Developing a step-by-step effectiveness assessment model for customer-oriented service organizations

Transcription

1 MPR Mnch Personal RePEc rche Deelopng a step-by-step effecteness assessent odel for cstoer-orented serce organzatons Brsss, Sophocles and Zeropolos, Panagots Departent of Econocs, Unersty of Praes, Departent of Econoc and Regonal Deelopent, Panteon Unersty of thens 3. prl 0 Onlne at MPR Paper No , posted 07. May 0 / 08:5

2 Deelopng a Step-by-Step Effecteness ssessent Model for Cstoer-orented Serce Organzatons Sophocles Brsss Departent of Econocs, Unersty of Praes, 80 Karaol & Dtro Street, Praes, Greece Eal: sofbrs@np.gr Panagots Zeropolos Departent of Econoc and Regonal Deelopent, Panteon Unersty of thens, 36 Syngro ene, thens, Greece Eal: panagots.zeropolos@gal.co BSTRCT Effecteness noles ore than sple effcency, whch s lted to the prodcton process assessent of peer operatonal nts. Effecteness ncorporates both endogenos and exogenos arables. It s a fndaental drer for the sccess of an operatonal nt wthn a copette enronent n whch ether the lqdty of oney n the arket and the cstoers are consdered to be scarce sorces, or the New Pblc Manageent (NPM s ctzen/cstoer and goal-orented. ddtonally, wth respect to short-rn prodcton constrants, the resorces aalable and controllable by the operatonal nts, as well as the legal stats, we go beyond the tradtonal effecteness assessent technqes by deelopng a odfed or ratonal Qalty-dren Effcency-adjsted DE (MQE-DE odel. Ths partclar odel prodes a feasble effecteness attanent path for eery dsqalfed nt n order to eet hgh-perceed qalty and hgh-effcency standards. The npt-otpt x restrctrng targets estated by the orgnal QE-DE odel are proded on a step-by-step bass n order to hae realstc anageral plcatons. Keywords: Effecteness; Effcency; Perceed Qalty; Data Enelopent nalyss (DE; context-dependent DE. INTRODUCTION Effecteness goes beyond sple effcency, whch s concentrated on assessent of operatonal nts prodcton process. Naely, n Serce Unts (SUs, effecteness easreent ncorporates effcency and perceed qalty, or cstoer/ctzen satsfacton for the serce receed (Sheran & Zh, 006; Worthngton & Dollery, 000. Effecteness attanent s deeed a d to long ter drer of sccess for eery acte nt, especally for those that operate n atre and hghly copette arkets where cstoers are regarded as scarce sorces (Hayes, 008; nderson & Fornell, 994. The scope of the present paper s the deelopent of a deternstc effecteness assessent odel. Ths odel dentfes benchark nts and target npt and otpt leels for nts that do not eet the hgh-perceed qalty and hgh-effcency crtera, at the sae te takng nto accont, the

3 feasblty of the otcoes for effecteness attanent n the short-rn. In order to estate attanable optzaton targets for each saple Decson Makng Unt (DMU we odfy the Qalty-dren Effcency-adjsted Data Enelopent nalyss (QE-DE odel, pt forth by Zeropolos and Palaskas (00. The orgnal QE-DE odel s based on the Qalty-adjsted DE (Q-DE approach ntrodced by Sheran and Zh (006 and has partclar applcablty to effecteness assessent settngs n whch a trade-off nderles the deternants of effecteness. In the frst secton of ths stdy we reew the lteratre on the coponent ethods of the odfed QE-DE (MQE-DE (e.g., DE and context-dependent DE. In the followng secton, we analyze the atheatcal nderpnnng of the QE-DE as well as the algorth of the MQE-DE odel. Edence of the MQE- DE technqe applcaton to Ctzen Serce Centers s proded n the forth secton. Conclsons are presented n the last secton of the paper.. LITERTURE REVIEW Stdes related to the MQE-DE approach ethods follow, stressng the DE and context-dependent DE ethods n order to prode nsght to the deeloped step-by-step effecteness assessent technqe and ts contrbton to the effecteness easreent feld.. Data Enelopent nalyss (DE DE s the donant non-paraetrc ethod n the coparate effcency assessent lteratre pt forth by Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes (978. The three scholars deeloped a atheatcal prograng technqe for dentfyng, after a coparate assessent of the saple nts npt-otpt transforaton process, the effcency benchark operatonal nts, or Decson Makng Unts (DMUs, and deternng ether the n npt-fxed otpt x (npt orentaton, or ce ersa (otpt orentaton. Based on the peer assessent, a prodcton fncton or generally a prodcton possblty srface s fored wthot posng t as t happens wth the related to DE stochastc ethods (e.g., Stochastc Fronter nalyss. DE s a deternstc, extreal ethod that lacks statstcal nderpnnng (Coell et al., 005. s a reslt, the otcoes of ths ethod are lnerable to densonalty probles, rased by Cooper et al. (004, and data sspecfcaton (Perelan & Satín, 009; Cooper et al., 007. In ths context, we prefer to se the ter estaton rather than deternaton or calclaton for the effcency scores and target npt and otpt ales assgned to the saple DMUs after DE applcaton. The saple operatonal nts selected for DE effcency assessent are deeed hoogenos as they engage and prodce aros aonts of coon npts and otpts respectely.

