Enchanting performance measurement and management with data envelopment analysis: Insights from bibliometric data visualization and analysis

Abstract

While the breadth of applicative uses of data envelopment analysis (DEA) has increased over time, this non-parametric frontier methodology has proven effective for measuring how efficient decision-making units (DMUs) are. One of its uses is performance measurement in various organizations — from universities and banks to investment funds and entrepreneurial small and medium-sized enterprises. Following a search inquiry in the Scopus and Web of Science databases, we found no bibliometric analysis and keyword co-occurrence network visualization of just the use of DEA for performance management. With this study, we attempt to investigate the DEA literature for performance measurement and management, considering articles in scientific peer-reviewed journals, which are indexed in the Web of Science database. The analysis and visualization of the bibliometric data are based on 89 articles from the start of the century onward. We present the annual trends of published articles, journals, authors, and countries leading the scientific discussion and citation analysis. A detailed keyword visualization analysis was performed and is discussed in this article alongside the paths for future hotspots of the use of DEA for performance management. The findings have implications for both the academic community and practitioners, business leaders, managers, and policy-makers.