Title: Aggregating the results of ranking models in data envelopment analysis by Shannon's entropy: a case study in hotel industry

Authors: Hadi Shirouyehzad; Farhad Hosseinzadeh Lotfi; Reza Dabestani

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran ' Department of Mathematics, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran ' Department of Management and Economics, Tarbiat Modares University, Jalal Ale Ahmad Ave., P.O. Box 14115-337, Tehran, Iran

Abstract: Ranking as one of the main issues in data envelopment analysis has been extensively analysed by scholars and practitioner. During the last three decades, a large number of ranking models have been proposed. However, these models do not necessarily present a unique result for the similar problems. Therefore, it is very important to achieve a more reliable result in ranking problem. In this paper, an aggregate method base on the Shannon's entropy is proposed in order to integrate dissimilar ranking results. This method is not depended on the type of ranking methods. By applying the proposed method, decision makers and managers can achieve a more reliable decision than the method which is based on a single ranking method. To prove the applicability of the proposed method, it is examined in 12 hotels in Isfahan as a historical city in Iran.

Keywords: ranking models; data envelopment analysis; DEA; entropy; service quality; hotel industry; Isfahan hotels; Iran.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMOM.2013.055970

International Journal of Modelling in Operations Management, 2013 Vol.3 No.2, pp.149 - 163

Received: 03 Aug 2012
Accepted: 25 Mar 2013
Published online: 29 Jan 2014 *

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