4 basc DE odel s the BCC (Banker, Charnes & Cooper, 984 whch asses that Varable Retrns to Scale (VRS donate the npt-otpt transforaton process. The BCC odel seeks to reeal the operatonal nts and copose the pece-wse lnear reference set, wth the ax effcency ales (effcency score (e =, where 0 e respectng the conexty condton. ddtonally, by applyng DE optzaton for each saple DMU, the optal weghts are assgned to npt and otpt ales n order to estate the target npt or otpt leels that lead the non-effcent DMUs ( e< to the relate effcency fronter. The forlas deeloped to apply the BCC odel are presented below: e n * å j= j= j= = n e sbject to l x ex =,, n å n å j j o l y ³ y r =,, s j rj ro l = j λ ³ 0 j =,, n where DMU o stands for one of the saple DMUs nder assessent, j x and o represent the th npt and r th otpt of DMU o respectely, and labdas (λ j are the npt and otpt non-negate weghts. yro. Context-dependent DE The context-dependent DE ethodology deeloped by Seford and Zh (003 s a ratonal bencharkng technqe that prodes feasble npt and otpt targets for effcency attanent, takng nto accont short-ter restrctons sch as resorces aalablty and controllablty oer the npts engaged. Ths reasonable approach of the orgnal DE ethod parttons the saple nts nto ltple effcency reference sets. In other words, the frst leel best-practce fronter s the global effcency benchark fored solely by the operatonal nts wth effcency score eqal to nty and zero slacks. Unlke the tradtonal DE odels that clster saple DMUs nto two grops: effcent and neffcent, the context-dependent DE classfes the reanng nts, the neffcent ones, nto second-leel, thrd-leel, and other lower-leel best practce fronters. The lowerleel fronters are consdered nteredate or local targets (Zh, 009. By assng n-nber saple DMUs that engage npts to prodce s otpts, then J defnes the saple DMUs and E the set of globally effcent nts. In the sae way, the reanng, non-effcent DMUs, are classfed nto local effcency reference sets that are defned by l+ l l J J E n = - ( =,,. When l =, the context-dependent DE odel becoes the tradtonal BCC. When l =, the second-leel effcency fronter s reealed. 3

5 The parttonng algorth prodces effcency strata has the followng propertes: Step : pply the BCC odel to estate the frst-leel effcency benchark Step : If nts ( E ot of the J dataset. l J + =Æ, then stop. Otherwse, reoe the Reapply the BCC odel. E DMUs fro J to obtan Step 3: Let l = l+ and retrn to Step ntl l J + l+ l l J = J -E sbset and =Æ; that s the stoppng rle. The ltlayered effcency fronter also seres as lt-ealaton context for the precedent and sbseqent best-practce sets. Based on the ntra-assessent process, between the effcency fronters, een of eqal perforance DMUs are ranked. The dfferentaton property of the context-dependent DE s the otcoe of the attracteness and progress easres. The hgher the attracteness score, the better npt-otpt transforaton process a DMU apples (Zh, 003. On the contrary, the larger the progress ale assgned to the operatonal nt, the less attracte t s, so greater restrctrng s needed to reach the global effcency fronter (bd.. 3. QULITY-DRIVEN EFFICIENCY-DJUSTED DE (QE-DE The QE-DE odel pt forth by Zeropolos and Palaskas (00 relaxes the two-densonal analyss of effecteness. The two densons of effecteness: perceed qalty (q and effcency (e are depcted on the x-axs and the y-axs respectely of the plane, whle the perceed qalty-effcency bndle deternes the geoetrcal poston of a Serce Unt (SU. The deeloped odel adopts the classfcaton ethodology of the Q-DE odel (Sheran & Zh, 006 separatng the chart nto for segents: hgh-perceed qalty hgheffcency (HQ-HE; low-perceed qalty hgh-effcency (LQ-HE; 3 lowperceed qalty low-effcency (LQ-LE; and 4 hgh-perceed qalty loweffcency (HQ-LE (Fgre. ddtonally, effcency and perceed qalty ct-off leels are ntrodced to the chart ltng the feasble area of the two deternants of effecteness to the nteral (0., ]. The feasble area deternaton, regardng the effcency scores, deres fro the work of Parad et al. (004, who reealed that falty npt and otpt data entres as well as ssng ales accont for effcency scores eqal to or less than 0.. Conseqently, n case of effcency scores as low as 0. or lower, the data entres shold be reconsdered and cross-aldated rather than ebracng the effcency reslts. The orgnal perceed qalty scores are collected fro qestonnare-based feldwork research and classfed nto a fe-pont Lkert scale response forat (Table. To be ore precse, the fe-pont response forat allows the respondents to rate the satsfacton receed by the serce proded fro the partclar operatonal nt n an easly qantfable way. For exaple, the fepont scale cold stand for: - ery dssatsfed, - dssatsfed, 3 - nether 4

