Supply chain DEA: production possibility set and performance evaluation model

Performance evaluation is of great importance for effective supply chain management. The foundation of efficiency evaluation is to faithfully identify the corresponding production possibility set. Although a lot of researches have been done on supply chain DEA models, the exact definition for supply chain production possibility set is still in absence. This paper defines two types of supply chain production possibility sets, which are proved to be equivalent to each other. Based upon the production possibility set, a supply chain CRS DEA model is advanced to appraise the overall technical efficiency of supply chains. The major advantage of the model lies on the fact that it can help to find out the most efficient production abilities in supply chains, by replacing or improving inefficient subsystems (supply chain members). The proposed model also directly identifies the benchmarking units for inefficient supply chains to improve their performance. A real case validates the reasonableness and acceptability of this approach.     

Integrated bank performance assessment and management planning using hybrid minimax reference point – DEA approach

The purpose of assessing past performances and setting future targets for an organisation such as a bank branch is to find where the branch stands in comparison to its peers within the bank branch network and how to improve the efficiency of its operations relatively when compared to the best practice branches. However, future performance targets may be set arbitrarily by the head-office and thus could be unrealistic and not achievable by a branch. A hybrid minimax reference point-data envelopment analysis (HMRP-DEA) approach is investigated to incorporate the value judgements of both branch managers and head-office directors and to search for the most preferred solution (MPS) along the efficient frontier for each bank branch. The HMRP-DEA approach is composed of three minimax models, including the super-ideal point model, the ideal point model and the shortest distance model, which share the same decision and objective spaces, are different from each other only in their reference points and weighting schema, and are proven to be equivalent to the output-oriented DEA dual models. These models are examined both analytically and graphically in this paper using a case study, which provides the unprecedented insight into integrated efficiency and trade-off analyses. The HMRP-DEA approach uses DEA as an ex-post-facto evaluation tool for past performance assessment and the minimax reference point approach as an ex-ante planning tool for future performance forecasting and target setting. Thus, the HMRP-DEA approach provides an alternative means for realistic target setting and better resource allocation. It is examined by a detailed investigation into the performance analysis for the fourteen branches of an international bank in the Greater Manchester area.     

Chapter 12 New uses of DEA and statistical regressions for efficiency evaluation and estimation — with an illustrative application to public secondary schools in Texas

This paper examines new combinations of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and statistical approaches that can be used to evaluate efficiency within a multiple-input multiple-output framework. Using data on five outputs and eight inputs for 638 public secondary schools in Texas, unsatisfactory results are obtained initially from both Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Stochastic Frontier (SF) regressions run separately using one output variable at-a-time. Canonical correlation analysis is then used to aggregate the multiple outputs into a single aggregate output, after which separate regressions are estimated for the subsets of schools identified as efficient and inefficient by DEA. Satisfactory results are finally obtained by a joint use of DEA and statistical regressions in the following manner. DEA is first used to identify the subset of DEA-efficient schools. The entire collection of schools is then comprehended in a single regression with dummy variables used to distinguish between DEA-efficient and DEA-inefficient schools. The input coefficients are positive for the efficient schools and negative and statistically significant for the inefficient schools. These results are consistent with what might be expected from economic theory and are informative for educational policy uses. They also extend the treatments of production functions usually found in the econometrics literature to obtain one regression relation that can be used to evaluate both efficient and inefficient behavior.     

Ecological modernization in the electrical utility industry: An application of a bads–goods DEA model of ecological and technical efficiency

Newly-developed data envelopment analysis techniques permit simultaneous consideration of ‘good and bad’ outputs in evaluating efficiency. We use these techniques to determine joint ecological and technical efficiencies of the 437 largest fossil-fueled electricity-generating plants in the United States. Utilizing the EPA’s E-Grid and Clean Air Markets databases and drawing on ecological modernization theory we evaluate whether innovations in organizational practices and technological solutions help achieve joint technical and environmental performance efficiencies.     

A new evaluation method based on D–S generalized fuzzy soft sets and its application in medical diagnosis problem

Soft set theory, initiated by Molodtsov, is a general mathematical tool for dealing with uncertain problems. In this paper, we first point out that the similarity measure in a previous paper by Majumdar and Samanta [P. Majumdar, S.K. Samanta, Generalized fuzzy soft sets, Comput. Math. Appl. 59 (2010) 1425–1432] is limited by two counterexamples. To deal with the problems of subjective evaluation and uncertain knowledge, this paper proposes the concept of D–S generalized fuzzy soft sets by combining Dempster–Shafer theory of evidence and generalized fuzzy soft sets. We study some of its operations and basic properties, and the relationship between generalized fuzzy soft sets and D–S generalized fuzzy soft sets are introduced. Then we propose the concept of the similarity between two D–S generalized fuzzy soft sets. At last, we present a new method of evaluation based on D–S generalized fuzzy soft sets and apply it into a medical diagnosis problem.     

Projective synchronization with different scale factors in a driven–response complex network and its application in image encryption

We study projective (anticipatory, exact and lag) synchronization of time-delayed chaotic systems in a driven–response complex network (DRCN), where the nodes are not partially linear and the scale factors are different from each other. Two synchronization criteria are presented; the first is easy to satisfy with simple limitation and the second relaxes the previous limitation and can be executed only by adding a simple linear feedback control to every node. As a special case, projective synchronization in a DRCN without time delay is analyzed by using a different method. The corresponding synchronization criterion is given, which can be realized by adopting single-node adaptive control. This paper extends previous work, where the nodes of the DRCN are partially linear, there is limitation of the coupling matrix or the scale factors of the nodes are all equal. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed synchronization criteria. Due to the complexity of the different scale factors, we select the chaotic data from the DRCN presented in this paper and apply the data selected in image encryption. Simulation results show that our method is efficient with a large key space, high sensitivity to initial conditions and high speed.     

