Title: On the impact of 'non-uniquely inefficient' decision-making units in DEA on improving efficiency in supply chains: a case from published data

Authors: P. Sunil Dharmapala

Addresses: College of Commerce & Economics, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 20, Al-Khod 123, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

Abstract: Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has been used in many studies to measure the efficiency of supply chains. There, the authors primarily utilised the traditional Charnes-Cooper-Rhodes (CCR) or Banker-Charnes-Cooper (BCC) model to measure the relative performance of decision-making units in the supply chain. In this paper, we focus on the impact of |non-uniquely inefficient| supply units on the operational efficiency of the supply chain. By analysing suppliers| data already published in the literature, we assert that the existence of such units could (mis)lead the management to make an unrealistic decision that may adversely affect the overall efficiency of the supply chain.

Keywords: data envelopment analysis; DEA; supply chain efficiency; supply chain management; SCM; non-uniquely inefficient supply units; decision making; supply chain performance; performance measurement.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVCM.2007.015093

International Journal of Value Chain Management, 2007 Vol.1 No.4, pp.362 - 371

Published online: 13 Sep 2007 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article