Can fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Making improve Strategic planning by balanced scorecard?

Strategic management is momentous for organizational success and competitive advantage in an increasingly turbulent business environment. Balanced scorecard (BSC) is a framework for evaluating strategic management performance which translates strategy into action via various sets of performance measurement indicators. The main objective of this research is to develop a new fuzzy group Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) model for strategic plans selection process in the BSC. For this to happen, the current study has implemented linguistic extension of MCDM model for robust selection of strategic plans. The new linguistic reasoning for group decision making is able to aggregate subjective evaluation of the decision makers and hence create an opportunity to perform more robust strategic plans, despite of the vagueness and uncertainty of strategic plans selection process. A numerical example demonstrates possibilities for the improvement of BSC through applying the proposed model

Developing a conceptual model to evaluate green suppliers: Decision making method using DEMATEL

Nowadays stakeholder pressure and public awareness have been raised against companies‟ environmental impacts, so green supply chain management (GSCM) seems vital for companies‟ environmental compliance and business growth. Companies continuously seek novel ideas and methods enabling them to obtain and/or maintain environmental sustainability. Greening the supply chain is one of such innovative idea involving all of the business value-adding operations, comprising purchasing and in-bound logistics, production and manufacturing, distribution, out-bound logistics and collaboration with patrons and suppliers in a way that has the least negative environmental effect. The main objective of the present study is finding interrelationship between green supplier criteria. For this to happen, we investigated experts‟ opinions through nominal group technique (NGT) to find out the interrelationship and causal preferences of the green supplier evaluation aspects using Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method. A numerical example demonstrates the application of the proposed model.N/

Policy-based Awareness Management (PAM): Case study of a wireless communication system at a hospital

The present paper evaluates the use of software agents to identify relevance of information, called awareness. This evaluation is based on existing policies and scenarios in the context of wireless communication of a hospital in Norway. The study is to address the lack of literature for experimental studies on a method to employ software agents for awareness identification. Research in computer supported cooperative work indicates the significant contributions of software agents to assist individuals. There are bodies of work that show awareness provides the means for software agents in which effective cooperation can take place. In addition, the role of the methods to identify awareness is emphasized in the literature of both computer supported cooperative work and software agents. This paper explains a step-wise process, called Policy-based Awareness Management, which allows agents to use policies as a source to identify awareness and thus change their behaviors accordingly. The contribution of this method is based on the concepts proposed by the logic of general awareness. The present study applies Directory Enabled Networks-next generation as the policy structure for the method. The paper evaluates the process via its application to identify the relevance of information in wireless communication scenarios in a hospital. The present study conducts observations, interviews and discussions on the wireless communication system of the hospital to identify the different scenarios happening in the system. The paper presents a set of simulations on these scenarios and concludes that the method is effective and cost-efficient. © 2011 Elsevier Inc

Percepção sonora : discutindo os limites e as possibilidades de interação e de interdependência positiva de pessoas com deficiência visual em sistemas Web síncronos

Atualmente vive-se em uma sociedade em rede na qual a informação é o principal ativo econômico e social. A interação e a interdependência positiva, elementos estruturantes de atividades cooperativas mediadas por computador são fundamentais para o desenvolvimento de competências cognitivas, interpessoais e intrapessoais. Práticas cooperativas mediadas por dispositivos tecnológicos devem levar em consideração diferentes perfis de usuários. A análise de sistemas Web síncronos, Google Docs e Word Online, evidenciaram fragilidades na acessibilidade e nas possibilidades de interação de pessoas com deficiência visual, ao revelar lacunas quanto à implementação de recursos de percepção sonora. Esses resultados, conduziram a proposição do objetivo deste estudo, analisar os limites e as possibilidades do uso de elementos de suporte à percepção sonora em sistemas Web síncronos como dispositivos de inserção de pessoas com deficiência visual em ações cooperativas. Visando validar os dispositivos tecnológicos e analisar a interação de sujeitos com deficiência visual foram desenvolvidos sistema Web de bate-papo e ferramenta de escrita cooperativa ambos com suporte à percepção sonora. Protocolos de pesquisa, complementados por entrevistas semiestruturadas, mapearam os dados de interação de cinco sujeitos com deficiência visual nos sistemas implementados, analisados por meio de categorias previamente estabelecidas: percepção no espaço de trabalho e cooperação. A análise e discussão de resultados revelou que o consorciamento dos elementos de percepção sonoro e as estratégias de navegabilidade tornaram os sistemas acessíveis e potencializaram a ação cooperativa de participantes com deficiência visual. A base conceitual utilizada, os sistemas desenvolvidos e a discussão dos resultados, disponibilizam um conjunto de informações relevantes para a qualificação e garantia de equidade em sistemas Web síncronos, estabelecendo as condições de possibilidade para novos estudos, visando um maior aprofundamento desse campo de conhecimento.We live in a network society information is the main economic and social asset. Interaction and positive interdependence, elements for cooperative computer activities are fundamental for the development of cognitive, interpersonal and intrapersonal skills. Computer-mediated cooperative practices should consider different user profiles. The analysis of synchronous Web systems, Google Docs and Word Online, showed weaknesses in the accessibility and possibilities of interaction of visually impaired users, revealing issues in the development of sound awareness features. These results led to the aim of this study, to analyze the limits and possibilities of the use of elements to support sound awareness in synchronous Web systems as tools for the insertion of visually impaired users in cooperative activities. In order to analyze the interaction of visually impaired subjects and validate the technological resources, a Web chat system and a cooperative writing tool were developed with support of sound awareness. Research protocols, complemented by semistructured interviews, mapping the interaction data of visually impaired users in the implemented systems were analyzed through previous categories: awareness in the workspace and cooperation. The analysis and discussion of results revealed that the elements of sound awareness and the navigability strategies made the systems accessible and enhanced the cooperative activities of visually impaired participants. The conceptual basis used, the systems developed, and the discussion of the results, provided a set of relevant information to qualify the equity participation of visually impaired users in synchronous Web systems, establishing the conditions for further studies, aiming a deep understanding of this area of knowledge