Performance evaluation and strategy development study using AHP and DEA for business centers

In this thesis, performance evaluation has been carried out according to efficiencymeasurement for Business Centers which are financed by the European Commission andsupported by local chambers. Three Business Centers were established in Gaziantep, Kocaeliand Izmir. The Centers deliver consulting, training and information services to Small andMedium sized Enterprises. In the performance evaluation of Business Centers which havesimilar inputs and outputs, Data Envelopment Analysis has been used even tough they areestablished in different regions. The two inputs used in Data Envelopment Analysis arequalitative and they have been transformed into quantitative variables using AnalyticalHierarchy Process. Criteria have been defined for Analytical Hierarchy Process and with theparticipants? support and brain storming session, qualitative data was transformed intoquantitative data. In order to perform the Analytical Hierarchy Process, a model has beenformulated in Excel Sheet. In order to calculate efficiency the Warwick DEA Software wasused.Key words: Business Centers, Performance Evaluation, Data Envelopment Analysis,Analytical Hierarchy Process.