Sustainable/Robust Supplier Selection in the Post-Pandemic Era: Using Data Envelopment Analysis

Abstract

With the existence of COVID-19, the whole economy experienced an unprecedented challenge. Organizations must be resilient to the ever-changing and unanticipated market to avoid being out of the fierce competition. In an era of information explosion, managers require a systematic, explicable, comparative, and traceable approach to evaluate and choose suppliers.  In recent years, procurement strategies have been revamped due to the disruption in the global supply chain by the pandemic and war in Europe. A wrong supplier selection decision seriously damages the Company’s supply chain, operations, and reputation. Therefore, partnering with a sustainable supplier is a prerequisite for business success.  With the rising importance of sustainability, choosing a competent supplier is one of the significant strategic management decisions. A sustainable supplier impacts business operations and accelerates long-term growth, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness. In the post-pandemic era, it is expected to have new approaches to define inputs and outputs to rank suppliers and logistics firms. This study uses Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to identify a sustainable supplier. Our approach involves selecting suitable inputs and outputs, improving the accuracy and relevance of the study to find sustainable/robust suppliers. The results of this research have been implemented in the business intelligence system of a company.