Hierarchical Structure Of Criteria Research Articles

Selección del modelo de despliegue de la computación en nube mediante el método de análisis multicriterio AHP

Cloud computing is a prominent theme in computing that aims to provide on-demand computing resources over the Internet. Many organizations have already adopted cloud technologies, while others are still analyzing the feasibility of this migration. The objective of this paper is to indicate which cloud computing deployment model is the most appropriate to be adopted in an Information and Communication Technology Board of a public educational institution. To this end, the AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) multicriteria analysis method is used to assist in the decision making process. First, based on related works in the literature, the hierarchical structure of criteria and sub-criteria is elaborated, after which questionnaires are applied with the work team to prioritize the factors in levels of importance and then select the alternative. As a result, the security criterion is indicated as the most relevant, followed by availability, scalability and, lastly, cost. The alternative considered as suitable for the board of directors is the hybrid cloud. It is concluded that the AHP method proved efficient to evaluate the complexity of the various criteria involved.

A Comparative Analysis of the Most Prioritize Five Bold Moves Strategy in Telkom Indonesia

Telkom Indonesia is a state-owned telecommunications company in Indonesia that operates in the telecommunications industry. As a digitally transformed telecommunications company, Telkom needs to be agile in facing the dynamics of the industry. Telkom Indonesia has launched Five Bold Moves, which are five major strategies, to become a world-class telecommunications (telco) company. In general, these five major strategies are implemented by investing in telecommunications infrastructure and digital platforms in a balanced manner to meet shareholder aspirations and address industry challenges, such as the sustainability of Telkom’s business in the future and improving the company’s valuation and profits. The objective of this research is to determine the hierarchical structure of criteria, sub-criteria, and key alternatives in the selection of the Most Prioritized Five Bold Moves Strategy in Telkom Indonesia. This study employs the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method with the assistance of the Expert Choice application. The research subjects are employees of Telkom Indonesia, and the number of participants in the study is 31. The results of the research indicate that competitive advantage and strategic are the main criteria for selecting the Most Prioritized Five Bold Moves Strategy in Telkom Indonesia. And for The main alternatives indicate that “fixed and mobile collaboration (FMC)” and “data center Co” have a dominant influence in the hierarchy structure. The suggestion that the researcher can convey related to the results of this study is to add alternatives to similar research and combine the Analytic Hierarchy Process method with other Multi Criteria Decision Making techniques enabling decision-makers to make informed choices regarding their implementation. This research contributes to the strategic management literature by offering a comparative analysis of Telkom Indonesia’s five bold moves strategies using the AHP model. The findings provide valuable recommendations for Telkom Indonesia’s management team and serve as a basis for further research in the field of strategic decision-making in the telecommunications industry.

Innovation and Survival of Traditional Industries: Measuring Barriers Using the Best–Worst Method

Traditional industries, seen as cultural heritages, need to be innovative to grow and survive in the era of fast technological advancement. Traditional industries are continuously encountering decline. This research aims at identifying and addressing barriers to innovation to make an informed decision for better survival and improvement. A review of literature was used to propose a hierarchical structure of criteria in which innovation barriers were categorized into organizational, environmental, and supply chain dimensions. An online questionnaire was designed based on a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method called Best–Worst Method (BWM) to identify the importance of the barriers. The opinion of 41 experts working in the Iranian Carpet and Leather industries was collected. The results indicate that organizational culture and management support are the most important barriers to innovation in the Leather and Carpet industries. We also found that environmental criteria are the least important criteria in both selected traditional industries. Results illustrated that the two industries have no significant difference in the three perspectives.

SYNTHESIS OF THE UTILITY FUNCTION OF THE IT COMPANY'S SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS BASED ON THE SPICE REFERENCE MODEL

