Efficiency Evaluation of Research Groups Using Data Envelopment Analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare efficiency of research groups in the Center of Social and Cultural Research. There are several tools for efficiency evaluation. The method used in this study was Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in which rate of output is evaluated by input and effective and non-effective units are determined. The first step in DEA is to prepare a list of inputs and outputs. The inputs in this study were personnel and administrative costs, the ratio of group staff to the total staff of the center and person-hours of labor. The outputs of this study contained the number of finished research projects, proportion of allocated budget to the total budget issued and the Percent of the projects' progress. The survey was carried out in 20 research groups, using DEA method. The analysis indicated that 5 groups were efficient and 3 groups were on border line. To improve non-efficient groups and converting them to efficient ones, we suggest some adjustments in inputs and outputs. Introduction In today world, one of the ideal managers' thoughts in different sections is to gather and categorize information as well as to use analyzed information rightly to document managerial affairs [1]. Success in competition market needs a high level of performance via improvement of actions. To increase the competition advantage, must be aware of the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats to be able to make the best decision and have the best performance [2]. In recent years, with increasing the number of economic, cultural and social research centers, a very close competition in presentation of production and services has been aroused and due to limitation in resources, reduction in costs and increase in efficiency and effectiveness has been the main concern for managers [3]. Such concern has increased the needs for specialized research in the area of culture and society. The Center of Social and Cultural Research with this mission has begun its activities. Therefore it needs a continuous feedback which shows the importance of performance evaluation. The performance evaluation of the research groups and the continuous comparison with each other causes the improvement in research group and ultimately the research center. Due to different productions and services in the center, the performance evaluation seems a complex task. The Data Envelopment Analysis technique with its strong ability makes this evaluation possible to compare the efficiency of the research groups with different productions and services. In this technique, a