Decision Making Trial And Evaluation Research Articles

Modeling factors affecting the design and manufacture of the recombinant vaccine: Key points for health policymakers and professionals

ABSTRACT Objective The study aimed to model factors affecting the design and manufacture of recombinant vaccines in Iran during the Covid-19 pandemic. Methods The present study was a descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study conducted in 2022. The study sample included 8 policymakers, decision-makers, and specialists involved in vaccine design and manufacturing. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect data. The Brainwriting technique was used to identify factors affecting vaccine design and manufacturing, and the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation (DEMATEL) technique was used to analyze the systematic relationships between components. Results The qualitative stage of the study identified seven themes affecting vaccine design and manufacture: disease nature, macro policies, official support, research networks, vaccine type selection, production process, and clinical trials. The nature of the disease (coordinates C: [2.78, 1.48]) was the most influential, while the vaccine production process (coordinates C: [2.43, -.98]) was the most influenced component in the interactive model. Conclusion The process of designing and manufacturing vaccines involves various factors that can either hinder or facilitate progress. Understanding these factors is crucial for effective health system management, policymaking, and fostering innovation in the development and introduction of new vaccines.

Digital technology adoption challenges in the agri-food supply chain from the perspective of attaining sustainable development goals

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the challenges surrounding the implementation of digital technology (DT) agri-food supply chain (AFSC) and explore how these challenges relate to the various sustainability dimensions. Additionally, it aims to assess how these challenges are interconnected in relation to achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs).Design/methodology/approachThe study employs a mixed-method approach utilizing the EFA-ISM-Fuzzy DEMATEL technique. To support and validate the findings, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) categorized 12 critical challenges in sustainable dimensions from 141 participants' responses. Furthermore, interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and decision-making trial and evaluation (DEMATEL) methods were used to obtain the interrelationship and hierarchical structure of the challenges.FindingsThe study identified 12 critical challenges while adopting DT in AFSC. These challenges were categorized into four sustainable dimensions: technological, economic, environmental and social. These challenges hinder the achievement of SDGs as well. Lack of regulatory and policy framework with security and privacy issues were the key challenges faced while adopting DT. These observations emphasize the necessity for government and policymakers to prioritize tackling the identified challenges to successfully endorse and execute DT initiatives in AFSC while also fulfilling the SDGs.Research limitations/implicationsThe implication underscores the need for collaboration among various stakeholders, such as governments, policymakers, businesses and researchers. By collectively addressing these challenges, DT can be leveraged optimally, fostering sustainable practices and making progress toward achieving the SDGs within the AFSC.Originality/valueThe study uses a combination technique of EFA and ISM-DEMATEL to identify the challenges faced in Indian AFSC while adopting DT and categorizes the interrelation between the challenges along with fulfilling the SDGs.

Healthcare Waste and Sustainability: Implications for a Circular Economy

The field of healthcare waste systems is an emerging research field with new methodologies being developed to reinforce sustainability. Medical treatments are becoming more sophisticated and in demand due to increasing incidences of chronic disease. Healthcare is also becoming widely available worldwide. Healthcare waste disposal includes multiple disposal methods including incineration, landfilling, and chemical treatments. These rudimentary methods and their increased prevalence present their own problems that negatively impact both the environment and public health. As a result, there is a global call for healthcare waste systems to transition from a linear to a circular economy (CE). The CE philosophy is employed in other waste management industries. There are limited studies, however, that assess the challenges to CE implementation, particularly in the United States. This research presents the challenges to the implementation of a CE in healthcare waste management systems. The challenges were determined by an extensive literature review. Three experts from the industry verified and provided additional context to the challenges through meetings. The challenges were grouped into seven categories: supply chain management, regulations and policies, industry, organizations internal, technology and operational, economic, and funding, and social. A decision-making trial and evaluation (DEMATEL) was used to rank the challenges and illustrate interrelationships between the challenges. The most significant challenge was found to be a lack of governmental legislation on CE healthcare policies, followed by a lack of a realistic CE business model and lack of consumer interest in the environment. The research will provide context to further developments into adopting CE practices. The limitations and future scope of the research are presented.

