COMBINING DIFFERENT MCDM METHODS WITH THE COPELAND METHOD: AN INVESTIGATION ON MOTORCYCLE SELECTION

There are many different multi-criteria decision making methods in the literature. These methods, which enable criteria with different measurement units to be examined together, allow choosing between alternatives. However, different methods can produce different results depending on the data set. The aim of this study is to combine the results obtained by applying different methods to the data set with the Copeland method. To this end, a problem with real data was first addressed. Technical data of motorcycle alternatives that can be preferred for individual needs were collected in terms of different criteria. The weights of these criteria were found by the PIPRECIA method. Six different multi-criteria decision making methods were used to evaluate motorcycle alternatives. These methods are MOPA, MOOSRA, COPRAS, SAW, WPM and ROV. The sequencing results obtained from these methods were combined with the Copeland method and the results were discussed.

Design of a Microbial Remediation Inoculation Program for Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contaminated Sites Based on Degradation Pathways

This paper analyzed the degradation pathways of petroleum hydrocarbon degradation bacteria, screened the main degradation pathways, and found the petroleum hydrocarbon degradation enzymes corresponding to each step of the degradation pathway. Through the Copeland method, the best inoculation program of petroleum hydrocarbon degradation bacteria in a polluted site was selected as follows: single oxygenation path was dominated by Streptomyces avermitilis, hydroxylation path was dominated by Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b, secondary oxygenation path was dominated by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, secondary hydroxylation path was dominated by Methylococcus capsulatus, double oxygenation path was dominated by Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1, hydrolysis path was dominated by Rhodococcus erythropolis, and CoA path was dominated by Geobacter metallireducens GS-15 to repair petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated sites. The Copeland method score for this solution is 22, which is the highest among the 375 solutions designed in this paper, indicating that it has the best degradation effect. Meanwhile, we verified its effect by the Cdocker method, and the Cdocker energy of this solution is −285.811 kcal/mol, which has the highest absolute value. Among the inoculation programs of the top 13 petroleum hydrocarbon degradation bacteria, the effect of the best inoculation program of petroleum hydrocarbon degradation bacteria was 18% higher than that of the 13th group, verifying that this solution has the best overall degradation effect. The inoculation program of petroleum hydrocarbon degradation bacteria designed in this paper considered the main pathways of petroleum hydrocarbon pollutant degradation, especially highlighting the degradability of petroleum hydrocarbon intermediate degradation products, and enriching the theoretical program of microbial remediation of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated sites.

Evaluating innovation capability of Chinese listed companies based on comprehensive methods

Purpose This paper aims to evaluate innovation capability of companies based on comprehensive methods. Design/methodology/approach This paper used principal component analysis (PCA), kernel principal component analysis (KPCA) and principal component cluster (PCC) analysis to analyze the listed companies’ innovation capability. On these bases, mean method, Borda method, Copeland method, alienation coefficient method and fuzzy Borda method were used separately for the comprehensive evaluation. Findings The results show that the comprehensive evaluation can overcome the shortage of the single method and improve the reliability of the innovation ability evaluation. In addition, the method also reveals that the innovation ability of the listed companies is closely related to the innovation investment and their industry and further regional economic development level of each province (city and area). Originality/value This paper uses PCA, KPCA and PCC to evaluate and study their innovation ability. On the basis of these, five methods (mean method, Copeland method, Borda method, divorced coefficient method and fuzzy Borda method) are applied respectively to combine the sort results of PCA, KPCA and PCC. The results show that combination methods have better theoretical and practical significance for innovation ability.

Prioritizing suitable locations for underground dam construction in south east of Bushehr Province

