Departments´ Efficiency and Productivity Change: A Case Study of a Chinese University from 2004 to 2006

This study evaluated the performance of academic departments from the perspective of productivity management with data envelopment analysis (DEA). A general and objective input-output model was constructed to analyze the efficiency change of the departments. A case study conducted at a university in China was adopted to illustrate the evaluation process. The analysis finds that over the period during 2004-2006 departments have experienced an annual average decrease in Malmquist productivity of 27.6% and technical change contribute to higher levels of productivity decline.The results from the case study offer effective suggestions for the improvement of departmental performance evaluation.