Fuzzy delphi method: Issues and challenges

Abstract

The Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) is the modified and enhanced version of the classical Delphi technique. Improvement was made to rectify the imperfection of traditional Delphi Method (DM) that leads to low convergence in retrieving outcomes, loss of important information, and long progress of investigation. Nevertheless, this approach has been employed in various application domains, including humanities, management, business, physical science, and engineering. Furthermore, the literature has exposed numerous key issues in relation to the existing FDM that need to be resolved with regard to the classical DM. Hence, the analysis obtained from the existing literature highlighted two key issues, which were; i) most FDM ignored certain important characteristics of DM, and ii) lack of explanation on how FDM obtained controlled feedback with the lack of iteration process. Additionally, it was observed that there had been lack of comparison between decision outcomes obtained based on FDM and the decision outcomes obtained from the traditional DM.