On the equivalence of operational performance measurement and multiple attribute decision making

Measurement of operational performance and decision making under multiple attributes are shown to be essentially the same process. A recent operational performance measurement (OPM) procedure called OCRA (operational competitiveness rating) and a multiple attribute decision making (MADM) method called TOPSIS (technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution) are shown to produce ratings that are identical up to a linear transformation. Further investigations into OPM and MADM lead to their equivalence. The equivalence of the two methods can open up new research and application possibilities in both productivity analysis and MADM. Reviews of both the non-parametric approach that leads to the OCRA procedure and the TOPSIS method are provided, new perspectives on these methods are introduced and examples offered.