An application of TOPSIS for ranking internet web browsers

Web browser is one of the most important internet facilities for surfing the internet. A good web browser must incorporate literally tens of features such as integrated search engine, automatic updates, etc. Each year, ten web browsers are formally introduced as top best reviewers by some organizations. In this paper, we propose the implementation of TOPSIS technique to rank ten web browsers. The proposed model of this paper uses five criteria including speed, features, security, technical support and supported configurations. In terms of speed, Safari is the best web reviewer followed by Google Chrome and Internet Explorer while Opera is the best web reviewer when we look into 20 different features. We have also ranked these web browsers using all five categories together and the results indicate that Opera, Internet explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome are the best web browsers to be chosen

Bibliometric analysis of scientific production on methods to aid decision making in the last 40 years

Purpose: Multicriteria methods have gained traction in both academia and industry practices for effective decision-making over the years. This bibliometric study aims to explore and provide an overview of research carried out on multicriteria methods, in its various aspects, over the past forty-four years. Design/Methodology/Approach: The Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases were searched for publications from January 1945 to April 29, 2021, on multicriteria methods in titles, abstracts, and keywords. The bibliographic data were analyzed using the R bibliometrix package. Findings: This bibliometric study asserts that 29,050 authors have produced 20,861 documents on the theme of multicriteria methods in 131 countries in the last forty-four years. Scientific production in this area grows at a rate of 13.88 per year. China is the leading country in publications with 14.14%; India with 10.76%; and Iran with 8.09%. Islamic Azad University leads others with 504 publications, followed by the Vilnius Gediminas Technical University with 456 and the National Institute of Technology with 336. As for journals, Expert Systems With Applications; Sustainability; and Journal of Cleaner Production are the leading journals, which account for more than 4.67% of all indexed literature. Furthermore, Zavadskas E. and Wang J have the highest publications in the multicriteria methods domain regarding the authors. Regarding the most commonly used multicriteria decision-making methods, AHP is the most favored approach among the ten countries with the most publications in this research area, followed by TOPSIS, VIKOR, PROMETHEE, and ANP. Practical implications: The bibliometric literature review method allows the researchers to explore the multicriteria research area more extensively than the traditional literature review method. It enables a large dataset of bibliographic records to be systematically analyzed through statistical measures, yielding informative insights. Originality/value: The usefulness of this bibliometric study is summed in presenting an overview of the topic of the multicriteria methods during the previous forty-four years, allowing other academics to use this research as a starting point for their research

VIKOR Technique:A Systematic Review of the State of the Art Literature on Methodologies and Applications

The main objective of this paper is to present a systematic review of the VlseKriterijuska Optimizacija I Komoromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method in several application areas such as sustainability and renewable energy. This study reviewed a total of 176 papers, published in 2004 to 2015, from 83 high-ranking journals; most of which were related to Operational Research, Management Sciences, decision making, sustainability and renewable energy and were extracted from the “Web of Science and Scopus” databases. Papers were classified into 15 main application areas. Furthermore, papers were categorized based on the nationalities of authors, dates of publications, techniques and methods, type of studies, the names of the journals and studies purposes. The results of this study indicated that more papers on VIKOR technique were published in 2013 than in any other year. In addition, 13 papers were published about sustainability and renewable energy fields. Furthermore, VIKOR and fuzzy VIKOR methods, had the first rank in use. Additionally, the Journal of Expert Systems with Applications was the most significant journal in this study, with 27 publications on the topic. Finally, Taiwan had the first rank from 22 nationalities which used VIKOR technique

An overview of multi-criteria decision-making methods in dealing with sustainable energy development issues

© 2018 by the authors. The measurement of sustainability is actively used today as one of the main preventative instruments in order to reduce the decline of the environment. Sustainable decision-making in solving energy issues can be supported and contradictory effects can be evaluated by scientific achievements of multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques. The main goal of this paper is to overview the application of decision-making methods in dealing with sustainable energy development issues. In this study, 105 published papers from the Web of Science Core Collection (WSCC) database are selected and reviewed, from 2004 to 2017, related to energy sustainability issues and MCDM methods. All the selected papers were categorized into 9 fields by the application area and into 10 fields by the used method. After the categorization of the scientific articles and detailed analysis, SWOT analysis of MCDM approaches in dealing with sustainable energy development issues is provided. The widespread application and use of MCDM methods confirm that MCDM methods can help decision-makers in solving energy sustainability problems and are highly popular and used in practice

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

Logistics service providers (LSPs) evaluation and selection: Literature review and framework development