Influencing factors of novice pilot SA based on DEMATEL-AISM method: From pilots’ view

Pilot situation awareness (SA) regulates flight safety, and inexperience may impair novice pilot reliability in SA. This study aims to determine the key influencing factors of novice pilot SA and to analyze the interrelationship and interaction mechanism of the factors. We investigated 55 novice pilots trained at aviation schools and identified the influencing factor index system by the Delphi survey. The method of Decision Making Trial and Evaluation (DEMATEL) combined with Adversarial Interpretive Structure Modeling (AISM) was adopted. The results show that: (1) The influencing factor index system includes 18 factors, divided into four categories: individual factors, team factors, task and human-machine system factors, and cockpit environment factors. (2) Team communication, team cooperation, basic cognitive ability, interface design, occupational age and experience, and authority gradient are the six crucial influencing factors. The former three have the greatest association with other factors, while the latter three are most likely to affect other factors. (3) Team communication, basic cognitive ability, and interface design are root-cause factors, of which team communication is the most fundamental. (4) The results of DEMATEL and AISM are consistent, both disclosing team communication as the fundamental factor with the highest priority, and cockpit environmental factors as the direct influencing factors but most susceptible to other factors. The present study can be viewed as a conducive attempt to extract vital influencing factors of novice pilot SA, and to provide ergonomic insights for determining the priorities to improve novice pilot SA in training and aircraft design for flight safety.

Clustering and reference value for assessing influence in analytic network process without pairwise comparison matrices: Study of 17 real cases

The analytic network process (ANP) is a well-known multi-criteria decision method that uses pairwise comparison matrices to assess the influence among elements and clusters. This method requires the participation of experts who need to answer a large number of questions. A recent paper proposes using Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation (DEMATEL) scales in ANP to assess influences and suggests the possibility of grouping all elements into a single cluster. This rise the following questions that this paper seek to answer: if no comparison matrices are used in ANP, how similar are the results, whether clusters are used or not, to the original results with ANP using pairwise matrices? Why should or should not one or several groups be used in ANP? How much does the result change when considering multiple groups versus a single group? Does the variation of questions compensate for the variation of the results? How should the evaluation of influences and the use of the scale be approached depending on whether there are one or several groups? For this purpose, published cases solved with ANP have been reviewed and solved without comparison matrices, with the original clustering and with a single cluster, using four different models for each case study. The results show that clustering does influence the results. It should also be noted that the use of clustering helps to identify the elements of the decision problem. Additionally, this work includes the compilation of 17 cases matrices which can be used in further studies

Identification and Evaluation of Factors Influencing Software Quality using Pythagorean Fuzzy DEMATEL Approach

One of the recognized techniques for making decisions in ambiguous environment is the fuzzy Decision Making Trialand Evaluation Laboratory [DEMATEL] method. The fuzzy set [FS] and intuitionistic fuzzy set [IFS] conceptsare generalized in the Pythagorean fuzzy set [PFS]. This study focuses on the software quality evaluation problemin software management using the DEMATEL approach with PFS. It is suitable for addressing ambiguous humanjudgments and unclear and inadequate information when choosing the criteria for a software quality review. Themethod discovers cause-and-effect system components while taking into account the independence of the criteriaand provides mutual links among the criteria. Based on information gathered from a group of professionals, theimplemented method is illustrated. Originality: Software quality evaluation is handled first time with Pythagoreanfuzzy set-based DEMATEL approach.

An extended technology-organization-environment framework to investigate smart manufacturing system implementation in small and medium enterprises

Manufacturing sector is undergoing through revolution with inception of Industry 4.0 (I4.0). However, this revolution in form of Smart Manufacturing (SM) is mostly limited to multi-nationals and large enterprises. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have a unique importance in boosting social-economic aspects of any nation’s growth. Thus, there is strong need for implementation of SM system to empower SMEs. To this effect, the present study investigates 31 Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for SM system implementation in SMEs. The work is benefited from six cases of Indian SMEs, surveyed by interviewing experts in the area of SM. The identified CSFs are categorized using an extended Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework. The identified CSFs are modeled using an integrated TISM - Fuzzy DEMATEL (“Total Interpretive Structural Modelling - Fuzzy Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory”) approach which provides hierarchy and shows the intensity of interrelationship among the factors. Fuzzy MICMAC analysis is also applied to understand the dependency/driving power and mutual influences among the identified CSFs. Theoretical contribution, justifications and managerial implications of this research are discussed elaborately that can provide valuable insights to researchers, academicians and decision makers of the related organizations.

