Development of a Hybrid Model for the Evaluation of Sustainable Supply Chains using Dynamic Network Data Envelopment Analysis

Developing realistic models for the evaluation of sustainable supply chains has turned into a major challenge facing managers. The decision-making approaches proposed here consist of two stages. At the first stage, a dynamic-network data envelopment analysis (DNDEA) model is established for the first time, wherein the current efficiency of a business can be influenced by its prior social and environmental activities, as two main dimensions of sustainability. The second stage correspondingly presents, for the first time, a model in which total efficiency is calculated based on the value of historical data. Sensitivity analysis is exploited to determine the more effective factors of sustainability in efficiency evaluations. To validate the model, it is used to assess the sustainability of the suppliers of an auto spare parts manufacturer. The study results reveal that the model is well-able to evaluate the performance of dynamic network structures, with a very high discriminating power. Following the implementation of this model, only the supplier(KARAN) is found to reach the efficiency limit, and  SIRIN S.N. is recognized as the most inefficient supplier with an efficiency score of 0.6409. The sensitivity analysis outcomes demonstrate that the least amount of efficiency change is related to the economic pillar; however, the rising trend in wage costs, compared with other economic factors, brings a better effect on augmenting the efficiency of some inefficient suppliers. The highest efficiency changes during sensitivity analysis are further observed in both social and environmental dimensions. Therefore, it is claimed that investing in these two pillars can have a significant impact on the efficiency of suppliers.