The intensity of global competition and ever-increasing economic uncertainties has led organizations to search for more efficient and effective ways to manage their business operations. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has been widely used as a conceptually simple yet powerful tool for evaluating organizational productivity and performance. Fuzzy DEA (FDEA) is a promising extension of the conventional DEA proposed for dealing with imprecise and ambiguous data in performance measurement problems. This book is the first volume in the literature to present the state-of-the-art developments and applications of FDEA. It is designed for students, educators, researchers, consultants and practicing managers in business, industry, and government with a basic understanding of the DEA and fuzzy logic concepts.

The foremost broadly utilized strategy for the valuation of the overall performance of a set of identical decision-making units (DMUs) that use analogous sources to yield related outputs is data envelopment analysis (DEA). However, the witnessed values of the symmetry or asymmetry of different types of information in real-world applications are sometimes inaccurate, ambiguous, inadequate, and inconsistent, so overlooking these conditions may lead to erroneous decision-making. Neutrosophic set theory can handle these occasions of data and makes an imitation of the decision-making procedure with the aid of thinking about all perspectives of the decision. In this paper, we introduce a model of DEA in the context of neutrosophic sets and sketch an innovative process to solve it. Furthermore, we deal with the problem of healthcare system evaluation with inconsistent, indeterminate, and incomplete information using the new model. The triangular single-valued neutrosophic numbers are also employed to deal with the mentioned data, and the proposed method is utilized in the assessment of 13 hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Sciences of Iran. The results exhibit the usefulness of the suggested approach and point out that the model has practical outcomes for decision-makers.

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in neutrosophic theory, and there are several methods for solving various problems under neutrosophic environment. However, a few papers have discussed the Data envelopment analysis (DEA) with neutrosophic sets. So, in this paper, we propose an input-oriented DEA model with simplified neutrosophic numbers and present a new strategy to solve it. The proposed method is based on the weighted arithmetic average operator and has a simple structure. Finally, the new approach is illustrated with the help of a numerical example.

This second edition systematically presents the underlying theory, model development, and applications of network Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). It discusses the models used to measure the efficiency of systems in specific network structures and introduces readers to the latest applications. It demonstrates how the “network DEA” approach helps identify and manage the specific components that cause inefficiencies in the overall system. The existing models for measuring the efficiency of systems in specific network structures are also discussed, and the relationships between system efficiency and component efficiency are explored. Moreover, the book provides an advanced exposition on performance evaluation of systems with network structures. It explores the networked nature of most production and operation systems, and explains why network analyses are necessary. Accordingly, the book will inspire new research and applications based on the state of the art. In this new edition, the latest research advances and discoveries are discussed. Two new chapters on Linkage Efficiency and External and Internal Evaluations have been added. This book is mainly aimed at researchers and graduate students who are interested in performance evaluation, DEA, and multi-criteria decision analysis. Practitioners who want to measure the performance of production, operation, or any type of decision-making units will also find it useful.

This handbook focuses on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) applications in operations analytics which are fundamental tools and techniques for improving operation functions and attaining long-term competitiveness. In fact, the handbook demonstrates that DEA can be viewed as Data Envelopment Analytics. Chapters include a review of cross-efficiency evaluation; a case study on measuring the environmental performance of OECS countries; how to select a set of performance metrics in DEA with an application to American banks; a relational network model to take the operations of individual periods into account in measuring efficiencies; how the efficient frontier methods DEA and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) can be used synergistically; and how to integrate DEA and multidimensional scaling. In other chapters, authors construct a dynamic three-stage network DEA model; a bootstrapping based methodology to evaluate returns to scale and convexity assumptions in DEA; hybridizing DEA and cooperative games; using DEA to represent the production technology and directional distance functions to measure band performance; an input-specific Luenberger energy and environmental productivity indicator; and the issue of reference set by differentiating between the uniquely found reference set and the unary and maximal types of the reference set. Finally, additional chapters evaluate and compare the technological advancement observed in different hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) market segments over the past 15 years; radial measurement of efficiency for the production process possessing multi-components under different production technologies; issues around the use of accounting information in DEA; how to use DEA environmental assessment to establish corporate sustainability; a summary of research efforts on DEA environmental assessment applied to energy in the last 30 years; and an overview of DEA and how it can be utilized alone and with other techniques to investigate corporate environmental sustainability questions.

This book introduces readers to the use of R codes for optimization problems. First, it provides the necessary background to understand data envelopment analysis (DEA), with a special emphasis on fuzzy DEA. It then describes DEA models, including fuzzy DEA models, and shows how to use them to solve optimization problems with R. Further, it discusses the main advantages of R in optimization problems, and provides R codes based on real-world data sets throughout. Offering a comprehensive review of DEA and fuzzy DEA models and the corresponding R codes, this practice-oriented reference guide is intended for masters and Ph.D. students in various disciplines, as well as practitioners and researchers.

This Special Issue covers symmetry and asymmetry phenomena occurring in real-life problems. We invited authors to submit their theoretical or experimental research presenting engineering and economic problem solution models dealing with the symmetry or asymmetry of different types of information. The issue gained interest in the research community and received many submissions. After rigorous scientific evaluation by editors and reviewers, nine papers were accepted and published. The authors proposed different MADM and MODM solution models as integrated tools to find a balance between the components of sustainable global development, to find a symmetry axis concerning goals, risks, and constraints to cope with the complicated problems. Most approaches suggested decision models under uncertainty, combining the usual decision-making methods with interval-valued fuzzy or rough sets theory, also Z numbers. The application fields of the proposed models involved both problems of technological sciences and social sciences. The papers cover three essential areas: engineering, economy, and management. We hope that a summary of the Special Issue as provided here will encourage a detailed analysis of the papers included in the Printed Edition.

“Neutrosophic Sets and Systems” has been created for publications on advanced studies in neutrosophy, neutrosophic set, neutrosophic logic, neutrosophic probability, neutrosophic statistics that started in 1995 and their applications in any field, such as the neutrosophic structures developed in algebra, geometry, topology, etc.