Selection of healthcare waste disposal firms using a multi-method approach

The aim of this study is to propose a hybrid multi criteria decision making model with a linear programming (LP) model to tackle the issue of safe disposal of hazardous and infectious healthcare waste. For this, ten criteria in this study have been identified from literature and field surveys which are modelled using Decision making trial and evaluation (DEMATEL) and Analytic network process (ANP) methods to select the best disposal firm i.e. single sourcing for a hospital. We found that Experience of the firm, Technology for disposal, and Waste collection infrastructure acts as the most vital criteria in selecting a healthcare waste disposal firm for single sourcing. Furthermore, to optimize the total value of disposal and mitigating the risk involved in disposing waste through single sourcing; the LP model considering constraints such as waste lose constraint and waste processing constraint etc. Is solved for multiple sourcing using Lingo 18.0. The solution to LP results into allocation of 500, 500, and 1000 (kg/day) disposables to healthcare waste disposal firms D1, D2 and D3, respectively. The multi-method approach proposed in this study helps the hospital management in selecting economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable healthcare waste disposal firm.

A two-sided matching model for complex equipment production of military–civilian merging platform with reference effects

Two-sided matching is a common research topic in our everyday life like marriage problem between men and women, schools and students. However, from the industrial perspective, the matching problem for complex equipment is a special research direction that needs professional participants that involve in the complex equipment production process. In this paper, a two-sided matching model for complex equipment production on the military–civilian integration platform is constructed that considers the reference satisfaction, and the reference satisfaction is firstly proposed which originates from operation management field. Moreover, the main influencing factors for complex equipment production are analyzed based on combined evaluation methods. The combined evaluation methods utilized in this research, one is DEMATEL (Decision Making Trial and Evaluation) method and the other is Grey–TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity for an Ideal Solution) method, are employed to acquire the joint importance results of the main analyzed influencing factors. The analyzed influencing factors are based on the evaluation indicators established in the evaluation indicator system for complex equipment production on the military–civilian merging platform, and the evaluation indicators are collected from relevant exist research. Then, suppliers and the manufacturers involved in the production of complex equipment give preference information to each other, and preference information is given on the basis of comprehensive analysis of the analyzed influencing factors which is by the aid of the aforementioned DEMATEL–Grey–TOPSIS analysis; meanwhile, the real satisfaction value of the suppliers and the manufacturers is obtained based on the preference value; then, the comprehensive reference satisfaction value could be obtained from the combination of the real satisfaction value and the expected satisfaction (real satisfaction value and disappointed satisfaction value), through aforementioned could we build a two-sided matching model for complex equipment on the military–civilian integration platform. Finally, we use a numerical example to illustrate the whole process about supplier–manufacturer matching for complex equipment production on the military–civilian integration platform.

Effective factors on improving the quality of hospital services in south of Iran.

To determine the quality of service being provided in a hospital in southern Iran and to evaluate it from patients' perspective. The cross-sectional study was conducted at a general university hospital in Shiraz, southern Iran, in two phases in 2015. The first phase comprised a survey based on SERVQUAL method-ServQual stands for Service Quality- and collected data from hospitalised patients. In second stage Decision Making Trial and Evaluation (DEMATEL) technique was employed to prioritize quality factors identified in first stage to suggest action. The second phase comprised experts who determined the relationship between 5 quality aspects and 14 criteria in line with DEMATEL matrixes. SPSS 16 was used for data analysis. Of the 208 subjects in the first phase, 103(49.5%) were men and 105(50.5%) were women. The second phase had 12 experts from among the senior nursing staff. In all the five aspects of service quality, the hospital was not able to meet the expectations of the patients (p<0.001). DEMATEL analysis indicated responsiveness as the most important element for improving service quality, followed by reliability, empathy, assurance and tangibility. The authorities running the hospital needed to eliminate the negative gap and improve service quality by taking necessary measures.

