Intuitionistic uncertain linguistic partitioned Bonferroni means and their application to multiple attribute decision-making

The Bonferroni mean (BM) was originally introduced by Bonferroni and generalised by many other researchers due to its capacity to capture the interrelationship between input arguments. Nevertheless, in many situations, interrelationships do not always exist between all of the attributes. Attributes can be partitioned into several different categories and members of intra-partition are interrelated while no interrelationship exists between attributes of different partitions. In this paper, as complements to the existing generalisations of BM, we investigate the partitioned Bonferroni mean (PBM) under intuitionistic uncertain linguistic environments and develop two linguistic aggregation operators: intuitionistic uncertain linguistic partitioned Bonferroni mean (IULPBM) and its weighted form (WIULPBM). Then, motivated by the ideal of geometric mean and PBM, we further present the partitioned geometric Bonferroni mean (PGBM) and develop two linguistic geometric aggregation operators: intuitionistic uncertain linguistic partitioned geometric Bonferroni mean (IULPGBM) and its weighted form (WIULPGBM). Some properties and special cases of these proposed operators are also investigated and discussed in detail. Based on these operators, an approach for multiple attribute decision-making problems with intuitionistic uncertain linguistic information is developed. Finally, a practical example is presented to illustrate the developed approach and comparison analyses are conducted with other representative methods to verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the developed approach.     

Partitioned Bonferroni mean based on linguistic 2-tuple for dealing with multi-attribute group decision making

In this study, a multi-attribute group decision making (MAGDM) problem is investigated, in which decision makers provide their preferences over alternatives by using linguistic 2-tuple. In the process of decision making, we introduce the idea of a specific structure in the attribute set. We assume that attributes are partitioned into several classes and members of intra-partition are interrelated while no interrelationship exists among inter partition. We emphasize the importance of having an aggregation operator, to capture the expressed inter-relationship structure among the attributes, which we will refer to as partition Bonferroni mean (PBM). We also investigate the behavior of the proposed PBM operator. Further to aggregate the given linguistic information to get overall performance value of each alternative in MAGDM, we analyze PBM operator in linguistic 2-tuple environment and develop three new linguistic aggregation operators: 2-tuple linguistic PBM (2TLPBM), weighted 2-tuple linguistic PBM (W2TLPBM) and linguistic weighted 2-tuple linguistic PBM (LW-2TLPBM). Based on the idea that total linguistic deviation between individual decision maker's opinions and group opinion should be minimized, we develop an approach to determine weight of the decision makers. Finally, a practical example is presented to illustrate the proposed method and comparison analysis demonstrates applicability of the proposed method.     

Pythagorean fuzzy interaction power Bonferroni mean aggregation operators in multiple attribute decision making

The power Bonferroni mean (PBM) operator can relieve the influence of unreasonable aggregation values and also capture the interrelationship among the input arguments, which is an important generalization of power average operator and Bonferroni mean operator, and Pythagorean fuzzy set is an effective mathematical method to handle imprecise and uncertain information. In this paper, we extend PBM operator to integrate Pythagorean fuzzy numbers (PFNs) based on the interaction operational laws of PFNs, and propose Pythagorean fuzzy interaction PBM operator and weighted Pythagorean fuzzy interaction PBM operator. These new Pythagorean fuzzy interaction PBM operators can capture the interactions between the membership and nonmembership function of PFNs and retain the main merits of the PBM operator. Then, we analyze some desirable properties and particular cases of the presented operators. Further, a new multiple attribute decision making method based on the proposed method has been presented. Finally, a numerical example concerning the evaluation of online payment service providers is provided to illustrate the validity and merits of the new method by comparing it with the existing methods.     