The work distinguishes two types of complex systems: "real systems" and "virtual systems". The first ones are the object of computer science research, and the second ones are the object of software engineering. The latter include software systems (SS) and the software development process (SDP), which is the object of scientific work research. SDP refers to goal-oriented systems. In such systems, on the basis of the set goals, the task of synthesizing their structure (individual elements and the relationship between them) arises, which is aimed at achieving the set goals related to the quality of SDP. It is believed that the success of SS development directly depends on the quality of SDP. The work considers the problem of assessment and improvement of SDP on the basis of two maturity models: SMMI, SPICE. Both models use a point scale of the first type, when the assessment is made according to objective criteria, so that individual assessments are some fluctuations of the real values. At the same time, there are generally accepted standards that correspond to the gradations of the point scale. The main component of the SMMI model is the focal area, which is characterized by the "level of opportunity" on a point scale from 0 to 3. The main component of the SPICE model is a process characterized by a "level of possibility" on a point scale from 1 to 5. For the discrete version of the SMMI model, the concept of "maturity level" is used, thanks to which the quality of the SDP of the entire IT organization is assessed. The formalization of the model was carried out and static and dynamic planning models of the SDP of the IT organization have been implemented, which are integrated into a single technology of "sliding" planning. One of the main disadvantages of the discrete version of the SMMI model is that it does not take into account the specifics of the IT organization activity. On the other hand, the SPICE model does not allow for the assessment of the entire SDP of the IT organization. Therefore, a synthesis of a discrete maturity model based on the SPICE reference model was proposed. Its main goal is to minimize the main drawbacks of the SMMI model. For this purpose, the use of utility theory was proposed. A hierarchical structure of criteria is formed, on the basis of which the utility function is synthesized. Previously, at the level of a separate process, the SPICE model was formalized and the structure of the utility function was determined on this basis. Taking into account the fundamental properties of the systems, the trend of its change based on the used resources is presented. Next, the experts compare the characteristics of the processes of the SPICE model and the IT company from the point of view of the importance of the processes for increasing the level of maturity of the SDP. This information from the experts is provided to the analysts, who place the processes in a queue depending on the importance from the point of view of the utility function.

An evolutionary approach for inferring the model parameters of the hierarchical Electre III method

Given a finite set of alternatives, the ranking problem statement builds a preference pre-order (partial or complete) on this set. In this paper, we are interested in multiple criteria ranking problems with a hierarchical structure of criteria; more precisely, we are interested in the existing hierarchical Electre III method. This method requires eliciting several preference parameters (namely, the weights and the veto thresholds). A direct elicitation of such parameters can be cognitively very demanding; thus, it is adequate to define the parameters in a way that requires much less cognitive effort from the decision-maker. The model parameters can be indirectly elicited by using holistic information provided by the decision-maker; this information can be given in the form of a ranking on a set of reference alternatives and some additional preference information. This paper proposes an aggregation-disaggregation approach for inferring the model parameters of the hierarchical Electre III based on an evolutionary algorithm. To verify the applicability and validity of the proposed preference disaggregation methodology, an illustrative example is addressed regarding the ranking of a set of universities.

Assessment of ERP systems for the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises based on a hierarchical structure of criteria

Modern enterprises base their operation on information systems, among which enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems play a key role. Of course, these are not universal systems, and factors such as company size and location play an important role in system selection and adoption. The aim of the article is to evaluate the ERP systems available on the Polish market, intended for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The assessment of the systems was based on a hierarchical structure of criteria relating to functionalities related to the management of production, procurement, distribution, sales, as well as analytical options and the possibility of adjusting the system. The tool used to compare individual systems was the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. Additionally, thanks to the sensitivity analysis, the uncertainty of the weighting of criteria and sub-criteria was considered, taking into account the hierarchical structure. The undertaken actions allowed to indicate the systems of the highest utility, regardless of the applied criteria weights.

Multi-Criteria Temporal Assessment of Afordable and Clean Energy Systems in European Countries Using the DARIA-TOPSIS Method

Assessment of the sustainability of countries for afordable and clean Energy requires a framework with relevant criteria, simultaneous inclusion of multiple criteria in the evaluation, and consideration of the dynamics of changes in performance over time. A wide variety of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approaches using different algorithms for multi-criteria aggregation are currently available. These methods are suitable for sustainability assessment because they allow the consideration of multiple criteria, the construction of a hierarchical structure of criteria, and the assignment of significance to criteria weights. However, MCDA methods have the limitation of being able to evaluate a data set for a single moment in time, which is insufficient for the sustainability paradigm. The mentioned limitation of MCDA motivates researchers to develop approaches that adapt MCDA methods to temporal assessment.The purpose of this paper is to present the application of a method called Data vARIability Assessment Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (the DARIA-TOPSIS method) for multi-criteria temporal assessment of European countries for affordable and clean energy. This aspect of sustainability is included in Sustainable Development Goal 7 proposed by United Nations in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The DARIA-TOPSIS method combines the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method for multi-criteria evaluation with a Gini coefficient-based measure of result variability. The method has identified the best-scored countries in terms of implementing sustainable energy policies focused on affordable and clean energy, including Norway, Iceland, and Sweden.

