Introducing a multi-criteria evaluation method using Pythagorean fuzzy sets

Abstract

Purpose Project selection is a critical decision for any organization seeking to commission a large-scale construction project. Project selection is a complex multi-criteria decision-making problem with significant uncertainty and high risks. Fuzzy set theory has been used to address various aspects of project uncertainty, but with key practical limitations. This study aims to develop and apply a novel Pythagorean fuzzy sets (PFSs) approach that overcomes these key limitations. Design/methodology/approach The study is particular to complex project selection in the context of increasing interest in resilience as a key project selection criterion. Project resilience is proposed and considered in the specific situation of a large-scale construction project selection case study. The case study develops and applies a PFS approach to manage project uncertainty. The case study is presented to demonstrate how PFS is applied to a practical problem of realistic complexity. Working through the case study highlights some of the key benefits of the PFS approach for practicing project managers and decision-makers in general. Findings The PFSs approach proposed in this study is shown to be scalable, efficient, generalizable and practical. The results confirm that the inclusion of last aggregation and last defuzzification avoids the potentially critical information loss and relative lack of transparency. Most especially, the developed PFS is able to accommodate and manage domain expert expressions of uncertainty that are realistic and practical. Originality/value The main novelty of this study is to address project resilience in the form of multi-criteria evaluation and decision-making under PFS uncertainty. The approach is defined mathematically and presented as a six-step approach to decision-making. The PFS approach is given to allow multiple domain experts to focus more clearly on accurate expressions of their agreement and disagreement. PFS is shown to be an important new direction in practical multi-criteria decision-making methods for the project management practitioner.

What are the established expectations for the artifacts addressed in project portfolio management?

“…Specificities: These are artifacts aimed at the specific needs of a given problem, as in the following examples: Project selection is a complex decision-making problem with several criteria, with significant uncertainty and high risks. A Fuzzy-based approach is recommended to deal with these uncertainties (Mohagheghi et al, 2021); in addition, properly managing project interdependencies between diverse and concurrent projects is considered critical for the successful implementation of project portfolios and, to this end, work was carried out to address interaction patterns, cost impact and benefits (Bathallath, Smedberg & Kjellin, 2016); Selection methods and resource allocation in projects to optimize these same resources both in planning and during project execution (Santos et al, 2011) and the automation of this type of method through software so that the resource allocation calculation can be automatic (Nakhayi et al, 2017). Section: Article method for the project selection problem that helps decision makers to obtain an optimal project portfolio when little or no relevant information is available based on previously defined attribute values.…”

Additive manufacturing process selection for automotive industry using Pythagorean fuzzy CRITIC EDAS

“…Pythagorean fuzzy (PF) sets, represented by membership degree and non-membership degree, are a more effective way of expressing uncertainty [47]. This approach provides more robust, flexible, and ultimately more practical expressions of membership functions by decision-makers [48]. Since it is a relatively new method, studies on Pythagorean fuzzy CRITIC (PF-CRITIC) are also very limited.…”

A new interval-valued fuzzy multi-objective approach for project time–cost–quality trade-off problem with activity crashing and overlapping under uncertainty

“…TCQTP with conflicting objectives is inherently a multiple-objective decision-making (MODM) problem. To solve MODM problems, multiple objectives linear programming (MOLP) approaches have been widely proposed during recent years (Chung et al , 2018; Hashemi et al , 2021; Mohagheghi et al , 2021).…”