DEMATEL-based Analytic Network Process Research Articles

Diagnosing the Organizational Climate of Junior High Schools in Taiwan

The study aims to prioritize critical climate components for school improvement. A psychometrically validated instrument named the Chinese “Organizational Climate Diagnostic Instrument for Junior High Schools” (OCDI-JH) was used to diagnose climate factors through expert judgments and fuzzy DEMATEL-based ANP. Results of the study identified the six factors clustered under the two dimensions of ‘Safety' (D1) or ‘Academic emphasis' (D2) should be given particular attention for school effectiveness. The established climate diagnosis appraisal computed by fuzzy DEMATEL-based ANP can be extended to other school regions for systematically developing school climate based on contextually specific needs and concerns. Future research studies are expected to provide incremental and value-added contributions to the competitive advantages of Taiwan's junior high school education.

Intellectual Capital Evaluation Index Based on a Hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Technique

In the context of a burgeoning knowledge economy, enterprise intellectual capital has emerged as a pivotal asset for organizational growth. Evaluating it requires a comprehensive and robust index, yet there is no standard methodology for such assessments. Here, we propose an index for evaluating enterprise intellectual capital. We use the Delphi method to delineate a scientific decision structure. A grey-based decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) is coupled with an analytic network process (ANP)—i.e., grey DEMATEL-based ANP (GDANP)—to determine the relative weight of indicators. Then, we use the technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution to validate the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed evaluation index based on data on thirty new-technology companies in China. This study bridges a critical gap in academic discourse, and we discuss the practical implications for the strategic management of intellectual capital in corporate settings.

Exploring critical determinants influencing businesses’ continuous usage of mobile payment in post-pandemic era: Based on the UTAUT2 perspective

Consumers across demographics have diverse digital lifestyles and rely heavily on e-commerce to purchase necessities including food and beverages. The COVID-19 pandemic has habituated consumers to making mobile payments at an accelerated pace. Despite rising consumer demand for mobile payments, comparable trends in the supply side for businesses remains crucial for the future sustainability of mobile payments. However, businesses must remain willing to accept mobile payments and engage in continued marketing to promote mobile payment. Few studies thus far have applied multi-criteria decision-making analyses to evaluate the critical determinants of intention and motivation to use mobile payment; quantitative analysis methods, such as factor, regression, and variance analyses, are more commonly applied. This study examined the critical evaluation constructs and criteria that affect retailers and service providers in outlying islands using the Extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) as our theoretical basis. It then established a multi-criteria decision-making framework for understanding the factors influencing businesses' mobile payment use. This study uses the multi-criteria evaluation of the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and DEMATEL-based Analytic Network Process (DANP) to create network relation maps of the constructs and criteria for the willingness of outlying island retailers and service providers to continue accepting mobile payments. Penghu County is located on the outlying islands of Taiwan and has witnessed a substantial shift in transaction practices among its small and medium-sized enterprises following the outbreak of the pandemic. It experienced a marked decrease in tourist influx during the COVID-19 pandemic, significantly impacting local businesses. This study aimed to better understand the opinions and motivations of businesses in Penghu County regarding mobile payment services. Insights from this perspective should help improve local businesses’ adaptability and usage habits. The findings offer significant strategies for the government to provide specific training programs and subsidies or incentives for businesses adopting mobile payment technologies, ultimately expanding mobile payment services across small businesses that target tourists.

Identifying key mental health and improvement factors in hospital administrators working from home using a DEMATEL-based network analysis model.

To identify the key mental health and improvement factors in hospital administrators working from home during COVID-19 normalization prevention and control. The survey was conducted from May to June 2023, and the practical experiences of 33 hospital administrators were collected using purposive sampling. The study examined a set of mental health factor systems. The relationship structure between the factors was constructed using the Decision-making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method. Finally, the structure was transformed using the influence weight of each factor via the DEMATEL-based Analytic Network Process. Regarding influence weight, the key mental health factors of hospital administrators are mainly "lack of coordination," "time management issues," and "work-life imbalances." The influential network relation map shows that improvements can be made by addressing "improper guidelines," "laziness due to being at home," and "job insecurity" because they are the main sources of influence. The reliability level of the results for the network structure and weight was 98.79% (i.e., the gap was 1.12% < 5%). The network analysis model based on DEMATEL proposed in this study can evaluate the mental health factors of hospital administrators during the pandemic period from a multidimensional and multidirectional perspective and may help improve mental health problems and provide suggestions for hospital administrators.

