A holistic multi-methodology for sustainable renovation

A review of the barriers for building renovation has revealed a lack of methodologies, which can promote sustainability objectives and assist various stakeholders during the design stage of building renovation/retrofitting projects. The purpose of this paper is to develop a Holistic Multi-methodology for Sustainable Renovation, which aims to deal with complexity of renovation projects. It provides a framework through which to involve the different stakeholders in the design process to improve group learning and group decision-making, and hence make the building renovation design process more robust and efficient. Therefore, the paper discusses the essence of multifaceted barriers in building renovation regarding cultural changes and technological/physical changes. The outcome is a proposal for a multi-methodology framework, which is developed by introducing, evaluating and mixing methods from Soft Systems Methodologies (SSM) with Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM). The potential of applying the proposed methodology in renovation projects is demonstrated through a case study

A framework for defining weights of decision makers in group decision-making, using consistency between different multicriteria weighting methods

Most forest operations are complex problems that require the weights of relevant criteria - representing trade-offs between various economic, ecological, and social aspects of the problem - to be defined. Usually this is done by using multicriteria weighting method(s) in a group (participatory) context in order to include different opinions and to minimize risk of poor individual judgments. Furthermore, in group decision-making, the weights of decision makers (DMs) must be defined. However, no consensus exists on the best way to determine related weights assigned to DMs. For that purpose, we propose the consistency-based group decision-making framework (CGDF), which uses the expertise of a DM to weight the responses of the DM when deriving an overall group decision. The novel part of CGDF is the inter-weights consistency method (ICM) for evaluating the expertise of a DM based on the consistency of the weights the DM assigns to different criteria using different multicriteria weighting methods. We demonstrate the utility of ICM and CGDF by applying them to a decision-making problem from Swedish forest operations - defining weights of criteria relevant for designing the machine-trail network for driving in the forest terrain

Ranking of manufacturers of mechanical parts based on a fuzzy multi-criteria decision making method: A case study in Iran National Steel Industrial Group

Considering multiple criteria in evaluating manufacturers, high number of parts, orders and manufacturers for supplying parts of machinery and equipment, selecting the right manufacturer is a serious problem in steel rolling and production factories. The use of Multi-Criteria and methods in decision-making plays an important role in the selection speed and accuracy. Because of multiple criteria in evaluating manufacturers, selecting a limited and effective number of manufacturers seems difficult, so this study aimed to rank potential suppliers in order to identify the best supplier. Decisions in the outsourcing of mechanical parts are made based on multi-criteria methods and grouped decisions. So, this article proposes a method based on the grouped fuzzy decision-making approach in order to evaluate and rank the most suitable suppliers for outsourcing activities in Iran National Steel Industrial Group. Using the proposed method, experts presented their opinions in linguistic words, a range of numbers, deterministic or fuzzy numbers. Then each supplier was ranked based on the model criteria. On this basis, the most effective criteria in selecting companies were also identified

Ranking of manufacturers of mechanical parts based on a fuzzy multi-criteria decision making method: A case study in Iran National Steel Industrial Group

Considering multiple criteria in evaluating manufacturers, high number of parts, orders and manufacturers for supplying parts of machinery and equipment, selecting the right manufacturer is a serious problem in steel rolling and production factories. The use of Multi-Criteria and methods in decision-making plays an important role in the selection speed and accuracy. Because of multiple criteria in evaluating manufacturers, selecting a limited and effective number of manufacturers seems difficult, so this study aimed to rank potential suppliers in order to identify the best supplier. Decisions in the outsourcing of mechanical parts are made based on multi-criteria methods and grouped decisions. So, this article proposes a method based on the grouped fuzzy decision-making approach in order to evaluate and rank the most suitable suppliers for outsourcing activities in Iran National Steel Industrial Group. Using the proposed method, experts presented their opinions in linguistic words, a range of numbers, deterministic or fuzzy numbers. Then each supplier was ranked based on the model criteria. On this basis, the most effective criteria in selecting companies were also identified

Ranking of manufacturers of mechanical parts based on a fuzzy multi-criteria decision making method: A case study in Iran National Steel Industrial Group

