Multi-criteria group decision-making method for green supplier selection based on distributed interval variables

Addressing the multi-criteria group decision making problem with interval attribute values and attribute weights, this paper proposes a decision method based on attribute distribution information. The selection of green suppliers is taken as an example for decision analysis. First, in the case of group decision-making, the quantitative values of the evaluation attributes of green suppliers are imputed by decision-makers, and the relevant distributions are constructed for each attribute. Next, combined with the ranges of attribute values, the random interval values are used to describe the information represented by each attribute to overcome the loss caused by the aggregation of individual expert information into group information. We then propose the distributed interval weighted arithmetic average (DIWAA) operator and corresponding operation rules, which realizes the fusion of qualitative data and quantitative judgment. Thus, the proposed approach allows ensuring reasonable results of the multi-criteria analysis. We also construct a ranking method for alternatives based on distributed interval comprehensive scores. Finally, we verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method for the task of green supplier selection through numerical experiments

New Progress of Grey System Theory in The New Millennium

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to summarize the progress in grey system research during 2000- 2015, so as to present some important new concepts, models, methods and a new framework of grey system theory. Design/methodology/approach –The new thinking, new models and new methods of grey system theory and their applications are presented in this paper. It includes algorithm rules of grey numbers based on the “Kernel” and the degree of greyness of grey numbers, the concept of general grey numbers, the synthesis axiom of degree of greyness of grey numbers and their operations; the general form of buffer operators of grey sequence operators; the four basic models of GM(1,1), such as Even Grey Model(EGM), Original Difference Grey Model(ODGM), Even Difference Grey Model(EDGM), Discrete Grey Model(DGM) and the suitable sequence type of each basic model, and suitable range of most used grey forecasting models; the similarity degree of grey incidences, the closeness degree of grey incidences and the three dimensional absolute degree of grey incidence of grey incidence analysis models; the grey cluster model based on center-point and end-point mixed triangular whitenization functions; the multi-attribute intelligent grey target decision model, the two stages decision model with grey synthetic measure of grey decision models; grey game models, grey input-output models of grey combined models; and the problems of robust stability for grey stochastic time-delay systems of neutral type, distributed-delay type and neutral distributed-delay type of grey control, etc. And the new framework of grey system theory is given as well. Findings –The problems which remain for further studying are discussed at the end of each section. The reader could know the general picture of research and developing trend of grey system theory from this paper. Practical implications – A lot of successful practical applications of the new models to solve various problems have been found in many different areas of natural science, social science, and engineering, including spaceflight, civil aviation, information, metallurgy, machinery, petroleum, chemical industry, electrical power, electronics, light industries, energy resources, transportation, medicine, health, agriculture, forestry, geography, hydrology, seismology, meteorology, environment protection, architecture, behavioral science, management science, law, education, military science, etc. These practical applications have brought forward definite and noticeable social and economic benefits. It demonstrates a wide range of applicability of grey system theory, especially in the situation where the available information is incomplete and the collected data are inaccurate. Originality/value –The reader is given a general picture of grey systems theory as a new model system and a new framework for studying problems where partial information is known; especially for uncertain systems with few data points and poor information. The problems remaining for further studying are identified at the end of each section. Keywords Grey systems theory, Operations of grey numbers, Buffer operators, Grey forecasting models, Grey incidence analysis models, Grey cluster evaluation models, Grey decision models, Combined grey models, Grey contro

Sustainable Assessment in Supply Chain and Infrastructure Management

In the competitive business environment or public domain, the sustainability assessment in supply chain and infrastructure management are important for any organization. Organizations are currently striving to improve their sustainable strategies through preparedness, response, and recovery because of increasing competitiveness, community, and regulatory pressure. Thus, it is necessary to develop a meaningful and more focused understanding of sustainability in supply chain management and infrastructure management practices. In the context of a supply chain, sustainability implies that companies identify, assess, and manage impacts and risks in all the echelons of the supply chain, considering downstream and upstream activities. Similarly, the sustainable infrastructure management indicates the ability of infrastructure to meet the requirements of the present without sacrificing the ability of future generations to address their needs. The complexities regarding sustainable supply chain and infrastructure management have driven managers and professionals to seek different solutions. This Special Issue aims to provide readers with the most recent research results on the aforementioned subjects. In addition, it offers some solutions and also raises some questions for further research and development toward sustainable supply chain and infrastructure management

