Decision Making Methods in Comparative Studies of Complex Economic Processes Management

Abstract

In this study different methodological approaches are used and described by many features (indicators) of complex socio-economic process. Outcome of analysis has the most reliable and acceptable representation of the studied process specific to chosen case. In order to solve problems in this area (depending on the situation, case under consideration), methods from two groups are most often used: multidimensional comparative analysis and multi-criteria decision analysis. The first of these cases concern problems at the macro level (socio-economic development, demographic situation, population's living standards, etc.), in which the decisionmaker's participation is relatively small (eg the selection of diagnostic variables or expert assessment). The second of these groups include issues in which the decisionmaker's participation is significant which are subjective to the decisions taken and reflects his or her preferences. Among the decision support methods, one can also distinguish those that have both the characteristics of methods from the area of multidimensional comparative analysis and multi-criteria decision analysis. The article presents the combination of both trends exposing maximum possibilities of using selected methods used in the decision making by Polish schools. The general methodological assumptions, advantages of having approaches discussed (in relation to other known methods) as well as the applied aspects (exemplary applications) also presented.

Multi-Criteria Fuzzy Evaluation of the Planned Offshore Wind Farm Investments in Poland

“…In other words, the fuzzy TOPSIS method does not allow for modelling a situation where it is uncertain whether one of the alternatives is better than the other. The second limitation of the fuzzy TOPSIS method is that during the calculation it is necessary to perform the defuzzification of the evaluation for alternatives and the final calculations are based on crisp numbers (see Formulae (17) and (18)). As a consequence, the decision-maker loses information about the uncertainty of the obtained solution and is unable to assess the potential risk associated with the selection of a specific decision alternative.…”

“…It should also be noted that wind energy is intermittent, which means that all values depending on wind resources are uncertain [15]. The multiplicity of uncertain factors that may additionally conflict with each other makes the problem of wind farm location and design evaluation a multi-criteria problem that can be solved using the fuzzy multi-criteria decision aid (MCDA) methods [16,17]. Fuzzy MCDA methods are widely used to solve decision problems related to offshore wind farms.…”

Validation of Decision Criteria and Determining Factors Importance in Advocating for Sustainability of Entrepreneurial Startups towards Social Inclusion and Capacity Building

“…The introduction section also presents the current and past situation of the scenario uncovering each variable as separate paragraphs. There are many concepts and models presented justifying the entrepreneurial research from many multidimensional approaches [99][100][101]. As stated in earlier sections about the aim and scope of the study with a cushioned background about the selected concept and the specific dimension of entrepreneurial startups, the study requires a structured research problem with the clarity of thought to make it clear for other researchers.…”

Renewable Energy Decision Criteria on Green Consumer Values Comparing Poland and India Aligned with Environment Policy for Sustainable Development

“…Policy makers and bureaucrats can look for this analysis to support or reframe their beliefs, which can motivate them to reach their goals. The research will lead the future research to measure the criteria importance for green consumer values with RESs, applying many other techniques of multi-criteria decision making, such as DEMATEL [71], Topsis [72], and Cognitive [73,74], which can be more supportive methods justifying the results. Furthermore, the research can be a roadmap for academic researchers to continue participating in the same line of study, providing their outcomes with a critical comparison.…”