Outranking Method Research Articles

SÜRDÜRÜLEBİLİRLİK, RİSKLER VE SEZGİSEL BULANIK ORTAM ALTINDA SIRALAMA PROBLEMLERİ İÇİN ÇOK KRİTERLİ GRUP KARAR VERME YÖNTEMİ

This paper presents a group decision-making mechanism to properly manage outranking problems in an intuitionistic fuzzy environment. TOPSIS, outranking multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method, is utilized under intuitionistic fuzzy set theory. A set of criteria employed in decision-making problems, the preferences of a group of decision-makers, and the importance levels of decision-makers are examined in this solution technique. Managers use the outranking methods as a reliable technique for making supplier evaluation decisions. Furthermore, the supply chain suffers from the shortage of materials, transportation problems etc. post COVID-19 era, the need for a practical, and exhaustive tool is explicit. An illustrative case on a supplier selection problem considering sustainability and risks in the post-COVID-19 era is used to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed technique by detailing the procedure step by step. The results show that the presented methodology is applicable to the other areas.

An extended Step-Wise Weighted Assessment Ratio Analysis for improving criteria prioritization process Using PROMETHEE Method

The new Step Wise Weighted Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) method incorporates the opinion of experts, advocates or litigants about the importance ratio. The SWARA methodology can be used in the p in a virtual environment Special decision support systems Practical implementation and Alternative Dispute Resolution. Possible polymetallic mineralization Future map of various study datasets Step wise through integration Weighted Ratio Analysis Developed by (SWARA). In the world of external methods PROMETHEE methods are very popular. One of the reasons for this popularity called PROMCALC-Promethee It is very user-friendly calculation software. Many trainers use their multiple criteria PROMCALC to handle problems. However, all users in PROMETHEE methods regarding the consequences of model assumptions made them will not know. We study the application of PROMETHEE outranking methods to portfolio selection problems. Starting from the new formulation of the PROMETHEE V method, based on the concepts of frontier portfolios and c-optimal portfolios we develop several alternative approaches. The Priority Ranking System Method for Saturation Evaluation (PROMETHEE) was used to solve the problem. Alternative is Technological (C1), Economic (C2), Political and legislative (C3), Social (personnel) (C4). Evaluation parameters are biomedical micro electromechanical systems (BioMEMS) (A1), Nano technology (A2), Biotechnology (A3), Biomedical engineering (A4). PROMETHEE methods are the best solution. The solution with the shortest distance from the negative-best solution the longest distance is determined, but comparison of these distances is not considered significant. As a result, technical factors (C1) are ranked first, while economic factors (C2) are ranked lowest.

A PROMETHEE based outranking approach for the construction of Fangcang shelter hospital using spherical fuzzy sets

This study mainly aims to develop two effective and practical multi-criteria group decision-making approaches by taking advantage of the ground-breaking theory of PROMETHEE family of outranking methods. The presented variants of Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) method are acknowledged to address the complex decision-making problems carrying the ambiguous information, expressible in terms of yes, no, abstinence and refusal, owing to the preeminent condition and wider structure of spherical fuzzy sets. Both of the proposed approaches seek help from the Shannon’s entropy formula to evaluate the object weights of the decision criteria. The proposed techniques operate by taking into account the deviation between each pair of potential alternatives in accordance to different types of preference functions to determine the preference indices. The proposed technique of spherical fuzzy PROMETHEE I method carefully compares the positive and negative outranking flows of the alternative to get partial rankings. In contrast, the spherical fuzzy PROMETHEE II method has the edge to eliminate the incomparable pair by employing the net outranking flow to derive the final ranking. The application of proposed approaches is explained via a case study in the field of medical concerning the selection of appropriate site to establish Fangcang shelter hospital in Wuhan to treat COVID-19 patients. The convincing comparisons of the proposed methodologies with q-rung orthopair fuzzy PROMETHEE and spherical fuzzy TOPSIS methods are also included to verify the aptitude of the proposed methodology.

