A data envelopment analysis approach for efficient human resource allocation in project management

All organizations want to use their existing resources in the best way and keep their productivity high. Institutions and companies primarily need manpower resources in order to fulfill their functions. It is very important to allocate the existing human resources in the organization in accordance with the needs of the decision making units. In the absence of appropriate allocation, it is observed that some jobs might be delayed in harmful ways for the company, while some others may consume unnecessary resources. In this thesis, a project carried out in a technology company that conducts research and development activities is studied. In this company, most of the manpower consists of permanent staff. In addition, in order to balance the periodic workload, subcontracted personnel are hired from different companies. The tasks in the project are carried out by different teams. A Data Envelopment Analysis approach is developed for this problem, and each of these teams is treated as a decision making unit. Resource allocation with Centralized Data Envelopment Analysis aims to decide how to implement changes in a way that maximizes overall efficiency. An alternative approach to the reallocation of human resources is presented with the Centralized Data Envelopment Analysis models proposed in this thesis. With three different scenarios (long-term, medium-term, short-term) for the reallocation of human resources, the results of reducing and/or transferring personnel to maximize overall efficiency levels are obtained.