An approximate reasoning based linguistic multi-criteria group decision-making method

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Pairwise Comparison and Distance Measure of Hesitant Fuzzy Linguistic Term Sets

A hesitant fuzzy linguistic term set (HFLTS), allowing experts using several possible linguistic terms to assess a qualitative linguistic variable, is very useful to express people’s hesitancy in practical decision-making problems. Up to now, a little research has been done on the comparison and distance measure of HFLTSs. In this paper, we present a comparison method for HFLTSs based on pairwise comparisons of each linguistic term in the two HFLTSs. Then, a distance measure method based on the pairwise comparison matrix of HFLTSs is proposed, and we prove that this distance is equal to the distance of the average values of HFLTSs, which makes the distance measure much more simple. Finally, the pairwise comparison and distance measure methods are utilized to develop two multicriteria decision-making approaches under hesitant fuzzy linguistic environments. The results analysis shows that our methods in this paper are more reasonable

Developing a multidimensional performance measurement framework for international construction joint ventures (ICJVs): the perspective of Ghana-hosted ICJVs' practitioners

Purpose: International construction joint ventures (ICJVs) will fully realize their potential for success and effectively monitor performance when an adequate and suitable performance benchmark is established. However, existing studies fall short of adequately providing a mutually acceptable benchmark for assessing the performance of ICJVs. This study aims to develop an adequate and suitable performance measurement framework for ICJVs. Design/methodology/approach: A twofold structured questionnaire survey, supplemented by semi-structured interviews, was used to collect data from the practitioners of ICJVs hosted in the developing country of Ghana. The data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and a hybrid-fuzzy logic approach. Findings: A list of 30 performance indicators (PIs), defined by project performance, perceived satisfaction, company/partner performance, socio-environmental performance and performance of ICJV management, was validated and proved to be significant. Only 22 out of the 30 PIs, focusing on project efficiency, societal improvement and organizational goals are realized by the ICJV practitioners. Further, suitable determinants and viable quantitative ranges for measuring each PI are established to prevent different interpretations of the meanings of PIs and objectively express the level of success in quantitative terms. The results call for further investigation of the convergence between the practice of and research into some PIs (e.g. socio-environmental performance) and a range of different performance levels (PLs) in a more scientific manner. Practical implications: This study not only advances the knowledge base and practice of performance measurement in ICJVs but could also assist stakeholders and decision-makers to assess, compare and monitor the performance of different ICJV projects on common grounds objectively. Originality/value: This study not only comprehensively assessed PIs – what to measure – but also systematically determined suitable determinants – how to measure – for each PI

Sistema multiagente para modelar procesos de consenso en toma de decisión en grupo a gran escala usando técnicas de soft computing

[ES]La presente Tesis se centra en el campo de los Procesos de Alcance de Consenso en Toma de Decisión en Grupo. En la literatura se han propuesto diversos modelos y enfoques para dar soporte a dichos procesos en problemas de toma de decisión en grupo reales, los cuales normalmente se han centrado en pequeños grupos de expertos. Sin embargo, dichos modelos presentan algunas dificultades:::;. y limitaciones para la gestión de grandes grupos. Dado que los problemas de toma de decisión en grupo a gran escala, en los que participa un elevado número de expertos, están cobrando una relevancia cada vez mayor en múltiples entornos tecnológicos, en esta investigación se propone un Sistema Multiagente basado en técnicas de soft computing, capaz de dar soporte en procesos de negociación semisupervisados, para alcanzar el consenso en problemas reales en los que participa un elevado número de expertos.[EN]This thesis focuses on the field of Consensus Reaching Processes within Group Decision Making. Several models and approaches have been proposed in the literature to support such processes in reallife group decision making problems, which have normally focused on small groups of experts. However, such models present some difficulties and limitations for the management of large groups. Due to the fact that large-scale group decision making problems, in which a large number of experts participate, are attaining an increasing relevance in multiple technological environments, this research proposes a multiagent system based on soft computing techniques, capable of giving support to semi-supervised negotiation processes in order to reach consensus in real-life problems in which a large number of experts take partoTesis Univ. Jaén. Departamento de Informática, leída el 25 de febrero de 201

Modelado de toma de decisión con coalición de criterios e información lingüistica

