Is explicit processing of fuzzy direct influence evaluations in DEMATEL indispensable?

Abstract

DEMATEL is acknowledged to be an effective method for the identification of cause-effect chain components. It is based on the utilisation of a discrete crisp evaluation scale with the aim of assessing the relations between the objects. There have been attempts to make use of the fuzzy extension in this respect but they have not been justified yet. It is thought that in comparison to crisp evaluations explicit processing of fuzzy evaluations in DEMATEL results in more complex calculations and demands a great deal of effort. Numerical experiments presented in this paper show, however, that replacing crisp evaluations with fuzzy evaluations may yield similar results. Thus, we go on to argue that a concept of explicit fuzzy data processing in DEMATEL needs a thorough rethink.