Is Weighting Appropriate?
Some people think that by allowing you to control the analysis to add bias it undermines the theoretical basis of DEA – which is to provide a method of comparing peers without higher level influence clouding the judgments. However, the real world has a different emphasis – if you are to implement an improvement process, you have to be able to justify the basis for it. If a unit has been judged efficient on a ratio that is meaningless to the business, it may be a problem. The weighting facility allows you to ensure that every unit is judged at least to some extent on something that is critical to your business, for example transactions processed. However, don’t over-use the facility or the analysis will have its scope for optimization severely reduced.
