Entropy-TOPSIS Method Approach: A Comprehensive Quarterly Assessment with Application in Turkey's Cement Sector

Abstract

The objective of this research is to determine the financial performance of Turkish cement firms using quarterly data from the period between 1997 and 2022 through the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). The research takes into account company mergers that occurred in 2020 and analyzes two distinct periods: from 1997 to 2020, and post-2020. Fourteen companies were examined in the first period, while ten companies were assessed in the latter period. To measure financial performance, ten common financial ratios selected based on literature were utilized. Determining the importance of these financial ratios is a crucial step in multi-criteria decision-making techniques; hence, the entropy method was employed to address this issue. According to empirical results, before the company mergers, UNYE and MARDIN cement firms were observed to consistently perform well financially, often ranking at the top based on the financial parameters considered. However, after the merger, it has been noted that BUCIM consistently held the top position in every quarter.