6 satsfed nor dssatsfed, 4 satsfed, and 5 - ery satsfed. pplyng ths forat, the aerage perceed qalty or satsfacton scores referred to each saple nt are expressed by the consecte closed nteral [, 5]. The feasble area of the perceed qalty or satsfacton scores s the conerson otpt of the fe-pont Lkert scale nto percentages. The conerson process relaxes the ltplcaton of the left-hand coln scores n Table by the ale 0. leadng to the rght-hand coln nterals of the sae Table. Table. Perceed Qalty scores: fe-pont Lkert scale conerson nto percentages Fe-pont Lkert Scale Perceed Qalty Score Interals Eqalent to.99 [0., 0.4 to.99 [0.4, to 3.99 [0.6, to 4.99 [0.8, 5 [] Wth regard to Table, the feasble area of the perceed qalty scores s deterned by the adjsted nteral [0., ]. In ths case, scores lower than 0. are exclded as a reslt of the fll satsfacton ratng conerson nto percentage expressed by the nty and the adjsted qalty score 0. respectely. The algebrac analyss of the QE-DE odel that follows the geoetrc one ntrodces a constrant to preent the startng forla of the deeloped odel, Forla, to becoe nll. Respectng ths constrant ( q ¹ 0., the frst left-hand end pont adjsted perceed qalty score nteral n Table becoes open (Table. ddtonally, consderng a ntary hgh-perceed qalty target area, the erger of the botto two rght coln nterals n Table s recoended. Under those crcstances, ale 0.8 s regarded as a baselne of satsfacton, alternately, of hgh-perceed qalty. In the sae way, operatonal nts that recee perceed qalty score eqal to 0.8 or greater eet the hgh-qalty crteron and those that are below ths threshold ( q < 0.8 are consdered as low qalty nts. Table. djsted Perceed Qalty Scores Fe-pont Lkert Scale djsted Perceed Qalty Score Interals Eqalent to.99 (0., 0.4 to.99 [0.4, to 3.99 [0.6, to 5 [0.8, ] Regardng the aforeentoned analyss, effecte or hgh-perceed qalty hgh-effcency (HQ-HE nts are consdered those that sltaneosly obtan a qalty score eqal to 0.8 or greater and an effcency score eqal to nty. 5

7 The noelty of the QE-DE odel s the zero-exclson operatonal nt fro the effecteness assessent process. Unlke the Q-DE odel that sggests the reoal of the low-qalty hgh-effcency (LQ-HE nts fro the ealaton saple n order to aod any flaw n the deternaton of the benchark/effecte nts, the QE-DE odel sbsttted the LQ-HE nts by ther hypothetcal HQ-LE ones. The latter serce nts dere fro the forer after a boost to ther perceed qalty score sacrfcng part of the effcency standards (Fgre. The actal and hypothetcal nts hold the sae qalty-effcency x. Fgre. Planar nalyss of Hypothetcal SUs Deelopent It goes wthot sayng that the asspton nderlyng the QE-DE odel s the nerse relatonshp between qalty and effcency. The trade-off between the two densons of effecteness s et n any serce sectors, sch as bank branches, restarant chan stores, one-stop-shops (De Brjn, 007; Sheran and Zh, 006; thanassopolos, 997; nderson and Fornell, 994. In the plane, we propose a downward oeent of eery LQ-HE operatonal nt to the HQ-LE segent respectng the orgnal qalty-effcency relate sze. Naely, n Fgre, the LQ-HE SU, specfed by the coordnates of the pont ( q, s drected to the pont ( q, e '. The QE-DE odel s based on a two-step algorth: Step : Rn DE (BCC n order to estate effcency scores Step : If the nber of LQ-HE SUs s nll, then stop. Otherwse, before defnng the hypothetcal HQ-LE SUs ot of the actal LQ-HE SUs, calclate the trade-off between qalty and effcency for each LQ-HE SU. Next, deterne the npts of the hypothetcal SUs keepng the otpts fxed (npt orented approach and retrn to Step. 6