Evaluating Drivers and Barriers of Integrated Waste Management System Implementation in Indonesian Construction Industry: A DEMATEL-Based Analytical Network Process

The growth of construction industries in Indonesia creates an increasing level of generated construction waste. The limited implementation of ISO 14001 in the Indonesian construction industry might indicate the limited implementation of waste management based on sustainability principles. Therefore, this study aims to explore the drivers and barriers to implementing integrated waste management in construction industries. The Content Validity Index (CVI) and Modified Kappa methods were utilized to validate the indicators from the literature review. A total of 18 driver factors and 21 barrier factors in six dimensions were assessed by seven experts. This study then employs the decision-making evaluation and laboratory-based analytical network process (DEMATEL-based ANP) to find the weight and relation between each indicator and dimension. The results show that environmental awareness is the most important factor that drives construction industries to implement waste management in their company. In contrast, a lack of education about waste management is the most significant factor that inhibits construction industries from implementing sound waste management systems.

ASSESSING THE DIFFUSION OF FINTECH INNOVATION IN FINANCIAL INDUSTRY: USING THE ROUGH MCDM MODEL

We develop a conceptual structure to explore how financial technology (FinTech) innovation is being implemented to deal with vague, inconsistent and ambiguous knowledge in actual world. The structure of this study is built upon the technology, organization, environment (TOE) context, which one uses the concept of multi-criteria estimation to measure the significance of FinTech innovation. We develop an integrated MCDM (multiple criteria decision-making) model through rough set theory help administrators obtain a strategic influence relation map for enhancing performance approaching towards the aspiration value. This model involves three steps: primary, we apply this rough number to define group views which reflect upon experts’ real experiences; second, we use the rough DEMATEL-based ANP-(RDANP) to acquire the rough influential weights and rough influential network relationship map (RINRM) based on this TOE structure and its corresponding attributes; finally, we utilize the rough modified VIKOR with the influence to analyze the gap between the performance value and the aspirated level. The empirical case was originated from financial industry in Taiwan. According to the weighting results the expected benefits, technology integration, and competitive pressure were the most important criteria. Our results also illustrate how FinTech innovation can be used for promoting financial services.

Analyzing the interrelations among investors’ behavioral biases using an integrated DANP method

This research investigates the relationships between investors’ behavioral biases and compares their relative importance. For this purpose, a survey is conducted, and analytical methods are used. The sample for this study has been 512 individual investors of the Tehran Stock Exchange who completed an online questionnaire. The respondents replied about their behavior in different situations to analyze the prevalence of asymmetric discounting, mental accounting, shifting risk preference, loss aversion, regret aversion, overconfidence, proxy decision making, ambiguity aversion bias, anchoring, and herd behavior as significant fields of behavioral biases in their investment decisions. The data is analyzed using two different analytical techniques. A model based on structural equations is designed and tested to analyze the relations between these fields. Another integrated method, the DEMATEL-based analytic network process, is also used to prioritize and rank these behavioral biases. Finally, the results are compared and confirmed by each other. Analyzing the results proves the existence of 19 positive and statistically significant relations between these fields. Thus, an increase or decrease in the intensity of a particular field of behavioral biases in one’s decisions significantly affects the intensity of other fields. The present study finds that shifting risk preference, anchoring, loss aversion, and regret aversion are the most important fields of behavioral biases based on their prevalence among investors and their correlations with other biases.

