Analytic Hierarchy Process Methodology Research Articles

Assessing the Potential of Minho and Lima Estuaries for Aquaculture

Picado, A.; Oliveira, V.; Pereira, H.; Sousa, M.C.; Costa, L.; Almeida, A., and Dias, J.M., 2020. Assessing the potential of Minho and Lima estuaries for aquaculture. In: Malvarez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 148-152. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.This work aims the identification of the best potential areas to develop aquaculture activities in Minho and Lima estuaries, especially for the species with the highest commercial value. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology was applied to the results of an annual simulation with Delft3D model (including the hydrodynamic and water quality modules). After, each variable used in AHP was crossed with the environmental thresholds for development/growth of one bivalve (Portuguese Oyster) and one fish (Gilthead Seabream) species. In this way, an Exploration Index (EI) was defined in order to identify the most suitable regions according to water biophysical properties. This EI was mapped for both estuaries and results show that, in general, the low and middle estuaries present the best conditions for aquaculture development of bivalve and fish. In addition, the upper areas of both estuaries are unsuitable for aquaculture, due to the low salinity of these regions.

Development of road sector’s lend valuation method for aims of asset management

The object of research is the land management processes of the road sector. The studies are based on the use of a multistructure approach, the basic principles of the theory of complex systems and the methodology of AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) by Thomas Saaty. The main hypothesis of the study is the application of a multi-structure approach to valuing assets, which are not comprehensively evaluated in the study, but are considered as complex objects and are divided into simpler levels, components and elements that can be evaluated separately. The features of the valuation of land of the road sector are considered, and the main stages of the evaluation sequence are identified. It has been established that the land valuation is the main component of the valuation of the asset of the road sector, which is located on it. The results of a theoretical study make it possible to develop an algorithm for valuing land of the road sector for asset management purposes. The developed algorithm has a clear sequence in the formation of the methodology for the land valuation of the road economy, it makes it possible to justify the adoption of managerial decisions regarding the land plot, which are consistent with the goals and correspond to the nature of the tasks of the functioning and development of the road sector. The testing of the developed algorithm is performed on a real example. It is found that the algorithm allows to optimize the process of valuation and management of road assets, which is especially important within limited financial resources. The choice of land valuation options is based on criteria of economic efficiency, based on the main limitations and features of land valuation of the road sector. The results of the calculations can be a weighty basis for the formulation of managerial goals for the assets of the road sector and will form the basis for further scientific studies of the process of valuation of assets under financial constraints.

Assessing Sustainability Performance at the Farm Level: Examples from Greek Agricultural Systems

In recent years, farmers and policymakers have faced ample challenges and have struggled to support the sustainability of the agricultural sector. Sustainable agriculture encompasses multiple concepts, and its performance produces extensive debate about data requirements, appropriate indicators, evaluation methods, and tools. Under the European Union (EU) financed project FLINT (Farm Level Indicators for New Topics in policy evaluation), detailed data have been collected at the farm level to provide broader coverage of sustainability indicators on a wide range of relevant topics to facilitate the assessment of sustainability performance. The approach has been applied in a pilot network of representative farms at the EU level, considering the heterogeneity of the EU farming sector to provide data infrastructure with up to date information for sustainability indicators. This study aims to assess sustainability performance at the farm level in Greece. Representative and dominant agricultural systems, such as permanent crops, olive trees, arable crops, and livestock (sheep) farms, comprise the Greek sample. It uses the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) methodology and attempts to gain insights into the sustainability performance of agricultural systems. The outcome of the sustainability assessment reveals knowledge and develops support for strategic farm choices in order to support both farmers and policymakers towards more sustainable development plans. The results indicate that three typical Mediterranean farming systems, namely permanent crops, olive trees, and extensive livestock systems (sheep farms), are more sustainable in contrast to intensive and arable crop farms.

