An evaluation methodology for ergonomic design of electronic consumer products based on fuzzy axiomatic design

This article is posted with permission of OCP Science imprint. Copyright @ 2008 Old City Publishing Group.The development life cycle of software and electronic products has been shortened by the growth of rapid prototyping techniques. The evaluation of electronic consumer products should consider hardware and software as well as the ergonomic usability, emotional appeal and aesthetic integrity of the design. This research follows a systematic approach to develop an evaluation methodology for electronic mobile products on ergonomic design. The proposed methodology is based on fuzzy multi attribute decision making and fuzzy axiomatic design realized in three steps; determination of ergonomic attributes for electronic consumer products, determination of a representative set of alternatives, and selection of the best alternative in terms of ergonomic design by utilizing fuzzy axiomatic design. A case study is also provided to support the proposed methodology

Managing Non-Homogeneous Information and Experts’ Psychological Behavior in Group Emergency Decision Making

After an emergency event (EE) happens, emergency decision making (EDM) is a common and effective way to deal with the emergency situation, which plays an important role in mitigating its level of harm. In the real world, it is a big challenge for an individual emergency manager (EM) to make a proper and comprehensive decision for coping with an EE. Consequently, many practical EDM problems drive group emergency decision making (GEDM) problems whose main limitations are related to the lack of flexibility in knowledge elicitation, disagreements in the group and the consideration of experts’ psychological behavior in the decision process. Hence, this paper proposes a novel GEDM approach that allows more flexibility for preference elicitation under uncertainty, provides a consensus process to avoid disagreements and considers experts’ psychological behavior by using the fuzzy TODIM method based on prospect theory. Eventually, a group decision support system (GDSS) is developed to support the whole GEDM process defined in the proposed method demonstrating its novelty, validity and feasibility.This work was partly supported by the Young Doctoral Dissertation Project of Social Science Planning Project of Fujian Province (Project No. FJ2016C202), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project Nos. 71371053, 61773123), Spanish National Research Project (Project No. TIN2015-66524-P), and Spanish Ministry of Economy and Finance Postdoctoral Fellow (IJCI-2015-23715) and ERDF

Uporaba neizrazite logike pri investicijskom usklađivanju u javnom sektoru

Politics and the professions often have different standpoints on development planning and investment decisions in the public sector. Opposing views, lack of understanding and an inability to accept compromises in the planning and execution of investments frequently cause deviations which ultimately reveal themselves in negative economic consequences. Effective and successful planning and execution of investments in the public sector is one of the key development tasks in a state or local community. For this reason we have undertaken a detailed investigation of the issue with the goal of devising a tool in the form of a model of a system for support in decision making. In order to make it easier for appraisers and decision makers to express their opinions in a natural and individual manner, we have introduced an appraisal with linguistic values through the use of fuzzy logic. The purpose of this article is to present the characteristics and structure of the fuzzy model for coordinating opinions, and the progress and results of its use in the case of two Slovenian municipalities.Prilikom razvojnog procesa ili investicijskog odlučivanja u javnom sektoru, politika i struka često imaju potpuno različita stajališta. Suprotni pogledi, međusobno nerazumijevanje i nemogućnost usvajanja kompromisa pri prijedlogu razvoja ili investicijama česti su uzrok devijacija koje su na kraju izražene u negativnim ekonomskim posljedicama. Učinkovit i uspješan prijedlog, priprema i izdvajanje investicija u javnom sektoru jedan je od ključnih razvojnih čimbenika države obzirom na lokalnu zajednicu. Zbog ovih razloga odlučili smo problem pozornije istražiti i oblikovati sredstvo u obliku sustava za podršku odlučivanja. Da bi ključnim osobama u procesu odlučivanja omogućili iskaz njihovih razmišljanja na prirodan i njima blizak način, omogućili smo im upotrebu metode neizrazite logike - sustava ocjenjivanja s lingvističkim vrijednostima. Namjera ovog članka je predstavljanje značaja i strukture neizrazitog modela usklađivanja mišljenja, a nastao je korištenjem rezultata studije slučaja - dvije slovenske općine. Studije slučaja pokazale su da je u javnom sektoru primjerenim pristupom moguće implementirati postupak odlučivanja kao rezultat procesa usklađivanja mišljenja različitih osoba koje sudjeluju u procesu odlučivanja

A review of fuzzy AHP methods for decision-making with subjective judgements

Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a broadly applied multi-criteria decision-making method to determine the weights of criteria and priorities of alternatives in a structured manner based on pairwise comparison. As subjective judgments during comparison might be imprecise, fuzzy sets have been combined with AHP. This is referred to as fuzzy AHP or FAHP. An increasing amount of papers are published which describe different ways to derive the weights/priorities from a fuzzy comparison matrix, but seldomly set out the relative benefits of each approach so that the choice of the approach seems arbitrary. A review of various fuzzy AHP techniques is required to guide both academic and industrial experts to choose suitable techniques for a specific practical context. This paper reviews the literature published since 2008 where fuzzy AHP is applied to decision-making problems in industry, particularly the various selection problems. The techniques are categorised by the four aspects of developing a fuzzy AHP model: (i) representation of the relative importance for pairwise comparison, (ii) aggregation of fuzzy sets for group decisions and weights/priorities, (iii) defuzzification of a fuzzy set to a crisp value for final comparison, and (iv) consistency measurement of the judgements. These techniques are discussed in terms of their underlying principles, origins, strengths and weakness. Summary tables and specification charts are provided to guide the selection of suitable techniques. Tips for building a fuzzy AHP model are also included and six open questions are posed for future work

Linking Neutrosophic AHP and Neutrosophic Social Choice Theory for Group Decision Making

