Sachin S. Kamble

Modeling landfill site selection using an integrated fuzzy MCDM approach

Landfill site selection is a complex process, which requires the evaluation of multiple criteria. Decision-makers often face difficulties in taking the right decision in a multiple attribute environment. In this paper, an integrated fuzzy-analytical hierarchy process (AHP)–the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS)-based methodology was applied to the municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill site selection problem. To demonstrate the approach taken, a real case of Mumbai city is taken. The model was developed to suit the socio-economic and regulatory set-up. The fuzzy-analytic hierarchy process was used to make pairwise comparisons of criteria to assign weights and rank them, while F-TOPSIS was employed to rank the alternatives. It was found that the fuzzy-AHP–TOPSIS-based methodology can be a powerful guiding tool for MSW management planners. With this modeling approach, the accuracy of landfill site selection procedure can be significantly enhanced as compared to the traditional methods, thereby reducing the cost and time required. The developed methodology helps in representing and analyzing the uncertainty and error in the decision making process of landfill site selection.

An integrated fuzzy-AHP-LP (FAHLP) approach for supplier selection and purchasing decisions

Supplier selection of a telecommunications system is an important problem to a telecommunications company as the telecommunications system is a long-term investment for the company and the success of telecommunications services is directly affected by the supplier selection decision (Tam and Tummala, 2001). The aim of this study is to model for supplier selection problem for a real world application in India which is the most populated country in world. A number of conflicting qualitative and often accompanied by ambiguities and vagueness. This makes fuzzy logic a more natural approach to this kind of multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problems. The paper proposes a combined MCDM methodology. Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and linear programming (LP) are utilised for assigning weights of the criteria for supplier selection and linear programming (technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution) is used to determine the most suitable alternative using these criteria weights.

Improving port efficiency: a comparative study of selected ports in India

In the age of globalisation, seaports play a vital role in connecting national supply chains to the global marketplace. Improving port operations has become a priority for many countries. One of the ways to achieve this objective is evaluating the present efficiency as per the parameters laid down for port industry. This paper measures the efficiency of the major Indian seaports using data envelopment analysis on selected input and output variables. The input variables included – storage facilities, number of berths and number of cargo handling equipments. The two output variables included were average total turnaround time and average output per ship berth day. Six out of 12 ports were identified as efficient ports. Further, an attempt is made to identify various areas for improving the port efficiency based on interviews with port managers from a selected port in India, where the researchers had an opportunity to carry a research project. The interviews were based on a series of qualitative discussions pertaining to the efficiency of ports with the port managers. The study can thus form the baseline on which further adaptation can be made to suit their specific needs.

Measurement of service quality in banks: a comparative study between public and private banks in India

Service quality is believed to be one of the main determinants of customer satisfaction and purchase intention. However, there are very few studies that have been conducted to identify the important dimensions of service quality specific to banking sector. The present study is aimed to assess and compare the perceived level of bank service quality and to investigate the dimensions of quality banking service in private and public sector bank using an instrument banking service quality scale (BSQ) specifically designed for measuring service quality in banks. The study is based on the responses collected from 240 customers banking with private and public sector retail banks in India. The results show that the customers of public sector and private sector banks differ in terms of their service quality perceptions. Private banks are perceived to be superior on the service quality dimensions: effectiveness, access and tangibles whereas, the public sector banks score better on the dimensions of price and reliability. The study concludes that the BSQ instrument appears to be a valid instrument to measure the service quality in Indian retail banks.

Analysing the effect of uncertain environmental factors on supplier-buyer strategic partnership (SBSP) by using structural equation model (SEM)

Supplier-buyer strategic partnerships (SBSP) are widely considered as an effective source of competitive advantage by firm’s operating in turbulent business environments. The objective of this research is to empirically investigate whether different dimensions of environmental uncertainty have different impacts on the SBSP. The uncertain environmental factors, namely business cost, labour availability, competitive hostility, government laws and regulations, political environment, dynamism in the market (volatility and complexity) impact SBSP including specific investments. The study is based on the reposes of 270 purchasing managers from 54 manufacturing and process industries from India (Mumbai region). A structural equation modelling was used to analyse the SBSP. The results suggest a statistically significant relationship between the selected uncertain business environmental factors and the SBSP. The primary contribution of this research lies in its ability to offer practically relevant insights to aid...