The solutions to deal with the water crisis are summarized into two strategies for managing water resources and extraction of new sources of water. In Iran, due to geographical and climatic conditions, water resources management has a high priority . One of the methods to control and store water in wet periods for using in dry periods is construction of underground dams. The most important problem in the development and creation of underground dams is the complexity of determining the suitable areas for the dams. Developing underground dams can be a viable solution to prevent land use change, the gradual drainage of groundwater and out of reach. The present study was conducted to find the underground dams using Boolean logic and for priority of underground dam sites using MCDM methods include AHP, ANP, VIKOR, TOPSIS and ELECTRE III in four provinces of Bushehr, Tangestan, Dashti, and Jam in southern Iran. The results obtained by Boolean logic showed that the total area of the studied site had about 305 km potential for underground dam construction. In the next step, according to Google Earth images and based on different indices including, axial length, reservoir, lithology, distance from village and roads, 23 potential axes were identified afterward, by extensive field surveys, among these 23 potential axes, 6 locations were identified as suitable locations. In order to prioritize these six areas, the MCDM models were used. Finally, the results of the MCDM models showed that sites have different ranks of 1 to 6 for constructing underground dams. In the end for determined the final rank using Copeland method that result showed Zayer Abbasi site was in the first priority and Faghih Hasenan site is in sixth priority. ANP and AHP method near the Copeland method.

Combining different MCDM methods with the Copeland method: An investigation on motorcycle selection

There are many different multi-criteria decision making methods in the literature. These methods, which enable criteria with different measurement units to be examined together, allow choosing between alternatives. However, different methods can produce different results depending on the data set. The aim of this study is to combine the results obtained by applying different methods to the data set with the Copeland method. To this end, a problem with real data was first addressed. Technical data of motorcycle alternatives that can be preferred for individual needs were collected in terms of different criteria. The weights of these criteria were found by the PIPRECIA method. Six different multi-criteria decision making methods were used to evaluate motorcycle alternatives. These methods are MOPA, MOOSRA, COPRAS, SAW, WPM and ROV. The sequencing results obtained from these methods were combined with the Copeland method and the results were discussed.

Proposing a new hybrid multi-criteria decision-making approach for road maintenance prioritization

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a hybrid multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method, by combining the AHP, ELECTRE II, ELECTRE III, ELECTRE IV and Copeland techniques for road maintenance prioritization, in which the roads are evaluated and ranked based on various criteria. The proposed method is applied to four streets in Tehran, as a case study.Design/methodology/approachFirst, a set of criteria for road maintenance was determined and their weights were obtained using the AHP method. Four streets in Tehran, Iran were considered as alternatives and prioritized using the ELECTRE II, ELECTRE III and ELECTRE IV methods. Finally, the results of employing the three methods were integrated using the Copeland method and a final result was obtained.FindingsThe findings of the study suggested that “road safety” is the most important criterion in maintenance and “traffic volume” and “pavement quality index (PCI)” have the second and third rank in importance. Moreover, “The width of the street” is the least important criterion in road maintenance. Additionally, the streets' final ranking was obtained using the proposed method.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed method helps managers effectively assign their limited budget and resources to roads with higher maintenance priority and as the result, increase the roads efficiency.Originality/valueIn this research, eight main criteria were collected using previous researches and experts' opinions. Also, a new combination of different MCDM techniques is proposed in this research.

An Approach for Measuring Spatial Similarity Among COVID-19 Epicenters

The world has been embroiled in a new epidemic known as COVID-19 since the beginning of 2020. Most countries and territories around the world are affected by the disease, and some cities have become known as epicenters due to high outbreak. The similarity of these cities can be examined within the Geographic Information System (GIS), based on various criteria. This study investigated the similarities between the eight cities of Wuhan, Tehran, Bergamo, Madrid, Paris, Daegu, New York, and Berlin in terms of the COVID-19 situation (target) in those locations based on socio-economic factors, weather, and demographic criteria. First, the factor and target layers were prepared in ArcGIS®10.6 software. For socio-economic data (such as: supermarkets, hospitals, metro stations etc.), the distance maps were classified with a fuzzy membership function. Weather and demographic criteria were also stored in the tables after normalization in the range of zero to one. In next step, the similar cities were identified using the similarity model and different distance metrics (Manhattan, Euclidean, Minkowski, Mahalanobis, Chebyshev, and Correlation). The results were aggregated using the Copeland method, due to the different outcomes of each metric. The most similar city was identified for each selected city and its similarity level was determined based on the criteria. Results indicated that pairs of similar cities are: Wuhan-Berlin, Tehran-Berlin, Daegu-Wuhan, Bergamo-Madrid, Paris-Mardid, and New York-Paris with a minimum and maximum similarity rate of 82.85% and 92.36%. For similar cities, the most similar factors among the socio-economic criteria are the distance from bus and metro stations; among weather, criteria are humidity and pressure; and among demographic criteria are male and female population ratios, literacy ratio, death ratio from asthma and cancer with a minimum and maximum difference of 0% and 64.94%.

