A Stepwise Efficiency Improvement DEA Model for Airport Operations with Fixed Production Factors

In the spirit of the deregulation movement, Japan is also faced with an ÃgAsia Open SkyÃh agreement which favours aviation liberalization in international services. This means an end to Japan's aviation policy of isolation. In association with this policy change, also environmental concerns grew increasingly severe for small and local regional airports. Consequently, there is a need for an objective analysis of the efficiency of airport operations in Japan. A standard tool to judge the efficiency of such activities is Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). In the past years, much progress has been made to extend this approach in various directions. Interesting examples are the Distance Friction Minimization (DFM) model and the Context-Dependent (CD) model. The DFM model is based on a generalized distance friction function and serves to improve the performance of a Decision Making Unit (DMU) by identifying the most appropriate movement towards the efficiency frontier surface. Standard DEA models use a uniform input reduction in the improvement projections, but the DFM approach aims to enhance efficiency strategies by introducing a weighted projection function. This approach may address both input reduction and output increase as a strategy of a DMU. Likewise, the CD model yields efficient frontiers at different levels, while it is based on a level-by-level improvement projection. The Stepwise DFM model is an integration of the DFM and the CD model in order to design a stepwise efficiency-improving projection model for a conventional DEA. In general, a DEA model – and neither the mix of the DFM-CD model – doesnÃft take into account a fixed factor. Such a non-controllable of fixed factor may refer to a production factor that cannot be flexibly adjusted in the short run. In our study the newly integrated Stepwise DFM-CD model will be extended with a fixed factor model in order to adapt the DEA model to realistic circumstances in an efficiency improvement projection. The above-mentioned stepwise fixed factor projection model is illustrated on the basis of an application to the efficiency analysis of airport operations in Japan in light of the above mentioned contextual changes in aviation policy.

Sustainable R&D portfolio assessment.

Research and development portfolio management is traditionally technologically and financially dominated, with little or no attention to the sustainable focus, which represents the triple bottom line: not only financial (and technical) issues but also human and environmental values. This is mainly due to the lack of quantified and reliable data on the human aspects of product/service development: usability, ecology, ethics, product experience, perceived quality etc. Even if these data are available, then consistent decision support tools are not ready available. Based on the findings from an industry review, we developed a DEA model that permits to support strategic R&D portfolio management. We underscore the usability of this approach with real life examples from two different industries: consumables and materials manufacturing (polymers).R&D portfolio management; Data envelopment analysis; Sustainable R&D;

Operations capability, productivity and business performance: the moderating effect of environmental dynamism

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between operations capability, productivity and business performance in the context of environmental dynamism. Design/methodology/approach – A proposed conceptual framework grounded in the resourcebased view (RBV) and dynamic capability view (DCV) is analysed using archival data from 193 automakers in the UK. Findings – The results show that operations capability, as an important dynamic capability, has a significant positive effect on productivity, which in turn leads to improved business performance. The results also suggest that productivity fully mediates the relationship between operations capability and business performance, and that environmental dynamism significantly moderates the relationship between operations capability and productivity. Practical implications – The research findings provide practical insights that will help managers develop operations capability to gain greater productivity and business performance in a dynamic environment

Incorporating the Dual Customer Roles in e-Service Design

E-service involves the delivery of useful services through information technology based service delivery channels such as the Internet. A distinguishing feature of e-service is the active and significant participation of customers in the service co-production process. With increasing customer participation in the e-service co-production process, it is important to incorporate customers’ needs both as a co-producer and as a patron into the design of e-service systems. However, these dual customer roles create a complex decision problem during e-service design. In the current paper we present a customer orientation strategy for e-service design, and propose a corresponding two-stage decision model based upon the customer orientation strategy to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of e-service design when the focus of the design is to meet customers’ needs as both co-producers and patrons. The decision model is then applied in an empirical study of the design of e-services of Internet food retailers. Key Words: Service Operations, E-Service, Co-production, Efficiency Analysis, Data Envelopment Analysis

Assessing the Efficiency of Mass Transit Systems in the United States

Frustrated with increased parking problems, unstable gasoline prices, and stifling traffic congestion, a growing number of metropolitan city dwellers consider utilizing the mass transit system. Reflecting this sentiment, a ridership of the mass transit system across the United States has been on the rise for the past several years. A growing demand for the mass transit system, however, necessitates the expansion of service offerings, the improvement of basic infrastructure/routes, and the additional employment of mass transit workers, including drivers and maintenance crews. Such a need requires the optimal allocation of financial and human resources to the mass transit system in times of shrinking budgets and government downsizing. Thus, the public transit authority is faced with the dilemma of “doing more with less.” That is to say, the public transit authority needs to develop a “lean” strategy which can maximize transit services with the minimum expenses. To help the public transit authority develop such a lean strategy, this report identifies the best-in-class practices in the U.S. transit service sector and proposes transit policy guidelines that can best exploit lean principles built upon best-in-class practices