An uncertainty-based framework for evaluating and improving the long-term resilience of lakes under anthropogenic droughts

This paper introduces a new framework to evaluate the resilience of lakes under climatic and anthropogenic droughts. The proposed hierarchical structure of criteria for assessing lake's resilience has four levels. The first level includes several indices such as long-term resilience, reliability, and implementation cost. In the second to fourth levels, four main resilience-based criteria (i.e. robustness, resourcefulness, redundancy, and rapidity) and some qualitative and quantitative sub-criteria are defined considering the factors affecting the ecological condition of lakes. To quantify the time series of the sub-criteria, a coupled SWAT-MODSIM-based simulation model has been applied. Also, the values of criteria and sub-criteria have been aggregated using the Evidential Reasoning (ER) approach. After estimating the annual resilience time series, three resilience indices, namely the recovery time (Tr), loss of resilience (LOR), and final resilience (Resf), have been calculated. The normalized values of these indices and reliability criteria have been aggregated to evaluate the overall performance of lake restoration scenarios. To show the applicability of the proposed methodology, the Zarrinehrud river basin and Lake Urmia have been selected as the case study. As one of the largest hypersaline lakes globally, Lake Urmia suffers from drastic changes in its water body and a high level of salinization. Also, the Zarrinehrud river basin, located in the southeastern of Urmia Lake, is the most significant sub-basin of the lake and is responsible for supplying 41% of the total annual inflow of the lake. The restoration scenarios of Lake Urmia have been assessed from 2019 to 2049. Eventually, the most effective scenario, which has an average overall performance of 0.72, the implementation cost of 17.1 million dollars, and the uncertainty band of 0.05, has been selected.

Performance assessment of energy companies employing Hierarchy Stochastic Multi-Attribute Acceptability Analysis

This paper analyses the development of a performance assessment model for the most important listed companies operating in the energy sector, using a dataset obtained merging different sources. The construction of the model is based on a multiple criteria decision aid approach considering various indicators. The multidimensional nature of the topic in this paper requires the definition of a hierarchical structure of criteria, which has been aggregated into a composite index to obtain a final ranking for the energy companies under investigation. To handle with a hierarchical criteria structure and to take into account the space of fluctuations related to the imprecision on criteria weights, we employ the Hierarchy Stochastic Multi-Attribute Analysis. Thus, the proposed model is able to evaluate the performances of energy companies under different uncertainty scenarios. The results indicate that the first and last positions are quite robust in all considered scenarios, while the rankings relative to the intermediate positions vary widely by the chosen set of weights, exemplifying the need to rank companies based on multiple sets of criteria weights.

Evaluation of factors contributing to the failure of information systems in public universities: The case of Iran

In this paper, we evaluate the reasons for the failure of information systems in public universities. To that end, we start by presenting a hierarchical structure of criteria after reviewing related studies, and dividing the criteria into the categories of project management, organizational management, human-related, organizational and technical. To assess the weight of the criteria in the proposed framework, we collect the opinions of a sample of information technology experts working in different public universities in Iran, using an online questionnaire that is based on the best–worst method (BWM). By analyzing the weight of the criteria, we can reveal that misfit of information systems software (closely followed by lack of top management support and unsuccessful monitoring and measurement) has the greatest impact on the failure of information systems in the public universities of Iran. The methodology proposed in this paper can be used in other countries facing the same problem.

A Model to Evaluate the Organizational Readiness for Big Data Adoption

Evaluating organizational readiness for adopting new technologies always was an important issue for managers. This issue for complicated subjects such as Big Data is undeniable. Managers tend to adopt Big Data, with the best readiness. But this is not possible unless they can assess their readiness. In the present paper, we propose a model to evaluate the organizational readiness for Big Data adoption. To accomplish this objective, firstly, we identified the criteria that impact organizational readiness based on a comprehensive literature review. In the next step using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for criterion reduction and integration, twelve main criteria were identified. Then the hierarchical structure of criteria was developed. Further, Fuzzy Best- Worst Method (FBWM) has been used to identify the weight of the criteria. The finding enables decision-makers to appropriately choose the more important criteria and drop unimportant criteria in strengthening organizational readiness for Big Data adoption. Statistics-based hierarchical model and MCDM based criteria weighting have been proposed, which is a new effort in evaluating organizational readiness for Big Data adoption.

