Applications of Mathematical Methods and Fuzzy Techniques in Decision Making

A special issue of Mathematics (ISSN 2227-7390). This special issue belongs to the section "Fuzzy Sets, Systems and Decision Making".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2022) | Viewed by 60223

Special Issue Editors

Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, National Chin-Yi University, Taichuang, Taiwan
Interests: fuzzy theory; multi-objective programming; decision analysis; production management
Department of Distribution Management, National Chin-Yi University, Taichuang, Taiwan
Interests: multiple-criteria decision analysis; marketing research; consumer behavior

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The business environment is increasingly complex. Increasing amounts of numerical and non-numerical data can be collected with the help of advanced technology, which further generates useful information to help people make decisions. Imprecise and non-numerical information are quite critical and play important roles in making decisions. Fuzzy models or sets are mathematical methods that have been widely used to represent and interpret vague and uncertain data and information. They have been commonly applied to decision-making approaches such as the analytic network process and analytic hierarchy process. Meanwhile, there are other related mathematical methods that have been developed to deal with numerical data, such as integer programming and linear programming.

This Special Issue aims to gather a collection of research articles solving decision-making issues in various fields by applying fuzzy theory, linear programming, integer programming, mixed integer linear programming, multi-objective programming, algorithms, the analytic network process, the analytic hierarchy process, multiple-criteria decision analysis, and others.

Prof. Dr. He-Yau Kang
Prof. Dr. Yen-Ting Chen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Published Papers (25 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 562 KiB  
Article
Leadership Selection with the Fuzzy Topsis Method in the Hospitality Sector in Sultanahmet Region
by Ebru Ulucan and Nihan Yavuz Aksakal
Mathematics 2022, 10(13), 2195; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math10132195 - 23 Jun 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1373
Abstract
The changing perception towards leadership reveals that different leadership types are felt to be needed to deal with different problems that modern organizations face. Even though there is lots of research which focuses on the effects of different leadership types on organizations’ performance, [...] Read more.
The changing perception towards leadership reveals that different leadership types are felt to be needed to deal with different problems that modern organizations face. Even though there is lots of research which focuses on the effects of different leadership types on organizations’ performance, there is no research to be found which only focuses on employees’ perceptions. Therefore, this paper aimed to figure out the most important leadership characteristic for employees and their choice of leaders to work with. In order to reach these goals, a two-sectioned survey was given to eight hospitality employees in the Sultanahmet Region. Since the evaluations of the employees are subjective, the answers were analyzed with the Fuzzy TOPSIS method by transfiguring the verbal assessments of the participants into numbers to ease the decision-making process. With regard to the results, the most important leadership characteristics discovered were: being a guide to the followers, being capable of creating mission and vision, and encouraging the followers. According to employees’ leader choices, the results showed that the hospitality employees in the Sultanahmet region mostly want to work with Transformational Leaders. Considering the implementation and the results, this paper is important as a pioneering study, which will fill the gap in the literature about investigating employees’ leadership preferences and choices. Full article
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14 pages, 2698 KiB  
Article
Prediction of Whole Social Electricity Consumption in Jiangsu Province Based on Metabolic FGM (1, 1) Model
by Siyu Zhang, Liusan Wu, Ming Cheng and Dongqing Zhang
Mathematics 2022, 10(11), 1791; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math10111791 - 24 May 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1388
Abstract
The achievement of the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality targets requires the adjustment of the energy structure, in which the dual-carbon progress of the power industry will directly affect the realization process of the goal. In such terms, an accurate demand forecast is [...] Read more.
The achievement of the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality targets requires the adjustment of the energy structure, in which the dual-carbon progress of the power industry will directly affect the realization process of the goal. In such terms, an accurate demand forecast is imperative for the government and enterprises’ decision makers to develop an optimal strategy for electric energy planning work in advance. According to the data of the whole social electricity consumption in Jiangsu Province of China from 2015 to 2019, this paper uses the improved particle swarm optimization algorithm to calculate the fractional-order r of the FGM (1, 1) model and establishes a metabolic FGM (1, 1) model to predict the whole social electricity consumption in Jiangsu Province of China from 2020 to 2023. The results show that in the next few years the whole social electricity consumption in Jiangsu Province will show a growth trend, but the growth rate will slow down generally. It can be seen that the prediction accuracy of the metabolic FGM (1, 1) model is higher than that of the GM (1, 1) and FGM (1, 1) models. In addition, the paper analyzes the reasons for the changes in the whole society electricity consumption in Jiangsu Province of China and provides support for government decision making. Full article
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17 pages, 623 KiB  
Article
A Fuzzy Simheuristic for the Permutation Flow Shop Problem under Stochastic and Fuzzy Uncertainty
by Juliana Castaneda, Xabier A. Martin, Majsa Ammouriova, Javier Panadero and Angel A. Juan
Mathematics 2022, 10(10), 1760; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math10101760 - 21 May 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1395
Abstract
Stochastic, as well as fuzzy uncertainty, can be found in most real-world systems. Considering both types of uncertainties simultaneously makes optimization problems incredibly challenging. In this paper, we analyze the permutation flow shop problem (PFSP) with both stochastic and fuzzy processing times. The [...] Read more.
