Pythagorean fuzzy DEMATEL method for supplier selection in sustainable supply chain management

Abstract

The fuzzy DEMATEL (Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) method is one of the accepted decision-making methods in uncertain environment. The Pythagorean fuzzy set is a generalized concept of fuzzy set and intuitionistic fuzzy set. In this paper, we develop the Pythagorean fuzzy set based DEMATEL method and apply it to solve the supplier selection problem in sustainable supply chain management. We consider the Pythagorean fuzzy set for handling uncertain and incomplete information while selecting the criteria of a supplier and dealing with ambiguity of human decisions. Considering the independence of the criteria, we put forward the proposed method which gives mutual relationships among the criteria, and identifies cause–effect components of the system. The proposed method is illustrated numerically based on data collected from a group of professional personnel.