Assessment of Energy Systems Using Extended Fuzzy AHP, Fuzzy VIKOR, and TOPSIS Approaches to Manage Non-Cooperative Opinions

Energy systems planning commonly involves the study of supply and demand of power, forecasting the trends of parameters established on economics and technical criteria of models. Numerous measures are needed for the fulfillment of energy system assessment and the investment plans. The higher energy prices which call for diversification of energy systems and managing the resolution of conflicts are the results of high energy demand for growing economies. Due to some challenging problems of fossil fuels, energy production and distribution from alternative sources are getting more attention. This study aimed to reveal the most proper energy systems in Saudi Arabia for investment. Hence, integrated fuzzy AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process), fuzzy VIKOR (Vlse Kriterijumska Optimizacija Kompromisno Resenje) and TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preferences by Similarity to Idle Solution) methodologies were employed to determine the most eligible energy systems for investment. Eight alternative energy systems were assessed against nine criteria—power generation capacity, efficiency, storability, safety, air pollution, being depletable, net present value, enhanced local economic development, and government support. Data were collected using the Delphi method, a team of three decision-makers (DMs) was established in a heterogeneous manner with the addition of nine domain experts to carry out the analysis. The fuzzy AHP approach was used for clarifying the weight of criteria and fuzzy VIKOR and TOPSIS were utilized for ordering the alternative energy systems according to their investment priority. On the other hand, sensitivity analysis was carried out to determine the priority of investment for energy systems and comparison of them using the weight of group utility and fuzzy DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) approaches. The results and findings suggested that solar photovoltaic (PV) is the paramount renewable energy system for investment, according to both fuzzy VIKOR and fuzzy TOPSIS approaches. In this context our findings were compared with other works comprehensively.

A multifunctional assessment of integrated and ecological farming in olive agroecosystems in southwestern Spain using the Analytic Hierarchy Process

Olive agroecosystems have for several decades undergone management changes aimed to meet the demands of new agricultural policy trends and of consumers and society. While the main role of olive groves is the production of olives and oil, its multifunctional performance is supported through the European and regional legislative framework, promoting the recognition of non-productive ecosystem services provided by agriculture to society. The objective of this work is to compare two types of olive grove management (integrated and ecological) under the multifunctionality of agriculture (MFA) approach, in Estepa (Andalusia, Spain). To this end, environmental, economic and social indicators were considered. Subsequently, the multifunctional behaviour of olive groves under different management schemes was evaluated using the multicriteria Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology. Ecological farming presented greater valuation in the satisfaction of social demands, with better weightings in all the indicators evaluated, except for farm income and Lepidoptera richness. Thus, the implementation of practices related to ecological management leads to a greater multifunctionality of olive groves. It is thus fundamental that multi-scale policies consider the value of the environmental externalities of this type of management, favouring its implementation to contribute positively to the multifunctionality and sustainability of olive groves in Andalusia.

Personnel Selection for Promotion using an Integrated Consistent Fuzzy Preference Relations - Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process Methodology: A Real Case Study

Personnel selection is an important business process for companies. Training, experience information and personal characteristics are important qualities for employee to be recruited. The most accurate result of the personnel selection is obtained from the qualified personnel by determining the personnel who is most suitable for the job requirements. The basic idea of personnel selection is to choose the best candidate for a job. Personnel selection is crucial in human resources management. A solution to the Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) problem is Personnel selection. The main goal of this paper is to find the best personnel using the integrated Consistent Fuzzy Preference Relations (CFPR) and Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) methodology. CFPR is used to obtain the importance weight of personnel selection criteria (22 sub-criteria are categorized under 5 main criteria). Then, the importance weights of personnel selection criteria are integrated with a FAHP model to prioritize the personnel alternatives. For a case study in Turkey, the ranking of the alternatives (17) is calculated using the integrated CFPR-FAHP model, and the best personnel is selected for promotion. This methodology makes it easier for managers/human resources department to decide on recruitment and personnel promotion. The proposed methodology provides the consistent results owing to the integrated methods. The main contribution in this study is the reduction of judgments for a preference matrix using the proposed methodology. To the authors’ knowledge, this study will be the first to integrate CFPR and FAHP methods for personnel selection.

Assessing Factors for Designing a Successful B2C E-Commerce Website Using Fuzzy AHP and TOPSIS-Grey Methodology

The recent hype in online purchasing has skyrocketed the importance of the electronic commerce (e-commerce) industry. One of the core segments of this industry is business-to-consumer (B2C) where businesses use their websites to sell products and services directly to consumers. Thus, it must be taken care of that B2C websites are designed in a way which can build a trustworthy and long-term relationship between businesses and consumers. Thus, this study assesses and prioritizes factors for designing a successful B2C e-commerce website. The study employs multi-criteria decision making (MCDM), and to minimize any ambiguity and greyness in the decision-making, it integrates fuzzy and grey respectively with the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to form FAHP and TOPSIS-Grey. Initially, the study conducts a thorough literature survey to screen important factors reported in past studies. Five main factors and nineteen sub-factors were selected for further prioritization. Later, FAHP prioritized factors based on their importance. Finally, based on the FAHP results, TOPSIS-Grey ranked five alternatives (e-commerce websites). FAHP revealed “service quality” as the most successful website designing factor, while TOPSIS-Grey reported “Website-3” as the most successful website, having incorporated the factors required to design a successful website.

