Measuring efficiency by product group: Integrating data envelopment analysis with activity-based accounting in a large Mideast bank

We built a method for measuring product-specific inefficiency in bank branches to facilitate precise measurement of waste and identify its causes. Our method combines and integrates two separate, widely used models for measuring costs and efficiency performance: activity-based cost accounting and data envelopment analysis. The resulting method for activity-based management provides managers with detailed quantitative performance benchmarks for the specific business activities of their firms or divisions. We used an integrated model to create a branch profile of a large 250-branch Mideast bank that measures inefficiency separately for customer services and transactions.