DIGITAL DIVIDE AMONG ENTERPRISES IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY

─Abstract ─ Over the past few decades, information and communication technologies (ICTs

Evaluation of the pharmaceutical distribution and warehousing companies through an integrated Fermatean fuzzy entropyWASPAS approach

Purpose – Pharmaceutical supply chains (PSCs) need a well-operating and faultless logistics system to successfully store and distribute their medicines. Hospitals, health institutes, and pharmacies must maintain extra stock to respond requirements of the patients. Nevertheless, there is an inverse correlation between the level of medicine stock and logistics service level. The high stock level held by health institutions indicates that we have not sufficiently excellent logistics systems presently. As such, selecting appropriate logistics service providers (drug distributors) is crucial and strategic for PSCs. However, this is difficult for decision-makers, as highly complex situations and conflicting criteria influence such evaluation processes. So, a robust, applicable, and strong methodological frame is required to solve these decision-making problems. Design/methodology/approach – To achieve this challenging issue, the authors develop and apply an integrated entropy-WASPAS methodology with Fermatean fuzzy sets for the first time in the literature. The evaluation process takes place in two stages, as in traditional multi-criteria problems. In the first stage, the importance levels of the criteria are determined by the FF-entropy method. Afterwards, the FF-WASPAS approach ranks the alternatives. Findings – The feasibility of the proposed model is also supported by a case study where six companies are evaluated comprehensively regarding ten criteria. Herewith, total warehouse capacity, number of refrigerated vehicles, and personnel are the top three criteria that significantly influence the evaluation of pharmaceutical distribution and warehousing companies. Further, a comprehensive sensitivity analysis proves the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed approach. Practical implications – The proposed multi-attribute decision model quantitatively aids managers in selecting logistics service providers considering imprecisions in the multi-criteria decision-making process. Originality/value – A new model has been developed to present a sound mathematical model for selecting logistics service providers consisting of Fermatean fuzzy entropy and WASPAS methods. The paper’s main contribution is presenting a comprehensive and more robust model for the ex ante evaluation and ranking of providers

Foreign market selection of suppliers through a novel REF-Sort technique

Purpose – The present study aims to provide a practical and robust assessment technique for assessing countries’ investability in global supply chains to practitioners. Thus, the proposed approach can help decisionmakers evaluate and select appropriate countries in the expansion process of the global supply chains and reduce risks concerning country (market) selection. Design/methodology/approach –The present study proposes a novel decision-making approach, namely the REF-Sort technique. The proposed approach has many valuable contributions to the literature. First, it has an efficient basic algorithm and can be applied to solve highly complicated decision-making problems without requiring advanced mathematical knowledge. Besides, some characteristics differentiate REF-Sort apart from other techniques. REF-Sort employs the value or value range that reflects the most typical characteristic of the relevant class in assignment processes. The reference values in REF-Sort and center profiles are similar in this regard. On the other hand, class references can be defined as ranges in REF-Sort. Secondary values, called successors, can also be employed to assign a value to the appropriate class. REF-Sort can also determine the reference and successor values/ranges independently of the decision matrix. In addition, the proposed model is a maximally stable and consistent decision-making tool, as it is resistant to the rank reversal problem. Findings –The current papers’ findings indicate that countries have different features concerning investment. Hence, the current paper pointed out that only 22% of the 95 countries are investable, whereas 19% are risky. Thus, decision-makers should make detailed evaluations using robust, powerful, and practical decisionmaking tools to make more reasonable and logical decisions concerning country selection. Originality/value – The current paper proposes a novel decision-making approach to evaluate. According to the authors’ information, the proposed model has been applied to evaluate investable countries for the global supply chains for the first tim

Assessing Green Approaches and Digital Marketing Strategies for Twin Transition via Fermatean Fuzzy SWARA-COPRAS

Integrating green approaches and digital marketing strategies for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), which reduce environmental risks to desired levels by eliminating emissions and pollution, is considered one of the most promising solutions for logistics companies. The study strives to bring a practical and applicable solution to the decision problem involving the selection of indicators for green approaches and digital marketing strategies for ICTs in the logistics sector. An integrated Fermatean Fuzzy Step-wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (FF–SWARA) and Fermatean Fuzzy Complex Proportional Assessment (FF–COPRAS) methodology is applied to evaluate green approaches and digital marketing strategies. Concerning the findings, the foremost criterion is “data management,” whereas the best strategy is “programmatic advertising.” To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no other study that both offers a strategy selection for the logistics industry and considers environmental protection, sustainability, digital transformation, energy costs, and social and economic factors. The study is a part of ongoing research on productivity, sustainability, the environment, digitization, recycling and estimating levels of waste reduction, as well as business practices, competitiveness and ensuring employee satisfaction and resource efficiency. Also, it investigates the similarities and dissimilarities in the green approach practices of business in logistics and determines the extent to which these practices could be reflected. It is expected to ensure a roadmap for green approach practices and to support sustainable and ecological awareness efforts for ICTs in the logistics sector. Logistics companies can select an integrated digital strategy based on green informatics that suits them using the decision model employed in this study, which can handle uncertainties effectively. In this regard, the study’s findings, which focus on reaching customers and the most precise target audience in digital applications for businesses, are critical for developing strategy, plan and process

Ranking value-creating green approach practices and choosing ideal green marketing strategy for logistics companies

The deterioration of environmental factors, economic and technological development, the formation of complexity in societies, the rise of complex structures have made the environment and green management practices more important. Especially value-creating green approaches are considered as critical components in both public and private sector applications and defined as indicators of success in terms of sustainability. On the other hand, green marketing strategies are also important practices that have a positive impact on the environment and should be carefully emphasized for the inheritance of nature to future generations. Recently, it has been on the agenda quite a lot and it is understood for all sectors.In this study, it is aimed to determine the criteria for value-creating green approach practices in logistics companies operating in the TR A1 region due to the above mentioned importance and to choose the most ideal green marketing strategy. In solving this problem, Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods, which are a complex decision-making method, have been used. According to the results of the research, it was determined that the most important criterion in value creating green approach applications as Environmental Focused Strategic Decisions (C3), and the least important criterion as Environmental Life Cycle Analysis (C2). It has been determined that the most ideal green marketing strategy is Green Innovation (A1). Accordingly the importance of the environmental based strategic decisions is revealed in terms of creating green marketing strategy for companies

Analyzing The Relationship Between Savings Estimate and Preferences for Banks Via Multinominal Logistic Regression: Case of ESKİŞEHİR

Bu çalışmada birikim değerlendirme tercihi ile banka tercihi arasındaki ilişki multinominal lojistik regresyon analizi ile elde edilmeye çalışılmıştır. Bu amaçla birikim değerlendirme tercih ölçeği hazırlanarak Eskişehir ilindeki 8 ayrı mahallede ikamet eden 100 kişi üzerine uygulanmıştır. Açıklayıcı faktör analizi uygulanarak birikim değerlendirme tercih ölçeği beş boyuta (İslami bankacılık/faizsiz bankacılık; tasarruf kararı; yastık altı tasarrufa yönlendirme; bireysel emeklilik; altına yatırım yapma kararı) indirgenmiştir. Multinominal lojistik regresyonda bağımlı değişken olarak vadeli hesap için tercih edilen banka seçilmiş ve katılım bankası referans kategori olarak belirlenmiştir. İyi düzeyde uyum ve açıklayıcılığa sahip modele göre islami bankacılık/faizsiz bankacılık değişkeni vadeli hesap için, katılım bankalarının özel ve devlet normal bankalarına göre tercih edilmesinde anlamlı olarak bulunmuştur. Buna karşılık ise tasarruf kararı değişkeni vadeli hesap için özel ve devlet normal bankalarının katılım bankalarına göre tercih edilmesinde etkili önem düzeyine sahip olarak bulunmuştur.In this study, the relationship between savings estimate preferences and banks was determined by using the multinominal logistic regression analysis. For this purpose a scale of savings estimate preferences was prepared and applied on 100 residents in 8 different district of Eskişehir. Savings estimate preferences scale was reduced to five dimensions (Islamic banking, interest free banking; savings decision, leading to mattress saving, individual retirement, decision for investing on gold) by using exploratory factor analysis. Variable of bank selected for deposit account was considered as dependent variable and participation bank was acquired as reference category. According to the results of the model having good level of consistency and explanatoriness, islamic banking/interest free banking variable was found as significant for prefering participation banks to private and public banks in terms of deposit account. On the contrary savings decision variable was found as significant for prefering private and public banks to participation banks in terms of deposit accoun

Supply Chain Management (SCM) Breakdowns and SCM Strategy Selection during the COVID-19 Pandemic Using the Novel Rough MCDM Model

Supply chain management (SCM) is deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic besides breakdowns occurred in all sectors. Nowadays, managers need techniques for protecting supply chains from serious and costly disruptions, establishing permanent relationships with the customers and partners and preventing breakdowns throughout the process. Each firm needs to determine SCM strategies to be prepared for breakdowns in an intense competitive environment. With COVID-19, the change in business and trade environments has taken a different dimension, and it has revealed a new relationship between the efforts to perpetuate supply chains and strategies for supply chain management and enabled new models. In this study, it is aimed to prioritize the factors that lead to SCM breaks needed in project management and the realization of projects, and to choose the most successful SCM strategy considering COVID-19. For this purpose, rough SWARA was used for weighting factors and rough MARCOS was used for the alternative selection. According to the findings, the transportation capacity factor was found to be the most important factor leading to SCM breakdowns. The most ideal supply chain management strategy has been the “collaborative supply chain management strategy.” In the food manufacturing sector, the study can be considered as a roadmap in terms of preventing supply chain management breaks during the COVID-19 process and helping to ensure a sustainable production. As another theoretical and practical importance of the study, it is aimed to propose a robust, powerful, and practical decision-making model that can cope with the current uncertainties