Multiple criteria decision aiding as a prediction tool for migration potential of regions

This study presents the potential of multiple criteria decision aiding (MCDA) as a tool for prediction analysis. We apply MCDA methodology for the determination of internal migration potential of regions within a country. The ELECTRE Tri-C together with the Multiple Criteria Hierarchy Process (MCHP), the imprecise SRF method and the Stochastic Multicriteria Acceptability Analysis (SMAA) will be applied to investigate the case of the internal migrations in Serbia. We shall give recommendations regarding the migration potential of Serbian municipalities in the following years. In particular, the ELECTRE Tri-C will be applied to classify the regions in four classes ordered with respect to regions’ migration potential, MCHP will be used to take into account the hierarchical structure of criteria on which the municipalities are evaluated. Finally, the imprecise SRF method, as well as the SMAA methodology, will be used to take into account the preferences of numerous economic agents.

Investigating the quality of online advertisement: a model of evaluation criteria

This article presents a structural equation model framework that supports the quality of online advertising. This framework is composed of a hierarchical structure of criteria and subcriteria and makes use of structural equation modelling approach to develop the final framework, which depends on the critical factors that affect the quality concept of the online advertisement. To validate this framework, we performed a survey based on a questionnaire and a sample of 200 World Wide Web users. The results confirmed the framework validity and rotated factor analysis supported reduction of the original model to an online advertisement quality-scoring framework, which involves eight composite quality criteria.

Investigating the quality of online advertisement: a model of evaluation criteria

This article presents a structural equation model framework that supports the quality of online advertising. This framework is composed of a hierarchical structure of criteria and subcriteria and makes use of structural equation modelling approach to develop the final framework, which depends on the critical factors that affect the quality concept of the online advertisement. To validate this framework, we performed a survey based on a questionnaire and a sample of 200 World Wide Web users. The results confirmed the framework validity and rotated factor analysis supported reduction of the original model to an online advertisement quality-scoring framework, which involves eight composite quality criteria.

SMAA‐QUALIFLEX methodology to handle multicriteria decision‐making problems based on q‐rung fuzzy set with hierarchical structure of criteria using bipolar Choquet integral

The qualitative flexible multiple criteria method (QUALIFLEX) is a convenient outranking technique to handle multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) problems due to its less complexity and high applicability, while the multiple criteria hierarchy process (MCHP) allows decision makers to deal with the hierarchical structure of criteria set where decision makers can even estimate results for a particular subcriterion at some intermediate level of the hierarchy. The main focus of our study is the amalgamation of the MCHP and QUALIFLEX methodology with special emphasis on modeling interaction among the criteria using the concept of bipolar Choquet integral. To give the decision makers more freedom for expressing their cognition about membership and nonmembership grades, the q-rung orthopair fuzzy (q-ROF) environment is adopted to expresses the criteria measurement. To facilitate this, it is first proposed a revised closeness index for q-ROF to identify the appropriate ordering. Further, it is aimed to establish a new framework by implementing stochastic multiobjective acceptability analysis in our proposed extended QUALIFLEX method to take into account a variety of parameters compatible with the descriptive information regarding the relative importance and interaction of different criteria provided by the decision maker. Finally, a numerical example based on the supplier selection problem is presented to illustrate the proposed methodology in the decision problem.

MULTIPLE CRITERIA DECISION MAKING APPROACH FOR INDUSTRIAL ENGINEER SELECTION USING FUZZY AHP-FUZZY TOPSIS

In this study, a fuzzy multiple criteria decision-making approach is proposed to select an industrial engineer among ten candidates in a manufacturing environment. The industrial engineer selection problem is a special case of the personal selection problem. This problem, which has hierarchical structure of criteria and many decision makers, contains many criteria. The evaluation process of decision makers also includes ambiguous parameters. The fuzzy AHP is used to determine the weights for evaluation criteria. The consistencies of pair-wise comparisons matrices are controlled and a crisp overall performance value is obtained for each candidate based on the Best Non-fuzzy Performance Value. The sensitivity of the candidates’ overall performance values is analyzed by taking into account both the weight of decision makers and the weights of basis criteria. The candidates are also evaluated by fuzzy TOPSIS method and the result obtained by fuzzy AHP is compared with the result achieved by fuzzy TOPSIS.