Studying the Critical Success Factors of ERP in the banking sector: a DEMATEL approach

The aim of this study is to determine and separate the critical success factors (CSFs) of enterprise requirements planning (ERP) into causes and effects. For this purpose, literature has been reviewed and the branches of a bank have been selected. Based on a pair wise comparison questionnaire relevant to the decision making trial and evaluation (DEMATEL) technique; the collected data has been analysed. Findings indicated that project management, education, commitment and support of the senior managers are among the cause variables and technology infrastructure, planning and business perspective, communications, change management, and participation of the groups are among the effect variables. By applying the approach of this study, service firms such as banks and particularly the studied bank can better implement their ERP projects.

A fuzzy hybrid approach for ranking and allocation of flare gas recovery methods

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate a fuzzy hybrid approach for ranking the flare gas recovery methods and allocating to refineries.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed approach is containing four stages: in the first stage, experts' assessment is applied to identify relevant criteria and sub-criteria in the evaluation of flare gas recovery methods. In the second stage, the corresponding weights of criteria and sub-criteria are determined via fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation (DEMATEL)-analytical network process (ANP) (DANP) method. In the third stage, the flare gas recovery methods are ranked using fuzzy weighted aggregated sum product assessment method (WASPAS) multi-criteria decision-making (MADM) technique. In the fourth stage, an optimization model is developed to allocate gas recovery methods to refineries while maximizing the total utility of allocations based on model constraints.FindingsAccording to the results of fuzzy DANP method, technical and operational criterion was the most important followed by economic, political, managerial and environmental criteria. With respect to sub-criteria, international sanctions and political stability were the most important. The results of fuzzy WASPAS method indicated that gas injection was the first ranked alternative. Finally, the mathematical modeling allocated the recovery methods to five refineries of South Pars gas field in Iran based on budget and time constraints.Originality/valueThe proposed approach provides a systematic tool in the selection of flare recovery methods and allocation to refineries. This approach uses a new combination of fuzzy DEMATEL-ANP (DANP) method, fuzzy WASPAS method and mathematical programming. The approach is effectively implemented in a case study for ranking the flare gas recovery methods and allocating to refineries of South Pars gas field in Iran.

Systemic Functions Evaluation based Technological Innovation System for the Sustainability of IoT in the Manufacturing Industry

Technological innovations are regarded as the tools that can stimulate economic growth and the sustainable development of technology. In recent years, as technologies based on the internet of things (IoT) have rapidly developed, a number of applications based on IoT innovations have emerged and have been widely adopted by various public and private sectors. Applications of IoT in the manufacturing industry, such as manufacturing intelligence, not only play a significant role in the enhancement of industrial competitiveness and sustainability, but also influence the diffusion of innovative applications that are based on IoT innovations. It is crucial for policy makers to understand these potential reasons for stimulating IoT industrial sustainability, as they can facilitate industrial competitiveness and technological innovations using supportive means, such as government procurement and financial incentives. Therefore, there is a need to ascertain different factors that may affect IoT industrial sustainability and further explore the relationship between these factors. However, finding a set of factors that affects IoT industrial sustainability is not easy. Recently, the robustness of a theoretical framework, termed the technological innovation system (TIS), has been verified and has been used to explore and analyze technological and industrial development. Thus, it is suitable for this research to use this theoretical model. In order to find out appropriate factors and accurately analyze the causality among factors that influence IoT industrial sustainability, this research presents a Bayesian rough Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) model based on TIS functions by integrating random forest (RF), decision making trial and evaluation (DEMATEL), Bayesian theory, and rough interval numbers. The proposed analytical framework is validated by an empirical case of defining the causality between TIS functions to enable the industrial sustainability of IoT in the Taiwanese smart manufacturing industry. Based on the empirical study results, the cause group consists of entrepreneurial activities, knowledge development, market formation, and resource mobilization. The effect group is composed of knowledge diffusion through networks’ guidance of the search, and creation of legitimacy. Moreover, the analytical results also provide several policy suggestions promoting IoT industrial sustainability that can serve as the basis for defining innovation policy tools for Taiwan and late coming economies.