Stochastic, as well as fuzzy uncertainty, can be found in most real-world systems. Considering both types of uncertainties simultaneously makes optimization problems incredibly challenging. In this paper, we analyze the permutation flow shop problem (PFSP) with both stochastic and fuzzy processing times. The main goal is to find the solution (permutation of jobs) that minimizes the expected makespan. However, due to the existence of uncertainty, other characteristics of the solution are also taken into account. In particular, we illustrate how survival analysis can be employed to enrich the probabilistic information given to decision-makers. To solve the aforementioned optimization problem, we extend the concept of a simheuristic framework so it can also include fuzzy elements. Hence, both stochastic and fuzzy uncertainty are simultaneously incorporated in the PFSP. In order to test our approach, classical PFSP instances have been adapted and extended, so that processing times become either stochastic or fuzzy. The experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach when compared with more traditional ones. Full article
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26 pages, 1317 KiB  
Article
A Fuzzy-MOP-Based Competence Set Expansion Method for Technology Roadmap Definitions
by Chi-Yo Huang, Jih-Jeng Huang, You-Ning Chang and Yen-Chu Lin
Mathematics 2021, 9(2), 135; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math9020135 - 10 Jan 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2285
Abstract
Technology roadmaps have been widely adopted as an important management tool during the past three decades after their invention by Motorola in the 1980s. Technology roadmapping processes can be integrated with a firm’s competence sets and play dominant roles in strategy definitions. Although [...] Read more.
Technology roadmaps have been widely adopted as an important management tool during the past three decades after their invention by Motorola in the 1980s. Technology roadmapping processes can be integrated with a firm’s competence sets and play dominant roles in strategy definitions. Although the issue of how multiple objectives can be dealt with in technology roadmaps by including the uncertainties of the modern management environment is important, it has seldom been addressed. To remedy this, we aim in this research to propose a competence set expansion method based on fuzzy multiple objective programming (FMOP). An empirical study based on the roadmapping of silicon intellectual properties (SIPs) of automotive applications will be used to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed roadmapping method. In the future, the proposed analytic technique can be integrated with the data mining results of academic research database, patent libraries, etc. The well-verified mathematical programming method can serve as a basis for research and development (R&D) strategy definitions by managers of high-technology firms as well as policy makers of governments. Full article
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19 pages, 550 KiB  
Article
Fuzzy Simheuristics: Solving Optimization Problems under Stochastic and Uncertainty Scenarios
by Diego Oliva, Pedro Copado, Salvador Hinojosa, Javier Panadero, Daniel Riera and Angel A. Juan
Mathematics 2020, 8(12), 2240; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8122240 - 18 Dec 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3376
Abstract
Simheuristics combine metaheuristics with simulation in order to solve the optimization problems with stochastic elements. This paper introduces the concept of fuzzy simheuristics, which extends the simheuristics approach by making use of fuzzy techniques, thus allowing us to tackle optimization problems under a [...] Read more.
Simheuristics combine metaheuristics with simulation in order to solve the optimization problems with stochastic elements. This paper introduces the concept of fuzzy simheuristics, which extends the simheuristics approach by making use of fuzzy techniques, thus allowing us to tackle optimization problems under a more general scenario, which includes uncertainty elements of both stochastic and non-stochastic nature. After reviewing the related work, the paper discusses, in detail, how the optimization, simulation, and fuzzy components can be efficiently integrated. In order to illustrate the potential of fuzzy simheuristics, we consider the team orienteering problem (TOP) under an uncertainty scenario, and perform a series of computational experiments. The obtained results show that our proposed approach is not only able to generate competitive solutions for the deterministic version of the TOP, but, more importantly, it can effectively solve more realistic TOP versions, including stochastic and other uncertainty elements. Full article
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21 pages, 6094 KiB  
Article
Evaluating Art Licensing for Digital Archives Using Fuzzy Integral
by Yu-Jing Chiu, Yi-Chung Hu, Jia-Jen Du, Chung-Wei Li and Yen-Wei Ken
Mathematics 2020, 8(12), 2206; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8122206 - 11 Dec 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1929
Abstract
Determining how to evaluate the art licensing model is a complex multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problem. This study explores the critical factors influencing art licensing in the art and creative industry because this industry has potential contributions to a high value-added cultural economy [...] Read more.
