strategic alliance decision-making for the auto industry base on an integrate dea and gm(1,1) approach

Strategic alliance promotes enterprise resources sharing and enhances the competitiveness of the marketplace. therefore, finding a mutually beneficial partner to make a strategic alliance is an important issue for various industries. the aim of this paper is to propose a suitable method based on grey theory and data envelopment analysis (dea). a method predicts future business and measure operation efficiency, by the use of critical input and output variables. from this, firms can find out their appropriate candidates. this research was implemented with realistic public data from four consecutive financial years (2009-2012) of twenty auto manufactures. the study tries to help target firm find the right alliance partners. the results show the most priori candidates in recent years. the study will be of interest for managers of auto manufacture in utilizing alliance strategy.