A multi-criteria decision-making integrated approach for identifying and ranking factors affecting the quality of cosmetic surgery clinic services

Considering the increasing demand for cosmetic surgery and the number of private cosmetic surgery clinics, it is essential to measure and manage the quality of services provided by these clinics. Obtaining sufficient knowledge about the content perceived by the clients of the quality of services provided by specialized clinics can affect identifying improvement opportunities and criteria that will cause their competitive advantage, and on the other hand, it also prevents wasting resources. For this purpose, this study aims to identify, evaluate, and prioritize the criteria for quality improvement in cosmetic surgery clinics. First, the effective criteria focus on the quality of medical services have been identified by reviewing the research background. Then, the identified criteria in the case study are customized by the Delphi method, and then the DEMATEL-based analytic network process method (DANP) is applied to reveal their causal relationships between criteria and sub-criteria to determine the direct and indirect influences, and finally, all of them are prioritized. In the end, based on the obtained results and knowledge of experienced medical experts in the case study, some managerial solutions are proposed to improve the quality of the provided medical services.

How does the type of MCDM method affect the results of the prioritization and assessment of ecosystem services? A case study in the Ebro River Delta (Spain)

The prioritization and assessment of ecosystem services allow governments to apply public policies on target to improve these natural areas' sustainable development and human well-being. It also enhances the environmental, socio-cultural and agricultural management of ecosystems. Previous research has proved that geographical and socio-cultural factors could influence the results obtained in real study cases. However, other factors should be studied since stakeholders have differing views on the most suitable method to prioritize ecosystem services. Regarding how stakeholders structure criteria, networked processes are, theoretically, more appropriate than the hierarchical techniques such as AHP, since they capture all the relationships among criteria. Consequently, nowadays ANP has become one of the most common MCDM methods in this field. Moreover, this technique also analyzes the consistency of the decision-makers' judgements. Nonetheless, the use of this method also encompasses some weak points: it is too laborious and time-consuming. Additionally, it is not easy to manage when the number of criteria per cluster is too large. It is why some researchers prefer using other techniques such as AHP in spite of the fact that it does not capture the relationships among criteria, or a hybrid DEMATEL-Based ANP technique, better-known as DANP, which does not utilize pairwise comparisons and hence is not able to study judgments’ inconsistencies. Therefore, this study aims to analyze how each method (AHP, ANP and DANP) influences the prioritization of ecosystem services in a real case conducted in the Ebro River Delta (Spain). Once all priorities are obtained, the results are compared through a statistical analysis of compatibility and correlation. Regarding the results of the three techniques, they show no compatibility among them. However, the correlation between the rankings obtained with ANP and DANP is reasonably correlated for seven of the eleven experts participating in the study. Besides, when the results are aggregated, their compatibility and correlation increase. On the contrary, the results obtained in AHP differ from the other two methods. Finally, and contrary to the initial hypothesis, most experts agreed more with the results obtained with DANP and AHP than with ANP.

Design of Customer Satisfaction Criteria for Telecommunications Operators: Fixed Broadband Services

Customer dissatisfaction is an opportunity lost for telecommunications operators in fixed broadband services in expanding its market, it is indicating that the criteria used in designing the loyalty program that being provided to customer are still less precise. This research aims to provide recommendations for telecommunications operator loyalty programs for fixed broadband services based on customer satisfaction’s criteria. This research uses DEMATEL-Based ANP (DANP) and Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method to get assessment of loyalty program that best fits the customer satisfaction’s criteria. This research resulted in 5 dimensions and 22 criteria of customer satisfaction for telecommunications operators in fixed broadband services, where the dimension that most influences is resource and the dimension that is most influenced is relationship. The best loyalty program for telecommunications operators in fixed broadband services at PT X is High Value Customer (HVC), while the worst loyalty program is Customer Application.

