In this study two different hybrid ranking approaches based on data envelopment analysis and outranking relations for ranking alternatives are proposed. Outranking relations are widely used in Multicriteria Decision Making (MCDM) for ranking the alternatives and appropriate in situations when we have limited information on the preference structure of the decision maker. Yet to apply these methods DM should provide exact values for method parameters (weights, thresholds etc.) as well as basic information such as alternative scores. DEA is used for classification of decision making units according to their efficiency scores in a non-parameteric way. The proposed hybrid approaches utilize PROMETHEE (a well known method based on outranking relations) to construct outranking relations by pairwise comparisons and a technique similar to DEA crossefficiency ranking for aggregating comparisons. While first of the proposed approaches can deal with imprecise specification of criterion weights, second approach can utilize imprecise weights and thresholds.

The history of natural gas in Turkey started in 1970s by the usage of domestic gas in cement factories. However, natural gas began penetrating the energy market in 1980s with the usage of natural gas in Ankara. In the following years, the number of cities using natural gas reached six. Then, a new era started with the enactment of Natural Gas Market Law in 2001 and 53 distribution tenders have been realized by Energy Market Regulatory Authority until 2009. This thesis analyzes the performance of 38 Turkish natural gas distribution companies by using a non-parametric method, Data Envelopment Analysis. The results are used to determine the most proper model specification, to detect the important criteria affecting the efficiency levels and to find the common characteristics of the most inefficient firms. The results show that public firms compared to private firms, non-tender firms compared to tender firms, large firms compared to small firms and firms operating in more developed areas compared to firms operating in underdeveloped areas utilize resources and manage costs more efficiently. However, we can not get a certain conclusion about the comparison of old firms and new firms. Lastly, we try to detect the common characteristics of the most inefficient firms and find that the major problem is low delivery amount.

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<p>This paper offers to measure efficiency of banks in Sub Saharan Africa and its determining input andout put factors on two fonts. At this purpose, we applied the first font; Data Envelopment Analysis(DEA) for assessing efficiency level. The actual and target level of inputs/outputs to foster efficiencyare shown in the results. Secondly, the banks ratio analysis measuring banks performance throughreturns volatility for each bank, asset utilization and provision for bad and doubtful debts over thestudy period are all used as tools for this analysis. Our results suggest that Sub Saharan AfricanBanks are about 98.35% efficient. We are aware that the level of efficiency could be subject to up anddown swing if environmental factors influencing banks efficiency where taken into consideration.Finally, our result (DEA) is more sensitive to loans, other liabilities, other non interest expense,securities and deposit.</p>

Tez (Doktora) - Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, İşletme Anabilim Dalı, 2008. / Kaynakça var.

In January 2007, the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery took a step toward sustainability and began management under an individual fishing quota (IFQ) system. The hope is that direct ownership stakes by fishers brings more direct involvement on behalf of the boat owners and fishermen as well as more responsible and sustainable fishing practices on depressed fish populations. The research was conducted in order to study the welfare of local fishing communities as well as the effects on the red snapper fishery itself. Traditional fisheries and economic data were analyzed. In addition a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) of the Florida Gulf Coast communities involved in the red snapper fishery was performed to compare to the analysis of fishing communities prepared by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Finally, online and phone surveys of fishermen involved in the red snapper fishery were performed to gauge their responses to the change in management. The study reveals a strong correlation between the DEA analysis of fishing communities affected and the analysis performed by NMFS, and reinforces DEA as a method of determining involvement in a fishery. Additionally, the thesis indicates the red snapper IFQ has performed as expected in some areas by its supporters – an average gulf-wide ex-vessel price per pound increase of 10% in just three years; elimination of the rush to fish due to guaranteed quota; and a shift in fleet composition as the number of share owners owning less than 2.00% have dwindled, and the number of shareholders possessing greater than 2.00% of the quota has increased gulf-wide by 50%. However, in other areas such as effort reduction and bycatch rates, the IFQ appears to have mixed results. A reported decline in effort is likely attributable to a reduction in the overall gulf-wide red snapper quota between 2007 and 2008 rather than the IFQ, and even NMFS doubts the bycatch data that are being reported by fishermen. Most importantly, current IFQ shareholders were surveyed via phone and internet revealing not only an overall disapproval by most fishers of the IFQ design process, but also effects contrary to those publicized by IFQ supporters, and a general distrust in fisheries management.

The development of effective personnel assignment methodologies has been the focus of research to academicians and practitioners for many years. The common theory among researchers is that improvements to the effectiveness of personnel assignment decisions are directly associated with favorable outcomes to organizations. Today, companies continue to struggle to develop high quality products in a timely fashion. This elevates the necessity to further explore and improve the decision-making science of personnel assignments. The central goal of this research is to develop a novel framework for human resource assignments in skill-based environments. An extensive literature review resulted in the identification of the following three areas of the general personnel assignment problem as potential improvement opportunities: determining assignment criteria, properly evaluating personnel capabilities, and effectively assigning resources to tasks. Thus, developing new approaches to improve each of these areas constitute the objectives of this dissertation work. The main contributions of this research are threefold. First, this research presents an effective two-stage methodology to determine assignment criteria based on data envelopment analysis (DEA) and Tobit regression. Second, this research develops a novel fuzzy expert system for resource capability assessments in skill-based scenarios. The expert system properly evaluates the capabilities of resources in particular skills as a function of imprecise relationships that may exist between different skills. Third, this research develops an assignment model based on the fuzzy goal programming (FGP) technique. The model defines capabilities of resources, tasks requirements, and other important parameters as imprecise/fuzzy variables. The novelty of the research presented in this dissertation stems from the fact that it advances the science of personnel assignments by combining concepts from the fields of statistics, economics, artificial intelligence, and mathematical programming to develop a solution approach with an expected high practical value.