An AHP-based multi-criteria model for sustainable supply chain development in the renewable energy sector

The aim of this paper is to provide a multi-criteria decision making framework based on the Triple Bottom Line principles and Analytic Hierarchy Process methodology for sustainable supply chain development in the renewable energy sector. The proposed framework encompasses the whole energy production supply chain, from raw materials’ suppliers to disposal. In particular, the photovoltaic energy sector has been used as case study and represents the focus of this work. The framework is based on the three Triple Bottom Line dimensions such as social, economic and environmental. Furthermore, literature review and expert opinions are used to identify and assess the sub-criteria for each dimension, followed by pair-wise comparison. Finally, the proposed framework is used to evaluate the seven European countries that conjointly represent the 86.8% of the total photovoltaic installed capacity in Europe, using both logical and quantitative information. Results are in agreement with the photovoltaic development in the period 2000-2017 in these countries. The proposed framework provides the decision makers with a powerful tool for making sustainable investment decisions in the photovoltaic energy sector.

HOW DO CALENDAR ANOMALIES AFFECT AN INVESTMENT CHOICE? A PROPOSAL OF AN ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCESS MODEL

In recent years, financial markets changed for globalization. Today, a wide range of investment opportunities is available to investors. In this new scenario, markets are related, but each of them has specific characteristics with particular opportunities for investors. An investment choice can be influenced by numerous qualitative and quantitative factors that often conflict with one other. Thus, portfolio management choice is a multi-criteria decision problem today, so it requires flexible and analytic decision tools for investors. For this task, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is suitable. We propose a theoretical model to analyse an investment choice problem taking into account different financial markets. Return of stock market, performance of the government bond and calendar effects in the financial markets considered are the evaluation criteria used in our model. The proposed model has strengths and weaknesses. First, through the AHP methodology the problem can be decomposed into a dominance hierarchy. Then, the subjective judgements expressed by means of pairwise comparisons are cheked in order to verify their consistency. Moreover, it is flexible and allows us to check if the ranking changes based on varying criteria weights. However, in that model we assume that criteria and alternatives are independent. Furthermore, our research lacks of a numerical application to test the model.Keywords: AHP, calendar anomalies, government bonds, stock market, investment choice.JEL Classifications: C13, C44, G11, G14, G40DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijefi.8995

Analysis of facility layout using MCDM approach: a case study of a manufacturing industry

The overall cost and production of any industry is directly affected by the shop floor layout. Present research work demonstrates a case study about the analysis of layout alternatives based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methodology. Qualitative factors directly affect the performance of the layout. Three qualitative factors (routing flexibility, production area utilisation and human issues) have been analysed. The steps of the AHP methodology have been adopted, and the values of eigenvalue (λmax), consistency index (CI), average random consistency (RI), and consistency ratio (CR) have been calculated for each selected factor. From the results, it has been analysed that selection of layout directly affected by the priority factors on the shop floor, it was found that for selected industry routing flexibility alternative 1.5 demonstrates best priority vector. For production area utilisation, alternatives 1.1 and 1.3 shows higher priority vectors on the other hand, for human issues, alternative 1.3 has best value of priority vector. It has been revealed that layout 1.3 is the best out of the five layouts selected for the current study.

Supplier selection and performance evaluation for formulating supplier selection strategy by MCDM-based approach

Effective supplier-base management demands many resources. The purchasing departments of many organisations believe that having more suppliers requires a higher cost. This investigation aims to evaluate the performance of existing suppliers to rationalise the supplier-base and find out top strategic suppliers who can ensure the full supply of products per the market demand. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was employed for evaluating the selection criteria and ranking the shortlisted suppliers. The technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) was adopted as well for ranking suppliers based on the weights of the criteria obtained from the AHP evaluation approach. Both methodologies were compared and top performing suppliers were identified. Finally, gap analysis was carried out to determine the effective ranking tool between AHP and TOPSIS methodologies. The results of the study highlighted that volume flexibility is found to be the most significant evaluation criterion and supplier 'VA' is the best amongst all. This study is intended to guide the policy and decision makers in formulating the strategies for the effective supplier selection in highly competitive environments.

