ABSTRACT
Contents 14.1 Introduction ............................................................................... 278 14.2 Background ................................................................................ 279
14.2.1 Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) ................................... 279 14.2.2 Multiple Objective Data Envelopment Analysis
(MODEA) ..................................................................... 282
14.2.3 Forecast Modeling in the Pharmaceutical Industry .............. 284 14.2.4 Regression Forecasting Methodology ................................ 285
14.3 Example ..................................................................................... 286 14.4 Discussion .................................................................................. 291 14.5 Conclusions and Implications for Future Research ........................... 292 References .............................................................................................. 293
14.1 Introduction Since the 1980s, U.S. companies have been embracing the Total Quality Management (TQM) movement. TQM is a philosophy that advocates four basic principles: (1) an intense focus on customer satisfaction, (2) accurate measurement of activities, (3) continuous improvement of products and processes, and (4) empowerment of people (Noori and Radford 1995). In striving to obtain these philosophies and principles, most companies must strike an appropriate balance between economic efficiency and quality. One component of a company’s TQM program is a performance measuring process, such as benchmarking. Benchmarking is the process by which a company analyzes the performance and practices of world-class companies and compares their practices and performances to its own. A company can use this knowledge to improve its own operations.