Determining how to evaluate the art licensing model is a complex multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problem. This study explores the critical factors influencing art licensing in the art and creative industry because this industry has potential contributions to a high value-added cultural economy in Taiwan. Due to the high cultural value of the National Palace Museum and the uniqueness of its cultural relics, this study takes it as an empirical case. The decision hierarchy is constructed based on a literature review and expert interviews. Furthermore, we used the fuzzy integral to calculate the weights and overall performance of the three licensing models. The empirical results illustrate that both brand licensing and image licensing groups emphasized the aspect of market environment as the primary consideration for licensing model selection. In particular, respondents considered that the adoption of a brand licensing model could facilitate the achievement of better overall performance value. The reason is that brand licensing made the company’s brand visible by imprinting the brand names of both the National Palace Museum and the company on products. This study can be used as reference model for the evaluation of art licensing by enterprises in the future. Full article
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18 pages, 2446 KiB  
Article
A Fuzzy Association Rules Mining Analysis of the Influencing Factors on the Failure of oBike in Taiwan
by Shianghau Wu
Mathematics 2020, 8(11), 1908; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8111908 - 31 Oct 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2011
Abstract
The sharing economy has become an important issue in recent years. Many researchers have paid attention to its application around the world. The sharing of bikes, as one of the major applications of the sharing economy, has shown its advantage in the realm [...] Read more.
The sharing economy has become an important issue in recent years. Many researchers have paid attention to its application around the world. The sharing of bikes, as one of the major applications of the sharing economy, has shown its advantage in the realm of environmental protection and low energy consumption. However, bike-sharing system has encountered problems in certain regions. This arouses the concern about the sustainable development of the bike-sharing system. This research focused on the failure case of oBike in Taiwan. This research used text mining and fuzzy association rules mining methods to evaluate Taiwan’s public opinion about the oBike in order to verify the reasons for oBike’s failure in Taiwan. This study also made a comparison between the bike-sharing system in Mainland China and Taiwan. The research results explored the factors of oBike’s failure in Taiwan and showcased the problems of bike-sharing systems in different regions. The research results also offer useful information for bike-sharing companies and the authorities concerned in order to develop a sustainable bike-sharing system. Full article
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40 pages, 1487 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Enterprise Production Based on Spherical Cubic Hamacher Aggregation Operators
by Tehreem Ayaz, Mohammad M. Al-Shomrani, Saleem Abdullah and Amjad Hussain
Mathematics 2020, 8(10), 1761; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8101761 - 13 Oct 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1636
Abstract
In the age of the information-based economy and the rapid advancements of data schemes, business management has been faced with extraordinary difficulties and has entered into a reasonable period where the board’s conventional enterprise execution assessment centers around the interests of investors. Speculators [...] Read more.
In the age of the information-based economy and the rapid advancements of data schemes, business management has been faced with extraordinary difficulties and has entered into a reasonable period where the board’s conventional enterprise execution assessment centers around the interests of investors. Speculators accept money-related information as their basis and focus on the investigation of material fascination, and in the event of the off chance that they do not, they cannot confirm the next economy period. In this way, enterprise execution reflects the interests of investors and business strategists for the needs of partners, which is significant for the forthcoming rivalry. Given that, the collection of data is a significant research tool that has lately been considered by researchers for data examination. In this paper, we have established multi-criteria decision-making methods for the assessment of business execution with spherical fuzzy information. We have applied Hamacher aggregation operators such as the spherical cubic fuzzy Hamacher weighted averaging (SCFHWA) operator, the spherical cubic fuzzy Hamacher ordered weighted averaging (SCFHOWA) operator, the spherical cubic fuzzy Hamacher hybrid averaging (SCFHHA) operator, the spherical cubic fuzzy Hamacher weighted geometric (SCFHWG) operator, the spherical cubic fuzzy Hamacher ordered weighted geometric (SCFHOWG) operator, and the spherical cubic fuzzy Hamacher hybrid geometric (SCFHHG) operator for the appraisal of the best choice of enterprise. We ultimately defend the proposed approach with the existing strategies for possibility and adequacy. Full article
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16 pages, 2737 KiB  
Article
New Fusion Algorithm-Reinforced Pilot Control for an Agricultural Tricopter UAV
by Huu Khoa Tran, Juing-Shian Chiou and Viet-Hung Dang
Mathematics 2020, 8(9), 1499; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8091499 - 04 Sep 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2174
Abstract
Currently, fuzzy proportional integral derivative (PID) controller schemes, which include simplified fuzzy reasoning decision methodologies and PID parameters, are broadly and efficaciously practiced in various fields from industrial applications, military service, to rescue operations, civilian information and also horticultural observation and agricultural surveillance. [...] Read more.
