A data envelopment analysis approach by partial impacts between inputs and desirable-undesirable outputs for sustainable supplier selection problem

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to propose a new data envelopment analysis (DEA) model for assessing sustainability of suppliers with partial impacts between inputs, desirable outputs and undesirable outputs.Design/methodology/approachThis paper examines partial impacts of inputs on desirable and undesirable outputs and applies weak disposability assumption to propose a novel DEA model to determine the sustainability of suppliers.FindingsThis paper shows the type of resource sharing in DEA models and takes into account sustainable development and sustainability assessment concepts for sustainable supplier selection problem and develops a DEA model for selecting the most sustainable suppliers with partial sharing of resources. To select the most sustainable suppliers, this model helps managers to consider aggregate efficiency, overall efficiency and bundle efficiency. The paper introduces the supplier which is efficient at all levels as the most sustainable supplier.Originality/valueFor the first time, this paper suggests a new DEA model by partial impact between inputs and good outputs/bad outputs for selecting sustainable supplier and deals with the situations in which each supplier has several subunits. The new model calculates aggregate efficiency, overall efficiency and subunit efficiency of supplier. paper introduces the supplier which is efficient in all levels including aggregate efficiency, overall efficiency and subunit efficiency as the best supplier.