Abstract. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a decision-making technique that has been widely studied and developed by the scientific community. The interest in this tool is because it combines scientific rigor with the simplicity of its application. Additionally, it has been extended to uncertainty frameworks, such as fuzzy and neutrosophic frameworks. This paper aims to define a new method called NAHP+NSC, where the Neutrosophic Analytic Hierarchy Process (NAHP) is combined with the recently introduced Neutrosophic Social Choice (NSC) theory. Neutrosophy incorporates indeterminacy to both the AHP technique and the SC theory, which is an intrinsic condition of any decision-making process. On the other hand, it is possible to count on a group of experts to carry out the NAHP evaluations, where the chosen alternative is the one with the highest votes. Experts are divided into kind of homogeneous sub-groups called Interest Groups (IG), where each IG conjointly evaluates the proposed alternatives, and then tools of NSC are used for choosing the best alternative. The contribution of this new method is that evaluations and results are more accurate when indeterminacy is incorporated

A systematic review on multi-criteria group decision-making methods based on weights: analysis and classification scheme

Interest in group decision-making (GDM) has been increasing prominently over the last decade. Access to global databases, sophisticated sensors which can obtain multiple inputs or complex problems requiring opinions from several experts have driven interest in data aggregation. Consequently, the field has been widely studied from several viewpoints and multiple approaches have been proposed. Nevertheless, there is a lack of general framework. Moreover, this problem is exacerbated in the case of experts’ weighting methods, one of the most widely-used techniques to deal with multiple source aggregation. This lack of general classification scheme, or a guide to assist expert knowledge, leads to ambiguity or misreading for readers, who may be overwhelmed by the large amount of unclassified information currently available. To invert this situation, a general GDM framework is presented which divides and classifies all data aggregation techniques, focusing on and expanding the classification of experts’ weighting methods in terms of analysis type by carrying out an in-depth literature review. Results are not only classified but analysed and discussed regarding multiple characteristics, such as MCDMs in which they are applied, type of data used, ideal solutions considered or when they are applied. Furthermore, general requirements supplement this analysis such as initial influence, or component division considerations. As a result, this paper provides not only a general classification scheme and a detailed analysis of experts’ weighting methods but also a road map for researchers working on GDM topics or a guide for experts who use these methods. Furthermore, six significant contributions for future research pathways are provided in the conclusions.The first author acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Universities [grant number FPU18/01471]. The second and third author wish to recognize their support from the Serra Hunter program. Finally, this work was supported by the Catalan agency AGAUR through its research group support program (2017SGR00227). This research is part of the R&D project IAQ4EDU, reference no. PID2020-117366RB-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/ 501100011033.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Uncertainty analysis of business components in Iran with fuzzy systems: By comparing hypermarkets and Net markets

Purpose: Today's businesses, especially in Iran, face many factors and challenges, one of which is uncertainty in inputs and laws and regulations. Especially in the current situation and with the development of e-commerce on the one hand and on the other hand despite critical conditions such as COVID-19, the purpose of this article is a comparison between businesses with the study of hypermarkets and net markets. Methodology: This research is a descriptive-analytical type that after explaining the goals and components of organizational business using library resources and Internet search, interviews and questionnaires, from a multi-criteria decision approach and fuzzy logic for effective analysis The implications of organizational business are exploited. Two areas of physical retail businesses such as hypermarkets and virtual ones such as net markets have been compared and analyzed. The necessary decisions for the activities of these businesses are inferred using the principle-based principles of fuzzy systems. Findings: The result of the research has been that due to the capabilities of the development of net markets such as the effective use of information technology and experts, their comprehensive development and growth in the future is more realistic that The ability to extend this to other areas of virtual business. Especially in spite of critical conditions such as the spread of pandemics, the popularity of using net markets has increased. Originality/Value: The virtual and internet business platform has not yet been significantly developed in Iran. The most important approach in this study is to examine the components of business in Iran and a comparative study to change attitudes toward e-business

Agility Evaluation in Fuzzy Environment

Agility metrics are difficult to define, mainly due to the multidimensionality and vagueness of the concept of agility (Nikos et al., 2002). In this work, a fuzzy logic, knowledge-based framework is intended to be developed for the assessment of an enterprise’s agility; as a case study. The necessary expertise explored to quantitatively determine and evaluate overall agility degree is to be represented via fuzzy logic analyses. Apart from estimating overall agility appraisement index; the study is aimed to be extended to identify agile barriers (obstacles towards achieving agility). The proposed appraisement module would be implemented in an Indian enterprise as a case study. Data obtained thereof, would be critically analyzed to reveal the current scenario of existing agile practices of the said enterprise and to seek for ill-performing areas which need future improvemen

A fuzzy AHP multi-criteria decision-making approach applied to combined cooling, heating and power production systems

Most of the real-world multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problems contain a mixture of quantitative and qualitative criteria; therefore quantitative MCDM methods are inadequate for handling this type of decision problems. In this paper, a MCDM method based on the Fuzzy Sets Theory and on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is proposed. This method incorporates a number of perspectives on how to approach the fuzzy MCDM problem, as follows: (1) combining quantitative and qualitative criteria (2) expressing criteria pair-wise comparison in linguistic terms and performance of the alternative on each criterion in linguistic terms or exact values when criterion is qualitative or quantitative, respectively, (3) converting all the assessments into trapezoidal fuzzy numbers, (4) using the difference minimization method to calculate the local weight of criteria, employing the algebraic operations of fuzzy numbers based on the concept of α-cuts, (4) calculating the global weight of criteria and the global performance of each alternative using geometric mean and the weighted sum, respectively, (5) using the centroid method to rank the alternatives. Finally, an illustrative example on evaluation of several combined cooling, heat and power production systems is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology