Proposing a hybrid method based on DEA and ANP for ranking organizational units and prioritizing human capital management drivers

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to present a hybrid analytic network process (ANP) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) method for ranking organizational units as well as prioritizing organization’s human capital management criteria. Design/methodology/approach – In the proposed DEA model, human capital management criteria are considered as the inputs and organizational commitment considered as the output of DEA model. Afterward, the organizational unit’s efficiency and the weight of human capital management criteria are evaluated through DEA and the data are considered as the basis of ANP model. Findings – The results of prioritizing the drivers of human capital management were showed that leadership practices, human capital management and learning capacity are the most important ones. Also, the findings proved that the proposed integrated DEA/ANP can be helpful in managerial issues. Research limitations/implications – Filling the super-matrix and designing the questionnaire of ANP have always been the challenge of scholars because of the large number of data it requires. One of the main advantages of the proposed hybrid method in this research is that it resolves the above-mentioned problem of ANP. Practical implications – The results of the proposed method may provide managers this opportunity to better analyze the condition of organizational units from human capital management perspective and focus on the most important activities in this context. Moreover, the proposed hybrid method can help scholars to better use both DEA and ANP techniques and obtain more reliable findings. Originality/value – In this study, DEA efficiency measures of units, and the weights of inputs and outputs of DEA model are used to fill the super-matrix of ANP. In addition to having a logical approach, this method provides more reliable results and enjoys the advantages of both ANP and DEA techniques.