Innovation and efficiency in financial institutions.

This paper proposes a new methodology that combines standard production theory with Multiple-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) methods to rank banks based on their capability of using investment in new technologies to reduce the other inputs' usage, for a given level of output. Banks are first ranked based on their investment in innovation (innovation rank); afterwards, we calculate the overall rank by combining two factors of production, viz. labor and assets, using the PROMETHEE II approach that belongs to the family of the outranking methods. We then use directional efficiency measures to measure the banks' efficiency by means of relation between two ranks, for a given level of the outputs. We apply the methodology to a sample of US and EU banks sourced from Orbis BankFocus. The key findings suggest there are four types of banks in our sample: (a) banks whose innovation rank is positively correlated with the overall rank; (b) banks exhibiting a negative correlation between two ranks: their overall ranks are low while still exhibiting high innovation ranks; (c) banks with high overall rank but low innovation rank and (d) banks with the worst ranks both for the innovation rank and the overall rank. The least efficient banks belong to this group.

Incorporating the status quo effect into the decision making process: The case of municipal companies merger

Decision-making for cooperation between municipal entities involves elected members serving public interest who argue in both quantitative (e.g. financial performance), and qualitative (e.g. social acceptance) grounds. Policy support should consider conflicting objectives in a context of uncertainty and imprecision as well as in presence of organizational lock-ins that tend to favor incumbent arrangements. In search of appropriate algorithm to support decision making in such cases we opted for the PROMETHEE outranking method integrating novel findings of behavioral theory. Thus its preference functions are specified so that they reflect bounded rationality that shapes risk attitudes of decision makers within the uncertain environment of public management. Moreover alternative weighting procedures have been applied for group decisions. The prospect theory multi-criteria methodology, termed PT-PROMETHEE is implemented relating proposed options to observed behavior providing useful insights especially regarding status quo options also allowing for sensitivity analysis. Thus acceptance of MCDM support by the stakeholders is enhanced leading to solid compromise institutional arrangements.

Analyzing Consensus via Making Multicriteria Decision Analysis Methodology

Abstract: Purpose – This paper takes a cautionary stance to the impact of marketing mix on customer satisfaction, via a case study deriving consensus rankings for benchmarking on selected retail stores in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach – ELECTRE I model is used in deriving consensus rankings via multicriteria decision making method for benchmarking base on the marketing mix model 4Ps. Descriptive analysis is used to analyze the best practice among the four marketing tactics. Findings – Outranking methods in consequence constitute a strong base on which to found the entire structure of the behavioral theory of benchmarking applied to development of marketing strategy. Research limitations/implications – This study has looked only at a limited part of the puzzle of how consumer satisfaction translates into behavioral outcomes. Practical implications – The study provides managers with guidance on how to generate rough outline of potential marketing activities that can be used to take advantage of capabilities and convert weaknesses and threats. Originality/value – This paper interestingly portrays the effective usage of multicriteria decision making and ranking method to help marketing manager predict their marketing trend

Raw Material Supplier Selection Information System Using Promethee Method on Batik Tulis Lasem

The need for raw materials for the production of Batik Tulis Lasem, apart from the Batik Tulis cooperative, is also obtained through suppliers. Selection of raw material suppliers is one of the solutions to meet the needs of raw materials, thus supporting the performance and production process. The selection of raw material suppliers must also take into account the long term, PROMETHEE is an outranking method for a limited set of alternative actions to be ranked and chosen among criteria, which are often conflicting. The development of Information Systems to support decisions on determining suppliers of raw materials for written batik SMEs is the right solution to solve problems experienced by business actors.

