System Engineering and Productivity

System Engineering and Productivity

Performance Evaluation of Methanol Producing Petrochemical Companies Using Data Envelopment Analysis Based on Natural and Managerial Principles

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Mahdi Sadeghi Moghaddam 1
Mohammad Khazraei 2
1 Corresponding author: Ph.D. Student, Department of Financial Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
2 M.Sc., Department of Business Administration, SR.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/sep.2025.2069238.1380
Abstract
The main objective of the present study is to evaluate the performance of petrochemical companies producing methanol using data envelopment analysis based on the simultaneous use of two natural and managerial principles. Because, in DEA, natural accessibility shows the potential capacity for improvement based on the mathematical frontier of efficiency, while managerial accessibility focuses on the possibility of actually realizing these improvements. The combination of these two perspectives reveals the gap between theoretical and practical efficiency and provides a basis for designing realistic performance improvement programs. For this purpose, a statistical population consisting of four petrochemical companies producing methanol active in the country has been selected. The research period for data analysis is related to the year 1401. The results obtained showed that the best and highest efficiency is related to Fanavaran, Zagros and Khark companies with a relative efficiency of 100 percent, and the Marjan production unit has been determined as an inefficient unit. In addition, it has been prioritized using the Anderson-Peterson method. Based on the priority obtained, Khark Company ranked first, Zagros Company ranked second, Fanavaran Company ranked third, and Marjan Company ranked fourth. Also, a comparison based on efficiency scores with basic models including BCC and CCR is presented to examine the capability of the proposed model. The difference in inefficiency between the proposed method and the BCC method is minor and is at the level of 0.012. Finally, the changes in the amount of manageable input have been calculated, in which case the maximum amount of reduction in the number of manageable inputs is calculated to be 0.141 units. The results of this study allow managers of petrochemical companies producing methanol to identify inefficient units with potential for improvement and direct organizational resources to them in a targeted manner. Also, by combining natural and managerial perspectives, managers can formulate realistic operational plans to improve productivity, optimize production capacity, and manage assets, and implement corrective actions with specific prioritization and timing.

Highlights

  • Investigating the efficiency of the performance of units using the DEA method
  • Applying the principles of natural and managerial accessibility simultaneously in the development of the DEA model
  • Ranking the efficiency of units using the Anderson-Peterson method

Keywords
Efficiency
Prioritization
Petrochemical Companies
Methanol
Data Envelopment Analysis
Subjects

Copyright © Mahdi Sadeghi Moghaddam, Mohammad Khazraei

 

License

This article is released under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone is free to copy, share, translate, and adapt this article for any purpose, whether commercial or non-commercial, as long as proper citation is given to the authors and original publication.

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System Engineering and Productivity

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 26 September 2025

  • Receive Date 20 August 2025
  • Revise Date 14 September 2025
  • Accept Date 26 September 2025
  • First Publish Date 26 September 2025
  • Publish Date 26 September 2025