Power-Geometric Operators and Their Use in Group Decision Making

The power-average (PA) operator and the power-ordered-weighted-average (POWA) operator are the two nonlinear weighted-average aggregation tools whose weighting vectors depend on the input arguments. In this paper, we develop a power-geometric (PG) operator and its weighted form, which are on the basis of the PA operator and the geometric mean, and develop a power-ordered-geometric (POG) operator and a power-ordered-weighted-geometric (POWG) operator, which are on the basis of the POWA operator and the geometric mean, and study some of their properties. We also discuss the relationship between the PA and PG operators and the relationship between the POWA and POWG operators. Then, we extend the PG and POWG operators to uncertain environments, i.e., develop an uncertain PG (UPG) operator and its weighted form, and an uncertain power-ordered-weighted-geometric (UPOWG) operator to aggregate the input arguments taking the form of interval of numerical values. Furthermore, we utilize the weighted PG and POWG operators, respectively, to develop an approach to group decision making based on multiplicative preference relations and utilize the weighted UPG and UPOWG operators, respectively, to develop an approach to group decision making based on uncertain multiplicative preference relations. Finally, we apply both the developed approaches to broadband Internet-service selection.      

Generalized power aggregation operators and their applications in group decision making

In this paper, we investigate a generalized power average (GPA) operator and its weighted form, which are on the basis of the power average (PA) operator and the generalized mean, and develop a generalized power ordered weighted average (GPOWA) operator based on the power ordered weighted average (POWA) operator. Then, we extend these operators to uncertain environments and present an uncertain generalized power average (UGPA) operator and its weighted form, and an uncertain generalized power ordered weighted average (UGPOWA) operator to aggregate the input arguments taking the form of interval of numerical values. We also extend the GPA operator and the GPOWA operator to intuitionistic fuzzy environment, and obtain the generalized intuitionistic fuzzy power averaging (GIFPA) operator and the generalized intuitionistic fuzzy power ordered weighted averaging (GIFPOWA) operator. Moreover, some properties of these operators are studied. We also present new approaches on the basis of the proposed operators in an example of strategic decision making.     

New q-rung orthopair fuzzy partitioned Bonferroni mean operators and their application in multiple attribute decision making

The q-rung orthopair fuzzy sets are superior to intuitionistic fuzzy sets or Pythagorean fuzzy sets in expressing fuzzy and uncertain information. In this paper, some partitioned Bonferroni means (BMs) for q-rung orthopair fuzzy values have been developed. First, the q-rung orthopair fuzzy partitioned BM (q-ROFPBM) operator and the q-rung orthopair fuzzy partitioned geometric BM (q-ROFPGBM) operator are developed. Some desirable properties and some special cases of the new aggregation operators have been studied. The q-rung orthopair fuzzy weighted partitioned BM (q-ROFWPBM) operator and the q-rung orthopair fuzzy partitioned geometric weighted BM (q-ROFPGWBM) operator are also developed. Then, a new multiple-attribute decision-making method based on the q-ROFWPBM (q-ROFPGWBM) operator is proposed. Finally, a numerical example of investment company selection problem is given to illustrate feasibility and practical advantages of the new method.     

Uncertain linguistic harmonic mean operators and their applications to multiple attribute group decision making

In this paper, some uncertain linguistic aggregation operators called uncertain linguistic weighted harmonic mean (ULWHM) operator, uncertain linguistic ordered weighted harmonic mean operator and uncertain linguistic hybrid harmonic mean (ULHHM) operator are proposed. An approach to multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) with uncertain linguistic information is developed based on the ULWHM and the ULHHM operators. Finally, a practical application of the developed approach to MAGDM problem with uncertain linguistic information is given.     