Rating algorithm development for assessing the effectiveness of the occupational health and safety management

Purpose. The purpose of the article is development of a rating algorithm to assess the effectiveness of the occupational health and safety management system at electricity companies. The algorithm aims to determine the ranking scale of enterprises according to standardised safety indicators. Methodology. There is a certain level of uncertainty on the existing methods for providing and analysing statistical information on accidents, occupational hazards, occupational injuries and occupational diseases. Planning and management tasks are most often carried out when the necessary formal information is insufficient or uncertain. In addition to numerical statistics, information may include other, informal quantities that cannot be measured. Therefore, logical calculations with multivalued logic or ranking rules and investigate the invariance of selection rules for groups of transformations on a finite set of alternatives can be used to handle such knowledge. The formalisation of the ranking problem based on the Copeland method involves the construction of pairwise comparison tables for all formal safety indicators.Obtaining an assessment of the situation occurs with the use of a computer system and a decision support system, which increases the efficiency and accuracy of the assessment of the situation. Results. A formal apparatus for rating single-type enterprises to assess the effectiveness of the enterprise occupational health and safety management system in the have been developed using intelligent information technologies. Originality. Based on the Copeland method and the paired comparison method, a safety rating algorithm has been developed, the implementation of which makes it possible to assess the performance of the occupational safety and health system. The results have illustrated the competitive advantage of some enterprises over others and motivate management to take action to improve workplace safety. Practical value. Formalisation of information on hazardous and harmful occupational factors makes it possible to treat the subject area as a complex dynamic system, consisting of objects of a different nature, the totality of which determines the safety level. The developed rating method allows transferring the obtained results to decision-making support systems, illustrating competitive advantages of some enterprises over others, motivating management to take actions to improve occupational safety.

Evaluating and prioritizing hospital service quality

Purpose Hospital evaluations create competition between healthcare providers. In this study, a multi criteria decision-making (MCDM) method is used to evaluate criteria that affect hospital service quality. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Criteria affecting hospital service quality are identified. Four Iranian public hospitals are evaluated using these criteria. Four hybrid methods, including modified digital logic–technique for order of preference by similarity to an ideal solution, analytical hierarchy process–technique for order of preference by similarity to an ideal solution, analytical hierarchy process–elimination and choice expressing reality and modified digital logic–elimination and choice expressing reality are used to evaluate hospital service quality. Results are aggregated using the Copeland method and final ranks are determined. Findings The four main criteria for evaluating hospital service quality are: environment; responsiveness; equipment and facilities; and professional capability. Results suggest that professional capability is the most important criterion. The Copeland method, used to integrate four MCDM hybrid methods, provides the final hospital ranks. Practical implications The criteria the authors identified and their weight help hospital managers to achieve comprehensive organizational growth and more efficient resource usage. Moreover, the decision matrix helps managers to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Originality/value New and comprehensive criteria are proposed for hospital quality assessments. Moreover, a new hybrid MCDM approach is used to achieve final hospital rankings.

An Iterative Transient Rank Aggregation Technique for Mitigation of Rank Reversal

With the advent of decision science, significant elucidation has been sought in the literature of multi criteria decision making. Often, it is observed that for the same MCDM problem, different methods fetch way-apart ranks and the phenomenon leads to rank reversal. To alleviate this problem, different methodologies like the Borda rule, the Copeland method, the Condorcet method, the statistical Thurstone scaling, and linear programming methods are readily available in the literature. In connection with the same, the authors proposed a novel technique to aggregate the ranks laid by different methods. The algorithm initially assigns equal weights to the methods involved to avoid biasness to a particular method and a simple average rank was obtained. Then, after the separation measures of individual methods with respect to average rank were calculated. Considering the separation measure the higher the weightage, the dynamic weights are ascertained to declare the weighted aggregate rank subjected to the terminal condition which include whether the previous rank equals to the current rank or not. To substantiate the proposed algorithm, a materials selection problem was taken into consideration and solved with the proposed technique. Moreover, the same problem was solved by existing voting techniques like the Borda and the Copeland-Condoract methods. The authors found a correlation of more than 85% between the proposed and existing methodologies.