Spatial-temporal business partnership selection in uncertain environments

Abstract

Small and Medium (SME) companies are facing growing challenges while trying to implement globalized business strategies. Contemporary business models need to account for spatial-temporal changeable environments, where lack of confidence and uncertainty in data are a reality. Further, SMEs are finding it increasingly difficult to include all required competences in their internal structures; therefore, they need to rely on reliable business and supplier partnerships to be successful. In this paper we discuss a spatial-temporal decision approach capable of handling lack of confidence and imprecision on current and/or forecast data. An illustrative case study of business' partner selection demonstrates the approach suitability, which is complemented by a statistical analysis with different levels of uncertainty to assess its robustness in uncertain environments.The authors wish to acknowledge the support of the Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal, through the grant: "Projeto Estrategico - PEst2015-2020, reference: UID/CEC/00319/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio