A comparison study of fuzzy-based multiple-criteria decision-making methods to evaluating green concept alternatives in a new product development environment

Purpose-In this paper,the four popular multiple-criteria decision-making(MCDM)methods in fuzzy environment are utilized to reflect the vagueness and uncertainty on the judgments of decision-makers(DMs),because the crisp pairwise comparison in these conventional MCDM methods seems to be insufficient and imprecise to capture the right judgments of DMs.Of these methods,as Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process(F-AHP)is used to calculate criteria weights,the other methods;Fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution(F-TOPSIS),Fuzzy Grey relational analysis(F-GRA)and Fuzzy Preference Ranking Organization METhod for Enrichment of Evaluations(F-PROMETHEE II)are used to rank alternatives in the three different ways for a comparative study.Design/methodology/approach-The demand for green products has dramatically increased because the importance and public awareness of the preservation of natural environment was taken into consideration much more in the last two decades.As a result of this,especially manufacturing companies have been forced to design more green products,resulting in a problem of how they incorporate environmental issues into their design and evaluate concept options.The need for the practical decision-making tools to address this problem is rapidly evolving since the problem turns into an MCDM problem in the presence of a set of green concept alternatives and criteria.Findings-The incorporation of fuzzy set theory into these methods is discussed on a real-life case study,and a comparative analysis is done by using its numerical results in which the three fuzzy-based methods reveal the same outcomes(or rankings),while F-GRA requires less computational steps.Moreover,more detailed analyses on the numerical results of the case study are completed on the normalization methods,distance metrics,aggregation functions,defuzzification methods and other issues.Research limitations/implications-The designing and manufacturing environmental-friendly products in a product design process has been a vital issue for many companies which take care of reflecting environmental issues into their product design and meeting standards of recent green guidelines.These companies have utilized these guidelines by following special procedures at the design phase.Along the design process consisting of various steps,the environmental issues have been considered an important factor in the end-of-life of products since it can reduce the impact on the nature.In the stage of developing a new product with the aim of environmental-friendly design,the green thinking should be incorporated as early as possible in the process.Practical implications-The case study was inspired from the previous work of the author,which was realized in a hot runner systems manufacturer,used in injection molding systems in a Canada.In a new product development process,the back-and front-ends of development efforts mainly determine the following criteria:cost,risk,quality and green used in this paper.The case study showed that the three fuzzy MCDM methods come to the same ranking outcomes.F-GRA has a better time complexity compared to the other two methods and uses a smaller number of computational steps.Moreover,a comparative analysis of the three F-MCDM methods;F-PROMETHEE II,F-TOPSIS and F-GRA used in ranking for green concept alternatives using the numerical results of the case study.For the case study;as seen in table 20,the three F-MCDM methods produced the numerical results on the rankings of the green concept alternatives as follows;{Concept AConcept C-Concept B-Concept D}.Social implications-Inclusion of environmental-related criteria into concept selection problem has been gaining increasing importance in the last decade.Therefore,to facilitate necessary calculations in applying each method especially with its fuzzy extension,it can be developed a knowledge-based(KB)or an expert system(ES)to help the DMs make the required calculations of each method,and interpret its results with detailed analysis.Originality/value-The objective of the research was to propose a F-AHP based F-MCDM approach to green concept selection problem through F-PROMETHEE II,F-TOPSIS and F-GRA methods.As the F-AHP is used to weight evaluation criteria,the other methods are respectively used for ranking the concept alternatives and determine the best concept alternative.

Portfolio selection: a fuzzy-ANP approach

This study developed specific criteria and a fuzzy analytic network process(FANP)to assess and select portfolios on the Tehran Stock Exchange(TSE).Although the portfolio selection problem has been widely investigated,most studies have focused on income and risk as the main decision-making criteria.However,there are many other important criteria that have been neglected.To fill this gap,first,a literature review was conducted to determine the main criteria for portfolio selection,and a Likert-type questionnaire was then used to finalize a list of criteria.Second,the finalized criteria were applied in an FANP to rank 10 different TSE portfolios.The results indicated that profitability,growth,market,and risk are the most important criteria for portfolio selection.Additionally,portfolios 6,7,2,4,8,1,5,3,9,and 10(A6,A7,A2,A4,A8,A1,A5,A3,A9,and A10)were found to be the best choices.Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Tri-Intersectional Model of Leadership by Values:A Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Making Open Technology Assessment System