8 doptng the QE-DE algorth, the best-practce fronter s fored solely by effecte nts that eet the hgh-perceed qalty and hgh-effcency standards. In other words, the benchark SUs are exclsely those depcted n the HQ-HE lne (Fgre. The dsqalfed nts appear n the HQ-LE and LQ-LE segents. fter reapplyng DE, target npt and otpt ales reslt for the neffecte actal and hypothetcal operatonal nts so as to eet the hgh-perceed qalty and hgh-effcency crtera. ddtonally, t shold be hghlghted that the effcency score assgned to the hypothetcal (LQ-HE SUs s essental for the npt arables adjstent to hghperceed qalty standards. The npt leels resltng fro the second phase n Step of the QE-DE algorth are estated rather than deterned becase of the possble araton of the assgned weghts. To be ore precse, the second phase n Step s detached fro the DE lnear prograng optzaton forlae. s a reslt, the weghts attached to the npt arables of the hypothetcal nts ( x ' are expected to be an approxaton of the fnal npts, whch wll be calclated after retrnng to Step and reapplyng DE. The sae apples to the effcency score of the hypothetcal SUs (e.g. e. What s copted by the frst stage QE-DE ' algorth applcaton (Step and Step, ay dffer fro the effcency scores estated reapplyng DE at the second stage analyss, after the copleton of Step of the QE-DE algorth. Ths possble deaton s de to the effcency score senstty to data (npt or otpt pertrbaton. In ths context, npt arables adjstent (e.g., ncrease to hgh-perceed qalty standards, when the otpts are fxed, does not necessarly lead to effcency score declne. Retrnng to Fgre, sbseqent to the deternaton of the two straght lnes bonded by the ponts o, B o and o, B o n the plane regardng the actal and the hypothetcal operatonal nts, respectely, the coordnates of qalty ( q ' and effcency ( e ' of the latter nt shold be calclated. The qalty score of the hypothetcal nt s arbtrarly decded to be n the range of The effcency score ( e s deterned after the coptaton of the dstance fncton between ' eqalent pont of the two straght lnes. It shold be ponted ot that the syetry between the two densons of effecteness s fxed for the actal and hypothetcal nts and, respectely, so that the latter acte nt s dered fro the forer. ( B ( q -0.0( = ( ' B ' ( q '-0.0(0.0 -e ' 0 0 ( In a planar coordnate syste, hypothetcal nt s regarded as a projecton of an actal low-perceed qalty hgh-effcency nt to hgh-perceed qalty low-effcency segent holdng the orgnal perceed qalty effcency syetry. 7

9 Gen the dstance fncton forla: ( we take: ( B ( x x ( y y = and sbstttng n q ( (0.0 - ( q -0.0(0.0 - ( q ' (0.0 -e ' = ( q '-0.0(0.0 -e ' ( In general, een f derse qalty and effcency ct-off ponts are chosen (ct-off ponts ¹ 0., ( s expressed by the followng eqaton: ( q - q + ( e ( q -q ( e ( q '- q + ( e -e ' 0 0 = ( q '-q ( e -e ' 0 0 (3 Eqaton (4 s the generalzed forla [ppendx - Secton ] sed to deterne the effcency scores (e of the hypothetcal SUs: e ' = e + [( q -q ( e - ]( q '-q [( q - q + ( e - ]( q '-q -( q -q ( e (4 Snce the new effcency score (e has been calclated, the npts of the hypothetcal operatonal nts shold be adjsted holdng the otpts fxed (npt orentaton. Effcency rato was defned by Charnes et al. (978: where: e = effcency score r e = s å r= å = y r x y = aont of otpt r " r =,, s r = weght assgned to otpt r x = aont of npt " =,, = weght assgned to npt r y+ y + + y s = x+ x+ + x lternately, the precedent eqaton (5 s expressed n atrx for: e s å r r r= = = å = y x é ë é ë [ y, y,, y ] s [ x, x,, x ] s s (5 (6 8