Comment on “Existence and uniqueness results for a nonlinear differential equation arising in viscous flow over a nonlinearly stretching sheet”

The article named above appeared recently in Applied Mathematics Letters and investigated a boundary value problem governing viscous flow over a nonlinearly stretching sheet. The authors of the work assert existence and (under certain restrictions) uniqueness of a solution to the problem for all relevant values of the parameter governing the stretching rate of the sheet. Unfortunately, several proofs presented in the article are incorrect. We will prove that for a range of parameter space the solution to the BVP is not unique. For these parameter values there are infinitely many solutions to the problem. The same incorrect analysis is reproduced in several other papers (see the references). Some of the claims of these papers are contradicted by established results on, for example, the Falkner–Skan problem.     

Some fixed point results for relation theoretic weak $$varphi $$ φ -contractions in cone metric spaces equipped with a binary relation and application to the system of Volterra type equations

Positivity - In this paper, some fixed point results for relation theoretic weak $$varphi $$ -contractions on cone metric spaces which is defined over a Banach algebra and equipped with a binary...     

Note: Alternative treatments of congestion in DEA – a response to the Cherchye,Kuosmanen and Post critique

As its title suggests, this paper constitutes a response to the critique by Cherchye, Kuosmanen and Post which is leveled at the paper “Comparisons and evaluations of alternative approaches to the treatment of congestion in DEA” by Cooper, Gu and Li. All three papers are in this same issue of the European Journal of Operational Research where the just-cited paper by Cooper, Gu and Li appears.     

Modeling the synergy level in a vertical collaborative supply chain through the IMP interaction model and DEA framework

This work develops a mathematical programming model that characterizes the main variables present in the interaction dynamics of each agent in a collaborative vertical logistical system, such as a supply chain, and measures the synergy level of such system. The model is based on the interaction model developed by the IMP (Industrial Marketing and Purchasing) group and also on the DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) framework. The basics of these two approaches allow modeling of the characteristics of an agent as well as the collaborative relationships with other agents within the chain. The model was validated using information of supply chain of leather and its products, classified by DANE (Departamento Nacional de Estadistica—Colombia) as the sector CIIU323.     

Solution of Hilbert’s problem for an annulus in a specific case and its application to an explosion problem

A method for solving Hilbert's boundary value problem with discontinuous coefficients is studied for a function single-valued and analytic in an annulus in the case in which the solution may have power-law singularities at finitely many points on the boundary of the annulus. To illustrate the results obtained, we consider an explosion problem for two pinching charges in a homogenous medium with a circular cylinder lying in the flow caused by the explosion. Translated fromMatematicheskie Zametki, Vol. 66, No. 1, pp. 135–144, July, 1999.     

Some new results in linear programs with trapezoidal fuzzy numbers: Finite convergence of the Ganesan and Veeramani’s method and a fuzzy revised simplex method

In a recent paper, Ganesan and Veermani [K. Ganesan, P. Veeramani, Fuzzy linear programs with trapezoidal fuzzy numbers, Ann. Oper. Res. 143 (2006) 305–315] considered a kind of linear programming involving symmetric trapezoidal fuzzy numbers without converting them to the crisp linear programming problems and then proved fuzzy analogues of some important theorems of linear programming that lead to a new method for solving fuzzy linear programming (FLP) problems. In this paper, we obtain some another new results for FLP problems. In fact, we show that if an FLP problem has a fuzzy feasible solution, it also has a fuzzy basic feasible solution and if an FLP problem has an optimal fuzzy solution, it has an optimal fuzzy basic solution too. We also prove that in the absence of degeneracy, the method proposed by Ganesan and Veermani stops in a finite number of iterations. Then, we propose a revised kind of their method that is more efficient and robust in practice. Finally, we give a new method to obtain an initial fuzzy basic feasible solution for solving FLP problems.     

Coupled-mode envelope solitary waves in a pair of cubic Schrödinger equations with cross modulation: Analytical solution and collisions with application to Rossby waves

Coupled-Nonlinear Schrödinger equations, linked by cross modulation terms, arise in both nonlinear optics and in Rossby waves in the atmosphere and ocean. In this paper, we derive exact, analytic solutions for the “bright” coupled-mode soliton, for which the envelope in each mode asymptotes to zero at spatial infinity, and for its spatially periodic generalization. We then numerically study the collisions of the coupled-mode solitary wave both with a conventional envelope soliton, confined to a single mode, and also with a second coupled-mode solitary wave. The collisions are sensitive to both the relative speed and phase of the solitons. In some parameter ranges, the collisions are nearly elastic, but in others, one or both solitons fission.     

Corrigendum to “Existence and uniqueness results for a nonlinear differential equation arising in MHD Falkner-Skan flow” [Commun. Nonlinear Sci. Numer. Simulat. 15 (2010) 2272–2277]

We correct the hypothesis for which the existence and uniqueness theorems of Van Gorder and Vajravelu [Commun. Nonlinear Sci. Numer. Simulat. 15 (2010) 2272–2277] hold. This correction modifies the range of parameters valid under the given theorems.