Purpose-Nowadays successful organizations need to be masters at leadership by values to play in a constantly changing and transforming environment.But how can leaders and organizations effectively convene strategic and culture development based on values?This paper presents the Tri-Intersectional Model of Leadership by Values(TMLV)in which leaders and organizations can integrate a sustainable strategy,as well as a culture and value-based management system that simultaneously leverages human,financial,and social resources.With its three essential axes of values(economic-pragmatic,emotional-development,and ethical-social)at their intersection points,it allows leaders to focus on the strategy linkages:innovation-intersection between the economic-pragmatic values axis and the emotional-development values axis-allows them to develop sustainable innovations;survival-intersection between the economic-pragmatic values axis and the ethical-social values axis-enhances their organization’s survival;finally,sensibility-intersection between the economic-pragmatic values axis and the ethical-social values axis-makes them more humane and more socially-responsible.The application of the TMLV,using the Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Making Open Technology Assessment System,can be a great inspiration for stimulating and working with values in organizations,as well as allowing leaders to develop a values-based,high-involvement,and performance-oriented culture.Methodology/Approach-This research considers empirical data analysis of the 37 case studies of the EU-InnovatE project(http//www.euinnovate.com)-a pioneering initiative to align innovation values to integrate the end user into the process of innovation and entrepreneurship related to a sustainable lifestyle and the green economy in Europe-using a fuzzy multiple-criteria decision making method and open technologies system,such as server-side PHP language,MariaDB Database,fork of MYSQL Database Management System,and JavaScript libraries to perform operation directly on the user’s browser.Findings-The application of the TMLV model,considering empirical analysis of the extracted values from the case studies,using the Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Making Open Technology Assessment System,can be a great inspiration for stimulating and working with values in João organizations,as well as allowing leaders to develop suitable strategies and interventions for shaping a sustainable high-performance culture.Research implications-This research can be a starting point for further research to assess the effectiveness of the leadership model based on a decision-making open technology system in any given organization,as well as to invite researchers who have positive passion about working with values to participate in the improvement of this tool.Originality/value-The Tri-Intersectional Model of Leadership by Values using the Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Making Open Technology Assessment System is presented as an evolution in leadership models that may be used to fuel innovation,survival,and a sensibility strategic focus that is necessary to optimize human and organizational performance and deliver effective solutions to the massive array of human,financial,and social problems we face today.

An Integrated Framework for Cloud Service Selection Based on BOM and TOPSIS

Many businesses have experienced difficulties in selecting a cloud service provider(CSP)due to the rapid advancement of cloud computing services and the proliferation of CSPs.Many independent criteria should be considered when evaluating the services provided by different CSPs.It is a case of multi-criteria decision-making(MCDM).This paper presents an integrated MCDM cloud service selection framework for determining the most appropriate service provider based on the best only method(BOM)and technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution(TOPSIS).To obtain the weights of criteria and the relative importance of CSPs based on each criterion,BOM performs pairwise comparisons of criteria and also for alternatives on each criterion,and TOPSIS uses these weights to rank cloud alternatives.An evaluation and validation of the proposed framework have been carried out through a use-case model to prove its efficiency and accuracy.Moreover,the developed framework was compared with the analytical hierarchical process(AHP),a popular MCDM approach,based on two perspectives:efficiency and consistency.According to the research results,the proposed framework only requires 25%of the comparisons needed for the AHP approach.Furthermore,the proposed framework has a CR of 0%,whereas AHP has 38%.Thus,the proposed framework performs better than AHPwhen it comes to computation complexity and consistency,implying that it is more efficient and trustworthy.

Use of Multi-criteria Decision Analysis Methods for Water Supply Problems： A Framework for Improved Rainwater Harvesting

Several conflicting objectives are considered in decision-making. MCDA （multi-criteria decision analysis） methods are developed to facilitate better decision making by decision-makers. Water supply problems are complex problems with multiple decision making and criteria. Hence, the use of multi-criteria decision analysis is very appropriate for solving these problems. Multi-criteria decision analysis can be divided into three main groups： value measurement models, goals, aspiration and reference level models and outranking models. The methods listed have been applied to water supply problems, especially in the evaluation of alternative water supply strategies. Each method has its advantages and limitations. A good alternative for concluding a better-suited method for water supply problems is to apply more than one method, either in combination to make use of the strengths of both methods, or in parallel to obtain a broader decision basis for the decision maker. Previous studies of MCDA in water supply planning have usually considered water supply networks with only one water service delivery. Advanced water supply sources with multiple water service delivery systems have been neglected. This is an on-going study in which analytical hierarchical multi-criteria decision analysis methods are proposed for solving water supply problems and a framework for improved rainwater harvesting systems will be developed.

