E-DEA: Enhanced data envelopment analysis

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has enjoyed a wide range of acceptance by researchers and practitioners alike as an instrument of performance analysis and management since its introduction in 1978. Many formulations and thousands of applications of DEA have been reported in a considerable variety of academic and professional journals all around the world. Almost all of the formulations and applications have basically centered at the concept of “relative self-evaluation”, whether they are single or multi-stage applications. This paper suggests a framework for enhancing the theory of DEA through employing the concept of “relative cross-evaluation” in a multi-stage application context. Managerial situations are described where such enhanced-DEA (E-DEA) formulations had actually been used and could also be potentially most meaningful and useful.