Jarosław Wątróbski

Decision Making with Uncertainty Using Hesitant Fuzzy Sets

Actual existing multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods yield results that may be questionable and unreliable. These methods very often ignore the issue of uncertainty and rank reversal paradox, which are fundamental and important challenges of MCDM methods. In response to these challenges, the Characteristic Objects Method (COMET) was developed. Despite it being immune to the rank reversal paradox, classical COMET is not designed for uncertain, decisional problems. In this paper, we propose to extend COMET using hesitant fuzzy set (HFS) theory. Hesitant fuzzy set theory is a powerful tool to express the uncertainty that derives from an expert comparing characteristic objects and identifying membership functions for each criterion domain. We present the theoretical foundations and principles of COMET, and we provide an illustrative example to show how COMET handles uncertain decision problems both practically and effectively.

Group Decision-Making for Hesitant Fuzzy Sets Based on Characteristic Objects Method

There are many real-life problems that, because of the need to involve a wide domain of knowledge, are beyond a single expert. This is especially true for complex problems. Therefore, it is usually necessary to allocate more than one expert to a decision process. In such situations, we can observe an increasing importance of uncertainty. In this paper, the Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) method called the Characteristic Objects Method (COMET) is extended to solve problems for Multi-Criteria Group Decision-Making (MCGDM) in a hesitant fuzzy environment. It is a completely new idea for solving problems of group decision-making under uncertainty. In this approach, we use L-R-type Generalized Fuzzy Numbers (GFNs) to get the degree of hesitancy for an alternative under a certain criterion. Therefore, the classical COMET method was adapted to work with GFNs in group decision-making problems. The proposed extension is presented in detail, along with the necessary background information. Finally, an illustrative numerical example is provided to elaborate the proposed method with respect to the support of a decision process. The presented extension of the COMET method, as opposed to others’ group decision-making methods, is completely free of the rank reversal phenomenon, which is identified as one of the most important MCDM challenges.

Towards the Tradeoff Between Online Marketing Resources Exploitation and the User Experience with the Use of Eye Tracking

Online systems are often overloaded with marketing content and as a result, perceived intrusiveness negatively affects the user experience and the evaluation of the website. Intentional and unintentional avoidance of the commercial content creates the need for compromise solutions from both the perspective of user experience and business goals. The presented research shows a unique approach to search for tradeoffs between the editorial content and the intensity of marketing components with the use of eye tracking and the multiple-criteria decision analysis methods.

Method of Criteria Selection and Weights Calculation in the Process of Web Projects Evaluation

The article outlines the issues of website quality assessment, reduction of website assessment criteria and factors that users employ in the assessment of websites. The research presents a selection procedure concerning significant choice criteria and revealing undisclosed user preferences based on the website quality assessment models. The formulated procedure utilizes feature selection methods derived from machine learning. Results concerning undisclosed preferences were verified through a comparison with those declared by website users.

The Selection of Multicriteria Method Based on Unstructured Decision Problem Description

Decision support processes and methods require applying numerous mathematical transformations, including one of the developed processes of multicriteria analysis. The core of most existing processes is usually one of the multicriteria decision aid methods (MCDA). The paper presents research focused on identifying which factors of a decision situation are significant for selecting a multicriteria method. The identified factors were analyzed with data-mining methods. Conclusions contain an outline of factors of decision situations that support MCDA methods to support decisions in particular situations.

Knowledge Management in Website Quality Evaluation Domain

This paper deals with the problem of building a repository of knowledge about the methods and models of assessing the quality of Internet services. The repository has been constructed in the form of ontologies representing the various methods of quality assessment. For this purpose, the algorithm was developed based on ontologies with conceptualization of knowledge contained in the individual methods, and each completed ontology was evaluated. As a result of the research, domain ontologies were implemented reflecting the website quality assessment methods.

Guideline for MCDA Method Selection in Production Management Area

Each decision situation is described by a set of certain characteristics—a factor which classifies it into a category of decision problems. Many times the chosen problematic determines the choice of the most suitable Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) method to be employed for supporting a decision maker. The following paper deals with directions developing in the literature on choosing the MCDA method best suited to solve a given decision problem. In the study, two sources of factors which influence the choice of the method were identified: a subject of the decision and a characteristic of dependencies in the problem description. When considering factors originating from the subject of the decision, the main focus is on case studies which support applying a particular method to a given problem. Dependencies between parameters describing a problem were analysed from the impact that the existence of various data sources has to them. The selected group of factors was consecutively generalised and its impact on the result of the decision support (using a collection of methods) was pointed out. The performed analysis constitutes the source of the strategy for choosing one method from the considered group of methods. Examples of applications in production management area are given.

Green Supplier Selection Framework Based on Multi-Criteria Decision-Analysis Approach

The aim of this article is to present the framework for dynamic suppliers’ evaluation and selection. The proposed framework defines input information together with a methodological background required for decision support processes. Authors suggest using the multi-criteria decision-analysis (MCDA) methodology to propose a dynamic approach. Therefore, the fuzzy TOPSIS method has been selected as a method that provides the ability to aggregate numerical and linguistic data, which are obtained from various inputs. After discussions on a framework outline, an empirical study is given. The presented problem concerns the selection of a supplier for the company producing cable bundles. Finally, a ranking for 25 vendors (for 12 periods) is obtained as a result, which facilitates the diversification of supplies for the discussed company.

Modeling the Impact of Visual Components on Verbal Communication in Online Advertising

Together with the development of electronic marketing, the key factors that influence the effectiveness of interactive media were identified in the earlier research. This article presents approach which makes possible to determine the relationship between the textual and visual components and their impact on results of the campaign. The structure of interactive advertising unit with adjustable visual and verbal influence is presented followed by results from the field experiment performed with the usage of proposed approach.

Intuitionistic-Fuzzy Goals in Zero-Sum Multi Criteria Matrix Games

The classical matrix theory is deficient to express the vagueness of the real life. The fuzzy set theory has been successfully applied to bridge this gap. Much work has already been done on a two-person zero sum matrix game with fuzzy goals. In continuation, this paper is dedicated to define and study a multi-criteria two-person zero sum game with intuitionistic fuzzy goals. It is shown that solving such games is equivalent to solving two crisp multi object linear programming problems. Our work generalizes the previous study on a multi-criteria game with fuzzy goals by adopting the approach of linear programming with intuitionistic fuzzy sets. Finally, an illustrative numerical example is provided to elaborate the proposed approach.