Search Results (10)

Considering the advantages of trapezoid fuzzy two-dimensional linguistic variables (TrF2DLVs), which can not only accurately describe the qualitative evaluation but also use qualitative linguistic variables (LVs) to describe the confidence level of this evaluation in the second dimension, this paper proposes a novel method based on trapezoidal fuzzy two-dimensional linguistic information to solve multiple attribute decision-making (MADM) problems with unknown attribute weight. First, a combination weight model is constructed, which covers a subjective weight determination model based on the proposed trapezoidal fuzzy two-dimensional linguistic best-worst method (TrF2DL-BWM) and an objective weight determination model based on the proposed CRITIC method. Then, in order to accurately rank the alternatives, an extended VIKOR-QUALIFLEX method is proposed, which can measure the concordance index of each ranking combination by means of group utility and individual maximum regret value of each evaluation alternative. Finally, a practical problem of lean management assessment for industrial residential projects is solved by the proposed method, and the effectiveness and advantages of the method are demonstrated by comparative analysis and discussion. Full article

Carbon emissions are a prominent issue for sustainable energy production and management. Energy policies under the growing competitive environment could change the priorities of emission reduction and investment decisions. This paper aims to forecast carbon emissions from China and to rank the importance of carbon emissions with interval type 2 (IT2) fuzzy sets (FS) for sustainable energy investments. For this purpose, the quadratic model is applied to measuring emission trends and the Qualitative Flexible Multiple Criteria Method (QUALIFLEX) is used for measuring sustainable energy investment alternatives by the several emission levels. Forecasted values of 29 provinces in China are converted into the linguistic and fuzzy numbers based on IT2 FS respectively to measure the priorities of emission reduction for sustainable economies. The novelty of this paper is to propose a hybrid decision-making approach based on quadratic modeling and the QUALIFLEX method and to discuss the overall energy emission trend and policies for sustainable economic growth. The results demonstrate that emission reduction policies are the most important phenomenon and the environmental factors should be widely considered to construct sustainable energy investments and production. Full article

The purpose of this study is to determine the issues that financial institutions should pay attention to in their decision to provide financing to large scale energy projects. Within this framework, taking into account the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) approach, 4 dimensions and 8 criteria that can be effective in these decisions of financial institutions were determined. After that, the importance weights of these dimensions and criteria were determined by interval type-2 (IT2) fuzzy DEMATEL method. In addition, 3 different types of banks (public, private, foreign) are listed for their performance in financing energy projects. According to the results of the analysis, the technological and financial adequacy of the company that will invest in energy is the issue that financial institutions should pay the most attention to in their credit decision. Therefore, it is important for financial institutions to visit the customer's location and pay attention to the technological adequacy in the process of evaluating the customer's demand for credit for a large-scale energy project. In addition, it would be appropriate not to provide this fund to the energy companies with high indebtedness and insufficient liquidity. Another result of the study is that state banks have the lowest performance in financing these large-scale energy projects. When this result is taken into consideration, state banks need to pay more attention in evaluating large-scale energy projects in order to avoid major losses. Full article

Due to various environmental issues caused by resource exploitation, establishing green mines is an essential measure to realize sustainable growth for mining companies. This research aimed to develop a novel methodology to evaluate the performance of green mines within hesitant fuzzy conditions. First, hesitant fuzzy sets (HFSs) were used to express original fuzzy assessment values. Then, the extended expert grading approach and the modified maximum deviation method with HFNs were combined to determine comprehensive importance degrees of criteria. Afterward, the traditional qualitative flexible (QUALIFLEX) method was integrated with the Organísation, rangement et synthèse de données relationnelles (ORESTE) model to achieve the rankings of mines. Finally, the proposed hesitant fuzzy ORESTE–QUALIFLEX approach was utilized to evaluate the performance of green mines. In addition, the robustness of the method was verified by a sensitivity analysis, while the effectiveness and strengths were certified by a comparison analysis. The results indicate that the proposed methodology has great robustness and advantages and that it is feasible and effective for the performance evaluation of green mines under hesitant fuzzy environment. Full article

International activities of firms contribute to environmental socio-economic development and have a positive influence on prosperity of countries. The novelty of this study is to extend prevailing theory on the performance measurement of internationalized firms by suggesting a hybrid decision-making model based on interval type 2 fuzzy sets for the Baltic states. The integrated method is defined as the interval type-2 (IT2) decision making trial and evaluation laboratory qualitative flexible multiple criteria method (DEMATEL-QUALIFLEX). IT2 DEMATEL is used for weighting each criterion of internationalized firms and IT2 QUALIFLEX is applied for ranking the Baltic states, respectively. Within this context, six different criteria are defined for ranking the internationalized firms of the Baltic states. The ranking of all three countries enable us to conclude that Estonia demonstrates the best results of internationalized firms. Meanwhile, Latvia has the worst performance of internationalized firms. The findings are useful for decision makers responsible for supportive policies focused on the research and development (R&D) and internationalization of firms. The implications for managers lie in the awareness of necessary conditions for successful internationalization. The study extends prevailing knowledge on the performance measurement of internationalized firms and provides findings on multinational companies (MNCs) in the Baltic states’ context. Full article

