Multi-person multi-attribute decision making models under intuitionistic fuzzy environment

Intuitionistic fuzzy numbers, each of which is characterized by the degree of membership and the degree of non-membership of an element, are a very useful means to depict the decision information in the process of decision making. In this article, we investigate the group decision making problems in which all the information provided by the decision makers is expressed as intuitionistic fuzzy decision matrices where each of the elements is characterized by intuitionistic fuzzy number, and the information about attribute weights is partially known, which may be constructed by various forms. We first use the intuitionistic fuzzy hybrid geometric (IFHG) operator to aggregate all individual intuitionistic fuzzy decision matrices provided by the decision makers into the collective intuitionistic fuzzy decision matrix, then we utilize the score function to calculate the score of each attribute value and construct the score matrix of the collective intuitionistic fuzzy decision matrix. Based on the score matrix and the given attribute weight information, we establish some optimization models to determine the weights of attributes. Furthermore, we utilize the obtained attribute weights and the intuitionistic fuzzy weighted geometric (IFWG) operator to fuse the intuitionistic fuzzy information in the collective intuitionistic fuzzy decision matrix to get the overall intuitionistic fuzzy values of alternatives by which the ranking of all the given alternatives can be found. Finally, we give an illustrative example.     

An intuitionistic fuzzy programming method for group decision making with interval-valued fuzzy preference relations

The paper develops a new intuitionistic fuzzy (IF) programming method to solve group decision making (GDM) problems with interval-valued fuzzy preference relations (IVFPRs). An IF programming problem is formulated to derive the priority weights of alternatives in the context of additive consistent IVFPR. In this problem, the additive consistent conditions are viewed as the IF constraints. Considering decision makers’ (DMs’) risk attitudes, three approaches, including the optimistic, pessimistic and neutral approaches, are proposed to solve the constructed IF programming problem. Subsequently, a new consensus index is defined to measure the similarity between DMs according to their individual IVFPRs. Thereby, DMs’ weights are objectively determined using the consensus index. Combining DMs’ weights with the IF program, a corresponding IF programming method is proposed for GDM with IVFPRs. An example of E-Commerce platform selection is analyzed to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. Finally, the IF programming method is further extended to the multiplicative consistent IVFPR.     

An adjustable approach to intuitionistic fuzzy soft sets based decision making

Molodtsov initiated the concept of soft set theory, which can be used as a generic mathematical tool for dealing with uncertainty. There has been some progress concerning practical applications of soft set theory, especially the use of soft sets in decision making. In this paper we generalize the adjustable approach to fuzzy soft sets based decision making. Concretely, we present an adjustable approach to intuitionistic fuzzy soft sets based decision making by using level soft sets of intuitionistic fuzzy soft sets and give some illustrative examples. The properties of level soft sets are presented and discussed. Moreover, we also introduce the weighted intuitionistic fuzzy soft sets and investigate its application to decision making.     

An approach for solving fuzzy multi-criteria decision problem under linguistic information

Fuzzy Optimization and Decision Making - Linguistic information processing exists in multi-criteria decision making, and linguistic truth-valued lattice implication algebra (LTV-LIA) has definite...     

Extension of the TOPSIS method for decision making problems under interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy environment

TOPSIS is one of the well-known methods for multiple attribute decision making (MADM). In this paper, we extend the TOPSIS method to solve multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) problems in interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy environment in which all the preference information provided by the decision-makers is presented as interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy decision matrices where each of the elements is characterized by interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy number (IVIFNs), and the information about attribute weights is partially known. First, we use the interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy hybrid geometric (IIFHG) operator to aggregate all individual interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy decision matrices provided by the decision-makers into the collective interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy decision matrix, and then we use the score function to calculate the score of each attribute value and construct the score matrix of the collective interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy decision matrix. From the score matrix and the given attribute weight information, we establish an optimization model to determine the weights of attributes, and construct the weighted collective interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy decision matrix, and then determine the interval-valued intuitionistic positive-ideal solution and interval-valued intuitionistic negative-ideal solution. Based on different distance definitions, we calculate the relative closeness of each alternative to the interval-valued intuitionistic positive-ideal solution and rank the alternatives according to the relative closeness to the interval-valued intuitionistic positive-ideal solution and select the most desirable one(s). Finally, an example is used to illustrate the applicability of the proposed approach.     