An analysis of sustainable production and consumption challenges: using PEST-AHP approach

With the increase in pollution level, everyone, i.e., government, producers or consumers, all are bound to work for sustainability. Sustainable production and consumption (SPC) is the utmost need of the nation to promote the concept of sustainable development. But, there are various barriers in the way of SPC. The aim of this research work is to find all these barriers in the way of SPC. In this work, by political, economic, social, and technological (PEST) analysis, 15 barriers towards SPC adoption has been found from literature survey and expert's input. Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) methodology has been applied to find the relative weights and rank all the barriers. Sensitivity analysis has been performed to check the robustness of the output obtained. This work will be very useful for government, policy makers, researchers, practitioners and managers in decision making to adopt SPC practices and will result in sustainable development.

Towards a new supporting platform for collaboration in industrial diagnosis within an agent-based WEB DSS

The main objective of this study is to provide a professional social network which is integrated within an agent-based WEB DSS. This DSS network will facilitate interaction, discussion, and the sharing of information among production operators, especially to deal with nominal situations of resource faults. The coordination among the agents in our approach is made possible by a dynamic agent coordination protocol. The general architecture is based on agents named: production agent (PA), ontology agent (OA), evaluator agent (EA), and coordinator agent (COA). The coordination protocol that is applied comprised a set of behaviours used to maintain and control the messages exchanges among the agents. Learning features enable these agents to gain more time in calculation and executions. As a representation of the agent's common knowledge, domain ontology has been developed to represent major generic concepts in the industrial domain. Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) methodology is applied to evaluate sorting solutions in respect of human participants' preferences. In this study, we choose as a field of application: ALFATRON electronics industry.

Factors of Tax Evasion in Greece: Taxpayers’ Perspective

The aim of this study is to analyze the causes (criteria and sub-criteria) of tax evasion in contemporary Greece. Within the framework of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methodology, the research questions this study seeks to address are as follows: what drives people to avoid or evade taxes? What is the significance of each criterion and sub-criterion and how can they be ranked? The questionnaire survey covered 2,789 respondents (business owners, accountants and tax officers) from 26 Greek prefectures. The main objective of the AHP analysis is to classify the alternatives by making pairwise comparisons of qualitative and/or quantitative criteria (and sub-criteria) based on experts’ judgements. The results showed that excessive taxation and impunity for tax evasion are considered to be the main reasons for tax evasion in Greece. Among other significant factors are complexity of the legislation and opacity in public financial management. At the same time respondents did not consider deficient education as a significant factor. We also found differences in respondents’ evaluations of the sub-criteria: for instance, businessmen and tax officers disagreed about the significance of such factors as the unfair tax scale and corruption among tax collectors. The results reveal the mutual lack of trust between taxpayers and tax authorities in Greece. The Greek government is required to ensure justice and stability of the tax system; lower the tax rates; and introduce heavier penalties for tax evaders. Moreover, the system of public financial management should become more transparent to foster taxpayers’ trust and thus encourage tax compliance. For citation Diakomihalis M. Factors of Tax Evasion in Greece: Taxpayers’ Perspective. Journal of Tax Reform. 2020;6(2):180–195. DOI: 10.15826/jtr.2020.6.2.081. Article info Received May 14, 2020; Revised May 22, 2020; Accepted June 14, 2020

An Analysis of Sustainable Production and Consumption Challenges: Using PEST-AHP Approach

With the increase in pollution level, everyone, i.e., government, producers or consumers, all are bound to work for sustainability. Sustainable production and consumption (SPC) is the utmost need of the nation to promote the concept of sustainable development. But, there are various barriers in the way of SPC. The aim of this research work is to find all these barriers in the way of SPC. In this work, by political, economic, social, and technological (PEST) analysis, 15 barriers towards SPC adoption has been found from literature survey and expert's input. Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) methodology has been applied to find the relative weights and rank all the barriers. Sensitivity analysis has been performed to check the robustness of the output obtained. This work will be very useful for government, policy makers, researchers, practitioners and managers in decision making to adopt SPC practices and will result in sustainable development.