With respect to multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problems in which the criteria denote the form of single-valued neutrosophic sets (SVNSs), and the weight information is also fully unknown, a novel MCDM method based on qualitative flexible multiple criteria (QUALIFLEX) is developed. Firstly, the improved cosine measure of the included angle between two SVNSs is defined. Then, the improved single-valued neutrosophic projection is developed, and the corresponding improved single-valued neutrosophic bidirectional projection and single-valued neutrosophic bidirectional projection difference are investigated. Moreover, the partial ordering relation of SVNSs is developed. Secondly, an extended QUALIFLEX method based on an improved single-valued neutrosophic projection measure is proposed to handle MCDM problems in which the weights of criteria are completely unknown. Finally, an example for selection of a green supplier, as well as a performance comparison analysis, are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Full article

Multi-valued neutrosophic sets (MVNSs) consider the truth-membership, indeterminacy-membership, and falsity-membership simultaneously, which can more accurately express the preference information of decision-makers. In this paper, the normalized multi-valued neutrosophic distance measure is developed firstly and the corresponding properties are investigated as well. Secondly, the normalized multi-valued neutrosophic distance difference is defined and the corresponding partial ordering relation is discussed. Thirdly, based on the developed distances and comparison method, an extended multi-valued neutrosophic QUALItative FLEXible multiple criteria (QUALIFLEX) method is proposed to handle MCDM problems where the weights of criteria are completely unknown. Finally, an example for selection of medical diagnostic plan is provided to demonstrate the proposed method, together with sensitivity analysis and comparison analysis. Full article

Nowadays, companies have to improve their practices in the management of green supply chain with increased awareness of environmental issues worldwide. Selecting the optimum green supplier is crucial for green supply chain management, which is a challenging multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problem. Moreover, while evaluating the performance of alternative suppliers, decision makers tend to determine their assessments using linguistic descriptors due to experts’ vague knowledge and information deficiency. Therefore, this paper develops an integrated MCDM model based on the cloud model and QUALIFLEX (qualitative flexible multiple criteria method) approach to assess the green performance of companies under economic and environmental criteria. For the introduced model, the linguistic terms, expressed in normal clouds, are utilized to assess alternatives against each selection criterion. A linear programming model is established to compute the weights of criteria with unknown or incompletely known weight information. An extended QUALIFLEX approach is proposed and used to select the most suitable green supplier. Finally, the proposed green supplier selection method is demonstrated by an empirical example of an auto manufacturer to confirm its rationality and effectiveness. Full article

Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used quality system tool for translating customer requirements (CRs) into the engineering design requirements (DRs) of products or services. The conventional QFD analysis, however, has been criticized as having some limitations such as in the assessment of relationships between CRs and DRs, the determination of CR weights and the prioritization of DRs. This paper aims to develop a new hybrid group decision-making model based on hesitant 2-tuple linguistic term sets and an extended QUALIFLEX (qualitative flexible multiple criteria method) approach for handling QFD problems with incomplete weight information. First, hesitant linguistic term sets are combined with interval 2-tuple linguistic variables to express various uncertainties in the assessment information of QFD team members. Borrowing the idea of grey relational analysis (GRA), a multiple objective optimization model is constructed to determine the relative weights of CRs. Then, an extended QUALIFLEX approach with an inclusion comparison method is suggested to determine the ranking of the DRs identified in QFD. Finally, an analysis of a market segment selection problem is conducted to demonstrate and validate the proposed QFD approach. Full article

This paper explores how to handle multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) problems in which the criteria values of alternatives take the form of comparative linguistic expressions. Firstly, the new concept of hesitant trapezoidal fuzzy numbers (HTrFNs) is provided to model the semantics of the comparative linguistic expressions. Then, the operational laws and the distance measures of HTrFNs are presented. Afterwards, a useful outranking method, the hesitant trapezoidal fuzzy QUALIFLEX method, is developed to handle the MCDM problems with hierarchical structure in the environment of HTrFN. At length, the proposed method is applied to evaluating green supply chain initiatives in order to achieve sustainable economic and environmental performance, and a case study concerned with a fashion retail chain is presented to demonstrate its feasibility and applicability, also, a comparative analysis with other relevant approaches is conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Full article