PurposeThis paper is focused on developing an integrated algorithmic approach named as data envelopment analysis and multicriteria decision-making (DEA-MCDM) for ranking decision-making units (DMUs) based on cross-efficiency technique and subjective preference(s) of the decision maker.Design/methodology/approachSelf-evaluation in data envelopment analysis (DEA) lacks in discrimination power among DMUs. To fix this, a cross-efficiency technique has been introduced that ranks DMUs based on peer-evaluation. Different cross-efficiency formulations such as aggressive and benevolent and neutral are available in the literature. The existing ranking approaches fail to incorporate subjective preference of “one” or “some” or “all” or “most” of the cross-efficiency evaluation formulations. Therefore, the integrated framework in this paper, based on DEA and multicriteria decision-making (MCDM), aims to present a ranking approach to incorporate different cross-efficiency formulations as well as subjective preference(s) of decision maker.FindingsThe proposed approach has an advantage that each of the aggressive, benevolent and neutral cross-efficiency formulations contribute to select the best alternative among the DMUs in a MCDM problem. Ordered weighted averaging (OWA) aggregation is applied to aggregate final cross-efficiencies and to achieve complete ranking of the DMUs. This new approach is further illustrated and compared with existing MCDM approaches like simple additive weighting (SAW) and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to prove its validity in real situations.Research limitations/implicationsThe choice of cross-efficiency formulation(s) as per subjective preference of the decision maker and different orness levels lead to different aggregated scores and thus ranking of the DMUs accordingly. The proposed ranking approach is highly useful in real applications like R and D projects, flexible manufacturing systems, electricity distribution sector, banking industry, labor assignment and the economic environmental performances for ranking and benchmarking.Practical implicationsTo prove the practical applicability and robustness of the proposed integrated DEA-MCDM approach, it is applied to top twelve Indian banks in terms of three inputs and two outputs for the period 2018–2019. The findings of the study (1) ensure the impact of non-performing assets (NPAs) on the ranking of the selected banks and (2) are enormously valuable for the bank experts and policy makers to consider the impact of peer-evaluation and subjective preference(s) in formulating appropriate policies to improve performance and ranks of underperformed banks in competitive scenario.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that has integrated both DEA and MCDM via OWA aggregation to present a ranking approach that can incorporate different cross-efficiency formulations and subjective preference(s) of the decision maker for ranking DMUs.

Over the past century urban water system of developed and developing cities are under increasing stress as water dearth. The estimation of possible solutions for water management in megacities requires the spatially distributed dynamic and grid-based replication of the evolution of public water infrastructure under consideration of changes (e.g. climate, global, environment, economy, and land-use). These simulations can be realized with the help of frameworks for integrated urban water system. The MCDA framework for integrated approaches of urban water system is characterized as single system (COMBINED SEWER SYSTEM) and entire system (WATER DISTRIBUTION, SEWER NETWORK etc.) investigation with consideration of decentralized system and spatial-temporal interactions and the dynamic feedback of population models to water infrastructure. Urban water system needs the frame work which will meet the sustainable needs of future. The present work identifies the best solutions for existing problems in urban water infrastructure while making interaction with stakeholders to reach sustainable framework for urban water management in this water dearth regions. This framework will provide new knowledge of sustainable integration system between the social and environmental issues.