Search Results (4)

Power generator manufacturers play a critical role in maintaining electric flow for sustainable product and service production. The aim of this study is to extract the criteria necessary for a generator manufacturer to evaluate and select its suppliers for its sustainable supplier park, and to prioritize them to form the supply network. The methodology of this research covers the phases as (i) extracting the criteria affecting the supplier selection decision process of a power generator company via an in-depth literature and industrial report review, (ii) evaluating these criteria by industry experts, (iii) identifying the weights of each criterion via SWARA (“step-wise weight assessment ratio analysis”), (iv) prioritizing the alternative suppliers fitting to the criteria so that the power generator company can construct its sustainable supplier park via IVN EDAS (“interval valued neutrosophic Evaluation Based on Distance from Average Solution”), (v) conducting a sensitivity analysis to check for the robustness of the results by changing the weights, and (vi) applying a comparative analysis to validate the methodology’s accuracy by comparing the results with IVN TOPSIS and IVN CODAS. Moreover, this paper contributes to the literature by elaborating on the integration details of the IVN SWARA and IVN EDAS as the first research paper of the author’ knowledge. A practitioner can understand which factors to consider prominently in forming a sustainable supplier park, or in deciding on which suppliers to select to plan the strategic operations of a power generator company. Full article

The present paper aimed to propose a new support approach to choosing the optimal structural system in accordance with sustainable materials in mass-housing projects. To this end, an integrated fuzzy multi-criteria-decision-making (fuzzy MCDM) method was used to identify the criteria affecting sustainable material selection. The proposed approach consists of a three-phase protocol: In phase I, the literature was used to create a database encompassing 42 factors affecting the selection of materials. These factors were classified as four indicators (economic, environmental, socio-cultural, technical-executive) in accordance with the sustainable development aspects. In phase II, the fuzzy Delphi method (FDM) was used to screen the key factors. In phase III, an integrated fuzzy SWARA–ARAS method was used to prioritize the optimal structural system for a case project: evidence from Iran. The results of selecting the structural systems based on 14 efficient key factors showed that the Light Steel Frame (LSF), Insulation Concrete framework (ICF), and the Prefabricated Reinforced Concrete System (PRC) systems have the highest priority to achieve the goals of sustainable material selection, respectively. Full article

Above all, this study is original in that it reveals the efficiency and productivity of banks exposed to the current pandemic situation. The aim of this study is to evaluate bank efficiency and productivity of commercial banks operating in Turkey pre- and during COVID-19 by using a novel integrated multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach. We divided the banks into three groups in order to evaluate the differences in terms of their efficiency and productivity: state banks, foreign banks and private domestic banks. This paper fills a gap in the literature by using a novel integrated MCDM approach including SWARA II as a subjective weighting method, MEREC as an objective weighting method, and MARCOS as a ranking method to evaluate bank efficiency and productivity. The results reveal that banks with foreign investors achieved higher productivity than other bank groups and the productivity of state banks decreased especially during the COVID-19 period. It should also be noted that state banks are restricted to certain political objectives. Full article

This paper presents an assessment of the urban water security in a severe water stress area using a semi-quantitative risk-based approach. Water security indicators are selected according to the recommendations of international institutions, the literature review and the opinion of a panel of water experts. Selected indicators cover three fields: water resources, water services and water governance. The field of water resources is described by indicators related to the water resources availability, annual precipitation and the ratio of treated water, while the water services field is described by indicators related to the water service coverage, water losses and the continuity of water supply. Water governance includes three indicators: role and responsibility, access to water information and stakeholder engagement. Water security assessment is conducted in three stages: (i) data collection for five Palestinian cities in the West Bank of Jordan, (ii) determination of the risk score for each indicator using collected data and an expert’s opinion, (iii) determination of the global water security score and water security index using the matrix risk assessment and the wise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) methods. Results show that water risk is ranked as extreme for all cities. Risk related to water resources is a major contributor to global risk, followed by water governance. Full article