Multicriteria Decision Analysis to Assist in the Selection of Coastal Defence Measures: Involving Coastal Managers and Professionals in the Identification and Weighting of Criteria

Coastal socio-ecological systems are complex adaptive systems with nonlinear changing properties and multi-scale dynamics. They are influenced by unpredictable coastal hazards accentuated by the effects of climate change, and they can quickly be altered if critical thresholds are crossed. Additional pressures come from coastal activities and development, both of which attracting stakeholders with different perspectives and interests. While coastal defence measures (CDMs) have been implemented to mitigate coastal hazards for centuries, a lack of knowledge and tools available to make informed decision has led to coastal managers favouring the choice of seawalls or rock armours with little consideration for socio-ecological systems features, and stakeholders’ priorities. Though it is not currently widely applied in coastal zone management, multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) is a tool that can be useful to facilitate decision making. PROMETHEE, an outranking method, was chosen to support the multicriteria decision analysis for the evaluation of CDMs in the context of four study sites characterized by distinct environmental features. The aim was to determine the relevance and benefits of a MCDA by integrating coastal zone stakeholders in a participatory decision-making process in order to select CDMs that are better adapted to the whole socio-ecological system. First, in a series of five workshops, stakeholders were asked to identify and weigh criteria that were relevant to their local conditions. Second and third, CDMs were evaluated in relation to each criterion within the local context, then, hierarchized. Initial results show that vegetation came first in three of the four sites, while rock armour ranked first in the fourth site. A post-evaluation of the participatory process indicated that the weighting phase is an effective way to integrate local knowledge into the decision-making process, but the identification of criteria could be streamlined by the presentation of a predefined list from which participants could make a selection. This would ensure criteria that are standardized, and in a format that is compatible with the MCDA. Coupled with a participatory process MCDA proved to be a flexible methodology that can synthetize multiple aspects of the problem, and contribute in a meaningful way to the coastal engineering and management decision-making process.

Qualitative evaluation of pharmaceuticals and metabolites in hospital effluent: Influence of sample preparation technique and outranking by environmental risk using the ELECTRE method

The presence of pharmaceuticals and metabolites in effluents has become a serious environmental problem, so it is essential to be able to monitor these microcontaminants using qualitative approaches, as well as to assess the potential environmental risks that such compounds may present. Therefore, in this study, suspect screening analysis was performed of 2030 pharmaceuticals and metabolites in hospital effluent samples, applying different sample preparation techniques. Additionally, a pioneering association of (Q)SAR assessment of identified contaminants with the ELECTRE multi-criteria decision analysis technique made it possible to prioritize analytes according to their environmental risk, in order to enable their inclusion in environmental monitoring programs. The results showed that the most advantageous alternative sample preparation technique consisted of cleanup (100 mg of silica/alumina sorbent) + dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (7.5 of aqueous matrix, 325 μL of chloroform (extracting solvent), and 500 μL of acetonitrile as dispersing solvent). This procedure resulted in the identification of 70 pharmaceuticals and metabolites in the composite sample tested. The suspect screening analysis found a total of 105 microcontaminants, 28 of them being “confirmed compounds” and 77 being “suspect compounds”. Of the compounds identified, 87% were pharmaceuticals and 13% were metabolites. The compounds identified were subsequently evaluated using different open access software packages, considering eight endpoints: mobility, persistence, estrogen receptor binding, wastewater treatment plant total removal, biodegradability, PBT (persistent, bioaccumulation and toxic), mutagenicity, and carcinogenicity. The (Q)SAR prediction results were used as input data for the ELECTRE outranking method. Categorization of the identified compounds by ELECTRE resulted in the kernel (priority compounds) and a further 19 groups. ELECTRE sensitivity evaluation indicated that for all the cases, the kernel and the following two groups coincided. The categorization provided by the ELECTRE method constitutes a highly intuitive decision and choice tool, which can assist in the selection of compounds if subsequent quantitative analysis is to be carried out.

