In order to develop a better tool for the assessment of the management performance of research and development (R&D) activities in research‐oriented universities, a combination of analysis hierarchical process (AHP) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) is proposed for the assessment of the efficiency of R&D management activities in universities. The measure consists of the measurement of a university's previous and present R&D strength by AHP and the assessment of the relative efficiency of its growth in R&D strength against those of other universities by DEA, in which the management basis of the measured universities is taken into consideration. The application of the measure to assess the R&D management efficiency of 29 universities in China indicates the universities which have improved their management work achieved a high efficiency value regardless of whether their original R&D strengths were strong or weak. Such a measure is proved to be helpful for motivating the universities to keep on improving their R&D management.

To improve the efficiency of resources allocation in manufacturing enterprises, a bi-level programming model for studying coordinate development of efficiency and effectiveness in functional departments is proposed based on analysis of complexity and hierarchy of manufacturing enterprises. Then an improved adaptive Harmony Search for solving the bi-level programming model is discussed. A typical state-owned manufacturing enterprise is analyzed. Results show that, the harmonious coexistence of functional departments is the necessary condition of maximization of both profits and effectiveness. The enterprises could increase investment in R& D to increase the production value when it is difficult to expand the production scale. To avoid violent fluctuations of production value, Decision makers should maintain the stability of resources input quantity.