This cumulative doctoral thesis comprises three essays in which "Data Envelopment Analysis"(DEA), an instructive and flexible analytic tool with origins in operations research, is utilized to help clarify three crucial issues that arise when subjecting network industries to price-cap regulation. These issues are: First, the relationship of price-cap regulation with investment, second, the relationship of price-cap regulation with quality and third, the correct cost of capital within price-cap regulation. Without loss of generality, the investigation is focused on the case of electricity. (author's abstract)

The thesis investigates the efficiency of depository institutions in Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia and Turkey between 2003 and 2006. Four of these countries switched from a planned to a market economy in the early 1980ies. These are contrasted with Austria. High coverage ratios are ensured by using data published by the relevant regulatory authorities. Data envelopment analysis yields higher efficiency scores in all but one country when deposits are treated as output. This implies that banks see deposits as products they offer to their customers and which they do not attempt to minimize. While in some countries improvements in efficiency can be detected against an inter-temporal single-country efficiency frontier, no overall efficiency improvement against a common regional frontier can be identified. Results of a Malmquist Index analysis are also inconclusive for the region as a whole, although technological improvement can be shown for Austria between 2004 and 2005. When data is grouped by country, Austria and Croatia emerge as most and Serbia and Bulgaria as least efficient markets. An interesting pattern emerges when DMUs are grouped by category (savings, cooperative and universal banks) and country. It can then be seen that savings and cooperative banks show comparably low efficiency in Austria but comparably high scores in Serbia and Croatia. For universal banks, this pattern is reversed. (author's abstract)

Σημαντικό ρόλο, σε οποιαδήποτε δράση ή διαδικασία, παίζει η αξιολόγηση των αποτελεσμάτων. Η αξιολόγηση, εκτός από την επίτευξη κάποιου στόχου, μπορεί να έχει την έννοια της σύγκρισης με άλλες μονάδες ή την προσπάθεια εκτίμησης της διαχρονικής προόδου. Έχουν αναπτυχθεί διάφορες μέθοδοι αξιολόγησης, ενώ το πεδίο εφαρμογής είναι ιδιαίτερα ευρύ. Στην παρούσα εργασία έγινε εστίαση στον τομέα της εκπαίδευσης, με τη βοήθεια της Περιβάλλουσας Ανάλυσης Δεδομένων (Data Envelopment Analysis, DEA) που αποτελεί μια μέθοδο αποτίμησης της αποδοτικότητας ενός συνόλου συγκρίσιμων και ομοιογενών ομάδων. Χαρακτηριστικό της συγκεκριμένης μεθοδολογίας αποτελεί ο διαχωρισμός των Μονάδων Λήψης Αποφάσεων σε αποδοτικές και μη αποδοτικές. Με βάση αυτή τη παράμετρο, έγινε προσπάθεια διερεύνησης της αποτελεσματικότητας 37 Ελληνικών Εκπαιδευτικών Ιδρυμάτων που συμμετείχαν στο πρόγραμμα κοινοτικής δράσης ERASMUS κατά τα ακαδημαϊκά έτη 2007-08 έως 2010-11 Σύμφωνα με τα αποτελέσματα της εργασίας όλες τις ακαδημαϊκές χρονιές υπήρξαν αποδοτικά Εκπαιδευτικά Ιδρύματα με τα περισσότερα να συγκεντρώνονται το ακαδημαϊκό έτος 2008-09. Είναι άξιο παρατήρησης ότι ο αριθμός των αποδοτικών Εκπαιδευτικών Ιδρυμάτων σε σχέση με το σύνολο των εξεταζόμενων είναι μικρός. Παράλληλα, διαπιστώνεται ότι η παρουσία των αποδοτικών Τεχνολογικών Ιδρυμάτων είναι ιδιαίτερα ασθενής έως και μηδαμινή. Τέλος, υπάρχει μια συνολική πτωτική τάση των αποδοτικών Εκπαιδευτικών Ιδρυμάτων κατά τη διάρκεια των υπό εξέταση ακαδημαϊκών ετών. / The evaluation of the results plays a significant role in every action or procedure. Apart from achieving a goal, the evaluation of the results can have some other comprehensions such as the comparison with other decision making units or the attempt to estimate the longitudinal progress. Several methods of evaluation of results have developed throughout the years with the implementation of them being really vast. This master thesis focuses on the field of Education, using the Data Envelopment Analysis, which is a method of evaluating the efficiency in a set of comparable and homogeneous groups. Basic feature of this specific method is to distinguish the efficient decision making units and the inefficient ones. Based on this parameter, it is attempted to investigate the efficiency of 37 Greek Educational Institutes that took part in the ERASMUS Program, from the academic year 2007-08 to 2010-11. According to the results of this thesis, efficient Educational Institutes are found throughout the questioned academic years that above mentioned, with the majority of them being met in the academic year 2008-09. It is worth mentioning that the number of the efficient Educational Institutes in comparison with the total amount that was investigated is small, while the presence of the efficient Technological ones compared to the Universities is limited if not absent. Finally, there is an overall downward trend in the number of the efficient Educational Institutes during the questioned academic years.