A [formula omitted]-Number Slacks-Based Measure DEA model-based framework for sustainable supplier selection with imprecise information

Abstract

The focus of this study is to develop a decision-making framework for selecting sustainable suppliers with imprecise information. Sustainable supplier selection poses a significant challenge for managers and decision-makers seeking a long-term competitive edge. Due to the presence of unreliable, or partially reliable imprecise information in practice, incorporation of the reliability degree of imprecise information in the decision models becomes necessary. Since Z-numbers can incorporate the reliability degree of imprecise information, the Z-number-based “Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)” approach can be used for decision-making. The current study introduces a super-efficiency DEA approach, namely “Z-number Slacks-Based Measure (ZN-SBM)”, which is further used to construct a framework for selecting sustainable suppliers. Unlike the existing Z-number-based DEA approaches, the proposed ZN-SBM model can assume “constant returns-to-scale”, “variable returns-to-scale”, “non-increasing returns-to-scale”, and “non-decreasing returns-to-scale” conditions. Moreover, the developed framework is free from strategic weight manipulation. To demonstrate the efficacy of this framework in sustainable supplier selection, we present a case study of the automotive industry. Further, the robustness of the proposed framework is investigated through a sensitivity analysis. The results of this study reveal that the proposed framework can be effectively applied as a high-performing decision-support tool for decision-making under imprecision in the domain of sustainable supplier selection.