I think Competence has a positive impact on Efficiency and Quality; but I am not sure that the relationship between Efficiency and Quality has already been academically confirmed.

In state run inspection and audit organizations, the “Quality Standards for Inspections” provides the drive for operations to become more efficient and effective in a manner possible, which serves to provide the best possible assistance regarding core competencies for inspection organizations and inspectors

https://www.ignet.gov/sites/default/files/files/committees/inspect-eval/iestds12r.pdf

Dear Ada Mirela,

These concepts belong to different semantic categories, such that their connection should be done carefully.

COMPETENCE is based on the explicit and tacit knowledge one person may have about a certain domain. That means theoretical knowledge, skills and experience which lead to expertise. Competence is essential in successful decision making in the domain we talk about. 

EFFICIENCY is an economical concept. It relates the outcomes of a certain transformational process and the inputs in that process. Basically, it means to obtain  most in terms of results out of some available resources.

QUALITY is a relational concept. It is not an attribute of a certain object as many people believe. It means to produce a good or a service able to create a state of satisfaction at the consumer level, in a certain context. Of course, we measure the quality based on some standards, but the essence it that explained above.

Efficiency and Quality cannot be achieved without competence. That means that COMPETENCE is essential for both EFFICIENCY and QUALITY. A product can be produced efficiently without a good quality. Quality can be obtained without any specific efficiency. BUT, in a company with an intelligent management it is possible to used the COMPETENCE of people to create QUALITY by realizing EFFICIENT processes.  

the three concepts are connected in a kind of a linear form: competence - efficiency - quality....this simply imply that the competence of an organization's workforce (as determined by the skill level) leads to the efficient utilization of its resources (i.e. saves time, reduced wastage, shorter turn-around etc) which leads to quality outcomes ( products, services..etc)...

Thank you for your question.

It is neccessary to explain more in depth the relation. I want to start from the explanation of professor Bratianu and complete it. Professor Bratianu states that "Efficiency and Quality cannot be achieved without competence. That means that COMPETENCE is essential for both EFFICIENCY and QUALITY. A product can be produced efficiently without a good quality. Quality can be obtained without any specific efficiency. BUT, in a company with an intelligent management it is possible to used the COMPETENCE of people to create QUALITY by realizing EFFICIENT processes".

From my point of view we need to distinguish between long term and short term. The statement that a product can be produced efficiently without a good quality and quality can be obtained without efficiency is right only in a short term. In long term, your customers will be dissatisfied if you produce without quality and your product will be replaced by a competitor product. In the case of products with quality but without efficiency your strategy will be not sustainable in a long run because your product will be very expensive.

The relation is very clear in a long term, COMPETENCE, QUALITY AND EFFICIENCY ARE CONNECTED ALWAYS. The aim of quality is to fulfill customer requirements, the objective of Efficiency is to reduce costs and waste and the purpose of competence is to increase the capability to improve customer requirements and costs.

Then, you need to improve always to remain competitive in the market.

Concerning the relationship between COMPETENCE and EFFICIENCY, I haven' t much to add to previous comments. Only a quick reminder that the strength of the link clearly depends on the specific COMPETENCE(S) that the organization is trying to develop.

In what EFFICIENCY and QUALITY is concerned, I agree with much of what was already said, but, as previous research indicates, QUALITY is a multidimensional concept and not every dimension is related to higher operational performance in the sense of less waste, less dispersion,... Yes, it is possible to be efficient without having quality; that means you are doing well the WRONG THINGS and is an indication of porr quality planning.

competence, efficiency and quality are dependent on each other. Competence relates to ones capability e.g. general, managerial or technical, to do the job. Efficiency relates to effectiveness in completing a task/job. Quality is the outcome of competence and efficiency. 

Ada, cordial greetings. With regard to your questions, my view is as follows:

Competition look from the perspective of Knowledge do things well, maintains a positive relationship with efficiency and quality. Knowing get it right can make better use of resources and obtain quality results. However, I believe that competition is positively related to the quality, but not the efficiency with quality. You may find efficient processes but not necessarily quality. However, if you can find that the processes developed with competent staff translate into more efficient processes. I believe that quality, can be translated into a latent variable between efficiency and competence.