Some 2-tuple linguistic Pythagorean Heronian mean operators and their application to multiple attribute decision-making

In this paper, we expand the generalised Heronian mean (GHM) operator, generalised weighted Heronian mean (GWHM), geometric Heronian mean (GHM) operator, and weighted geometric Heronian mean (WGHM) operator with 2-tuple linguistic Pythagorean fuzzy numbers (2TLPFNs) to propose generalised 2-tuple linguistic Pythagorean fuzzy Heronian mean (G2TLPFHM) operator, generalised 2-tuple linguistic Pythagorean fuzzy weighted Heronian mean (G2TLPFWHM) operator, 2-tuple linguistic Pythagorean fuzzy geometric Heronian mean (2TLPFGHM) operator, 2-tuple linguistic Pythagorean fuzzy weighted geometric Heronian mean (2TLPFWGHM) operator. Then, the MADM methods are proposed with these operators. In the end, we utilise an applicable example for green supplier selection to prove the proposed methods.     

Some q‐Rung Orthopair Fuzzy Aggregation Operators and their Applications to Multiple‐Attribute Decision Making

The q‐rung orthopair fuzzy sets (q‐ROFs) are an important way to express uncertain information, and they are superior to the intuitionistic fuzzy sets and the Pythagorean fuzzy sets. Their eminent characteristic is that the sum of the qth power of the membership degree and the qth power of the degrees of non‐membership is equal to or less than 1, so the space of uncertain information they can describe is broader. Under these environments, we propose the q‐rung orthopair fuzzy weighted averaging operator and the q‐rung orthopair fuzzy weighted geometric operator to deal with the decision information, and their some properties are well proved. Further, based on these operators, we presented two new methods to deal with the multi‐attribute decision making problems under the fuzzy environment. Finally, we used some practical examples to illustrate the validity and superiority of the proposed method by comparing with other existing methods.     

q-Rung orthopair uncertain linguistic partitioned Bonferroni mean operators and its application to multiple attribute decision-making method

A q-rung orthopair uncertain linguistic set can be served as an extension of an uncertain linguistic set (ULS) and a q-rung orthopair fuzzy set, which can also be treated as a generalized form of the existing intuitionistic ULS and Pythagorean ULS. The new linguistic set uses the uncertain linguistic variable to express the qualitative evaluation information and allows decision makers to provide their true views freely in a larger membership grade space. In this paper, we investigate the Bonferroni mean under the q-rung orthopair uncertain linguistic environment, then we propose the q-rung orthopair uncertain linguistic Bonferroni mean and its weighted form. Furthermore, considering the specific partition pattern among the attributes, the q-rung orthopair uncertain linguistic partitioned Bonferroni mean and its weighted form are developed. Meanwhile, we discuss several representative cases and attractive properties of our proposed operators in depth. Subsequently, a novel multi-attribute decision-making method is developed based on the above-mentioned aggregation operators. In the end, a comprehensible case is performed to analyze the superiority of the developed method by comparing with other typical studies.     

Some q-rung interval-valued orthopair fuzzy Maclaurin symmetric mean operators and their applications to multiple attribute group decision making

In this paper, according to the Maclaurin symmetric mean (MSM) operator, the dual MSM (DMSM) operator and the q-rung interval-valued orthopair fuzzy set (q-RIVOFS), we develop some novel MSM operators under the q-rung interval-valued orthopair fuzzy environment, such as, the q-rung interval-valued orthopair fuzzy MSM operator, the q-rung interval-valued orthopair fuzzy weighted MSM (q-RIVOFWMSM) operator, the q-rung interval-valued orthopair fuzzy DMSM operator, and the q-rung interval-valued orthopair fuzzy weighted DMSM operator. In addition, some precious properties and numerical examples of these new operators are given in detail. These new operators have the advantages of considering the interrelationship of arguments and can deal with multiple attribute group decision-making problems with q-rung interval-valued orthopair fuzzy information. Finally, a reality example for green suppliers selection in green supply chain management is provided to demonstrate the proposed approach and to verify its rationality and scientific.     

