The concept of efficiency assumes that processes can improve with time. From generations to generations, we learn from experience and best practices, we modify and adjust processes to achieve the best result while using the lowest resources.

As a result, by looking back on the evolution of any given trade, we can get a basic view on:

1. What people perceived as efficient in that particular trade,
2. What are the tactics that previous generations have used to achieve such efficiency.

Very often, and for most trade, financial efficiency wins over bare efficiency. And therefore, financial efficiency is often gained at the expense of human or environmental considerations. It was as such, with tactics such as the obvious slavery and forced labor. It is as such, you can refer to the list below for examples. And it will remain as such because social and environmental regulations will always have loopholes…

So this episode of Effy is slightly special, using a fac-simile of an old chinese scroll to highlight some of classics commerce’s trading tactics. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a chinese matter, and we can observe similar processes all around the world. For curious people, below are examples of companies employing some of the tactics that the episode has described (but again, you could do the exercise for any other trade or profession):

• Walmart: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Walmart
• Amazon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Amazon

Both are north american, but you can find similar practices in Carrefour (french), Alibaba (chinese), and so on.