10 ssng techncal effcency preals, then: Therefore, = é ë é ë [ y, y,, y ] s [ x, x,, x ] s é é [ x, x,, x ] [ y, y,, y ] = s ë ë s (7 Fnctons (5-(7 are appled for estatng the effcency scores of actal SUs. In order to for hypothetcal operatonal nts, the npts shold be adjsted, gen the npt orentaton of the analyss. In that case, fnctons (5-(7 shold be altered sbstantally: e ' = s å r= å = y r r x ', where e e and x x (8 Expressng eqaton (8 n atrx for and condctng the reqred calclatons [ppendx Secton ], the npt adjstent forla reslts: ü x ' = x e' ï ï x ' = x ï e' ý ï ï ï x ' = x e' ïþ (9 In the aboe syste of eqatons, e ' s known as far as t s the ordnate of the hypothetcal pont ( q ', e ', naely, e ' = e '. In general, e ' s eqal to the ordnate of eery estated HQ-LE hypothetcal SU. Lke the hypothetcal effcency score e ', x " =,, s already known. To be ore precse, x expresses the actal npts of the LQ-HE SUs, or, the npts of the SUs consst the orgnal saple. k 9

11 4. MODIFIED QE-DE (MQE-DE QE-DE and context-dependent DE for a realstc effecteness assessent context for cstoer-orented serce organzatons whch s partclarly applcable to cases n whch nerse relatonshp connects the densons of effecteness. By takng nto consderaton the propertes of the two ethods, the QE-DE algorth s altered sbstantally: Step : Rn tradtonal DE (BCC n order to estate effcency scores. Step : If the nber of LQ-HE SUs s nll, then apply the context-dependent DE algorth and stop. Otherwse, before defnng the hypothetcal HQ-LE SUs of the actal LQ- HE SUs, calclate the trade-off between qalty and effcency for each LQ-HE SU. Next, deterne the npts of the hypothetcal SUs keepng the otpts fxed (npt orented approach Step 3: Introdce the hypothetcal SUs, conseqently the hypothetcal npts, to the dataset and apply the context-dependent DE algorth. The odfed QE-DE odel retrns a deternstc step-by-step path for effecteness attanent. 5. NUMERICL EXMPLE 5. Data descrpton The MQE-DE odel applcaton s based on data fro the Ctzen Serce Centers (CSCs, goernental one-stop serce proson agences. Ffty SUs coprse the saple, ot of 00 operatng n Greece, serng abot 60% of the ctzens who st CSCs for adnstrate sses. The nber of npts and otpts selected s sx (nber of fll-te eployees, weekly workng hors, nber of PCs, nber of fax achnes, nber of prnters, srface of each CSC and three (nber of electronc protocol regstered serces proded, nber of anal serces proded, nber of sered ctzens respectely. The perceed qalty or ctzen satsfacton data collected throgh strctred qestonnares s appled to each saple CSC separately. The feldwork research was gronded on the SERVQUL ethodology pt forth by Parasraan et al. (988. The densons of perceed qalty selected were: responseness, assrance, relablty and physcal facltes or tangbles. The nber of qestonnares sed to calclate the aerage perceed qalty score for each saple CSC, after the exclson of those deeed nrelable accordng to the Cronbach s lpha crteron, s MQE-DE applcaton The frst step of the MQE-DE odel reqres saple SUs effcency scores estaton and perceed qalty deternaton. doptng the MQE-DE algorth, the BCC odel s appled for the SUs effcency assessent. 0

12 Unts Effcency Scores Perceed Qalty Scores Table 3. SUs Classfcaton ( st stage Classfcaton Unts Effcency Scores Perceed Qalty Scores Classfcaton HE-HQ HE-HQ LE-HQ HE-HQ HE-HQ HE-HQ LE-HQ HE-HQ LE-HQ HE-HQ LE-HQ HE-LQ LE-HQ HE-LQ LE-HQ LE-LQ LE-HQ LE-HQ HE-HQ HE-HQ LE-LQ LE-HQ LE-HQ HE-HQ LE-LQ HE-HQ HE-HQ LE-HQ HE-HQ HE-HQ LE-HQ HE-LQ HE-HQ LE-LQ LE-HQ LE-HQ HE-HQ LE-HQ HE-HQ LE-HQ HE-HQ LE-HQ LE-HQ LE-HQ HE-HQ LE-HQ HE-HQ HE-LQ HE-HQ HE-LQ The frst stage MQE-DE assessent reslts n HE-HQ, 5 HE-LQ, 4 LE-LQ and 0 LE-HQ SUs. Whle HE-LQ SUs Æ, the MQE-DE second stage analyss s actated n order to dentfy the hypothetcal conterparts of the HE-LQ operatonal nts. Naely, the 5 HE-LQ SUs are reoed fro the saple and replaced by an eqal nber of LE-HQ hypothetcal nts that keep the nptotpt syetry of the actal nts fxed. By applyng Forla (4 of the QE-DE odel and arbtrarly selectng the n hgh-perceed qalty ale ( q = we estate the effcency scores of the hypothetcal nts. Respectng the asspton of the QE-DE odel that a trade-off between effcency and perceed qalty appears, the ncrease of the perceed qalty leels leads to effcency score declne.