Consumers' switching intention towards E-commerce platforms’ store-to-store pickup services: The application of the extended PPM model

The knowledge of the preference of innovative service consumers is crucial for e-commerce platforms to boost profit, gain a competitive advantage, and achieve remarkable growth. In this research, the consumer's viewpoint was applied. Furthermore, the extended Push-Pull-Mooring (PPM) model was integrated into the multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) approach to investigate the elements impacting the consumers' attempt of shifting to the store-to-store pickup service developed by e-commerce platforms. Besides, the development of the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) was for the investigation into the reciprocal effects of evaluation dimensions and factors and the development of an influential network relation map (NRM). The DEMATEL-based Analytic Network Process (DANP) was used to calculate the influential weights of these dimensions and factors. It could be seen from the NRM that the first dimension that required improvement and adjustment ought to begin with a push and subsequently a pull, mooring, switching intentions, and inertia. The influential weights from the DANP highlighted inertia as the most impactful dimension, with mooring coming in second. Meanwhile, push held the lowest significance. The next discussion focuses on the theoretical, managerial and practical implications.

Exploring the critical factors influencing the outlying island talent recruitment and selection evaluation model: Empirical evidence from Penghu, Taiwan

The declining birth rate, population ageing and the outbound migration of young people in recent years have created obstacles for local companies in recruiting skilled personnel. Similar factors have also affected recruitment in the outlying island of Penghu, Taiwan. Multiple-attribute decision-making (MADM) techniques for evaluation model development were incorporated in the present research to investigate the key determinants of talent recruitment by the coffee house operators in the outlying island of Penghu. The decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) approach was first implemented to (i) examine the extent of mutual impact between evaluation predictors and (ii) develop an influential network relation map (NRM) for indicator and sub-indicator assessments. Subsequently, the DEMATEL-based analytic network process (DANP) technique was utilised to compute the weights of every indicator and sub-indicator. Additionally, the modified VlseKriterijumska Optimizcija I Kaompromisno Resenje or VIKOR (in Serbian) approach evaluated every indicator and sub-indicator performance gap for empirical data analysis with suggested conclusions and recommendations. The results showed that the first dimension that should be improved is past experience, followed by personality traits and professional competence, according to the causal diagram of the NRM. The weights acquired through the DANP indicated that professional competence was the most influential dimension, followed by personality traits, whereas past experience was the least influential. Past experience revealed that the highest gap value is the most important for development if coffee house operators want to attain the appropriate levels. Finally, the theoretical, managerial, and practical implications were discussed. Notably, the research outcomes could optimise talent recruitment, establish appropriate talent recruitment methods for coffee house operators, and enhance the human resource quality in the outlying island of Penghu.

A New Hybrid Decision-Making Model for Promoting Sustainable Social Rental Housing

The realization of sustainable social rental housing is regarded as an important policy to solve the housing burden, but social rental housing is often unsustainable. This study assesses the sustainability of social rental housing. However, the decision-making models, such as the classical decision-making hierarchy (AHP) used in the current study, conflict with the resolution of the complex influence of the relationship between evaluation dimensions/criteria. Based on this, we construct a new hybrid multi-attribute decision-making model (MADM) combining the Fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL), Fuzzy DEMATEL-based analytic network process (DANP) and the modified VIseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method for the sustainability assessment of government-led social rental housing (SRH) using Taiwanese experts as the subject of the investigation. The Fuzzy DEMATEL found that economic sustainability (D1), as the core dimension, affects environmental (D3) and social sustainability (D2). Furthermore, criteria with the “cause” position, including the reasonable development model (C2), the provision of living facilities and services needed (C5), the adoption of environmentally friendly technology and equipment (C10), guaranteed rent and lease (C1), the acquisition of working skill and employment opportunities (C6) and space planning and design (C3), should receive more attention from decision makers because improving these can further enhance the sustainability of the overall scheme. Combined with the DANP weight and modified VIKOR, we also indicate that these criteria should be optimized to make the evaluation more sustainable for a selected social housing case in Taiwan. The research also further proposes management strategy implications.

