Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

In management theory, efficiency refers to achieving desired outcomes while using the least necessary resources, such as time, money, and effort, without sacrificing appropriate quality. A manager improves efficiency by optimizing resource allocation—that means ensuring the right people, tools, budget, and time are assigned to the right tasks and processes.

Core management responsibilities tied to efficiency include:

Matching skills and roles so work is done by the most suitable team members.

Reducing waste in processes (time, duplication, unnecessary steps).

Ensuring tools and systems are used effectively and appropriately.

Balancing workload across the team to prevent bottlenecks and idle capacity.

Why the other options reduce, not improve, true efficiency:

B. By prioritizing output over quality – Sacrificing quality may appear to boost short-term output, but it leads to rework, failures, and customer dissatisfaction, ultimately reducing efficiency.

C. By focusing on speed over strategic planning – Ignoring planning often creates confusion, misalignment, and errors, which wastes more time later.

D. By eliminating collaboration to speed up tasks – Cutting collaboration can hurt problem-solving, innovation, and accuracy. Lack of communication often leads to misunderstandings and duplication of work.

Thus, the best way a manager improves efficiency—aligned with standard management principles—is optimizing resource allocation, so A is the correct answer.