13 Unts Table 4. HE-LQ Unts Effcency Scores djstent throgh QE-DE Model pplcaton ( nd stage Effcency Scores (e ctal Unts Perceed Qalty Scores (q Classfcaton Unts Effcency Scores (e' Hypothetcal Unts Perceed Qalty Scores (q' Classfcaton HE-LQ 3' LE-HQ HE-LQ 3' LE-HQ HE-LQ 4' LE-HQ HE-LQ 49' LE-HQ HE-LQ 50' LE-HQ The perceed qalty rse reqres addtonal resorces engageent. s a reslt, the hypothetcal SUs se hgher leel of npts than ther actal conterparts. The hypothetcal npt leels are calclated by the Forla (9 applcaton of the QE- DE odel. Unts Stats Fll-te Eployees Table 5. Hypothetcal Inpt Data ( nd stage Workng Hors PC Fax Prnters Srface H H H H H []: ctal, [H]: Hypothetcal The second stage of the MQE-DE algorth applcaton ensres the lack of HE- LQ SUs n the dataset. By rnnng the followng stage of the sae algorth and ntrodcng the qalty adjsted npt ales to the hypothetcal SUs, frstly the new effcency scores of the saple nts are estated (ppendx: Table 6, and secondly the global and local best-practce fronters are reealed. Regardless the ncrease on npt leels of the qalty adjsted SUs, ther relate effcency scores are not alenated fro nty. cknowledgng the senstty of the effcency scores reslted fro the MQE-DE algorth, whch prodces non-coparate DE-detached reslts, we adopted the ter estaton rather than deternaton snce the begnnng of ths paper. The top-ranked reference set, Leel, ncldes eleen SUs, two of whch (SU3 and SU3 are hypothetcal (Table 6. Leel s regarded as the opt

14 effecteness benchark for the SUs fro the lower-leel fronter whle all the operatonal nts are sltaneosly HE-HQ and slack-free. The locaton of the reanng three qalty-adjsted SUs on lower leel best-practce fronters s de to the non-zero slacks of ther prodcton process. In fact, SUs 3 and 3 are bencharks for any of ther saple conterparts, nlke SU5 whch s not a target for any peer (ppendx: Table 6B. Table 6. SUs and Effcency-Perceed Qalty Classfcaton (3 rd stage Leels (HE-HQ (LE-HQ 4 (LE-HQ (LE-LQ 0 (HE-HQ 50 (HE-HQ 0 (HE-HQ 3 (HE-HQ 8 (LE-HQ 5 (HE-HQ 6 (LE-HQ 3 (HE-HQ 5 (LE-HQ 9 (LE-HQ (LE-HQ 34 (LE-HQ 6 (HE-HQ 6 (LE-HQ (LE-HQ 33 (LE-LQ 35 (HE-HQ 7 (HE-HQ 7 (LE-HQ 3 (LE-LQ 4 (LE-LQ 39 (LE-HQ 8 (HE-HQ 4 (HE-HQ 8 (LE-HQ 45 (LE-HQ 44 (LE-HQ 30 (HE-HQ 7 (HE-HQ (HE-HQ 3 (HE-HQ 9 (HE-HQ 9 (HE-HQ 3 (HE-HQ 4 (HE-HQ 43 (LE-HQ 38 (HE-HQ 5 (HE-HQ 46 (LE-HQ 40 (HE-HQ 36 (LE-HQ 47 (LE-HQ 37 (HE-HQ 48 (LE-HQ 4 (HE-HQ 49 (HE-HQ We already hae ponted ot that the MQE-DE ethod s a realstc approach for effecteness assessent. For nstance, coparng the one-step and two-step scenaros for effecteness proeent of a Leel 3 SU (e.g., SU, t s obos that the nteredaton of a best practce fronter reslts n less radcal nterentons to the prodcton process. Naely, the two-step approach retrns soother odfcatons to the npt leels than the one-step strategy. Table 7. Feasble Targets Identfcaton (Progress Potentals Steps Crrent Stats Ealaton Target Inpts /(% Change Context (SU/Leel (Leel FT-Eployees Workng Hors PC Fax Prnters Srface SU /Leel 3 Leel 3 (-50.0% 5.5 (-5.9% 3 (-57.% 0 (-00.0% (-66.7% 8 (-70.5% SU /Leel 3 Leel 4(-33.3% (-34.9% 4 (-4.9% (0.0% (-33.3% 33 (-65.3% SU /Leel Leel 3 (-5.0% 6 (-3.8% 3 (-5.0% 0 (-00.0% (-50.0% 5 (-4.% 6. CONCLUSION REMRKS ND FURTHER RESERCH SUs operatonal sccess s not only a atter of prodcton process optzaton detached fro exogenos arables. In ths context, stand-alone effcency easreent, whch s concentrated on npt-otpt transforaton process assessent, cannot ensre d to - long ter sccess or een ablty for a nt that acts n a copette enronent. 3