Aggregating crisp values into intuitionistic fuzzy number for group decision making

This paper presents a multiple attribute group decision making model based on aggregating crisp values into intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. First, each alternative is evaluated with respect to their attributes, whose values are provided by decision maker as crisp numbers. Second, to make a reasonable normalization of attribute values in the group decision making environment, a maximum grade and a minimum grade are added to the attribute values. These normalized attribute values are then aggregated (per attribute) into an induced intuitionistic fuzzy number. Each alternative is then evaluated according to the induced intuitionistic fuzzy number. To show the major technical advances in this paper, comparisons with other methods are also made. Finally, an experimental analysis for supplier selection is given to illustrate the reasonableness and efficiency of the introduced method.     

Interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy combined weighted averaging operator for group decision making

Determining the attribute weights, in the multiple attribute group decision-making analysis with interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy information, plays a crucial role because of its direct effect on the optimal alternative. In this paper, we develop a new attribute weight based on the support and entropy measure of attribute values. Then, the interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy combined weighted averaging (IVIFCWA) operator is proposed and its some primary properties are discussed. The IVIFCWA operator’s attribute values take the form of interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy numbers and the principal component of the interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy number is fully taken into account. Finally, a numerical example concerning the investment strategy is given to illustrate the validity and applicability of the proposed method.     

Generalized intuitionistic fuzzy geometric aggregation operators and their application to multi-criteria decision making

In this paper, we extend the generalized weighted geometric and generalized ordered weighted geometric operators to intuitionistic fuzzy environments, that is, we develop a series of generalized intuitionistic fuzzy geometric operators to aggregate input arguments that are expressed by intuitionistic fuzzy values based on Archimedean t-conorm and t-norm. Then some desired properties of these aggregation operators are investigated. The relations between these operators and some existing intuitionistic fuzzy geometric aggregation operators are discussed in detail. Furthermore, applying these proposed operators, we develop an approach for multi-criteria decision making with intuitionistic fuzzy information. Finally, a practical example is given to verify the developed approach and to demonstrate its practicality and effectiveness.     

Extension of the LINMAP for multiattribute decision making under Atanassov’s intuitionistic fuzzy environment

The aim of this article is further extending the linear programming techniques for multidimensional analysis of preference (LINMAP) to develop a new methodology for solving multiattribute decision making (MADM) problems under Atanassov’s intuitionistic fuzzy (IF) environments. The LINMAP only can deal with MADM problems in crisp environments. However, fuzziness is inherent in decision data and decision making processes. In this methodology, Atanassov’s IF sets are used to describe fuzziness in decision information and decision making processes by means of an Atanassov’s IF decision matrix. A Euclidean distance is proposed to measure the difference between Atanassov’s IF sets. Consistency and inconsistency indices are defined on the basis of preferences between alternatives given by the decision maker. Each alternative is assessed on the basis of its distance to an Atanassov’s IF positive ideal solution (IFPIS) which is unknown a prior. The Atanassov’s IFPIS and the weights of attributes are then estimated using a new linear programming model based upon the consistency and inconsistency indices defined. Finally, the distance of each alternative to the Atanassov’s IFPIS can be calculated to determine the ranking order of all alternatives. A numerical example is examined to demonstrate the implementation process of this methodology. Also it has been proved that the methodology proposed in this article can deal with MADM problems under not only Atanassov’s IF environments but also both fuzzy and crisp environments.     

An improved method on group decision making based on interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy prioritized operators

Interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy prioritized operators are widely used in group decision making under uncertain environment due to its flexibility to model uncertain information. However, there is a shortcoming in the existing aggregation operators (interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy prioritized weighted average (IVIFPWA)) to deal with group decision making in some extreme situations. For example, when an expert gives an absolute negative evaluation, the operators could lead to irrational results, so that they are not effectively enough to handle group decision making. In this paper, several examples are illustrated to show the unreasonable results in some of these situations. Actually, these unreasonable cases are common for operators in dealing with product averaging, not only emerging in IVIFPWA operators. To overcome the shortcoming of these kinds of operators, an improvement of making slight adjustment on initial evaluations is provided. Numerical examples are used to show the efficiency of the improvement.     