Cuando es necesario resumir en un único valor diferentes opiniones relacionadas a una situación particular, usualmente se recurre a un proceso de agregación, que consiste básicamente en determinar el valor apropiado que represente la opinión de la mayoría. La presente tesis extiende el uso del operador de mayoría MA-OWA proporcionando un mecanismo para priorizar las mayorías sin que las minorías sean descartadas muy rápidamente. A su vez, este modelo, aplicado en los Social Media, es enriquecido dando la posibilidad de proporcionar la importancia de los valores a agregar con otros criterios diferentes a la cardinalidad de los mismos. Adicionalmente, se implementa un modelo de toma de decisiones donde los criterios a evaluar pueden presentar algún tipo de interacción. En este ámbito, la integral discreta de Choquet es un operador de agregación definido en función de una medida difusa, que se comporta adecuadamente para modelar el fenómeno expuesto. Se presenta un método de construcción automático de la medida difusa asociada a la integral, tomando como base las apreciaciones de varios expertos con diferentes niveles de experticia. Se recurre a la utilización de información lingüística para expresar el grado y signo de la sinergia entre los criterios intervinientes. Finalmente, si bien los modelos diseñados se comportan adecuadamente en forma separada, su potencial aumenta si se los emplea en un modelo integrado de coaliciones (en dos niveles) en base a la opinión de la mayoría

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

A Satisfactory-Oriented Approach to Multiexpert Decision-Making With Linguistic Assessments

This paper proposes a multiexpert decision-making (MEDM) method with linguistic assessments, making use of the notion of random preferences and a so-called satisfactory principle. It is well known that decision-making problems that manage preferences from different experts follow a common resolution scheme composed of two phases: an aggregation phase that combines the individual preferences to obtain a collective preference value for each alternative; and an exploitation phase that orders the collective preferences according to a given criterion, to select the best alternative/s. For our method, instead of using an aggregation operator to obtain a collective preference value, a random preference is defined for each alternative in the aggregation phase. Then, based on a satisfactory principle defined in this paper, that says that it is perfectly satisfactory to select an alternative as the best if its performance is as at least "good" as all the others under the same evaluation scheme, we propose a linguistic choice function to establish a rank ordering among the alternatives. Moreover, we also discuss how this linguistic decision rule can be applied to the MEDM problem in multigranular linguistic contexts. Two application examples taken from the literature are used to illuminate the proposed techniques

Multi-criteria and participatory approach to socio-economic, environmental and institutional indicators for sustainable water use and management at river basin level