Decision-Making Model to Assess the Organizational Climate in Healthcare Organizations

Organizational climate impacts on the employee’s well-being, commitment and positive behavior. Most studies to assess climate in healthcare organizations use qualitative and/or statistical methods. Here, we propose a general framework, based on a multiple criteria decision making/aid (MCDM / A) method, which considers different objectives in a single problem. Such framework includes internal and external factors to assess organizational climate and presented adequate results when tested in a particular case. To assess the organizational climate, we use the ELECTRE TRI method, an outranking method that combine the decision-maker (DM) preferences and his value judgments. We conclude that MCDM methods can improve agility, provide a systemic vision on organizational climate assessment and contribute to the decision-making process

A new outranking method for multicriteria decision making with complex Pythagorean fuzzy information

This article contributes to the advancement and evolution of outranking decision-making methodologies, with a novel essay on the ELimination and Choice Translating REality (ELECTRE) family of methods. Its primary target is to unfold the constituents and expound the implementation of the ELECTRE II method for group decision making in complex Pythagorean fuzzy framework. This results in the complex Pythagorean fuzzy ELECTRE II method. By inception, it is intrinsically superior to models using one-dimensional data. It is designed to perform the pairwise comparisons of the alternatives using the core notions of concordance, discordance and indifferent sets, which is then followed by the construction of complex Pythagorean fuzzy concordance and discordance matrices. Further, the strong and weak outranking relations are developed by the comparison of concordance and discordance indices with the concordance and discordance levels. Later, the forward, reverse and average rankings of the alternatives are computed by the dint of strong and weak outranking graphs. This methodology is supported by a case study for the selection of wastewater treatment process, and by a numerical example for the selection of the best cloud solution for a big data project. Its consistency is confirmed by an effectiveness test and comparison analysis with the Pythagorean fuzzy ELECTRE II and complex Pythagorean fuzzy ELECTRE I methods.

Sustainable battery supplier evaluation of new energy vehicles using a distributed linguistic outranking method considering bounded rational behavior

Due to policy promotion towards new energy vehicles, battery supplier evaluation, as a critical multi-faceted decision problem, is the foundation of the good quality of products or service and further long-term development of enterprises. Most of methods have been proposed to measure the performance of potential candidates from the sustainable dimension, but they may ignore resilient and smart criteria, i.e., risk resistance capacity and smart technologies application, relating to normal supply and product reliability. Additionally, prior studies mainly report on the priority of suppliers from perfect rationality of the decision maker, but they pay little attention to indifference and incomparability relations between suppliers and bounded rationality of the decision maker. Therefore, this paper proposes an outranking based multi-criteria behavioral decision making method, named as prospect theory-based distributed linguistic ORESTE method to portray three outranking relations, preference, indifference and incomparability, from the view of bounded rationality of the decision maker. This approach adopts linguistic distribution to reveal the uncertain preference along with good flexibility and adaptability. It is applied to the battery supplier selection in new energy vehicles enterprises. Comparative analysis indicates the availability and superiority and sensitivity analysis verifies its stability.

Is sunshine regulation the new prescription to brighten up public hospitals in Portugal?

Health systems are complex organisations that attempt to deliver health services to meet the needs of the population. Regardless of the degree of access to and quality of those health services, the systems' sustainability has been the object of special attention by governments worldwide. To ensure their adequate functioning in light of the accountable and transparent facets of New Public Governance, one must resort to regulatory mechanisms, such as sunshine regulation. By publicly displaying the results of benchmarking assessments, sunshine regulation “embarrasses” operators with poor performances in an effort to force them to correct such divergences. Thus, in this paper, we propose a sunshine regulatory model to the public hospitals in Portugal using multi-criteria decision analysis. In particular, we created a five-star rating that categorises those operators according to their performances, by means of the outranking method electre tri-nc. As a result, we provide evidence of the existence of a majority of providers assigned to the ‘Average’ category of “Three stars” and the nonexistence of providers with unique extreme category assignments (“One star” or “Five stars”), both of which are supported by extensive stability and robustness analyses, and discussed in terms of policy implications for relevant stakeholders.