Power Aggregation Operators of Simplified Neutrosophic Sets and Their Use in Multi-attribute Group Decision Making

The simplified neutrosophic set (SNS) is a useful generalization of the fuzzy set that is designed for some practical situations in which each element has different truth membership function, indeterminacy membership function and falsity membership function. In this paper, we develop a series of power aggregation operators called simplified neutrosophic number power weighted averaging (SNNPWA) operator, simplified neutrosophic number power weighted geometric (SNNPWG) operator, simplified neutrosophic number power ordered weighted averaging (SNNPOWA) operator and simplified neutrosophic number power ordered weighted geometric (SNNPOWG) operator. We present some useful properties of the operators and discuss the relationships among them. Moreover, an approach to multi-attribute group decision making (MAGDM) within the framework of SNSs is developed by the above aggregation operators. Finally, a practical application of the developed approach to deal with the problem of investment is given, and the result shows that our approach is reasonable and effective in dealing with uncertain decision making problems.      

Pythagorean fuzzy multiple criteria decision analysis based on Shapley fuzzy measures and partitioned normalized weighted Bonferroni mean operator

Pythagorean fuzzy sets are powerful techniques for modeling vagueness in practice. The aim of this article is to investigate an effective means to aggregate uncertain information and then employ it into settling multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) problems within the Pythagorean fuzzy circumstances. To capture the nature of the reality, some special cases should be comprehensively considered. First, though correlation commonly exist among criteria, a deep insight should also be provided into some realistic situations, in which not all the criteria are interrelated to others. Besides, it is more reasonable to take the importance of the input arguments into consideration. Effected by aforementioned point, this article explores a Pythagorean fuzzy partitioned normalized weighted Bonferroni mean (PFPNWBM) operator with the combination of partitioned Bonferroni mean (BM) and normalized weighted BM operators considering Shapley fuzzy measure. Subsequently, in the context of partially known weight information, models are established to identify the optimal Shapley fuzzy measure. Moreover, integrated the PFPNWBM operator with the optimal Shapley fuzzy measure identification model, a Pythagorean fuzzy MCDM approach is designed. Finally, an illustrative example and detailed analyses are performed to demonstrate its feasibility and reliability.     

Induced and uncertain heavy OWA operators

In this paper, we analyse in detail the ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operator and some of the extensions developed about it. We specially focus on the heavy aggregation operators. We suggest some new extensions about the OWA operator such as the induced heavy OWA (IHOWA) operator, the uncertain heavy OWA (UHOWA) operator and the uncertain induced heavy OWA (UIHOWA) operator. For these three new extensions, we consider some of their main properties and a wide range of special cases found in the weighting vector such as the heavy weighted average (HWA) and the uncertain heavy weighted average (UHWA). We further generalize these models by using generalized and quasi-arithmetic means obtaining the generalized heavy weighted average (GHWA), the induced generalized HOWA (IGHOWA) and the uncertain IGHOWA (UIGHOWA) operator. Finally, we develop an application of the new approach in a decision-making problem.     

The uncertain induced quasi‐arithmetic OWA operator

We present the uncertain induced quasi‐arithmetic OWA (Quasi‐UIOWA) operator. It is an extension of the OWA operator that uses the main characteristics of the induced OWA (IOWA), the quasi‐arithmetic OWA (Quasi‐OWA) and the uncertain OWA (UOWA) operator. Thus, this generalization uses quasi‐arithmetic means, order inducing variables in the reordering process and uncertain information represented by interval numbers. A key feature of the Quasi‐UIOWA operator is that it generalizes a wide range of aggregation operators such as the uncertain quasi‐arithmetic mean, the uncertain weighted quasi‐arithmetic mean, the UOWA, the uncertain weighted generalized mean, the uncertain induced generalized OWA (UIGOWA), the Quasi‐UOWA, the uncertain IOWA, the uncertain induced ordered weighted geometric (UIOWG), and the uncertain induced ordered weighted quadratic averaging (UIOWQA) operator. We study some of the main properties of this approach including how to obtain a wide range of particular cases. We further generalize the Quasi‐UIOWA operator by using discrete Choquet integrals. We end the article with an application of the new approach in a decision making problem about investment selection. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Fuzzy aggregation operators in decision making with Dempster-Shafer belief structure

