Structural Rearrangement for Supply Chain Efficiency: A DEA-Based Game-Theoretic Approach

Coordinating upstream–downstream decisions in supply-chain systems is essential for efficient resource allocation and overall performance. Yet relatively little work examines how purposeful reconfiguration of network structure can raise end-to-end efficiency. To address this gap, we study a two-stage supply-chain network within the network data envelopment analysis (NDEA) paradigm and integrate NDEA with strategic structural-reconfiguration methods. We develop a permutation-game-theoretic framework to optimize subsystem configurations under three decision control modes — centralized, decentralized, and hybrid control. Using an empirical case study, we validate the approach and show that it effectively uncovers vertical synergies between upstream and downstream entities. The results indicate that structural adjustments guided by our framework can enhance overall operational efficiency.