Abbas Mardani

Multiple criteria decision-making techniques and their applications – a review of the literature from 2000 to 2014

Multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) is considered as a complex decision-making (DM) tool involving both quantitative and qualitative factors. In recent years, several MCDM techniques and approaches have been suggested to choosing the optimal probable options. The purpose of this article is to systematically review the applications and methodologies of the MCDM techniques and approaches. This study reviewed a total of 393 articles published from 2000 to 2014 in more than 120 peer reviewed journals (extracted from Web of Science). According to experts’ opinion, these articles were grouped into 15 fields. Furthermore, these articles were categorised based on authors, publication date, name of journals, methods, tools, and type of research (MCDM utilising research, MCDM developing research, and MCDM proposing research). The results of this study indicated that in 2013 scholars have published articles more than in other years. In addition, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method in the individual tools and hybrid MCDM in the integrated methods were ranked as the first and second methods in use. Additionally, the European Journal of Operational Research as the first journal with 70 publications was the significant journal in this study. Finally, energy, environment and sustainability were ranked as the first areas that have applied MCDM techniques and approaches.

Development of TOPSIS method to solve complicated decision-making problems: an overview on developments from 2000 to 2015

In recent years several previous scholars made attempts to develop, extend, propose and apply Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) for solving problems in decision making issues. Indeed, there are questions, how TOPSIS can help for solving these problems? Or does TOPSIS solved decision making problems in the real world? Therefore, this study shows the recent developments of TOPSIS approach which are presented by previous scholars. To achieve this objective, there are 105 reviewed papers which developed, extended, proposed and presented TOPSIS approach for solving DM problems. The results of the study indicated that 49 scholars have extended or developed TOPSIS technique and 56 scholars have proposed or presented new modifications for problems solution related to TOPSIS technique from 2000 to 2015. In addition, results of this study indicated that, previous studies have modifications related to this technique in 2011 more than other years.

Multiple criteria decision-making techniques in transportation systems: a systematic review of the state of the art literature

AbstractThe main goal of this review paper is to provide a systematic review of Multiple Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) techniques in regard to transportation systems problems. This study reviewed a total of 89 papers, published from 1993 to 2015, from 39 high-ranking journals; most of which were related to transportation science and were extracted from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. Papers were classified into 10 main application areas and nine transport infrastructure. Furthermore, papers were categorized based on the author(s) and year, name of the journal in which they were published, technique and approach, author(s) nationality, application area and scope, study purpose, gap and research problem and results and outcome. The results of this study indicated that more papers on MCDM in 2013 than in any other year. AHP and Fuzzy-AHP methods in the individual methods and hybrid MCDM and fuzzy MCDM in the integrated methods were ranked as the first and second methods in use, respectively. The T...

Application of multiple-criteria decision-making techniques and approaches to evaluating of service quality: a systematic review of the literature

The main purpose of this paper is to present a systematic review of multiple- criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques used in the assessment of service qual- ity. This study reviewed a total of 79 articles from 51 journals, published from 2001 to 2015. Articles were classified into 10 application areas and scopes. Furthermore, articles were categorised based on an author, year, application area, the nationality of the author, ‏technique, a number of criteria, research purpose, gap and research problem, results and outcome. The best criteria were determined in each article. The results of this study re- vealed that more papers on MCDM were published in 2011 than in any other year. Inte- grated techniques, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy AHP methods, were ranked as first and second methods in use, respectively. Finally, the airline industry was ranked as the first application area, in which previous studies applied MCDM techniques for the evaluation of the service quality. This research contributes to the existing literature on the service quality and MCDM. The research outputs are valuable to academics scholars and leaders of organisations and industries in the field of service quality evaluation.

A systematic review and meta-Analysis of SWARA and WASPAS methods: Theory and applications with recent fuzzy developments

The Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) utility determining approaches and fuzzy sets are considered to be new development approaches, which have been recently presented, extended, and used by some scholars in area of decision making. There is a lack of research regarding to systematic literature review and classification of study about these approaches. Therefore; in the present study, the attempt is made to present a systematic review of methodologies and applications with recent fuzzy developments of two new MCDM utility determining approaches including Step-wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) and the Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS) and fuzzy extensions which discussed in recent years. Regarding this, some major databases including Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar have been nominated and systematic and meta-analysis method which called “PRISMA” has been proposed. In addition, the selected articles were classified based on authors, the year of publication, journals and conferences names, the technique and method used, research objectives, research gap and problem, solution and modeling, and finally results and findings. The results of this study can assist decision-makers in handling information such as stakeholders’ preferences, interconnected or contradictory criteria and uncertain environments. In addition, findings of this study help to practitioners and academic for adopting the new MCDM utility techniques such as WASPAS and SWARA in different application areas and presenting insight into literature.

A fuzzy analytic network process method for risk prioritization in freeway PPP projects: an Iranian case study

Risk assessment is one of the most important factors in achieving success in public-private partnership (PPP) projects. Some relationships between risks in freeway projects have been established. The occurrence of each risk can worsen the effects of others such as a negative impact of financial risks on construction risks. This paper is aimed at prioritizing significant risks in freeway PPP projects applying a fuzzy analytic network process (FANP) method for overcoming the problems of interdependencies and feedback among different risk-ranking alternatives. Data on the study have been collected through a literature review, an interview and a questionnaire survey distributed to experts in the field of freeway PPP projects. The obtained results have shown that financial, legal and political risks are the most significant groups, although improper design, changes in the value of granted lands and the termination of concession are the most important risks. The findings help with strengthening the capabilities of developing countries for risk management in freeway PPP projects.