Identifying Critical Indicators in Performance Evaluation of Green Supply Chains Using Hybrid Multiple-Criteria Decision-Making

Performance evaluation of green supply chains (GSC) is an important tool to improve their comprehensive management. Identifying critical indicators is crucial to evaluation. This study examines the critical indicators in performance evaluations of GPC and provides relevant suggestions for managers to improve GSCs’ performances. Firstly, we summarized 24 evaluation indicators from five dimensions—financial value, customer service-level, business processes, innovation and development, and the so-called green level. Secondly, the Delphi method was used to determine the formal research framework. The fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory based analytic network process (fuzzy DEMATEL-based ANP) model was applied. The weighted prominence of each indicator was calculated to identify those that were critical, and a causality diagram was constructed for them. Finally, corresponding countermeasures and implications regarding those were put forward. The research results show that the critical indicators include the return rate of net assets, the growth rate of profit, the rate of service satisfaction, market share, production flexibility, and the green consensus. Among them, the green consensus, the growth rate of profit and the rate of service satisfaction form a virtuous circle, leading to the improvement of the overall performance of GSC.

What Does It Take for Organizations to Adopt Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)? A Fuzzy DANP Analysis

The growing utilization of advanced technologies such as massive open online courses (MOOCs) within organizations represents change, and embracing such change begins with individual and organizational end-users who often resist newly introduced systems. Recent studies have primarily focused on identifying critical factors in educational and corporate MOOCs adoption, while the consolidation of these factors has been overlooked. With our fuzzy DEMATEL-based analytical network process (DANP) analysis, this research fills this critical gap by prioritizing the identified factors and specifying their causality to understand how these critical factors can influence the successful implementation of MOOCs training systems in the workplace. Through consensus from a panel of human resource development (HRD) experts, 20 success factors at individual, content, and organizational levels were screened. Results indicate that the individual factors are the most influential, while the content factors are influenced most by other factors under study. Results also indicate that organizational sub-factors of technical support ranked first, training on how to work with MOOCs system second, and the presence of content experts ranked third. Therefore, our study unravels the significance of ranking multi-level determinants for educators and managers who plan to embark on MOOCs to attain a competitive advantage for both the globalized economy and societal trends. We propose a paradigm for future research and practice.

Evaluating the Mobile Learning Quality for Promoting the User Needs in Taiwanese Higher Education During COVID-19

This study explores the strategic issues related to the mobile learning quality in Taiwanese higher education during the COVID-19 pandemics. While much previous study determined the factors affecting mobile learning quality, seldom research works discussed the influence weights of the elements and their interrelations in the higher education through a comprehensive view. Hence, the purpose of this research is to explore the interrelationships and feedback between the factors affecting mobile learning quality via a combined multiple attribute decision-making (MADM) method, which will include decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL), and DEMATEL-based ANP (DANP) approaches. This recommended approach can offer guidance to prioritize the influence elements in the enhancement plans for mobile learning quality. This research uses the recommended approach in the higher education in Taiwan as an empirical study during COVID-19. These findings results state which service quality needs to be enhanced primarily, and learning ability is the most important factor influencing mobile learning quality during COVID-19. Furthermore, the results show that system quality perspective has the strongest impact on the relations and it also has an important effect on other perspectives. The results can provide guidance on assigning resources of limit to improve this mobile learning quality in Taiwanese higher education in the COVID-19 pandemics.

Applying a Hybrid MCDM Model to Evaluate Green Supply Chain Management Practices

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted global supply chain managers to reassess their operations. Developing a green supply chain requires successfully integrating environmental responsibility principles and benchmarks into supply chain management practices. In the past, there have been few studies on the most effective strategies for reducing the environmental impact of supply chains and improving their sustainability. This study used the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method to construct a structural model evaluation system of the green supply chain management (GSCM) to evaluate the interdependent relationships among dimensions and criteria. A GSCM evaluation system was created after using the DEMATEL-based ANP (DANP) to convert the GSCM evaluation indicators and impact factors into degrees of importance. This study explores the obstacles and challenges that organizations face when implementing GSCM practices and how these challenges can be overcome. The results found that organizational changes had the most significant impact, given that they would also improve the other three dimensions. Among the 16 evaluation criteria, resource allocation and market expansion optimization were the most important. Based on these findings, the study proposed specific improvement strategies that corporations and other stakeholders could use to adopt GSCM practices.