IMPROVING USERS SATISFACTION BY IMPLEMENTING THE ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCESS IN THE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

This paper develops investigations in the field of analytic hierarchy techniques that could be applied in public transportation systems. The study focuses particularly on the public transport bus services in Bucharest, the capital of Romania. The research aims to investigate the methodological feasibility of the analytic hierarchy process to analyze and measure the perceptions and needs of the Romanian public transportation users. Towards this objective, the study presents the current state of the Bucharest bus network. Furthermore, an investigation is conducted based on one of the most used multiple criteria decision-making tool -Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Unlike most of the previous studies, this analysis has a double approach: researching the essential total quality management principles in public transportation and simultaneously developing a one stage methodology used for measuring the quality of the Romanian public transportation system. This final step involves using the AHP methodology to determine the priority of service quality attributes. Our contribution to the literature focuses on the advantage of using an analytic hierarchy technique in evaluating complex decisions in terms of public transportation. This contribution provides an initial analysis of the public transportation field in the Capital of Romania. Additionally, the study develops the premises for our further research and concludes on the efficiency and sustainability of an AHP method assessment in the local transportation network.

Experimental Testing and Evaluation of Lithium-Ion Battery Cells for a Special-Purpose Electric Vacuum Sweeper Vehicle

Battery-powered electric vehicles are gradually expanding their market outside of the typical public and private transportation sector. A good example is a growing demand for electrification of special-purpose vehicles such as compact urban vacuum sweeper trucks. These vehicles are characterized by low production numbers and specific limitations such as restricted volume for battery placement, specific working conditions, requirement to supply electro-hydraulic systems, etc. Therefore, the selection of optimal battery cell and identification of its required characteristics is not a straightforward task. This article addresses this by presenting a methodology for selecting optimal battery cell for compact urban vacuum sweepers. A laboratory testing procedure is established to measure electric and heating characteristics of candidate battery types and battery producers. After evaluation of the experimental test results using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), the most appropriate battery cell is selected. The experimental tests and the presented AHP methodology prove that battery cell selection for a specific purpose based solely on manufacturers’ datasheet can result in a sub-optimal decision.

Aplicação da metodologia analytic hierarchy process para seleção de fornecedores em uma indústria de confecção

The supplier selection is one of the most critical activities for the management of the supply chain and can directly influence the performance of organizations. The task of supplier selection has been approached as a strategic decision capable of adding value to the chain, as well as gaining competitiveness. This task has been treated as a multi-criteria decision problem, where the purchasing organization is responsible for determining the criteria that will be evaluated, among the different existing methods to do so. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is one of the methods applied to this type of problem and has the advantage of evaluating objective and also subjective data, capable of assisting in the decision-making process. Thus, the objective of the present work is to deal with the problem of supplier selection of a beachwear and fitness fashion industry, located in the city of Maringa - PR, by using the AHP. For this purpose, suppliers were chosen by a team of specialists from the organization, the managers, and selected according to the AHP methodology. The results were ranked so that, in the end, suppliers that best meet the requirements of the organization were selected.

Evaluation of TPM strategies for manufacturing performance improvement of Indian SMEs for strategic success

Indian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the heart of large organisations because every large organisation is purchasing a number of components from SMEs. In this study, the authors have made a qualitative model to find the preferred improvement strategy (TPM strategies) for implementing them in Indian SMEs by using an options field methodology (OFM), options profile methodology (OPM), analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy set theory (FST). For this, first of all find various issues concerning improvement strategies and performance improvement through a questionnaire. OFM has converted these issues into options and then categorise them. The authors have identified four improvement strategies as profiles or a course of actions by using OPM. Pair wise comparison of AHP methodology is used to find the weight of various objectives of manufacturing performance improvement. Finally, FST is used to rank these four improvement strategies by making weighted position matrix and dominance matrix.

Strategic Outsourcing to Cloud Computing

A common misperception about cloud computing remains that it represents the ideal solution for outsourcing non-core competencies and a simple maneuver that drives costs down. However, the reality may be the complete opposite. The cloud paradigm changes several processes, patterns, practices, and philosophies; so, while the cloud adoption must be considered as a legitimate business strategy, its decision must also be made with a great deal of care. The purpose of this work is to provide organizations with a practical framework for decision-making about the cloud paradigm adoption, as a strategic outsourcing solution. This framework defines the guidelines to map the outsourcing to cloud computing to a comprehensive multi-criteria-decision-making (MCDM) problem, and relies on the analytic hierarchy process methodology providing both simplicity and mathematical rigor to resolve it. The framework is policy-centric and takes account of the organization's contexts, as it is also built on cloud standards and best practices.