Decision Making Methods Based on Fuzzy Aggregation Operators: Three Decades Review from 1986 to 2017

In many real-life decision making (DM) situations, the available information is vague or imprecise. To adequately solve decision problems with vague or imprecise information, fuzzy set theory and aggregation operator theory have become powerful tools. In last three decades, DM theories and methods under fuzzy aggregation operator have been proposed and developed for effectively solving the DM problems and numerous applications have been reported in the literature. While various aggregation operators have been suggested and developed, there is a lack of research regarding systematic literature review and classification of study in this field. Regarding this, Web of Science database has been nominated and systematic and meta-analysis method called “PRISMA” has been proposed. Accordingly, a review of 312 published articles appearing in 33 popular journals related to fuzzy set theory, aggregation operator theory and DM approaches between July 1986 and June 2017 have been attained to reach a comprehensive review of DM methods and aggregation operator environment. Consequently, the selected published articles have been categorized by name of author(s), the publication year, technique, application area, country, research contribution and journals in which they appeared. The findings of this study found that, ordered weighted averaging (OWA) has been the highest frequently accessed more than other areas. This systematic review shows that the DM theories under fuzzy aggregation operator environment have received a great deal of interest from researchers and practitioners in many disciplines.

Proposing a new hierarchical framework for the evaluation of quality management practices: a new combined fuzzy hybrid MCDM approach

This study aims to evaluate the quality management (QM) practices in Iranian hotels that are small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through the integration of the fuzzy set theory with both qualitative and quantitative methods. The criteria were collected through the literature survey and the fuzzy Delphi method (FDM). This study applied fuzzy multiple criteria decision making (FMCDM), including the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP), the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and Vise Kriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR). In the FDM phase, 21 practice was selected and categorized into four main factors. Results of the study indicated that the quality assurance was ranked as the highest important fac- tor. From the practical viewpoint, this paper proposed new integrated model that applied FDM, FAHP, TOPSIS and VIKOR for the evaluation of QM practices in the hotel industry and introduced the environmental perspective as a new viewpoint of QM systems, espe- cially in hotels as SMEs. In addition, the proposed model highlights a new insight into MCDM and contributes to the present body of knowledge in the area of QM systems.

Recent Fuzzy Generalisations of Rough Sets Theory: A Systematic Review and Methodological Critique of the Literature

Rough set theory has been used extensively in fields of complexity, cognitive sciences, and artificial intelligence, especially in numerous fields such as expert systems, knowledge discovery, information system, inductive reasoning, intelligent systems, data mining, pattern recognition, decision-making, and machine learning. Rough sets models, which have been recently proposed, are developed applying the different fuzzy generalisations. Currently, there is not a systematic literature review and classification of these new generalisations about rough set models. Therefore, in this review study, the attempt is made to provide a comprehensive systematic review of methodologies and applications of recent generalisations discussed in the area of fuzzy-rough set theory. On this subject, the Web of Science database has been chosen to select the relevant papers. Accordingly, the systematic and meta-analysis approach, which is called “PRISMA,” has been proposed and the selected articles were classified based on the author and year of publication, author nationalities, application field, type of study, study category, study contribution, and journal in which the articles have appeared. Based on the results of this review, we found that there are many challenging issues related to the different application area of fuzzy-rough set theory which can motivate future research studies.

Application of data envelopment analysis models in supply chain management: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Supply chain management aims to designing, managing and coordinating material/product, information and financial flows to fulfill the customer requirements at low costs and thereby increasing supply chain profitability. In the last decades, data envelopment analysis has become the main topic of interest as a mathematical tool to evaluate supply chain management. While, various data envelopment analysis models have been suggested to measure and evaluate the supply chain management, there is a lack of research regarding to systematic literature review and classification of study in this field. Regarding this, some major databases including Web of Science and Scopus have been nominated and systematic and meta-analysis method which called “PRISMA” has been proposed. Accordingly, a review of 75 published articles appearing in 35 scholarly international journals and conferences between 1996 and 2016 have been attained to reach a comprehensive review of data envelopment analysis models in evaluation supply chain management. Consequently, the selected published articles have been categorized by author name, the year of publication, technique, application area, country, scope, data envelopment analysis purpose, study purpose, research gap and contribution, results and outcome, and journals and conferences in which they appeared. The results of this study indicated that areas of supplier selection, supply chain efficiency and sustainable supply chain have had the highest frequently than other areas. In addition, results of this review paper indicated that data envelopment analysis showed great promise to be a good evaluative tool for future evaluation on supply chain management, where the production function between the inputs and outputs was virtually absent or extremely difficult to acquire. The facility of multiple inputs and multiple outputs of the data envelopment analysis model was definitely an attractive one to most researchers and, therefore, the data envelopment analysis procedure had found many applications beyond supply chain management into organization and industry.