A Hybrid Method for Multi-Criteria Group Decision Making under Pythagorean Fuzzy Environment

ABSTRACT Fuzzy set theory has an important role in the evolution of multicriteria decision-making methods. Different kinds of fuzzy sets are used to handle different kind of uncertain situations. In this work, we have proposed a hybrid method to overcome the shortcomings of ELimination Et Choice Translating Reality 1 (ELECTRE 1), decision-making method by incorporating steps borrowed from VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method in Pythagorean fuzzy environment. ELECTRE 1 is easy to use and simple in calculations, but it is an outranking method, thereby it is not capable to rank all the alternatives. This method only provides ranking of few alternatives while ignoring the ranking of rest of the considered alternatives. In real-life scenario, sometimes ranking of all the considered alternatives may be required to make appropriate decisions. Therefore, to serve this facility in ELECTRE 1, we have proposed a hybrid method that combines the steps from ELECTRE 1 and VIKOR methods in Pythagorean fuzzy environment. Additionally, the proposed method considers a group of decision makers while calculating weights of different criteria accordingly. The proposed method is also implemented on a real-world problem.

Electre-Score: A first outranking based method for scoring actions

In this paper, we present (to the best of our knowledge) the first outranking method to assign a score to each alternative. This method is part of the Electre family, and we will call it Electre-Score. In contrast to the Multi-Attribute Value Theory methods, Electre-Score does not construct a value function for each criterion to proceed then to the aggregation into a single value. Instead, Electre-Score makes use of the outranking relations to make a comparison with sets of reference actions (to which a score is assigned) and assigns a score range to each action and a representative score in the range to each action. This is a more robust way of proceeding given the fragility of a single score. The reference actions have similar nature and characteristics of limiting profiles in Electre Tri-nB and the reference scores are assigned to them through the application of the deck of cards technique. Because this method uses outranking relations, it makes also possible to take into account the imperfect knowledge of data and to avoid systematic compensatory effects. Some fundamental theoretical results guaranteeing the consistency of the method, an illustrative example and a case study in the domain of healthcare system evaluation are also provided in this paper.

Synergistic bridge modal analysis using frequency domain decomposition, observer Kalman filter identification, stochastic subspace identification, system realization using information matrix, and autoregressive exogenous model

This paper presents multiple system identification of large-scale bridge structures proposing the combined usage of different modal parameter findings, namely from Frequency Domain Decomposition, Observer Kalman Filter Identification/Eigensystem Realization Algorithm, Combined Deterministic Stochastic Subspace Identification, System Realization Using Information Matrix, and Autoregressive Exogenous Model. A method-centric democratic ranking approach visualizes and quantifies the harmony among different system identification methods in terms of modal parameters, then ranks them based on the correlation among each other, and consequently complies with the highest rank modal parameter outputs. The synergistic scheme is applied on a numerical beam and two bridge structures including one healthy and another subjected to progressive damage. Looking at the top-rank selections, one can see that outlier identification results from a population of modal parameters can intuitively become extinct. The collaboration among methods is dependent on the chosen methods; therefore, method selection relies on care and fair representation of the identification features. Lack of agreement between methods can indicate low confidence in the outranking method and is quantified by median absolute deviation. Nevertheless, the majority of the algorithm population agrees on specific results, which are valuable to produce state knowledge despite low signal to noise ratio, especially without the presence of a reference. Thus, the collaborative usage of multiple methods in a systematic and ranking-based manner reduces significant error and outlier possibilities in modal identification due to algorithm-related issues, which is the novel contribution of this study.