A comprehensive multi-criteria decision making-based land capability assessment for municipal solid waste landfill sitting.

The municipal waste management has always been one of the most challenging environmental concerns. Today, although different strategies have been developed, sanitary disposal of municipal waste is still considered as one of the most widely used alternatives, especially in developing countries such as Iran. To investigate the land capability of Pishva, for landfill sitting, the important criteria were categorized in two groups of ecological and socioeconomic and then a multi-criteria decision-making model was used with decision-making trial and evaluation decision-making trial and evaluation (DEMATEL)-analytical network process (ANP) approach. First and foremost, the interaction of criteria was determined implementing DEMATEL. It was found that the soil depth criterion not only is the most effective but also is the most influenced one. Moreover, ANP structure was developed to weigh the criteria. In comparison to socioeconomic criteria, ecological ones play a more significant role. Afterwards, factor maps and constraints were standardized using fuzzy and Boolean logic, respectively, and all layers were combined to generate the final capability map of Pishva applying WLC method. The capability map showed that 71% of the area is not capable of landfilling, and only 5% of Pishva has a high capability. The results proved the great effectiveness of the methods proposed in this study.

Feasibility of using wind turbines for renewable hydrogen production in Firuzkuh, Iran

The present study was conducted with the objective of evaluating several proposed turbines from 25 kW to 1.65 MW in order to select the appropriate turbine for electricity and hydrogen production in Firuzkuh area using the decision making trial and evaluation (DEMATEL) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) methods. Initially, five important factors in selection of the best wind turbine for wind farm construction were determined using the DEMATEL technique. Then, technical-economic feasibility was performed for each of the eight proposed turbines using the HOMER software, and the performance score for each proposed wind turbine was obtained. The results show that the GE 1.5sl model wind turbine is suitable for wind farm construction. The turbine can generate 5515.325 MW of electricity annually, which is equivalent to $ 1103065. The average annual hydrogen production would be 1014 kg for Firuzkuh by using the GE 1.5sl model turbine.

Retail Location Decision Using an Integrated DEMATEL-ANP Method

This study focuses on developing a model for making retail location decisions which addresses the limitations of existing methods. The integrated DEMATEL-ANP method used here successfully accounts for interdependencies between the selected criteria. After reviewing the existing methods for decision making, the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation (DEMATEL) and the Analytical Network Process (ANP) methods were chosen. DEMATEL evaluates the degrees of influence the criteria have on each other. ANP is used to assign weights to criteria and the sub-criteria, and eventually derive the weights for the alternative locations. The integrated model helps prioritize among the available alternatives based on scientific methods, much more reliable than intuition and experience based methods still practiced today. Adopting this method can help retail chains make more informed decisions. This is the first time an integrated DEMATEL-ANP method has been applied in the context of retail location decision.

A novel hybrid MCDM approach for outsourcing supplier selection

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the criteria weights of outsourcing and their key role in ranking outsourcing suppliers. Design/methodology/approach A new hybrid multi-criteria decision-making approach merges three tools, namely, decision making trial and evaluation (DEMATLE), fuzzy analytic network process (FANP) and ordinal/cardinal data envelopment analysis (DEA) model. Afterwards, experts’ opinions were gathered from a Pipe and Fittings company. Finally, their opinions were incorporated in three-stage approach for outsourcing suppliers’ selection. Findings The findings of this study show that among the selective criteria for outsourcing, business development, focus on basic activities and order delays are the three most important criteria. Also, the proposed approach ranks suppliers to facilitate decision making for selection. Research limitations/implications The number of suppliers, selection criteria and the number of members of the respondents’ team have been identified as some of the limitations of the present study. Practical implications The study has significant and practical implications for the managers and for the organizations which have to choose top suppliers, particularly in the case of dealing with numerous and qualitative/quantitative criteria. Originality/value This paper proposed a new three-stage approach that incorporates outputs of previous as inputs of next stage to increasing results accuracy. Also, it showed that by incorporating results of FANP method into DEA model, key role of experts’ opinions as a qualitative and quantitative criteria can be caused by increasing flexibility of decision process.