Currently, fuzzy proportional integral derivative (PID) controller schemes, which include simplified fuzzy reasoning decision methodologies and PID parameters, are broadly and efficaciously practiced in various fields from industrial applications, military service, to rescue operations, civilian information and also horticultural observation and agricultural surveillance. A fusion particle swarm optimization (PSO)–evolutionary programming (EP) algorithm, which is an improved version of the stochastic optimization strategy PSO, was presented for designing and optimizing controller gains in this study. The mathematical calculations of this study include the reproduction of EP with PSO. By minimizing the integral of the absolute error (IAE) criterion that is used for estimating the system response as a fitness function, the obtained integrated design of the fusion PSO–EP algorithm generated and updated the new elite parameters for proposed controller schemes. This progression was used for the complicated non-linear systems of the attitude-control pilot models of a tricopter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to demonstrate an improvement on the performance in terms of rapid response, precision, reliability, and stability. Full article
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18 pages, 4492 KiB  
Article
Using an Adaptive Fuzzy Neural Network Based on a Multi-Strategy-Based Artificial Bee Colony for Mobile Robot Control
by Cheng-Hung Chen, Shiou-Yun Jeng and Cheng-Jian Lin
Mathematics 2020, 8(8), 1223; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8081223 - 25 Jul 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2382
Abstract
This study proposes an adaptive fuzzy neural network (AFNN) based on a multi-strategy artificial bee colony (MSABC) algorithm for achieving an actual mobile robot navigation control. During the navigation control process, the AFNN inputs are the distance between the ultrasonic sensors and the [...] Read more.
This study proposes an adaptive fuzzy neural network (AFNN) based on a multi-strategy artificial bee colony (MSABC) algorithm for achieving an actual mobile robot navigation control. During the navigation control process, the AFNN inputs are the distance between the ultrasonic sensors and the angle between the mobile robot and the target, and the AFNN outputs are the robot’s left- and right-wheel speeds. A fitness function in reinforcement learning is defined to evaluate the navigation control performance of AFNN. The proposed MSABC algorithm improves the poor exploitation disadvantage in the traditional artificial bee colony (ABC) and adopts the mutation strategies of a differential evolution to balance exploration and exploitation. To escape in special environments, a manual wall-following fuzzy logic controller (WF-FLC) is designed. The experimental results show that the proposed MSABC method has improved the performance of average fitness, navigation time, and travel distance by 79.75%, 33.03%, and 10.74%, respectively, compared with the traditional ABC method. To prove the feasibility of the proposed controller, experiments were carried out on the actual PIONEER 3-DX mobile robot, and the proposed navigation control method was successfully completed. Full article
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12 pages, 256 KiB  
Article
Interval Grey Prediction Models with Forecast Combination for Energy Demand Forecasting
by Peng Jiang, Yi-Chung Hu, Wenbao Wang, Hang Jiang and Geng Wu
Mathematics 2020, 8(6), 960; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8060960 - 11 Jun 2020
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2025
Abstract
Time series data for decision problems such as energy demand forecasting are often derived from uncertain assessments, and do not meet any statistical assumptions. The interval grey number becomes an appropriate representation for an uncertain and imprecise observation. In order to obtain nonlinear [...] Read more.
Time series data for decision problems such as energy demand forecasting are often derived from uncertain assessments, and do not meet any statistical assumptions. The interval grey number becomes an appropriate representation for an uncertain and imprecise observation. In order to obtain nonlinear interval grey numbers with better forecasting accuracy, this study proposes a combined model by fusing interval grey numbers estimated by neural networks (NNs) and the grey prediction models. The proposed model first uses interval regression analysis using NNs to estimate interval grey numbers for a real valued sequence; and then a grey residual modification model is constructed using the upper and lower wrapping sequences obtained by NNs. It turns out that two different kinds of interval grey numbers can be estimated by nonlinear interval regression analysis. Forecasting accuracy on real data sequences was then examined by the best non-fuzzy performance values of the combined model. The proposed combined model performed well compared with the other interval grey prediction models considered. Full article
46 pages, 1956 KiB  
Article
Fuzzy Multicriteria Modelling of Decision Making in the Renewal of Healthcare Technologies
by Sergio Domínguez and María Carmen Carnero
Mathematics 2020, 8(6), 944; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8060944 - 08 Jun 2020
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3631
Abstract
In the current literature, there are a clear lack of systems to assist in making decisions about the renewal of technology for healthcare equipment, which means that the limited capacity to invest in new equipment cannot usually be appropriately applied as determined by [...] Read more.