Fisheries and Aquaculture and Their Potential Roles in Development: An Assessment of the Current Evidence

Commissioned by the International Sustainability Unity, this report investigates a number of innovative solutions that have been developed to deal with five key challenges that are impeding progress in achieving sustainable fisheries: overcapacity; perverse subsidies; poor governance; lack of data; and by-catch and discards. These key challenges are interlinked and affect the sustainability of fisheries both directly as well as indirectly by undermining instances of good management. Through 22 case studies demonstrating good practice, we explore how these challenges have been addressed around the world and how these approaches might be scaled up and applied in other fisheries. Each case study draws on published material and interviews with key people involved in the fishery. The main report draws lessons from these case studies

HSE management system and efficiency evaluation of construction projects

The strategy of Belt and Road Initiative actively advocates the establishment of economic partnerships with countries along the belt and road, and makes infrastructure construction a field for preferential development. It provides good development opportunities for domestic and foreign engineering contracting enterprises. The "Strategic Implementation Guidance Document" mentions that infrastructure construction and operation should be green and efficient. However, most state owned engineering contracting enterprises do not attach importance to HSE management, which obviously affects the engineering efficiency and hinders the sustainable development of enterprises. However, China's engineering contracting enterprises pay less attention to HSE management, which obviously affects project efficiency and hinders the sustainable develop ment of enterprises. This study takes a typical large project contracting enterprise (Enterprise A) in China as the research object, adopts the SWOT analysis method, analyzes the weakness of project management at the organization level, and consummates th e organization level project HSE management system of the enterprise at the organization layer and the project layer. Through the enterprise interview, questionnaire design and investigation, this study puts forward the suitable indicators and methods of H SE management performance evaluation, and verifies the effectiveness of the methods through the empirical analysis of eight projects. Then, this study proposes incorporating the project HSE management performance into the comprehensive evaluation methods o f project efficiency. The empirical analysis shows that the HSE management system proposed in this study at the organization layer and at the project layer can improve the HSE management performance of the project. Project HSE management performance has a positive impact on project efficiency, that is, the more enterprises attach importance to project HSE management, the higher the degree of completion of project objectives. The above research results are helpful to improve project management system at the organizational level and enhance the competitiveness of project contracting enterprises.A estratégia da "Belt and Road Initiative" defende ativamente o estabelecimento de parcerias económicas com os países ao longo de uma determinada faixa e faz da construção de infraestruturas um campo preferencial para desenvolvimento. Este campo fornece boas oportunidades de desenvolvimento para as empresas de engenharia nacionais e estrangeiras. O "Documento de Orientação de Implementação Estratégica" menciona que a construção e operação de infraestruturas deve ser eficiente e sustentável. No entanto, a grande maioria das empresas públicas contratadas não atribuem a devida importância aos sistemas de gestão de saúde e segurança (HSE) o que, obviamente, afecta a eficiência da engenharia e dificulta o desenvolvimento sustentável das empresas. As empresas privadas chinesas de engenharia ignoram a gestão HSE o que, obviamente, afecta, também, a eficiência dos projetos de sustentabilidade das empresas. Neste trabalho foi considerada uma grande empresa Chinesa de contratação (Empresa A) na China como referência de pesquisa, que adota a análise swot, analisa as fraquezas na gestão de projetos ao nível da organização e consuma a gestão de projetos em HSE ao nível da organização e do projeto em si. Através de entrevistas, questionários e investigação, este projeto apresenta os indicadores e métodos a dequados de avaliação de desempenho e verifica a efetividade dos métodos através da análise empírica de oito projetos. Em suma, este projeto propõe incorporar métodos de avaliação da eficiência através dos indicadores de gestão do HSE. A análise empírica demonstrou que o sistema proposto de gestão HSE, ao nível da organização e de projeto, pode aumentar efetivamente a gestão de performance do HSE em projeto. A gestão da performance do projeto HSE teve um impacto positivo na eficiência do projeto, ou seja, quanto mais as empresas atribuirem importância à gestão de projetos HSE maior será o nível de conclusão dos objetivos sustentáveis do projeto. Os resultados deste projeto são úteis para melhorar o sistema de gestão de projetos ao nível organizacional e aum entar a competitividade das empresas na contratação de projectos

