Comparing best-worst method and full consistency method in a fuzzy environment

Multicriteria Decision Making (MCDM) is one the most important branches of decision theory. Due to the fact that MCDM methods have the utmost significance in management, scholars try to develop more MCDM methods. Since calculating the weights of criteria is an important step in any MCDM method, increasing the accuracy of weight calculating methods can highly affect these methods. This accuracy can be improved by less pairwise comparison between criteria. To this end, the present study seeks to make a comparison between two new weight calculating techniques, namely BWM and FUCOM in a fuzzy environment using a real-world case study Results of this study shows that FUCOM-F provides more reliable results compared to FBWM since its consistency is less than FBWM by a great amount.

An Integrated Multi Criteria Decision Making Model for Cloud Service Provider Selection

In the present scenario, it is inevitable for organizations to use the services offered through the cloud. As there are numerous cloud service providers, the users have a vast number of choices to get the desired service. For the long term success of any organization, it is important to choose the right cloud service provider. This paper focuses on proposing a new framework to select the best cloud service provider. While selecting the best service provider, using an appropriate method for finding out the weight of each criterion is very important as it directly impacts the ranking of candidate service providers. In this work, the Full Consistency Method (FUCOM) is employed for finding the weight of each criterion and Multi-Objective Optimization by Ratio Analysis (MOORA) is proposed for ranking the service provider. The integration of FUCOM with MOORA results in computing the reliable values of criteria weight and a simpler procedure for computing the overall score of the service provider. Hence a rational decision making is possible in selecting the best cloud service provider.

A New Integrated FUCOM–CODAS Framework with Fermatean Fuzzy Information for Multi-Criteria Group Decision-Making

Smartphones have become an inevitable part of every facet of modern society. The selection of a particular smartphone brand from multiple options that are available is a complex and dynamic decision-making problem, involving multiple conflicting criteria that are associated with imprecise asymmetric information imposed by the uncertainty of the consumers. In this paper, we propose a novel hybrid full consistency method (FUCOM) and a combinative distance based assessment (CODAS) based on the multi-criteria group decision-making (MAGDM) framework in the Fermatean fuzzy (FF) domain for smartphone brand selection. We derive the criteria using the UTAUT2 (unified theory of acceptance and ese of technology) model. A group of 15 decision makers (DMs) participated in our study. We compare 14 leading smartphone brands in India and find that the brands having superior features of a good quality and selling a brand image at a affordable price outperform other smartphones. To check the validity of our framework, we compare the results using extant multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) models. We observe our model provides a consistent solution. Furthermore, we carry out a sensitivity analysis for ascertaining the robustness and stability of the results generated by our model. The results of the sensitivity analysis show that our proposed framework delivers a stable and robust solution.

Bullying-Related Social Skills Instrument: within the Extracurricular Activities in Educational Context

The purpose of this study is to develop an instrument to measure the level of social skills of children with disabilites related to bullying behavior. This is a developmental research, where the instruments that was developed is in the form of self-assessed questionnaire. The social skills instrument developed was using four dimensions that strongly related to bullying behavior, namely, emphaty, self-control, assertiveness, and cooperation. The development process were following four stages. First, a literature review was conducted for constructing the operational definition. Items for the instrument were 3 point Likert-type. The instruments then validated by peer evaluation and its reliability measured using internal consistency method. The result of the study is an instrument measuring the bullying-related social skills which ideally used within the extracurricular activities context where all children gather to socialized in a controlled environment.

Multi-Criteria Analysis of Green Bonds: Hybrid Multi-Method Applications

There is an increasing pressure by the community and customers forcing companies to insert environmental concerns in their practices. To help companies initiatives, the green bonds market was created. Our research question is “How to select bonds in a growing billion-dollar market?” This paper presents a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) model to enable investors identify opportunities based not only in opinions, but grounded on objective facts. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP), complex proportional assessment (COPRAS), full consistency method (FUCOM), step-wise Weights Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA), and technique of order preference similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) are MCDA methods applied in this paper. Top-fifteen green bonds ranked by specialized media were assessed with the proposed MCDA model. Criteria included the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) proposed by Yale University, and common financial indicators as assets, risks (β), and dividends. The new ranks from MCDA are compared each other and compared with the rank published by specialized media.

Modeling Mechanical Properties of Multilayer Coatings TiAlN

The paper outlines two approaches (the ANSYS finite element modeling and the differential scheme of the self-consistency method) to model the mechanical properties of TiAlN multilayer coatings. To validate the experimental results, these findings were compared with the nanoindentation test results for single and multilayer coatings. This work has revealed the effect of Ti/Al ratio on the mechanical properties of multilayer coatings. The given approaches could be applied to calculate, with an acceptable margin of error, the mechanical properties of TiAlN multilayer coatings.