Considering multiple criteria in evaluating manufacturers, high number of parts, orders and manufacturers for supplying parts of machinery and equipment, selecting the right manufacturer is a serious problem in steel rolling and production factories. The use of Multi-Criteria and methods in decision-making plays an important role in the selection speed and accuracy. Because of multiple criteria in evaluating manufacturers, selecting a limited and effective number of manufacturers seems difficult, so this study aimed to rank potential suppliers in order to identify the best supplier. Decisions in the outsourcing of mechanical parts are made based on multi-criteria methods and grouped decisions. So, this article proposes a method based on the grouped fuzzy decision-making approach in order to evaluate and rank the most suitable suppliers for outsourcing activities in Iran National Steel Industrial Group. Using the proposed method, experts presented their opinions in linguistic words, a range of numbers, deterministic or fuzzy numbers. Then each supplier was ranked based on the model criteria. On this basis, the most effective criteria in selecting companies were also identified

Quantity Over Quality—Findings from a Systematic Review and Environmental Scan of Patient Decision Aids on Early Abortion Methods

Background: The availability and effectiveness of decision aids (DAs) on early abortion methods remain unknown, despite their potential for supporting women’s decision making. Objective: To describe the availability, impact and quality of DAs on surgical and medical early abortion methods for women seeking induced abortion. Search strategy: For the systematic review, we searched MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, EMBASE and PsycINFO. For the environmental scan, we searched Google and App Stores and consulted key informants. Inclusion criteria: For the systematic review, we included studies evaluating an early abortion method DA (any format and language) vs a comparison group on women’s decision making. DAs must have met the Stacey et al (2014). Cochrane review definition of DAs. For the environmental scan, we included English DAs developed for the US context. Data extraction and synthesis: We extracted study and DA characteristics, assessed study quality using the Effective Practice and Organization of Care risk of bias tool and assessed DA quality using International Patient Decision Aid Standards (IPDAS). Results: The systematic review identified one study, which found that the DA group had higher knowledge and felt more informed. The evaluated DA met few IPDAS criteria. In contrast, the environmental scan identified 49 DAs created by non specialists. On average, these met 28% of IPDAS criteria for Content, 22% for Development and 0% for Effectiveness. Conclusions: Research evaluating DAs on early abortion methods is lacking, and although many tools are accessible, they demonstrate suboptimal quality. Efforts to revise existing or develop new DAs, support patients to identify high-quality DAs and facilitate non-specialist developers’ adoption of best practices for DA development are neede

An integrated fuzzy multi criteria group decision making model for handling equipment selection

The problem of handling equipment selection plays a significant role in the total cost of a mining project; so that it can affect the activity and continuity of the project and is a strategic problem. In this study, an integrated model based on two fuzzy multi-criteria decision making techniques for handling equipment selection is proposed. The proposed evaluation model is derived from group decision making, fuzzy set theory, analytical hierarchy process (AHP), and Technique to Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) methods. The fuzzy AHP (FAHP) method is utilized to calculate the relative importance of the evaluation criteria, then, fuzzy TOPSIS (FTOPSIS) is applied for evaluating the feasible handling equipment in order to select the best handling system among a pool of the possible alternatives. The model is applied for a real world case study to demonstrate the capability and effectiveness of the proposed model. To investigate the result sensitiveness to the changes of the criteria weights, a sensitivity analysis is finally conducted

Methodology for Evaluating the Quality of Distance Learning Courses in Consecutive Stages

AbstractThe paper presents a new methodology for evaluating the quality of distance learning courses. Evaluation takes place in three stages: content subject experts in the field inspect the material; IT specialists inspect the effectiveness of the tools used for planning training; and students’ rating is provided. In order to recalculate the final distance course quality assessment of each expert group stages of evaluation of significance, the Bayes’ formula is used. The publication presents the system of criteria for course quality evaluation. The authors use Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods to determine the best course. To estimate the importance weights of the criteria, the Analytical Hierarchy Process Fuzzy (AHPF) method is used

Risky multi-criteria group decision making on green capacity investment projects based on supply chain

Green capacity investment projects have rapidly emerged involving suppliers, customers, and manufacturing organizations in supply chain systems with environmental challenges. This paper focuses on and identifies both primary strategic and operational elements that will aid managers in evaluating and making risky multi-criteria decisions on green capacity investment projects. We propose a cloud prospect value consensus process consisting of feedback and adjustment mechanisms that provide modification instructions to the corresponding decision makers for a decision matrix based on the cloud model and prospect theory, which considers psychological behavior, disagreements between decision makers, and the ambiguity of linguistic variable assessment across multi-criteria risks. The new model increases the efficiency and accuracy of decision making. To verify the feasibility and validity of the Cloud Prospect Value Consensus Degree based on the Feedback adjustment mechanism, its performance is compared with three state-of-the-art multi-criteria group decision-making methods