Supporting Management Disciplines for Research and Development in Public Organizations

In practice, R&amp;D in public organizations in developing countries is confronted with a variety of failures related to supporting management disciplines. The primary goal of this study is to address this issue through multiple-criteria decision making, which includes the DANP (DEMATEL-based ANP) approach. The DANP approach helps to resolve the classification issue that arises as a result of interdependence and feedback characteristics among the capabilities related to supporting management disciplines, allowing weak capabilities to be prioritized based on their interdependence. In the case of criteria weighting, the empirical result in terms of the degree of the net causal relationship had a greater influence on other criteria; however, in terms of dimensions, the technology management process capability had a greater significance on other dimensions, while the innovation management process capability had the least significance on other dimensions. The studies were based on relevant capabilities under a generic perspective so as to oppose country-specific reviews. However, for empirical testing, the proposed framework needs to fit into a country-specific context. According to specific conditions, Pakistan is considered as a case of empirical testing, providing the experts from the multidisciplinary field of science and technology with robust professional credentials in managing multi-mission R&amp;D from public organizations.

Barriers to corporate social responsibility performance in construction organizations

PurposeThis study aims to identify and prioritize barriers to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the construction sector.Design/methodology/approachA literature review was first conducted to identify barriers to CSR performance. After that, construction professionals were invited to validate the appropriateness of the obstacles. The discussion allowed the establishment of a list of barriers to CSR performance and their corresponding categories. Data collected from the survey were then analyzed to prioritize the importance of these barriers by the fuzzy DEMATEL-based ANP (DANP) technique.FindingsThe findings presented 16 barriers to CSR, which were categorized into four clusters. The fuzzy DANP analysis showed that strategic vision is the most crucial cluster, followed by the measurement system, stakeholder perspective and scarce resources. Among the sixteen barriers examined, lack of awareness, knowledge and information of CSR; low priority of CSR; lack of metrics to quantify CSR benefits; lack of guidelines and coherent strategies; and lack of CSR enforcement mechanism are the five most crucial barriers.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first that proposes a comprehensive model to prioritize barriers to CSR performance of contractors considering their interrelationships. It provides construction stakeholders with a framework for understanding the linkage between the barriers and CSR framework under the umbrella of stakeholder theory. Thus, the findings might assist construction practitioners and academics in fostering the success of CSR implementation.

Hybrid MADM-based study of key risk factors in house-for-pension reverse mortgage lending in Taiwan's banking industry

The issue of financial problems among the elderly has garnered the attention of multiple generations. In 2018, Taiwan formally attained an ageing society status. In order to address the financial difficulties elderly people face, an annuity system reform was launched by the Taiwanese government. Reverse mortgage lending, which is performed on the basis of house-for-pension, is an alternate method for enhancing their standard of living and sustaining their financial stability. The elderly applicants often mortgage their properties to financial institutions in order to maintain a steady cash flow for the fulfilment of their daily needs and live their remaining years in the mortgaged properties without vacating. Prior studies on house-for-pension in the Taiwanese context primarily concentrated on institutional implementation analysis but limitedly explored the uncertainty risks banks face when implementing the house-for-pension scheme. First, a literature review on the risks associated with house-for-pension reverse mortgage financing and comprehensive interviews with banking industry professionals were conducted. Subsequently, in the Taiwanese banking sector, assessment criteria for important risk factors in house-for-pension reverse mortgage financing were devised. The decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) was utilised to assess the interdependence of the assessment criteria. Next, the DEMATEL-based analytic network process (ANP) or DANP were used to calculate the weights of evaluation criteria. By employing modified VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR), a gap analysis was undertaken on the assessment criteria and sub-criteria. The study's findings serve as a guideline for the Taiwanese banking industry in formulating, improving, or amending the risk exposure mitigation measures for reverse mortgage lending.