'Centre for Evaluation in Education and Science (CEON/CEES)'
Doi
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