15 In ths paper, we deelop an effecteness assessent ethod that yelds endogenos and exogenos arable senste target npt ales (npt-orented approach. The ntrodced ethod dscharges the anstrea croeconoc theory of all-te proft axzaton, ndcatng the opt prodcton at the otpt axzaton npt nzaton leel. It proposes addtonal resorces engageent (nestent n order to achee cstoer satsfacton and loyalty, secre the crrent sales leel, and een look for a hgher leel. Sch a strategy s deeed extroerted n coparson wth the ntroerted effcency-orented approaches. The deeloped MQE-DE odel estates feasble short and long ter optzaton soltons for SUs prodcton process. By sacrfcng the proft axzaton concept, t dentfes balanced npt and otpt leels that eet the opt endogenos and exogenos arables x. The MQE-DE odel has sbstantal applcablty when a trade-off nderles the controllable and noncontrollable deternants of effecteness. Frther research s needed to deelop an otpt-orented MQE-DE odel and to extend the crrent one when non-dscretonary npt and otpt arables appear. ddtonally, the two-densonal MQE-DE technqe cold be appled to lt-densonal settngs when ltple contextal arables deterne effecteness. REFERENCES Book Coell, T. et al, 005. n Introdcton to Effcency and Prodctty nalyss (nd ed.. Srpnger, New York, US. Cooper, W.W. et al, 007. Data Enelopent nalyss: Coprehense Text wth Models, pplcatons, References and DE-Soler Software (nd ed.. Sprnger, New York, US. Cooper, W.W. et al, 004. Handbook on Data Enelopent nalyss. Klwer cadec Pblshers, London, UK. De Brjn, H., 007. Managng Perforance n the Pblc Sector (nd ed.. Rotledge, Oxon, UK. Hayes, B., 008. Measrng Cstoer Satsfacton and Loyalty: Serce Desgn, Use and Statstcal nalyss Method (3rd ed.. SQ, Wsconsn, US. Zh, J., 009. Qanttate Models for Perforance Ealaton and Bencharkng: Data Enelopent nalyss wth Spreadsheets. Sprnger, New York, US. Zh, J., 003. Qanttate Models for Perforance Ealaton and Bencharkng: Data Enelopent nalyss wth Spreadsheets and DE Excel Soler. Sprnger, New York, US. Jornal thanassopolos,., 997. Serce Qalty and Operatng Effcency Synerges for Manageent Control n the Proson of Fnancal Serces: Edence fro Greek Bank Branches. In Eropean Jornal of Operatonal Research, Vol. 98, pp

