Multi-criteria group decision making based on ELECTRE I method in Pythagorean fuzzy information

Abstract

ELECTRE is a family of multi-criteria decision analysis techniques which has the ability to provide as much as possible precise and suitable set of actions or alternatives to the underlying problem by eliminating the alternatives which are outranked by others. Group decision making is an effective process to provide the most appropriate solution to real-world decision-making scenarios by considering and merging the expert opinions of multiple individuals on problem. The purpose of this research study is to extend the ELECTRE I method to Pythagorean fuzzy ELECTRE I (PF-ELECTRE I) method in group decision-making environment, as Pythagorean fuzzy set model is more superior tool to capture vagueness and incompleteness in human evaluations. The developed method has ability to solve multi-criteria group decision-making problems in which the assessment information on available alternatives, provided by the experts, is presented as Pythagorean fuzzy decision matrices having each entry characterized by Pythagorean fuzzy number (PFN). The approach is formulated by introducing the concepts of strong, midrange and weak Pythagorean fuzzy concordance and discordance sets to elaborate the outranking relation among alternatives with respect to conflicting criteria. Framework of group decision supporting system based on PF-ELECTRE I is demonstrated by a flowchart. Finally, two illustrative examples in the field of health safety and environment management are given to verify and demonstrate the applicability of our proposed approach.