Effective Improvement Solutions in Organizations Using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and TRIZ: A Case Study in Higher Education

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate how systematic innovation can be applied to define effective action plans for improvement in lagging behind operational units of an organization. The value of this research stands in the combination of DEA and TRIZ for systematic analysis and innovation of decision-making units in organizations. The constant returns to scale (CRS) model and the variable returns to scale (VRS) model (output oriented) is used to determine the output maximization of eleven faculties (DMUs) within the analyzed university. Analysis has been done for five academic years (between 2013 and 2018). Research ends with the identification of variables that affect the results in the less efficient DMUs. In the attempt of improving these variables, some other variables might be affected. Here, TRIZ is introduced to tackle conflicts in an inventive manner. The results of this study show the relative most efficient faculty (DMU) during the period 2013–2018 (taken as Ideal Final Result). In comparison to this, some directions of intervention have been identified and a set of innovative solutions have been generated for the most inefficient DMU. The methodology has a general applicability in practice, for all cases where benchmarking analyses are required, and innovative plans are necessary as a course of action.