemingly endless variety lies a common theme: the pursuit of mastery through techniques of surveillance, discipline, and control. Six historical case studies—two from Britain, one each from France and Germany, and two from the United States—illustrate the concept's fascinating development and provide context for the meanings of, and uses for, efficiency today and in the future.

Proven tools and techniques to improve business efficiency In today's competitive environment, it's the businesses with the right set of tools and technologies that get ahead, while others are left in the dust. Business Efficiency For Dummies provides you with practical, useful information on how to run a more effective business while saving time and money in the process. Analyzing the world's most effective companies and aimed at top-level business owners and managers, Business Efficiency For Dummies provides the foundation all companies can build upon. You'll discover how to take an objective view of your company's current processes and procedures; what to consider when evaluating analysis tools like Six Sigma, Lean, 5S, and Balanced Scorecard to get your company buttoned up and streamlined; how to audit your company's accounting procedures to rein in and control your AP and AR departments; how to train employees to work more efficiently; how to bring efficiency into the future; and much more. Find out how to stay afloat in the current economy Discover affordable, approachable methods for streamlining business practices for greater profit Employ the latest tools and technologies to maximize business efficiency The tools and techniques described in Business Efficiency For Dummies are indispensable for business leaders and managers looking to identify weaknesses and improve business productivity and profit.