CAN FISCAL POLICY EXPLAIN TECHNICAL INEFFICIENCY OF PRIVATISED FIRMS? A PARAMETRIC AND NONPARAMETRIC APPROACH

The massive interests of economic literature about the privatisation gave a notable impulse to the discussion about this theme in the pre and post privatisation firms performance. Basically in every case after privatisation the level of profit increases. Does this mean that privatisation is certainly able to increase efficiency? In this field a large part of the literature leave out the complex problem that public firms usually are subject to objectives and constraints that differently from private firms can affect the overall economic efficiency. Unfortunately many authors ignore the effects of taxation during the process of privatisation, but in real term there are significant tax issues that must be considered by public and private decision maker. In this paper we concentrate the attention on the efficiency measures with the purpose to identify and measure sources of successful performance that can be used in policy planning and allocation of resources. Several techniques to calculate these frontier functions have been used, some of them parametric, others non-parametric to empirically investigate the relationship between taxation on firm’s income and efficiency in the period pre and post-privatisation. In this work we use both econometric and mathematical programming approaches for measuring efficiency. The econometric tool provide maximum likelihood estimates of a stochastic production and cost functions to distinguish noise from inefficiency. Instead, the mathematical programming approaches are nonstochastic and they do not make strict assumptions on the functional form of production and the statistical properties of the data. The general results obtained from the 3 different tools (Stochastic Frontier, Data Envelopment Analysis and Neural Network) are consistent. In fact, we see that privatization enhanced efficiency in three out of four sample firms.Privatization, Fiscal policy, Data Envelopment Analysis, Stochastic Frontier, Neural Network

Benchmarking the business performance of departmental space in universities

Purpose and Theory: In UK higher education institutions, facilities management performance tends to be measured in space utilisation and space cost. A new approach uses the �return on investment� (ROI) concept of income generation to highlight space performance at faculty/department/building level. Design and approach: Using space data from several English universities and data envelopment analysis (DEA), six types of academic units (departments, institutes or similar) are compared in regard of their respective research and teaching income. This technique allows mapping out the total �envelope� with the best performers at the edge, showing what improvement/change would be needed for the others in the group to match their performance. Findings: This is a viable method of benchmarking and gives participating institutions better and more strategic and business-oriented feedback on the performance of their space envelope than mere cost comparisons. It can potentially inform strategic decisions about university estates. However, there are barriers to applying this approach: problems posed by issues of classification and diverse organisational structures can be overcome, but lack of collaboration of facilities/estates and finance directorates; lack of centralised, accurate and detailed data pose more serious challenges

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) and financial ratios : a pro-stakeholders’ view of performance measurement for sustainable value creation of the wind energy

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to explore business performance in a rather sensitive sector that equally combines economic, environmental and social dimensions. The paper investigates the efficiency of wind farm companies, in a framework of pursuing more diverse stakeholders’ interests Design/Methodology/Approach: Ratios and DEA approaches are combined to measure economic efficiency among the DMUs of a sample of wind farms, using data from their financial statements. Findings: Productivity and effectiveness comprise the performance measured by the economic efficiency. We show that by choosing inputs and outputs that are closely related in forming an appropriate financial ratio, it helps to design and explain more fully the impact of a policy intervention aiming at improving economic efficiency. DEA supplements ratios to design, implement and assess a strategy of benchmarking towards bolstering performance, that favors a wider range of stakeholders. Originality/Value: The study provides an in-depth insight into using Data Envelopment Analysis and financial ratios to study economic efficiency. The approach combines economic, social and environmental dimensions (indirectly) of performance, and the composite ratio Return on Total Assets (ROTA). The analysis caters the specific features of the sector renewable energy and their diverse stakeholders.peer-reviewe

Developing a combined quantitative benchmarking system for the performance of local health authorities: The case of the Tuscany Region in Italy

This paper proposes an integrated quantitative benchmarking approach for the measurement of the performance of Local Health Authorities (LHAs). It is based on a sound balanced scorecard approach developed and implemented in the Tuscany Region by the Management and Health Laboratory of Sant’Anna School combined with a bias corrected measure of technical efficiency, estimated using a bootstrap based Data Envelopment Analysis. The empirical results show that the typical LHA in Tuscany experienced 14% bias-corrected inefficiency in 2007. Using correlation analysis and mapping quadrants, the paper shows the relationships among technical efficiency and quality and appropriateness as well as analyses the impact of organizational factors on the performance of LHAs. Finally, this combined benchmarking approach is illustrated as a useful and important managerial tool both for regional and local authorities.appropriateness, bias correction, data envelopment analysis, local health authorities, performance evaluation system