Analysis of Decision Support Systems of Industrial Relevance: Application Potential of Fuzzy and Grey Set Theories

The present work articulates few case empirical studies on decision making in industrial context. Development of variety of Decision Support System (DSS) under uncertainty and vague information is attempted herein. The study emphases on five important decision making domains where effective decision making may surely enhance overall performance of the organization. The focused territories of this work are i) robot selection, ii) g-resilient supplier selection, iii) third party logistics (3PL) service provider selection, iv) assessment of supply chain’s g-resilient index and v) risk assessment in e-commerce exercises. Firstly, decision support systems in relation to robot selection are conceptualized through adaptation to fuzzy set theory in integration with TODIM and PROMETHEE approach, Grey set theory is also found useful in this regard; and is combined with TODIM approach to identify the best robot alternative. In this work, an attempt is also made to tackle subjective (qualitative) and objective (quantitative) evaluation information simultaneously, towards effective decision making. Supplier selection is a key strategic concern for the large-scale organizations. In view of this, a novel decision support framework is proposed to address g-resilient (green and resilient) supplier selection issues. Green capability of suppliers’ ensures the pollution free operation; while, resiliency deals with unexpected system disruptions. A comparative analysis of the results is also carried out by applying well-known decision making approaches like Fuzzy- TOPSIS and Fuzzy-VIKOR. In relation to 3PL service provider selection, this dissertation proposes a novel ‘Dominance- Based’ model in combination with grey set theory to deal with 3PL provider selection, considering linguistic preferences of the Decision-Makers (DMs). An empirical case study is articulated to demonstrate application potential of the proposed model. The results, obtained thereof, have been compared to that of grey-TOPSIS approach. Another part of this dissertation is to provide an integrated framework in order to assess gresilient (ecosilient) performance of the supply chain of a case automotive company. The overall g-resilient supply chain performance is determined by computing a unique ecosilient (g-resilient) index. The concepts of Fuzzy Performance Importance Index (FPII) along with Degree of Similarity (DOS) (obtained from fuzzy set theory) are applied to rank different gresilient criteria in accordance to their current status of performance. The study is further extended to analyze, and thereby, to mitigate various risk factors (risk sources) involved in e-commerce exercises. A total forty eight major e-commerce risks are recognized and evaluated in a decision making perspective by utilizing the knowledge acquired from the fuzzy set theory. Risk is evaluated as a product of two risk quantifying parameters viz. (i) Likelihood of occurrence and, (ii) Impact. Aforesaid two risk quantifying parameters are assessed in a subjective manner (linguistic human judgment), rather than exploring probabilistic approach of risk analysis. The ‘crisp risk extent’ corresponding to various risk factors are figured out through the proposed fuzzy risk analysis approach. The risk factor possessing high ‘crisp risk extent’ score is said be more critical for the current problem context (toward e-commerce success). Risks are now categorized into different levels of severity (adverse consequences) (i.e. negligible, minor, marginal, critical and catastrophic). Amongst forty eight risk sources, top five risk sources which are supposed to adversely affect the company’s e-commerce performance are recognized through such categorization. The overall risk extent is determined by aggregating individual risks (under ‘critical’ level of severity) using Fuzzy Inference System (FIS). Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) is then used to obtain structural relationship amongst aforementioned five risk sources. An appropriate action requirement plan is also suggested, to control and minimize risks associated with e-commerce exercises

Spatial modelling to establish priorities for erosion control in commercial forestry plantations.

Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002Commercial forestry is recognized for both its economic contribution as well as its environmental impact. Of particular concern, is the soil erosion and sedimentation of watercourses associated with forestry plantations. Environmental laws regulate many of the activities of the forestry sector. It is critical that the forestry sector ensure that its operations are compliant with the legal requirements that govern its use of natural resources. In pursuing legal compliance it is necessary to ensure that erosion control strategies are developed so as to ensure the positive effects of any interventions are optimised. The identification of areas that are particularly at risk to erosion or contribute to sediment delivery is an essential component in prioritising areas for management interventions. Establishing the erosion potential for commercial forestry areas is readily accomplished through the application of existing models. Process based erosion models generally have greater data requirements than the empirically derived USLE-based models. Given the paucity of data available, the latter approach was adopted. Two methods of topographic sub-factor derivation were investigated, those associated with the RUSLE (Renard, Foster, Weesies & McCool1991) and the Unit Stream Power method presented by Moore and Burch (1986). Since no existing methods identifying delivery risk areas existed, a method was developed based on principles and factors identified in the literature. Additionally, methods for identifying topographic assets, in terms of sediment attenuation, were developed. From these models three indices were derived; sediment supply, delivery risk and sediment attenuation. Thereafter, the mean Sediment Supply Index was divided by stream length for small catchments defined within the landscape to derive an index of sediment loading to streams. This index is used to identify priorities for management intervention across the landscape. The mean slope and sediment supply is used to develop buffer width recommendations for the streams draining the catchments, using a method developed by Karssies and Prosser (2001). Using the three indices in conjunction it is possible to make on-site and off-site erosion control recommendations as well as identify and exploit any natural features that can be utilized in erosion control

Uncertain Multi-Criteria Optimization Problems

Most real-world search and optimization problems naturally involve multiple criteria as objectives. Generally, symmetry, asymmetry, and anti-symmetry are basic characteristics of binary relationships used when modeling optimization problems. Moreover, the notion of symmetry has appeared in many articles about uncertainty theories that are employed in multi-criteria problems. Different solutions may produce trade-offs (conflicting scenarios) among different objectives. A better solution with respect to one objective may compromise other objectives. There are various factors that need to be considered to address the problems in multidisciplinary research, which is critical for the overall sustainability of human development and activity. In this regard, in recent decades, decision-making theory has been the subject of intense research activities due to its wide applications in different areas. The decision-making theory approach has become an important means to provide real-time solutions to uncertainty problems. Theories such as probability theory, fuzzy set theory, type-2 fuzzy set theory, rough set, and uncertainty theory, available in the existing literature, deal with such uncertainties. Nevertheless, the uncertain multi-criteria characteristics in such problems have not yet been explored in depth, and there is much left to be achieved in this direction. Hence, different mathematical models of real-life multi-criteria optimization problems can be developed in various uncertain frameworks with special emphasis on optimization problems

Study on the influence mechanism and level measurement of agricultural green development—A case study of China

Taking China as an example, this paper analyzes the impact mechanism of agricultural green development and constructs a measurement system of agricultural green development level. The system includes seven subsystems (ensuring food security, optimizing agricultural structure, improving market mechanism, innovation-driven development, building ecological civilization, inheriting traditional culture, and benefiting the people) and 55 measurement indicators. Empirical research was carried out using entropy method and gray correlation to measure the level of green development of China's agriculture, analyze its spatial distribution law, and divide it into three levels according to the development level, then analyze the regional characteristics of each grade. The research shows that the overall level of agricultural green development in China is relatively low, and the constraints are obvious. It is easy to ignore the value of agricultural green development, and the phenomenon of non-green development still exists. Therefore, we must attach great importance to the green development of agriculture, change agricultural production from the pursuit of quantity to the pursuit of quality in the past, formulate an effective path to promote the comprehensive level of agricultural green development in the whole ecological chain, and build a collaborative research institution and information monitoring platform for agricultural green development