Evaluation of supplier selection criteria by combination of AHP and fuzzy DEMATEL method

The environment becomes more complicated, so effective decisionmaking is more desired. Supplier selection problem is a multi-criteria problem that includes both qualitative and quantitative factors. Supplier selection is a critical issue concerned in the process of managing global supply chains. The purpose of this study is to present an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method that could cope with the supplier selection criteria and interdependencies among criteria. The results generated by AHP can be used to improve performance in a short period of time. In contrast to the short time period, the results suggested by fuzzy DEMATEL method might provide insight to improve performance in a long time period. The model can propose the criterion which is the most important, or affects other criteria the most, so buyers will know which criterion can improve the performance the most and can ask suppliers to modify it. An empirical study is also presented to illustrate the procedure of our proposed method and to demonstrate its usefulness.

Adoption of social media by Business Education students: Application of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)

The new generation of students, especially Business Education students are undoubtedly net savvy. Their attendance in the regular classes may be less than hundred percent, but these students browse the net on multiple occasions on a single day! Especially Social networking sites are the most favored locations among the students. There are diverse opinions of the educationists on this trend. On one extreme, they say that social networking sites like Face Book and Twitter cause distractions and hence should be blocked on the campus networks. At the other extreme there is a belief that, this new communication platform can be used to facilitate superior education. In between these two extremes, there are many who are slightly pessimistic to cautiously optimistic. The research paper tries to add to the theoretical knowledge base pertaining to adoption of newer technology of Social Networking amongst the business students at NITIE, Mumbai (a premier MBA level B School in India), by applying Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). An empirical study was carried out using on-line survey research amongst 145 students of MBA. The major findings of the paper pertain to the relationship of independent variables (Perceived Ease of Use, Perceived Usefulness), Intervening Variable (Attitude) on Dependent Variable (Intention to Use). It is believed that the findings will be useful in understanding adoption phenomena better, so as to help the champions of ICT in education to take superior decisions based on them.

Decision support system framework for performance based evaluation and ranking system of carry and forward agents

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a research model that explore strategic outsourcing practices for sustainable competitive advantages. In this paper, a decision support system (DSS) for sustainable performance measurement of carry and forward agents (CFAs) is proposed. Design/methodology/approach – The importance of seven criteria as a means of selecting the best CFA for warehouses under the aspect of sustainable environment is analyzed. The criteria are compared and ranked using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) with the combined assistance of literature review and expert opinions. This study makes use of unstructured interviews of Regional Distribution Manager and senior strategic leaders of the firms. Findings – This paper discusses how strategic outsourcing can help firm to achieve desired business outcomes. The selection of best CFA gives a direction to the company to move toward excellence and provides the key areas to work upon to achieve competitive advantage. The main contribution...

Multi-criteria decision-making for automobile purchase using an integrated analytical quality fuzzy (AQF) technique

In this paper we propose an integrated model from the most important and usable multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques, means analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and quality function deployment (QFD)-fuzzy technique for preference, in order to examine the improvement fields of Indian automobile industry. A new approach, AQF method, has been suggested to combine the results of three techniques to find the final ranking. Besides, we propose a developing QFD-fuzzy model as a basis for comparing the reliability of results of the MCDM techniques, which depicts that AQF is more reliable than other MCDM techniques. Our results have certified that technology, economical aspects, style, comforts, safety, tools availability, convenience, social aspects, aesthetics view, and manufacturers are the customers’ most important criteria for automobile selection. After comparing the internal and external products, and ranking them based on the criteria and sub-criteria, the necessity to improve internal automobiles on various fields has been prioritised.

Identification and evaluation of landfill site selection criteria using a hybrid Fuzzy Delphi, Fuzzy AHP and DEMATEL based approach

Landfill site selection is a complex multi-criteria and time consuming process. The present study aims to identify, evaluate, and prioritize the landfill site selection criteria and finally study the relationship between them, and the degree to which they affect or are affected by one another. In the first stage, experts’ opinion was sought to select the relevant criteria and fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) was employed to obtain the critical factors for selection of landfill sites. Next, the fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) was used to make pairwise comparisons of selected criteria by domain experts for assigning weights to the decision criteria and to calculate their importance degree. Finally, by considering the interrelationships among the criteria, Decision-making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) technique was applied to deal with the importance and causal relationships among them, and to recognize the influential criteria of landfill site selection. Obtained results show that, the criteria of sensitive area and intra-municipality are revealed to be the top two significant influences in selecting landfill sites. By identifying the relevant criteria, the structures and interrelationships, this study can offer an insight for decision makers to understand cause-effect relationships and allow to select suitable sites.