Title: Performance evaluation of insurance sector using balanced scorecard and hybrid BWM-TOPSIS: evidence from Iran

Authors: Sahar Rahmati; Soroush Avakh Darestani

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering, Kooshyar Higher Education Institute, Rasht, Guilan, Iran ' Guidhall School of Business and Law, London Metropolitan University, London, UK; Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Industrial and Mechanical Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin Branch, Qazvin, Iran

Abstract: Improving the performance of insurance industry can have a huge impact on other manufacturing and service sectors. The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of insurance companies using balanced scorecard (BSC) and multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM), with case studies on three companies based in northern Iran. The outline of our approach is as follows: First, via theoretical studies, the primary criteria in four BSC performance dimensions were identified and provided to experts. Then, nine criteria were chosen to measure the performance based on BSC and best worst method (BWM) was used to weigh them. Results showed, 'increasing service quality' is the most important criterion, followed by, 'improving quality of services for attracting new customers in addition to existing customers', 'flexibility in the service system' and 'investing in customer education'. Consequently, a decision matrix was developed to measure the performance. Companies were ranked using TOPSIS method.

Keywords: performance measurement; insurance companies; balanced scorecard; BSC; multi-criteria decision-making; MCDM; Iran.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPQM.2022.124729

International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 2022 Vol.36 No.3, pp.382 - 402

Received: 19 Jul 2020
Accepted: 05 Jan 2021
Published online: 08 Aug 2022 *

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