Group decision-making based on the VIKOR method with trapezoidal bipolar fuzzy information

Abstract

The VIKOR methodology stands out as an important multi-criteria decision-making technique. VIKOR stands for "VIekriterijumsko KOmpromisno Rangiranje", a Serbian term for "multi-criteria optimization and compromise solution". It has been adapted to sources of information with sundry formats. We contribute to that strand on literature with a design of a new multiple-attribute group decision-making method called the trapezoidal bipolar fuzzy VIKOR method. It consists of a suitable redesign of the VIKOR approach so that it can use information with bipolar configurations. Bipolar fuzzy sets (and numbers) establish a symmetrical trade-off between two judgmental constituents of human thinking. The agents acquire uncertain and vague information in the form of linguistic variables parameterized by trapezoidal bipolar fuzzy numbers. Trapezoidal bipolar fuzzy numbers are considered by decision-makers for assigning the preference information of alternatives with respect to different attributes. Our non-trivial adaptation necessitates several steps. The ranking function of bipolar fuzzy numbers is employed to make a simple decision matrix with real numbers as its entries. Shannon's entropy concept is applied to evaluate the normalized weights for attributes that may be either partially or completely unknown to the decision-makers. The ordering of the alternatives is obtained by assorting the maximum group utility and the individual regret of the opponent in an ascending manner. For illustration, the proposed technique is applied to two group decision-making problems, namely, the selection of waste treatment methods and the site to plant a thermal power station. A comparison of this method with the trapezoidal bipolar fuzzy TOPSIS method is also presented.