16 Banker, R.D. et al, 984. Soe Models for Estatng Techncal and Scale Ineffcences n Data Enelopent nalyss. In Manageent Scence, Vol. 30, No. 9, pp Charnes,. et al, 978. Measrng Effcency of Decson Makng Unts. In Eropean Jornal of Operatonal Research, Vol., pp Parasraan,. et al, 988. SERVQUL: Mltple-Ite Scale for Measrng Conser Perceptons of Serce Qalty. In Jornal of Retalng, Vol. 64, No., pp Perelan, S. and Santín, D., 009. How to Generate Reglarly Behaed Prodcton Data? Monte Carlo Experentaton of DE Scale Effcency Measreent. In Eropean Jornal of Operatonal Research, Vol. 99, pp Seford, L.M. and Zh, J., 003. Context-Dependent Data Enelopent nalyss: Measrng ttracteness and Progress, In OMEG, Vol. 3, No. 5, pp Sheran, D. and Zh, J., 006. Bencharkng wth Qalty-djsted DE (Q- DE to Seek Lower-Cost Hgh-Qalty Serce: Edence fro a U.S. Bank pplcaton. In nnals of Operatons Research, Vol. 45, pp Worthngton,. and Dollery, E., 000. Measrng Effcency n Local Goernents Plannng and Reglatory Fncton. In Pblc Prodctty & Manageent Reew, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp Conference paper or contrbted ole nderson, E. and Fornell, C., 994. Cstoer Satsfacton Research Prospects. In Rst, R. and Oler, R., Serce Qalty: New Drectons n Theory and Practce, Sage, Calforna, US, pp Parad, J. et al, 004. ssessng Bank and Bank Branch Perforance: Modelng Consderatons and pproaches. In Cooper, W. et al., Handbook on Data Enelopent nalyss. Klwer cadec Pblshers, London, UK, pp Zeropolos, P. and Palaskas, T., 0. pplyng Qalty-Dren, Effcency- djsted DE (QE-DE n the Prst of Hgh-Effcency Hgh-Qalty Serce Unts: n Inpt-Orented pproach. In Eroznejad,. et al., Perforance Manageent and Measreent wth Data Enelopent nalyss. Proceedngs of DE00, Bert, Lebanon, pp. 39. PPENDIX Secton Eqaton (3 can be rewrtten as: ( q - q + ( e - ( q -q ( e = ( q '- q + ( e -e ' ( q '-q ( e -e ' [( q - q + ( e - ]( q '-q ( e - e ' [( = q '- q + ( e -e ' ]( q -q ( e Let c q q e = [( - + ( -] 0 0 Then and c = ( q -q ( e c q q e e q q e e c ( '- ( - ' = [( '- + ( - '] c ( q '-q ( e - e ' = c ( q '- q + c ( e -e ' c ( q '-q ( e -e ' -c ( e - e ' = c ( q '-q

17 e -= e ' + ( e -e ' [ c ( q '-q - c ] c= ( q '-q c ( q '-q 0 0 The frst crtcal ale: c ( q '-q 0 ( e - e ' = 0 c ( q '-q -c e - e ' = c ( q '-q -c 0 0 c ( q '-q 0 0 e -= e ' + c ( q '-q -c 0 or 0 0 e ' = e - c ( q '-q e -= e ' - c ( q '-q -c 0 c ( q '-q 0 0 c ( q '-q -c 0 c ( q '-q 0 0 c ( q '-q -c 0 s rejected becase the condton: e ' > e s not satsfed. 0 On the contrary, the alternate crtcal ale: e -= e ' - c ( q '-q 0 0 c ( q '-q -c 0 e ' = e + c ( q '-q 0 0 c ( q '-q -c 0 s accepted, becase the condton: e ' > e s satsfed. 0 The generalzed forla s the followng: e ' = e + [( q -q ( e - ]( q '-q [( q - q + ( e - ]( q '-q -( q -q ( e (4 Secton Eqaton (8 can be expressed n atrx for: e' = é ës é ë [ y, y,, y ] s [ x ', x ',, x '] (ltplyng both sdes by e ', where e ' ¹ 0 6

18 = e' = e' Introdcng (8a to eqaton (7: = [ y, y,, y ] s '[ ', ',, '] e x x x é ë [ y, y,, y ] s é ës é ë [ e' x ', e' x ',, e' x '] é ë [ x, x,, x ] s é ë [ e' x ', e' x ',, e' x '] é ë é é [ e' x ', e' x ',, e' x '] [ x, x,, x ] = ë ë Eqaton (8b leads to the npt adjstent forla: x ' = x x = e' x ' e' ü x = e' x ' ï x ' = x ý or e' ï x = e' x ' ï þ x ' = x e' ü ï ï ï ý ï ï ï ïþ (8a (8b 7

19 Secton 3 x ' = e' å å x (0a = = Tables Table 6. BCC DE pplcaton for Effcency Scores Estaton and SUs Classfcaton SUs Effcency Score Classfcaton SUs Effcency Score Classfcaton.0000 HE - HQ HE - HQ LE - HQ HE - HQ HE - HQ HE - HQ LE - HQ HE - HQ LE - HQ HE - HQ LE - HQ HE - HQ LE - HQ HE - HQ LE - HQ LE - LQ LE - HQ LE - HQ HE - HQ HE - HQ LE - LQ LE - HQ 0.99 LE - HQ HE - HQ LE - LQ HE - HQ HE - HQ LE - HQ HE - HQ HE - HQ LE - HQ HE - HQ HE - HQ LE - LQ LE - HQ LE - HQ HE - HQ LE - HQ HE - HQ LE - HQ.0000 HE - HQ LE - HQ LE - HQ LE - HQ HE - HQ LE - HQ HE - HQ HE - HQ HE - HQ HE - HQ Hypothetcal Target Unts Table 6B. Hypothetcal Unts Bencharkng Unts 3, 5, 8,,, 6, 8, 34, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 3, 8, 36,