In the current literature, there are a clear lack of systems to assist in making decisions about the renewal of technology for healthcare equipment, which means that the limited capacity to invest in new equipment cannot usually be appropriately applied as determined by the care requirements of a community. This may have important repercussions for patients, such as the inability to offer treatment or diagnosis, having to delay treatment or diagnosis, increase the risk of patients and care staff of using obsolete equipment, and preventing early, accurate, and reliable diagnosis, all of which have effects on the quality of care to a community. This study therefore describes the first multicriteria model in a fuzzy environment to assist in decision making related to the renewal of healthcare equipment. The fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP), which allows for ambiguities, uncertainties, and doubts inherent in real-world decision processes to be taken into account, was used to do this. The model produces a plan with actions to be taken depending on the obtained results. The model includes a novel methodology that consists of modifying the top–down technique to allow for the levels of priority for renewing healthcare equipment to be determined from judgements given by three experts. The model was validated by applying it to a set of medical devices, and we show the results for a surgical C-arm, an X-ray CT room, a neonatal ventilator, a defibrillator, and a video-colonoscope. A program was also created using the NI Labview software to process the model so that it could be applied with a user interface that acts quickly, simply, and intuitively. Full article
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13 pages, 1117 KiB  
Article
Effects of Uncertainty Shocks on Household Consumption and Working Hours: A Fuzzy Cognitive Map-Based Approach
by Yeonggyu Yun and Hye-Young Jung
Mathematics 2020, 8(6), 889; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8060889 - 02 Jun 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2120
Abstract
This paper aims to model an individual’s decision-making process in relation to macroeconomic dynamics that involve a large number of variables, which might inflict dimensionality issue in empirical analysis. We employ the fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) for this purpose, and present a parsimonious [...] Read more.
This paper aims to model an individual’s decision-making process in relation to macroeconomic dynamics that involve a large number of variables, which might inflict dimensionality issue in empirical analysis. We employ the fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) for this purpose, and present a parsimonious approach in assessing the impacts of uncertainty shocks on individual households by constructing FCM where households adjust their consumption and working hours in response to changes in exogenous economic uncertainty. We employ FCM to analyze how uncertainty shocks affect the households’ consumption, working hours, and income sources. We further conduct simulations to examine roles of expansionary fiscal policy in alleviating the negative impacts of uncertainty shocks. Our simulations yield similar results as compared to the existing literature on the impacts of uncertainty shocks. We suggest a hybrid algorithm of constructing FCM, and hence demonstrate the extensibility of FCM in analyzing complex macroeconomic systems. Full article
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18 pages, 2571 KiB  
Article
Adapting to PSTs’ Pedagogical Changes in Sustainable Mathematics Education through Flipped E-Learning: Ranking Its Criteria with MCDA/F-DEMATEL
by Jin Su Jeong and David González-Gómez
Mathematics 2020, 8(5), 858; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8050858 - 25 May 2020
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 3245
Abstract
Mathematics education for sustainable development is perceived as a core keystone, although its concept is related to its typical issue of ecology and economy in the educational realm. Thus, through current information and communication technology (ICT) impacts, altering pedagogy is highly conflicted in [...] Read more.
Mathematics education for sustainable development is perceived as a core keystone, although its concept is related to its typical issue of ecology and economy in the educational realm. Thus, through current information and communication technology (ICT) impacts, altering pedagogy is highly conflicted in teaching/learning mathematics. This research attempted to classify and investigate criteria for mathematics education with a multi-criteria decision analysis/fuzzy-decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (MCDA/F-DEMATEL) method in the context of the system of flipped e-learning. In particular, the sustainable development of this research focus is in mathematics education in view of pre-service teachers (PSTs) adapting to their pedagogical changes. With the MCDA/F-DEMATEL, the main criteria and sub-criteria were selected after the consultation of a group of experts as follows: mathematics education, sustainable development, and flipped-e-learning technology criteria. Then, with fifteen sub-criteria, the definitive analyses results were gauged with simple additive weighting (SAW) along with their weight coefficients’ calculation, sensitivity analysis (iv scenarios), and a professional survey. The results described as the most important criteria for adapting to PSTs pedagogical changes in sustainable mathematical education through a flipped e-learning system were the flipped e-learning technology criteria (scenario i), with an 83% positive perception by professionals’ survey; among its sub-criteria, information technology usage contents (0.43) was the most affected variable, with a 42% very likely perception. Scenario iii, which was the slightly more preferred criteria than mathematics education, got a 78% positive perception from professionals’ survey. Therefore, this proposed methodology could be employed to validate the most important sustainable mathematics with flipped e-learning criteria for adapting to PSTs’ pedagogical changes with corresponding education contexts in more long-term learning. Full article
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16 pages, 388 KiB  
Article
Applying Fuzzy AHP and TOPSIS Method to Identify Key Organizational Capabilities
by Tsung-Yu Chou and Yen-Ting Chen
Mathematics 2020, 8(5), 836; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8050836 - 21 May 2020
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3408
Abstract
Core competency is the basis of promoting a competitive advantage for any organization; this study aims to establish an objective and systematic assessment model for companies to identify their capabilities. This model will not only assist companies in understanding their own capabilities but [...] Read more.
Core competency is the basis of promoting a competitive advantage for any organization; this study aims to establish an objective and systematic assessment model for companies to identify their capabilities. This model will not only assist companies in understanding their own capabilities but will also allow them to compare their performance with that of main competitors to strengthen their competitiveness. The analysis process involved a combination of the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, fuzzy linguistic value, and the ideal and anti-ideal concept. An objective and systematic model was first developed, which underwent empirical analysis using data from the top three home delivery companies in Taiwan. It was found that “Basic organizational competencies” and “Special competitive competencies” were the two key categories for the home delivery industry. Moreover, “Service price”, “On-time delivery”, and “Secure delivery” were found to be the three most important capabilities needed for home delivery companies. The results showed that the model is able to effectively assist organizations in constructing or assessing their organizational capabilities; in addition, organizations can adjust their service profiles to adapt to today’s turbulent business environment and rapidly changing consumer demands. Full article
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17 pages, 481 KiB  
Article
Selecting the Low-Carbon Tourism Destination: Based on Pythagorean Fuzzy Taxonomy Method
by Guiwu Wei, Yanxin Tang, Mengwei Zhao, Rui Lin and Jiang Wu
Mathematics 2020, 8(5), 832; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8050832 - 21 May 2020
Cited by 30 | Viewed by 2413
Abstract
Low-carbon tourism plays the increasingly significant role in carbon emission reduction and natural environmental protection. The choice of low-carbon tourist destination (LCTD) often involves the multiple attributes or criteria and can be regarded as the corresponding multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) issues. [...] Read more.
Low-carbon tourism plays the increasingly significant role in carbon emission reduction and natural environmental protection. The choice of low-carbon tourist destination (LCTD) often involves the multiple attributes or criteria and can be regarded as the corresponding multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) issues. Since the Pythagorean fuzzy sets (PFSs) could well depict uncertain information or fuzzy information and cope with the LCTD selection, thus this essay develops a framework to tackle such MAGDM issues under the Pythagorean fuzzy environment. In this essay, due to few methods can compare with different alternatives along with their advantages from designed attributes, therefore, to overcome this challenge, the taxonomy method is utilized to integrate with PFSs. What’s more, the entropy method is also utilized to determine the attribute weights. Eventually, an application related to LCTD selection and some comparative analysis have been given to demonstrate the superiority of the designed method. The results illustrate that the designed framework is useful for identifying optimal tourist destination among the potential tourist destinations. Full article
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14 pages, 798 KiB  
Article
An Institutional Trust Indicator Based on Fuzzy Logic and Ideal Solutions
by Juan Carlos Martín, Concepción Román and Christian Viñán
Mathematics 2020, 8(5), 807; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8050807 - 15 May 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 1809
Abstract
The analysis of trust in the governments and the authorities has been a source of study in recent years, especially by the impact it has on facilitating economic growth and stability in developing countries. This paper analyses the institutional trust in Ecuador using [...] Read more.
The analysis of trust in the governments and the authorities has been a source of study in recent years, especially by the impact it has on facilitating economic growth and stability in developing countries. This paper analyses the institutional trust in Ecuador using data from an adapted survey of the European Social Survey. A synthetic indicator of institutional trust of Ecuadorian citizens is obtained by applying a fuzzy hybrid multi-criteria method. The analysis is based on six different dimensions, namely: (1) The Local Government (City Hall); (2) The Judicial System; (3) The Politicians; (4) Political Parties; (5) The National Parliament; and (6) the United Nations. The results obtained for the country, the nine provincial conglomerates and the gender segments show that institutional trust is not homogeneous among the provincial zones and that males trust more on institutions than females. The paper offers interesting insights to practitioners, researchers, academics, political scientists, and policymakers interested in Latin America. Suggestions for future research in the area, having in mind the existing data availability limitations, are provided. Full article
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22 pages, 1391 KiB  
Article
Using FQFD and FGRA to Enhance the Advertising Effectiveness of Cross-Regional E-Commerce Platforms
by Tsung-Yu Chou
Mathematics 2020, 8(4), 650; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8040650 - 23 Apr 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2858
Abstract
The thriving development of cross-regional e-commerce has gradually increased online marketing activities and consumers’ intention to shop online. The objective of this paper to find solutions for improving the advertising effectiveness has therefore become very important. In this article, an integrating method of [...] Read more.
The thriving development of cross-regional e-commerce has gradually increased online marketing activities and consumers’ intention to shop online. The objective of this paper to find solutions for improving the advertising effectiveness has therefore become very important. In this article, an integrating method of fuzzy quality function deployment (FQFD) and fuzzy grey relational analysis (FGRA) was proposed to identify solutions for improving the advertising effectiveness. Based on this method, the house of quality (HoQ) to facilitate investigation of the 17 advertising effectiveness needs and 10 feasible technical improvements were presented. Through the questionnaire survey of platform users, the importance and satisfaction of the attributes of advertising needs were obtained. After that, a fuzzy relationship matrix was constructed to link technical improvements and advertising effectiveness needs in a fuzzy decision environment. Finally, the priority of technical improvements regarding improving advertising effectiveness were obtained. The results show that the proposed method can help decision makers of cross-regional e-commerce to improve advertising effectiveness effectively, so that they can effectively use resources to design advertisements that meet user needs. Full article
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16 pages, 864 KiB  
Article
Constructing Fuzzy Hypothesis Methods to Determine Critical-To-Quality Service Items
by Chun-Hung Yu, Chin-Chia Liu, Kuen-Suan Chen and Chun-Min Yu
Mathematics 2020, 8(4), 573; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8040573 - 12 Apr 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 1539
Abstract
This paper constructs a performance evaluation matrix (PEM) with beta distribution. Beta is between zero and one, making it a suitable indicator to describe customer ratings of importance and satisfaction from 0% to 100%. According to the spirit of ceaseless improvement put forward [...] Read more.
This paper constructs a performance evaluation matrix (PEM) with beta distribution. Beta is between zero and one, making it a suitable indicator to describe customer ratings of importance and satisfaction from 0% to 100%. According to the spirit of ceaseless improvement put forward by total quality management, the average ratings are set as the standard, and then the coordinates of each satisfaction and importance item is located in the performance areas. This makes it easy to identify critical-to-quality items that require improvement. However, the data collection method of questionnaires inevitably involves sampling error, and the opinions of customers are often ambiguous. To solve these problems, we constructed a fuzzy testing method based on confidence intervals. The use of confidence intervals decreases the chance of misjudgment caused by sampling errors, and more precisely gets closer to customers’ voices. This result is more reasonable than the traditional statistical testing principle. The proposed methods are applied to assessment of a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) system to display their competence. Full article
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16 pages, 2168 KiB  
Article
Possibility Measure of Accepting Statistical Hypothesis
by Jung-Lin Hung, Cheng-Che Chen and Chun-Mei Lai
Mathematics 2020, 8(4), 551; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8040551 - 09 Apr 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1668
Abstract
Taking advantage of the possibility of fuzzy test statistic falling in the rejection region, a statistical hypothesis testing approach for fuzzy data is proposed in this study. In contrast to classical statistical testing, which yields a binary decision to reject or to accept [...] Read more.
Taking advantage of the possibility of fuzzy test statistic falling in the rejection region, a statistical hypothesis testing approach for fuzzy data is proposed in this study. In contrast to classical statistical testing, which yields a binary decision to reject or to accept a null hypothesis, the proposed approach is to determine the possibility of accepting a null hypothesis (or alternative hypothesis). When data are crisp, the proposed approach reduces to the classical hypothesis testing approach. Full article
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16 pages, 1472 KiB  
Article
Determining the Optimal Inventory and Number of Shipments for a Two-Resource Supply Chain with Correlated Demands and Remanufacturing Products Allowing Backorder
by Tseng-Fung Ho, Chi-Chung Lin and Chih-Ling Lin
Mathematics 2020, 8(4), 548; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8040548 - 08 Apr 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2153
Abstract
This study develops an integrated supplier–remanufacturer and customer (downstream manufacturer) inventory model that takes into account three-echelon system with correlated demands and remanufacturing products allowing a backorder goods condition. This paper improves the observable fact that the first model system customer might select [...] Read more.
This study develops an integrated supplier–remanufacturer and customer (downstream manufacturer) inventory model that takes into account three-echelon system with correlated demands and remanufacturing products allowing a backorder goods condition. This paper improves the observable fact that the first model system customer might select two sources from remanufactured products or supplier products without defective items. The second model further considers the defective items during the screening duration. The results are examined analytically and numerically to show that the policy of single shipment in large lot sizes results in less total cost than a frequent shipments policy. We also explore the impact of recovery rate on the economic benefits of the inventory system. In addition, we also perform sensitivity analysis to study the impact of seven important parameters (transportation cost, recovery rate, screening rate, annual demand, defect rate, and backorder rate, holding cost,) on the optimal solution. Management insights were also discussed. Full article
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14 pages, 285 KiB  
Article
Distance and Similarity Measures for Spherical Fuzzy Sets and Their Applications in Selecting Mega Projects
by Muhammad Jabir Khan, Poom Kumam, Wejdan Deebani, Wiyada Kumam and Zahir Shah
Mathematics 2020, 8(4), 519; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8040519 - 03 Apr 2020
Cited by 51 | Viewed by 3442
Abstract
A new condition on positive membership, neutral membership, and negative membership functions give us the successful extension of picture fuzzy set and Pythagorean fuzzy set and called spherical fuzzy sets ( SFS ) . This extends the domain of positive membership, neutral membership, [...] Read more.
A new condition on positive membership, neutral membership, and negative membership functions give us the successful extension of picture fuzzy set and Pythagorean fuzzy set and called spherical fuzzy sets ( SFS ) . This extends the domain of positive membership, neutral membership, and negative membership functions. Keeping in mind the importance of similarity measure and application in data mining, medical diagnosis, decision making, and pattern recognition, several studies on similarity measures have been proposed in the literature. Some of those, however, cannot satisfy the axioms of similarity and provide counter-intuitive cases. In this paper, we proposed the set-theoretic similarity and distance measures. We provide some counterexamples for already proposed similarity measures in the literature and shows that how our proposed method is important and applicable to the pattern recognition problems. In the end, we provide an application of a proposed similarity measure for selecting mega projects in under developed countries. Full article
18 pages, 306 KiB  
Article
The Constrained Median: A Way to Incorporate Side Information in the Assessment of Food Samples
by Marc Sader, Raúl Pérez-Fernández, Lotta Kuuliala, Frank Devlieghere and Bernard De Baets
Mathematics 2020, 8(3), 406; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8030406 - 12 Mar 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2545
Abstract
A classical problem in the field of food science concerns the consensus evaluation of food samples. Typically, several panelists are asked to provide scores describing the perceived quality of the samples, and subsequently, the overall (consensus) scores are determined. Unfortunately, gathering a large [...] Read more.
A classical problem in the field of food science concerns the consensus evaluation of food samples. Typically, several panelists are asked to provide scores describing the perceived quality of the samples, and subsequently, the overall (consensus) scores are determined. Unfortunately, gathering a large number of panelists is a challenging and very expensive way of collecting information. Interestingly, side information about the samples is often available. This paper describes a method that exploits such information with the aim of improving the assessment of the quality of multiple samples. The proposed method is illustrated by discussing an experiment on raw Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), where the evolution of the overall score of each salmon sample is studied. The influence of incorporating knowledge of storage days, results of a clustering analysis, and information from additionally performed sensory evaluation tests is discussed. We provide guidelines for incorporating different types of information and discuss their benefits and potential risks. Full article
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22 pages, 2510 KiB  
Article
A Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Evaluation Framework for Urban Sustainable Development
by Wei-Ming Wang and Hsiao-Han Peng
Mathematics 2020, 8(3), 330; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8030330 - 03 Mar 2020
Cited by 30 | Viewed by 3035
Abstract
With the rapid transformations of living environments, urban sustainable development has become an important global issue for urban growth and management. In order to effectively implement urban sustainable development, it is necessary to establish an operational action model based on its nature. This [...] Read more.
With the rapid transformations of living environments, urban sustainable development has become an important global issue for urban growth and management. In order to effectively implement urban sustainable development, it is necessary to establish an operational action model based on its nature. This study first clarifies the core value of urban quality of life (QOL), and proposes the corresponding concept of Life–City. A variety of factors may affect the content of Life–City, and when assessing the objectives of sustainable development, there are uncertain properties and value judgments. Therefore, Life–City evaluation is a fuzzy multi-criteria decision analysis (FMCDA) problem. This study constructs the dimensions and the possible impact factors for urban QOL development. The fuzzy Delphi method (FDM) is employed to screen evaluation criteria and develop the overall evaluation framework. In order to effectively convert the subjective and perceptual issues in the framework into objective and quantitative processing, this study adopts the extent analysis method on fuzzy AHP (EAFAHP) to aggregate experts’ comments as empirical evaluation. The research results can convert the abstract concept of sustainability to the evaluation of Life–City specific operation, and serve as guidance for self-examination of current status and future policy development. Full article
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14 pages, 286 KiB  
Article
An Extended EDAS Method with a Single-Valued Complex Neutrosophic Set and Its Application in Green Supplier Selection
by Dongsheng Xu, Xiangxiang Cui and Huaxiang Xian
Mathematics 2020, 8(2), 282; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/math8020282 - 19 Feb 2020
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 2113
Abstract
The single-valued complex neutrosophic set is a useful tool for handling the data with uncertainty and periodicity. In this paper, a single-valued complex neutrosophic EDAS (evaluation based on distance from average slution) model has been established and applied in green supplier selection. Firstly, [...] Read more.
The single-valued complex neutrosophic set is a useful tool for handling the data with uncertainty and periodicity. In this paper, a single-valued complex neutrosophic EDAS (evaluation based on distance from average slution) model has been established and applied in green supplier selection. Firstly, the definition of single-valued complex neutrosophic set and corresponding operational laws are briefly introduced. Next, to fuse overall single-valued complex neutrosophic information, the SVCNEWA and SVCNEWG operators based on single-valued complex neutrosophic set, Einstein product and sum are proposed. Furthermore, the single-valued complex neutrosophic EDAS model has been established and all computing steps have been depicted in detail. Finally, a numerical example of green supplier selection and a comparison analysis have been given to illustrate the practicality and effectiveness of this new model. Full article
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