A nonlinear (nonconvex) programming model provides a new definition of efficiency for use in evaluating activities of not-for-profit entities participating in public programs. A scalar measure of the efficiency of each participating unit is thereby provided, along with methods for objectively determining weights by reference to the observational data for the multiple outputs and multiple inputs...

Energy efficiency has become an important managerial variable of IT management. Whereas cloud computing promises significantly higher levels of energy efficiency, it is still not known, if and to what extent outsourcing of software applications to cloud service providers affects the overall energy efficiency. This research is concerned with the allocation of cloud services from providers to cus...

As the restaurant franchising industry increasingly diversifies its brands, it is pivotal for a firm to accurately assess the efficiency of brands within its franchise system. This research compares and contrasts the efficiency of different brands belonging to the same franchisor using data envelopment analysis (DEA). The samplewas drawn from three brands that are in operation under the same re...

The purpose of this research is to measure the performance of microinsurance programs using data envelopment analysis and to derive implications for the viable provision of microinsurance products. This is a worthwhile exercise given the significant limitations of the existing performance measures used in the microinsurance industry. A single and simple to interpret performance measure can over...

Desde hace tres décadas los Contact Centers son el medio más eficiente para gestionar las comunicaciones directas entre empresas y clientes. Esta comunicación no es una mera transmisión de mensajes, sino que implica la constitución ciertos compromisos agentes (visibles en sus modos hacer ser), claves al cliente. Nos preguntamos ¿qué elementos caracterizan dicha comunicación? procesos ensamblan?...

T paper deals with a basic issue: How does one approach the problem of designing the “right” objective for a given resource allocation problem? The notion of what is right can be fairly nebulous; we consider two issues that we see as key: efficiency and fairness. We approach the problem of designing objectives that account for the natural tension between efficiency and fairness in the context o...

Applied economists often wish to measure the effects of policy changes (like trade liberalization) or managerial decisions (like R&D expenditures or exporting) on firmlevel productivity patterns. But firm-level data on physical quantities of output, capital, and intermediate inputs are typically unobservable. Therefore, when constructing productivity measures, most analysts proxy these variable...

on discussion about managerial ability of women outside home, social scientists refer to the wide range of women in labor force on one hand and to the discrimination against women on the other. although women occupation is considered as an evidence of change, but providing opportunities for them in order to fulfill their abilities is of primer significance. this requires identification and eval...