Extension of VIKOR Method for Multi-criteria Decision Making Problem with Triangular Fuzzy Numbers

Abstract

The VIKOR method was developed for multi-criteria optimization of complex systems. The compromise solutions integrate group utility and individual regret of the opponent, so it has been applied widely into practice. In the past years, very few papers discussed the effect of defuzzification steps on the final decision results. The purpose of the paper is to analyze the information losses by using different defuzzification methods for the multi-criteria decision-making problem in which the criteria value and criteria weights are also triangular fuzzy numbers. Based on the requirement of the VIKOR method, we explain the necessity of defuzzifying triangular fuzzy numbers, then discuss the information losses generated in the process of four operations and compare them regarding two kinds of methods. An extension of VIKOR method is introduced to decrease the information losses. Finally, a numerical example is used to illustrate the applicability of the proposed method.