Assessing marginal impacts of investments on the performance of organisational units

This paper develops a data envelopment analysis (DEA) based method for targeting investment decisions in commercial organisations. The organisations considered are those comprising multiple outlets operating in geographically different and changing markets. The method developed disentangles the effects of investments from those of market size changes on the ability of an outlet to attract an increasing share of its potential market. This information is useful not only in identifying practices and investments conducive to improved profitability but also outlets most likely to secure the best return on investment made on them. The method developed is illustrated using date from a set of pubs of a U.K. brewery.