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight to the outsourcing decision-making through investigating if the old evaluation/selection criteria and methods still fit with current business priorities or not and, therefore, to identify the appropriate criteria and methods to develop a new selection framework. Since the economic recession of 2008, logistics outsourcing decisions have become more prominent to avoid high fixed costs and heavy investment requirements and to achieve competitive advantages. Design/methodology/approach – This is a focused literature review prepared after analyzing 56 articles related to the logistics service provider (LSP) evaluation and selection methods and criteria during 2008-2013. The academic articles are analyzed based on research focus/area, evaluation and selection methodology/methods and evaluation and selection criteria. Then reviewed result is compared with previous literature studies for the periods (1991-2008) to identify any possible shifts. Findings – The review reveals that: several problems in current LSPs literature have been identified; the reviewed papers can be categorized into seven groups, the usage and importance of evaluation and selection criteria fluctuate during different periods; 12 crucial criteria have been identified, increasing the importance of specific selection methods and the integrated models and fuzzy logic in logistics literature. Then, a comprehensive LSPs’ evaluation and selection framework has been developed. Originality/value – To the best of our knowledge, this is the first focused logistics outsourcing study that reviews the 2008-2013 period in detail, comparing results with previous literature studies, identifies current LSPs literature problems/gaps, new trends and shifts in the way that LSPs are evaluated and selected, identifies crucial selection criteria and proposes a new holistic LSPs evaluation and selection framework. In addition, it identifies important issues for future research. Keywords Supplier or partner selection, Evaluation and selection methods and criteria, Logistics outsourcing, Logistics service provider, LSP framewor

A consumer perspective e-commerce websites evaluation model

Existing website evaluation methods have some weaknesses such as neglecting consumer criteria in their evaluation, being unable to deal with qualitative criteria, and involving complex weight and score calculations. This research aims to develop a hybrid consumer-oriented e-commerce website evaluation model based on the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and the Hardmard Method (HM). Four phases were involved in developing the model: requirements identification, empirical study, model construction, and model confirmation. Requirements identification and empirical study were to identify critical web-design criteria and gather online consumers' preferences. Data, collected from 152 Malaysian consumers using online questionnaires, were used to identify critical e-commerce website features and scale of importance. The new evaluation model comprised of three components. First, the consumer evaluation criteria that consist of the important principles considered by consumers; second, the evaluation mechanisms that integrate FAHP and HM consisting of mathematical expressions that handle subjective judgments, new formulas to calculate the weight and score for each criterion; and third, the evaluation procedures consisting of activities that comprise of goal establishment, document preparation, and identification of website performance. The model was examined by six experts and applied to four case studies. The results show that the new model is practical, and appropriate to evaluate e-commerce websites from consumers' perspectives, and is able to calculate weights and scores for qualitative criteria in a simple way. In addition, it is able to assist decision-makers to make decisions in a measured objective way. The model also contributes new knowledge to the software evaluation fiel

Ontology-based context-sensitive software security knowledge management modeling

The disconcerting increase in the number of security attacks on software calls for an imminent need for including secure development practices within the software development life cycle. The software security management system has received considerable attention lately and various efforts have been made in this direction. However, security is usually only considered in the early stages of the development of software. Thus, this leads to stating other vulnerabilities from a security perspective. Moreover, despite the abundance of security knowledge available online and in books, the systems that are being developed are seldom sufficiently secure. In this paper, we have highlighted the need for including application context sensitive modeling within a case-based software security management system. Furthermore, we have taken the context-driven and ontology-based frameworks and prioritized their attributes according to their weights which were achieved by using the Fuzzy AHP methodology

Integrated Frameworks for Effective Multi-criteria Decision Making in Reliability Centred Maintenance of Industrial Machines

No abstract availabl

Multicriteria Decision Making in Sustainable Tourism and Low-Carbon Tourism Research: A Systematic Literature Review

Multicriteria Decision Making (MCDM) is increasingly being utilized as an analytical research tool for sectors that require decision-making with specific objectives and constraints, such as the tourism industry. Sustainable tourism, which examines the balance of numerous aspects, including stakeholders’ interests, is the critical feature propelling the increased usage of MCDM. This paper explores the use of Multicriteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods applied in studies of sustainable tourism and its derivative term, low-carbon tourism, using a systematic literature review (SLR) search from the Scopus database. The analysis has identified 189 relevant studies published between 1987 to April 2022. After selection, screening, and synthesizing processes, we selected 135 pertinent studies, which were analysed in general descriptive data, citation impacts, geographical categorization, categorization of the methodologies’ objectives, and possible trajectories of similar research in the future. We find that highly cited authors and articles are related to sustainable tourism indicators\u27 development and case studies. Furthermore, most relevant studies are concentrated in Asia and Europe rather than other regions. We also categorize the reviewed studies into six classifications depending on each method\u27s intended usage and further suggest four contexts for the studies’ future trajectory