A new method for ranking intuitionistic fuzzy values and its application in multi-attribute decision making

In this paper, we propose a new method for ranking intuitionistic fuzzy values (IFVs) by using the similarity measure and the accuracy degree of IFVs. Then we apply the proposed ranking method to multi-attribute decision making.     

A group decision making approach based on aggregating interval data into interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy information

Group decision making is one of the most important problems in decision making sciences. The aim of this article is to aggregate the interval data into the interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy information for multiple attribute group decision making. In this model, the decision information is provided by decision maker, which is characterized by interval data. Based on the idea of mean and variance in statistics, we first define the concepts of satisfactory and dissatisfactory intervals of attribute vector against each alternative. Using these concepts, we develop an approach to aggregate the attribute vector into interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy number under group decision making environment. A practical example is provided to illustrate the proposed method. To show the validity of the reported method, comparisons with other methods are also made.     

Hesitant fuzzy Bonferroni means for multi-criteria decision making

Due to the desirable characteristic of the Bonferroni mean (BM) that it can capture the interrelationship between input arguments, and in order to provide the properties and the modelling capability of the BMs under hesitant fuzzy environment, we explore some new hesitant fuzzy Bonferroni means (HFBMs). The properties and the special cases of HFBMs are studied in detail. We specially define a concept of hesitant Bonferroni element (HBE), which is considered as a ‘bonding satisfaction’ factor used as a calculation unit in the HFBM. The HBE can reflect the correlation between hesitant fuzzy arguments, which makes the HFBM have particular advantages in aggregating arguments. In addition, the weighted hesitant fuzzy Bonferroni mean (WHFBM) is also proposed considering different importance degrees of input arguments. Furthermore, the procedure of multi-criteria decision making based on the WHFBM is given under hesitant fuzzy environment as typical applications, which has much sense in theory and practice for the BM.     

An approach to decision making based on intuitionistic fuzzy rough sets over two universes

Rough set theory has been combined with intuitionistic fuzzy sets in dealing with uncertainty decision making. This paper proposes a general decision-making framework based on the intuitionistic fuzzy rough set model over two universes. We first present the intuitionistic fuzzy rough set model over two universes with a constructive approach and discuss the basic properties of this model. We then give a new approach of decision making in uncertainty environment by using the intuitionistic fuzzy rough sets over two universes. Further, the principal steps of the decision method established in this paper are presented in detail. Finally, an example of handling medical diagnosis problem illustrates this approach.     

A new multiple attribute group decision making method in intuitionistic fuzzy setting

The multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) problem with intuitionistic fuzzy information investigated in this paper is very useful for solving complicated decision problems under uncertain circumstances. Since experts have their own characteristics, they are familiar with some of the attributes, but not others, the weights of the decision makers to different attributes should be different. We derive the weights of the decision makers by aggregating the individual intuitionistic fuzzy decision matrices into a collective intuitionistic fuzzy decision matrix. The expert has a big weight if his evaluation value is close to the mean value and has a small weight if his evaluation value is far from the mean value. For the incomplete attribute weight information, we establish some optimization models to determine the attribute weights. Furthermore, we develop several algorithms for ranking alternatives under different situations, and then extend the developed models and algorithms to the MAGDM problem with interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy information. Numerical results finally illustrate the practicality and efficiency of our new algorithms.     

A VIKOR-based method for hesitant fuzzy multi-criteria decision making

Since it was firstly introduced by Torra and Narukawa (The 18th IEEE International Conference on Fuzzy Systems, Jeju Island, Korea, 2009, pp. 1378–1382), the hesitant fuzzy set has attracted more and more attention due to its powerfulness and efficiency in representing uncertainty and vagueness. This paper extends the classical VIKOR (vlsekriterijumska optimizacija i kompromisno resenje in serbian) method to accommodate hesitant fuzzy circumstances. Motivated by the hesitant normalized Manhattan distance, we develop the hesitant normalized Manhattan $L_p$ —metric, the hesitant fuzzy group utility measure, the hesitant fuzzy individual regret measure, and the hesitant fuzzy compromise measure. Based on these new measures, we propose a hesitant fuzzy VIKOR method, and a practical example is provided to show that our method is very effective in solving multi-criteria decision making problems with hesitant preference information.     