Mathematical Methods of System Analysis in Construction Materials

System attributes of construction materials are defined: complexity of an object, integrity of set of elements, existence of essential, stable relations between elements defining integrative properties of system, existence of structure, etc. On the basis of cognitive modelling (intensive and extensive properties; the operating parameters) materials (as difficult systems) and creation of the cognitive map the hierarchical modular structure of criteria of quality is under construction. It actually is a basis for preparation of the specification on development of material (the required organization and properties). Proceeding from a modern paradigm (model of statement of problems and their decisions) of development of materials, levels and modules are specified in structure of material. It when using the principles of the system analysis allows to considered technological process as the difficult system consisting of elements of the distinguished specification level: from atomic before separate process. Each element of system depending on an effective objective is considered as separate system with more detailed levels of decomposition. Among them, semantic and qualitative analyses of an object (are considered a research objective, decomposition levels, separate elements and communications between them come to light). Further formalization of the available knowledge in the form of mathematical models (structural identification) is carried out; communications between input and output parameters (parametrical identification) are defined. Hierarchical structures of criteria of quality are under construction for each allocated level. On her the relevant hierarchical structures of system (material) are under construction. Regularities of structurization and formation of properties, generally are considered at the levels from micro to a macrostructure. The mathematical model of material is represented as set of the models corresponding to private criteria by which separate modules and their levels (the mathematical description, a decision algorithm) are defined. Adequacy is established (compliance of results of modelling to experimental data; is defined by the level of knowledge of process and validity of the accepted assumptions). The global criterion of quality of material is considered as a set of private criteria (properties). Synthesis of material is carried out on the basis of one-criteria optimization on each of the chosen private criteria. Results of one-criteria optimization are used at multicriteria optimization. The methods of developing materials as single-purpose, multi-purpose, including contradictory, systems are indicated. The scheme of synthesis of composite materials as difficult systems is developed. The specified system approach effectively was used in case of synthesis of composite materials with special properties.

Hierarchical structure of criteria used for contractor selection for construction works. Empirical research from the Czech Republic

Success of construction projects is fundamentally dependent on contractors. This paper focuses on criteria used to select the contractors in public contracts in the Czech Republic on data from 2011 to 2013. The goal is to identify criteria used by contracting entities for contractor evaluation. The legal regulations allow the use of two basic evaluation approaches: the lowest tender price and economic advantageousness of the tender which means multi-criteria decision making. The criteria are selected by the contracting entities. An analytic hierarchy process and affinity matrix were used to create the hierarchical structure of criteria. The final hierarchy consists of three levels: 1) the goal to find the best contractor; 2) criteria: quality, time, financial aspects, terms and conditions and guarantees; 3) level contains sub-criteria. The developed hierarchic structure can be used by contracting entities in order to gain more value from selecting the best contractor.

Hierarchical structure of criteria used for contractor selection for construction works. Empirical research from the Czech Republic

Success of construction projects is fundamentally dependent on contractors. This paper focuses on criteria used to select the contractors in public contracts in the Czech Republic on data from 2011 to 2013. The goal is to identify criteria used by contracting entities for contractor evaluation. The legal regulations allow the use of two basic evaluation approaches: the lowest tender price and economic advantageousness of the tender which means multi-criteria decision making. The criteria are selected by the contracting entities. An analytic hierarchy process and affinity matrix were used to create the hierarchical structure of criteria. The final hierarchy consists of three levels: 1) the goal to find the best contractor; 2) criteria: quality, time, financial aspects, terms and conditions and guarantees; 3) level contains sub-criteria. The developed hierarchic structure can be used by contracting entities in order to gain more value from selecting the best contractor.

A robust ranking method extending ELECTRE III to hierarchy of interacting criteria, imprecise weights and stochastic analysis

A great majority of methods designed for Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding (MCDA) assume that all assessment criteria are considered at the same level, however, decision problems encountered in practice often impose a hierarchical structure of criteria. The hierarchy helps to decompose complex decision problems into smaller and manageable subtasks, and thus, it is very attractive for computational efficiency and explanatory purposes. To handle the hierarchy of criteria in MCDA, a methodology called Multiple Criteria Hierarchy Process (MCHP), has been recently proposed. MCHP permits to consider preference relations with respect to a subset of criteria at any level of the hierarchy. Here, we propose to apply MCHP to the ELECTRE III ranking method adapted to handle three types of interaction effects between criteria: mutual-weakening, mutual-strengthening and antagonistic effect. We also involve in MCHP an imprecise elicitation of criteria weights, generalizing a technique called the SRF method. In order to explore the plurality of rankings obtained by the ELECTRE III method for possible sets of criteria weights, we apply the Stochastic Multiobjective Acceptability Analysis (SMAA) that permits to draw robust conclusions in terms of rankings and preference relations at each level of the hierarchy of criteria. The novelty of the whole methodology consists of a joint consideration of hierarchical assessments of alternatives performances on interacting criteria, imprecise criteria weights, and robust analysis of ranking recommendations resulting from ELECTRE III. An example regarding the multiple criteria ranking of some European universities will show how to apply the proposed methodology on a decision problem.