Integrating an Extended Outranking‐TOPSIS Method with Probabilistic Linguistic Term Sets for Multiattribute Group Decision‐Making

Group decision‐making is a common activity in organizational management and economic conditions. In practice, the opinions of experts may be fuzzy. This paper proposes integrating an extended outranking‐TOPSIS method with probabilistic linguistic term sets for multiattribute group decision‐making, which is used to solve the real‐world public‐private partnership (PPP) project selection problem. First, an extended outranking method based on probabilistic linguistic term sets is proposed, and each expert’s ranking of alternatives is obtained according to this method. After the individual ranking is completed, the large‐scale expert group is clustered by the K‐means clustering method, and then the improved consensus mechanism is used to study the degree of consensus of the expert group. If the consensus of the group is not up to the standard, then, for clusters with a lower degree of consensus with the group, the feedback mechanism is used to adjust the weight between different clusters so that the group consensus can be improved. After achieving the target group consensus, an improved technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) method is used to synthesize expert opinions, and the ranking results are obtained. Finally, there are cases used to demonstrate the feasibility and rationality of the method.

A multicriteria approach for rating investments in commercial real estate

AbstractThe commercial real estate (CRE) sector concerns a diverse set of actors that specialize in real estate activities, such as brokerage, valuation, construction, and asset management. CRE activity is a key indicator for the level of corporate growth and the economic development of a country. However, investments in CRE face a volatile global environment, which is characterized by deep uncertainties and cyclical behavior. In this context, decision support tools that facilitate the monitoring and assessment of CRE investments are of major importance for various stakeholders, including investors and policy makers. The objective of this study is to present a comprehensive approach for assessing CRE investments based on a multicriteria evaluation framework. The analysis is based on a sample of commercial assets taken from the portfolio of a real estate investment company in the United States. The proposed multicriteria approach considers a rich set of evaluation criteria, including macroeconomic indicators, information about the local CRE markets, as well as the characteristics of the assets under consideration. Using analytical methodologies from the family of ELECTRE outranking methods, the assets are ranked and rated according to their overall performance. Different scenarios are explored for the weightings of the appraisal criteria, thus enabling the analysis of the robustness of the results.

A new approach for multicriteria group decision making under interval type-2 fuzzy environment

The multicriteria group decision-making method in fuzzy environment has become the focus of many scholars. The purpose of this paper is to extend the traditional ORESTE (organísation, rangement et Synthèse de données relarionnelles) method to solve the multi-criteria group decision-making problem under IT2FS environment. The main contributions of this paper are to define a new similarity measure and a global preference score function based on the new similarity measure. First, a new similarity measure of two IT2FSs is defined. Then, some properties of the new similarity measure are investigated, and a comparison between the new similarity measure and other existing similarity measures is provided. Subsequently, a global preference score function is defined based on the new similarity measure. The average preference score is derived using the power average operator, and the weak order of the alternatives is obtained according to the average preference score. Furthermore, a PIR (P: preference; I: indifference; R: incomparability) structure is constructed to reach a strong ordering of alternatives. Finally, the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated by a practical case of selecting the best supplier involving comparisons with the ELECTRE-based outranking method and IT2FS-TOPSIS method. And the new approach proposed in this paper can be applied to e-commerce, medical decision making, product recommendation, and fault diagnosis.

Novel Fuzzy Multi-Attribute Decision Making Method for the Selection of Open Unit Trusts Under Uncertainty

Investment decision making is a complex process. Important decision concerns the (pre)selection of potential investment instruments to compose an investment portfolio. Conscientious selection involves the application of quantitative multi-criteria procedures. The typical element of uncertainty (i.e. unstable return or investor’s vague preferences about the criteria importance) must be considered. This combination of the typical characteristics of investment on the capital market can be addressed by means of fuzzy multi-attribute decision making methods. These methods effectively quantify the vague elements by using fuzzy numbers. However, the applicability of a relevant method sufficiently depends on the actual investment decision making problem. This article focuses on open unit trusts because this market is recently becoming more popular in the Czech Republic. Unfortunately, under all the practical and theoretical specifics of this type of investment, there is no known evaluation method that can satisfactorily solved this problem. Therefore, the main aim of this article is to propose a novel fuzzy multi-attribute decision making method that works for all investment conditions. Its algorithm is inspired by some principles of the outranking methods. The evaluation of open unit trusts offered by the Česká spořitelna, clearly demonstrates all of the benefits of the proposed concept compared to the existing methods.