Quantitative Models for Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking: Data Envelopment Analysis with Spreadsheets (International Series in Operations Research and Management Science, 51)

This book introduces DEA as a multiple-measure performance evaluation and benchmarking tool. The focus of performance evaluation and benchmarking is shifted from characterizing performance in terms of single measures to evaluating performance as a multidimensional systems perspective. This book also provides easy-to-use DEA software - DEA Excel Solver. This DEA Excel Solver is an Add-In for Microsoft® Excel and provides a custom menu of DEA approaches, which include more than 150 different DEA models. It is an extremely powerful tool that can assist decision-makers in benchmarking and analyzing complex operational efficiency issues in manufacturing organizations as well as evaluating processes in banking, retail, franchising, health care, e-business, public services and many other industries. The DEA Excel Solver does not set limit on the number of units, inputs or outputs. With the capacity of Excel Solver, the DEA Excel Solver can deal with large sized performance evaluation tasks. For a free version of DEA Excel Solver, please visit www.deafrontier.com.

Joe Zhu is Associated Professor of Operations, Department of Management at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA. His research interests include issues of performance evaluation and benchmarking, supply chain design and efficiency, and Data Envelopment Analysis. He has published over 70 articles in journals such as Management Science, Operations Research, IIE Transactions, Annals of Operations Research, Journal of Operational Research Society, European Journal of Operational Research, Information Technology and Management Journal, Computer and Operations Research, OMEGA, Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Journal of Productivity Analysis, INFOR, Journal of Alternative Investment and others. He is the author of Quantitative Models for Evaluating Business Operations: Data Envelopment Analysis with Spreadsheets (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003). He developed the DEAFrontier software which is a DEA add-in for Microsoft Excel. Professor Zhu has also co-authored two books on modeling performance measurement and evaluating hedge funds. He is a co-editor of the DEA handbook. He is an Associate Editor of OMEGA and The Asia-Pacific Journal of Operational Research. He is also a member of Computers & Operations Research Editorial Board. For more information on his research, please visit www.deafrontier.com.