Balancing multiple criteria in formulation of weighted, single-objective genetic algorithm optimization for CNC machining problems

This paper presents results obtained from the implementation of a genetic algorithm （GA） to a simplified multi-objective machining optimization problem. The major goal is to examine the effect of crucial machining parameters imparted to computer numerical control machining operations when properly balanced conflicting criteria referring to part quality and process productivity are treated as a single optimization objective. Thus the different combinations of weight coefficient values were examined in terms of their significance to the problem＇s response. Under this concept, a genetic algorithm was applied to optimize the process parameters exist in typical; commercially available CAM systems with significantly low computation cost. The algorithm handles the simplified linear weighted criteria expression as its objective function. It was found that optimization results vary noticeably under the influence of different weighing coefficients. Thus, the obtained optima differentiate, since balancing values strongly affect optimization objective functions.

Using Grey Relational Analysis with Entropy to Predict the International Financial Center of China

The establishment of the China Pilot Free Trade Zone(FTZ) has significantly promoted international trade, financial development, and economic growth. Building international financial centers(IFCs) satisfies the demand for FTZs to facilitate financial development, as well as promoting economic growth. Thus, successfully predicting the next IFC in China under the FTZ framework is an important issue. In this study, we applied grey relational analysis combined with entropy method to predict potential IFCs among seven FTZ cities. According to the results, our interesting findings include: 1) the "total stock turnover", "total value of imports and exports", and "Foreign Direct Investment(FDI)" are key indicators for determining future IFCs; 2) among seven cities, Shenzhen and Tianjin are highly likely to become the next IFCs, while Shanghai is already an IFC.

Application of Integrated Multiple Criteria Data Envelopment Analysis to Humanitarian Logistics Network Design

This paper considers a humanitarian logistics network(HTLN)design problem,including the emergency relief facilities(ERFs)location-allocation decision for the efficient distribution of emergency supplies from the ERFs to the affected areas.A goal programming(GP)approach is applied to consider the multiple objectives simultaneously.Solving the GP model with a given weight assigned to each goal yields a single HTLN scheme,so there will be various schemes available by solving the GP with multiple values of the weights.For evaluating these schemes and identifying the most efficient one,we apply the data envelopment analysis(DEA)methods considering each scheme as a decision-making unit(DMU).Since the classical DEA(C-DEA)intrinsically aims to identify efficient DMUs and the efficient frontier,the use of C-DEA may not lead to a full ranking in many situations.There are several independent evaluation approaches to increasing discriminating power.Among them,this study integrates the multiple criteria DEA(MC-DEA)with the following three DEA methods,(i)stratification DEA(S^DEA),(ii)cross-efficiency DEA(CE-DEA),and(iii)super-efficiency DEA(SE-DEA),to make the most use of each method's strengths.Through a case study of designing the HTLN system for South Carolina,the procedure of implementing the integrated multiple criteria DEA(IMC-DEA)method is demonstrated.It is observed that the IMCDEA method performs well in terms of designing the HTLN system and would help the decision-makers consider more efficient options and make a final decision.

A hesitant fuzzy linguistic terms set-based AHP-TOPSIS approach to evaluate ERP software packages

Purpose–In this paper,two popular multiple-criteria decision-making(MCDM)methods with hesitant fuzzy logic approach;hesitant fuzzy analytic hierarchy process(hesitant F-AHP)and hesitant fuzzy the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution(HF-TOPSIS)are integrated as HF-AHP-TOPSIS to evaluating a set of enterprise resource planning(ERP)alternatives and rank them by weight to reach to the ultimate one that satisfies the needs and expectations of a company.Design/methodology/approach–Selecting the best ERP software package among the rising number of the options in market has been a critical problem for most companies for a long time because of the reason that an improper ERP software package might lead to many issues(i.e.time loss,increased costs and a loss of market share).On the other hand,finding the best ERP alternative is a comprehensive MCDM problem in the presence of a set of alternatives and several potentially competing quantitative and qualitative criteria.Findings–In this integrated approach,the hesitant F-AHP is used to determine the criteria weights,as the hesitant F-TOPSIS is utilized to rank ERP package alternatives.The proposed approach was also validated in a numerical example that has five ERP package alternatives and 12 criteria by three decision-makers in order to show its applicability to potential readers and practitioners.Research limitations/implications–If the number of the alternatives and criteria are dramatically increased beyond reasonable numbers,the reaching to final solution will be so difficult because of the great deal of fuzzy based calculations.Therefore,the number of criteria and alternatives should be at reasonable numbers.Practical implications–The proposed approach was also validated in a illustrated example with the five ERP package options and 12 criteria by the three decision-makers in order to show its applicability to potential readers and practitioners.Originality/value–Furthermore,in literature,to the best of our knowledge,the authors did not come cross any work that integrates the HF-AHP with the HF-TOPSIS for ERP software package selection problem.