We study the decision-making problem with Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence. We analyze how to deal with this model when the available information is uncertain and it can be represented with fuzzy numbers. We use different types of aggregation operators that aggregate fuzzy numbers such as the fuzzy weighted average (FWA), the fuzzy ordered weighted averaging (FOWA) operator and the fuzzy hybrid averaging (FHA) operator. As a result, we get the belief structure fuzzy weighted average (BS-FWA), the belief structure fuzzy ordered weighted averaging (BS-FOWA) operator and the belief structure fuzzy hybrid averaging (BS-FHA) operator. We further generalize this new approach by using generalized and quasi-arithmetic means. We also develop an illustrative example regarding the selection of investments where we can see the different results obtained by using different types of fuzzy aggregation operators.     

SNA-based multi-criteria evaluation of multiple construction equipment: A case study of loaders selection

Selecting the proper construction equipment is a challenging task owing to a wide range of available types as well as a host of criteria to be considered during decision making. To deal with this, a heterogeneous group decision-making framework to evaluate multiple purchasing choices of construction equipment is proposed with two data forms, i.e., 2-dimension uncertain linguistic variables (2DULVs) and real numbers. Firstly, a novel way to derive weights of experts by social network analysis (SNA) is applied considering trust degrees among experts in a social trust network. Secondly, after evaluation index system is established, 2DULVs that include both the linguistic evaluations on alternatives and decision makers’ appraisals on the given evaluation results are applied to represent subjective fuzzy evaluation information, while real numbers are used to represent quantitative values. Thirdly, 2-dimension uncertain linguistic power generalized weighted aggregation (2DULPGWA) operator is applied to aggregate evaluation values among experts. Fourthly, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and entropy method are utilized to derive combined weights of sub-criteria before the rank can be obtained by the evaluation based on distance from average solution (EDAS) method. Finally, a case study to evaluate multiple choices of loaders is proposed and a comparative analysis is conducted to prove the effectiveness of the proposed framework. This study provides a meaningful guidance for the optimal selection among various types of construction equipment.     

The generalized hybrid weighted average operator based on interval neutrosophic hesitant set and its application to multiple attribute decision making

The Neutrosophic set and Hesitant set are the important and effective tools to describe the uncertain information. In this paper, we combine the interval neutrosophic sets and interval-valued hesitant fuzzy sets, and propose the concept of the interval neutrosophic hesitant fuzzy set (INHFS) in order to use the advantages of them. Then, we present the operations and comparison method of INHFS, and develop some new aggregation operators for the interval neutrosophic hesitant fuzzy information, including interval neutrosophic hesitant fuzzy generalized weighted operator, interval neutrosophic hesitant fuzzy generalized ordered weighted operator, and interval neutrosophic hesitant fuzzy generalized hybrid weighted operator, and discuss some properties. Furthermore, we propose the decision-making method for multiple attribute group decision making with interval neutrosophic hesitant fuzzy information, and give the detail decision steps. Finally, we give an illustrate example to show the process of decision making.     

Dependent uncertain ordered weighted aggregation operators

Xu and Da [Z.S. Xu, Q.L. Da, The uncertain OWA operator, International Journal of Intelligent Systems, 17 (2002) 569–575] introduced the uncertain ordered weighted averaging (UOWA) operator to aggregate the input arguments taking the form of intervals rather than exact numbers. In this paper, we develop some dependent uncertain ordered weighted aggregation operators, including dependent uncertain ordered weighted averaging (DUOWA) operators and dependent uncertain ordered weighted geometric (DUOWG) operators, in which the associated weights only depend on the aggregated interval arguments and can relieve the influence of unfair interval arguments on the aggregated results by assigning low weights to those “false” and “biased” ones.