Abstract
The decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method is one of the most significant multi-criteria techniques for defining the relationships among criteria and for defining the weight coefficients of criteria. Since multi-criteria models are very often used in management and decision-making under conditions of uncertainty, the fuzzy DEMATEL model has been extended in this paper by D numbers (fuzzy DEMATEL-D). The aim of this research was to develop a multi-criteria methodology that enables the objective processing of fuzzy linguistic information in the pairwise comparison of criteria. This aim was achieved through the development of the fuzzy DEMATEL-D method. Combining D numbers with trapezoidal fuzzy linguistic variables (LVs) allows for the additional processing of uncertainties and ambiguities that exist in experts’ preferences when comparing criteria with each other. In addition, the fuzzy DEMATEL-D methodology has a unique reasoning algorithm that allows for the rational processing of uncertainties when using fuzzy linguistic expressions for pairwise comparisons of criteria. The fuzzy DEMATEL-D methodology provides an original uncertainty management framework that is rational and concise. In order to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology, a case study with the application of the proposed multi-criteria methodology is presented.
Highlights
A dynamic environment in which almost all scientific and professional fields operate requires the timely and precise management of processes, which involves decision-making at its each stage.The decisions are made on the basis of a number of inputs that are an integration of qualitative and quantitative criteria
The final values of the criteria obtained using the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL)-D model in this study were between the results that have been proposed through expert evaluations
The fuzzy DEMATEL methodology was expanded by D numbers to overcome uncertainties and subjectivities that are inevitable in group decision-making processes, especially with numerous decision-makers
Summary
A dynamic environment in which almost all scientific and professional fields operate requires the timely and precise management of processes, which involves decision-making at its each stage. Taking into account the evident wide application of this method and the need to adequately handle uncertain situations and determine the precise weights of criteria, fuzzy set theory is integrated with D numbers. Dempster–Shafer evidence theory [3,4] is an area of artificial intelligence because it processes and analyzes uncertainties and inaccuracies in information It is a convenient algorithm for reasoning in a dynamic and uncertain environment, which is recommended for use in expert systems. Deng and Jiang [15] developed a decision-making model to solve the adversarial problem under uncertainty with D numbers. Their model integrated fuzzy set theory, game theory, and D number theory (DNT).
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