Extension of the VIKOR method for group decision making with interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy information

The aim of this paper is to extend the VIKOR method for multiple attribute group decision making in interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy environment, in which all the preference information provided by the decision-makers is presented as interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy decision matrices where each of the elements is characterized by interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy number, and the information about attribute weights is partially known, which is an important research field in decision science and operation research. First, we use the interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy hybrid geometric operator to aggregate all individual interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy decision matrices provided by the decision-makers into the collective interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy decision matrix, and then we use the score function to calculate the score of each attribute value and construct the score matrix of the collective interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy decision matrix. From the score matrix and the given attribute weight information, we establish an optimization model to determine the weights of attributes, and then determine the interval-valued intuitionistic positive-ideal solution and interval-valued intuitionistic negative-ideal solution. We use the different distances to calculate the particular measure of closeness of each alternative to the interval-valued intuitionistic positive-ideal solution. According to values of the particular measure, we rank the alternatives and then select the most desirable one(s). Finally, a numerical example is used to illustrate the applicability of the proposed approach.     

A novel two-phase group decision making approach for construction project selection in a fuzzy environment

This paper considers a construction project problem under multiple criteria in a fuzzy environment and proposes a new two-phase group decision making (GDM) approach. This approach integrates a modified analytic network process (ANP) and an improved compromise ranking method, known as VIKOR. To take uncertainty and risk into account, a new decision making approach is presented with multiple fuzzy information by a group of experts, and a risk attitude for each expert is incorporated that can be expressed linguistically. First, a modified fuzzy ANP method is introduced to address the problem of dependence as well as feedback among conflicting criteria and to determine their relative importance. Then, a fuzzy VIKOR method is extended to rank potential projects on the basis of their overall performance. An illustrative example from the literature is provided for the construction project problem to demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed approach. The computational results show that the proposed two-phase GDM approach is suitable to cope with imprecision and subjectivity for the complicated decision making problem. Finally, the associated results of the proposed approach with risk attitudes and without risk attitudes are compared with the results reported by Cheng and Li [1], and the merits are highlighted.     

A rough set approach to intuitionistic fuzzy soft set based decision making

The soft set theory, originally proposed by Molodtsov, can be used as a general mathematical tool for dealing with uncertainty. Since its appearance, there has been some progress concerning practical applications of soft set theory, especially the use of soft sets in decision making. The intuitionistic fuzzy soft set is a combination of an intuitionistic fuzzy set and a soft set. The rough set theory is a powerful tool for dealing with uncertainty, granuality and incompleteness of knowledge in information systems. Using rough set theory, this paper proposes a novel approach to intuitionistic fuzzy soft set based decision making problems. Firstly, by employing an intuitionistic fuzzy relation and a threshold value pair, we define a new rough set model and examine some fundamental properties of this rough set model. Then the concepts of approximate precision and rough degree are given and some basic properties are discussed. Furthermore, we investigate the relationship between intuitionistic fuzzy soft sets and intuitionistic fuzzy relations and present a rough set approach to intuitionistic fuzzy soft set based decision making. Finally, an illustrative example is employed to show the validity of this rough set approach in intuitionistic fuzzy soft set based decision making problems.     

Research on AHP with interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets and its application in multi-criteria decision making problems

This paper investigates an approach for multi-criterion decision making (MCDM) problems with interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy preference relations (IVIFPRs). Based on the novel interval score function, some extended concepts associated with IVIFPRs are defined, including the score matrix, the approximate optimal transfer matrix and the possibility degree matrix. By using these new matrixes, a prioritization method for IVIFPRs is proposed. Then, we investigate an interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy AHP method for multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problems. In the end, a numerical example is provided to illustrate the application of the proposed approach.