Water is a limited resource essential for life. Human activities have been exercising considerable pressures on it. The unsustainable use and the need to improve the management of water are among the largest global concerns of our time. Indicators are fundamental to monitoring progress towards and trends water sustainability. Despite the widespread recognition of the relevance of indicators to water sustainability worldwide, significant challenges remain. Improved knowledge, research and innovation around this subject are necessary to promote the transition towards sustainable water use and management. This demands also points to the need of developing indicators in a participatory way, with the active engagement of both scientist and stakeholders. Furthermore, these indicators should be suitable for the scale where the governance of water take place: the river basin scale. The main objective of this research is to identify and validate, in a participatory way, a set of indicators that would allow decision makers to measure the sustainability of water use and management at river basin level. This research combined relevant concepts in a holistic methodology that is scientifically robust and easy to understand. This study presents a detailed description of how to apply multi-criteria and participatory approaches to identify, select and validate indicators for sustainable water use and management at river basin level, considering their socio-economic, environmental and institutional aspects. In the initial stage of this study, 60 criteria for the evaluation of indicators and 170 indicators linked to water resources were identified through extensive literature reviews. Subsequently, an international panel of experts selected from these set of indicators the 24, which best fulfilled the criteria of social, economic, environmental and institutional sustainability (Chapter 3). Then, it was identified that 11 of the 24 indicators have the appropriate characteristics to assess water use and management in an actual watershed, fulfilling the criteria of: scientific foundation, individuality, geographic scale of application and specificity (Chapter 4). In the next step, the Salitre River Basin (in semiarid region of Bahia-Brazil) was selected for pilot implementation of this project. At that point, the major stakeholders were identified and involved in the development of the research. The indicators were, then, assessed based on the innovative eDPSIR methodology, in which the interconnectedness of the indicators becomes a key part of the selection process. The application of this method showed that 8 of the 11 indicators are of great relevance to address the complex issue of sustainable use and management of water in the pilot river basin (Chapter 5). Finally, this set of eight indicators was validated against scientific and end-use criteria in a multistage and multistakeholder participatory approach (chapter 6). More then 100 international experts and local stakeholders participated in the development of this research. This study resulted in the selection and validation of a comprehensive set of eight key-indicators to measure the social, economic, environmental and institutional sustainability of water use and management at the Salitre River Basin. This research also provides a transparent, robust and reproducible set of methods that could be applied by scientific community, indicators developers/user and decision makers to identify, select and assess indicator at other river basins of interest. This knowledge could to be used by the scientific community, international organizations, water resources managers, policy and decision makers, practitioners, as well as other stakeholders interested in the matter, to promote changes towards sustainable use and management of water. These changes can contribute to harmonising both the human and ecosystem needs at the presentas well as being essential for building the future we want for all.El agua es un recurso limitado esencial para la vida y las actividades humana han estado ejerciendo presiones considerables sobre el mismo. El uso insostenible del agua y la necesidad de mejorar su gestión están entre las principales preocupaciones actualmente. Los indicadores son fundamentales para monitorear el progreso hacia la sostenibilidad del agua. Ampliar el conocimiento, la investigación y la innovación en torno a este tema es necesario para promover la transición hacia el uso y la gestión sostenible del agua. Esta demanda también apunta a la necesidad de desarrollar indicadores de manera participativa, con la colaboración activa de científicos . Por otra parte, estos indicadores deben ser adecuados para la escala donde la gobernabilidad del agua tiene lugar: la cuenca hidrográfica. El objetivo principal de esta investigación ha sido la identificación y validación, de forma participativa, de un conjunto de indicadores que permitan a los tomadores de decisiones medir la sostenibilidad del uso y gestión del agua a nivel de cuencas. Combinamos conceptos relevantes en una metodología holística científicamente sólida y fácil de entender. El estudio presenta una descripción detallada de cómo aplicar una aproximación multicriteria y un enfoque participativo para identificar, seleccionar y validar los indicadores de uso y gestión sostenible del agua a nivel de cuenca hidrográfica, considerando sus aspectos socio-económicos, ambientales e institucionales. Inicialmente este estudio identificó 60 criterios para la evaluación de los indicadores y 170 indicadores relacionados con los recursos hídricos a través de extensas revisiones de la literatura. Posteriormente, un panel internacional de expertos han seleccionado de este conjunto los 24 indicadores que mejor cumplen los criterios de sostenibilidad social, económica, ambiental e institucional. Entonces se identificó que 11 de los 24 indicadores tienen las características apropiadas para evaluar el uso y gestión del agua en una cuenca real, cumpliendo los criterios de: fundamentación científica, individualidad, escala geográfica de aplicación y especificidad. En el siguiente paso, la cuenca del río Salitre (en la región semiárida de Bahia-Brasil) fue seleccionado para la implementación piloto de esta investigación. En ese momento, fueron identificados e involucrados los principales actores locales relacionados con el desarrollo del proyecto. Los indicadores fueron evaluados en base a la innovadora metodología eDPSIR, donde la interconexión de los indicadores se convierte en una parte clave del proceso de selección. La aplicación de este método mostró que ocho de los 11 indicadores son de gran relevancia para abordar el complejo tema del uso sostenible y la gestión del agua a nivel de la cuenca piloto. Por último, este conjunto de ocho indicadores se validó en base a criterios científicos y de uso final de forma participativa utilizando un proceso multi-etapas y multiactor. En total, más de 100 expertos internacionales y actores locales participaron en el desarrollo de este estudio. Esta investigación dio lugar a la selección y validación de un conjunto completo de ocho indicadores clave para medir la sostenibilidad social, económica, ambiental e institucional de uso y gestión del agua en la cuenca del río Salitre. Esta investigación también proporciona un conjunto relevante de métodos transparentes, sólidos y reproducibles para ser aplicados por académicos, desarrolladores / usuarios de indicadores y/o tomadores de decisiones en la identificación, selección y evalución de indicadores en otras cuencas hidrográficas. Este conocimiento podría ser utilizado para promover cambios hacia la sostenibilidad del agua. Estos cambios pueden contribuir a armonizar tanto la necesidades humanas como las de los ecosistemas en la actualidad, además de ser esencia, además de ser esenciales para "construir el futuro que queremos para todos