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There is difficulty in knowing how to weigh the factors of software quality models so that decision-making can be eased. Furthermore, previous work was limited to undertake evaluation and selection of appropriate software quality model based upon multi-criteria in the context of smart health applications. This paper aims to evaluate and select an appropriate model of software quality based on multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) by three phases of framework. Firstly, investigation of software quality models and factors that were identified based on ‘fuzzy delphi’. Secondly, identification of quality models that have uniform multi-criteria so that a decision matrix could be established. Uniform multi-criteria were used in the decision matrix as the basis of the models of quality and the multi-criteria. Subsequently, MCDM approach is adopted and the bases used in the employment of the MCDM approach for the eva luation and selection of the software quality model were technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP). The results demonstrated that seven quality factors could be considered as the key factors based upon fuzzy delphi, i.e., usability, maintainability, reliability, interoperability, portability, modifiability, and efficiency. Also, reults shows that McCall is the most appropriate model.

Flexible pavements are prone to premature deterioration, and researchers are unresolved regarding the importance of the underlying causes resulting in inappropriately selected modeling parameters and increased uncertainty in predicting subsequent behavior and performance. A windshield survey, literature survey, and fuzzy Delphi study were undertaken as complementary approaches to costly conventional investigations to identify reasons for flexible pavement deterioration in the design, construction, and life span phases. Overall, the results revealed that the life span phase consists of the most contributors to pavement deterioration, which is approximately twice as much as the design and construction phases. However, the findings suggest that most causes of deterioration in the life span phase can be attributed to deficiencies in the preceding phases. Experts believe that structural and traffic are the most significant contributors to pavement deterioration, more so than construction, environment, and maintenance factors. Additionally, the surface and subgrade layers were deemed to be the most problematic. Applying the fuzzy Delphi method minimizes the ambiguities associated with the causes of pavement deterioration identified in the literature and is advantageous for limited data. This study proposes measures for improving the design and construction of more sustainable tropical pavements. Improved knowledge of the causes of deterioration is vital for selecting the appropriate design, construction, and maintenance strategies.

Introduction Tourism is still based on the significant role of human resources, regardless of technological development in the world, so that this industry leads to direct employment in sub-sectors of industry and indirect employment in many activities. Tourism is one of the most important industries in the contemporary world. Despite the growth of tourism, the agriculture industry is facing a growing number of challenges, such as intensifying market competition, limited access to lands, increasing cost of inputs and lower commodity prices, which has led to lower incomes for small-scale farms around the world. Therefore, in order to survive, agriculture has to find a way to add value to its products and create reliable sources of income. Agritourism provides many economic, educational, and social benefits to producers, consumers (tourists) and society. Besides, agritourism motivates farmers to stay in this job. Agritourism is a job that farmers and ranchers do during agricultural, horticultural or agricultural business activities, intending to create entertainment, leisure and gain experience for visitors and educate them, without replacing service activities with productive activities, this also raises farmers' incomes. Materials and Methods After choosing the Fuzzy Delphi method, we formed the implementation, guidance, and monitoring teams. Then, the initial indicators and sub-indicators were extracted to develop a preliminary questionnaire. In the next step, the questionnaire, whose questions were based on those sub-indicators, was designed. Then, the questionnaires were validated and sent to the elected specialists in different Delphi rounds. After the experts' answers were collected, the desired indicators were selected. For picking the indicators, the fuzzy value of each question was calculated and converted to a defuzzification value and later compared to the threshold value. Results and Discussion After three rounds of Fuzzy Delphi method, indicators and sub-indicators were chosen. In the first round of the Fuzzy Delphi method, seven sub-indicators were removed from 43 extracted ones. In addition, at this stage, two sub-indicators of non-governmental organizations active in the tourism sector and farmers' social incentives to accept tourists were added to the extracted indicators. At the end of the second round, 38 sub-indicators had defuzzification value above the mean range. At this stage, these indicators were not removed or added, but since some of the questions did not include the consensus of experts’ opinions, Fuzzy Delphi process entered the third round. After the third round of Fuzzy Delphi and reviewing its results, we found that the defuzzification values of all research questions in this round are greater than the mean range. Therefore, all the indicators of the third questionnaire are valuable. On the other hand, in the previous round, no new indicators have been proposed by experts, therefore, based on these results, we have reached the research goal to identify effective indicators in the process of assessing the capacity of agritourism in Iran. There is also a condition of consensus or agreement for all questions, which represents the Fuzzy Delphi method completion and the indicators' selection. Conclusion The results of this study represent that eight indicators and 38 sub-indicators should be considered to evaluate the development potential of agritourism in Iran. The indicators are as follows: cost, farm and environment, infrastructure, rules and regulations and policy, attitude and ability of the host community, fun and shopping, security and safety and last but not least, tourist attractions. There are few studies on agritourism in Iran, and since the agritourism industry plays an important role in rural development in the world, it needs to be given more attention in Iran. Therefore, in future studies, it is recommended to weigh these indicators and study and compare the potential of Iranian villages based on the indicators extracted in this study and the weight assigned to each indicator.

The adoption of blockchain technology (BCT) in a supply chain holds great potential for textile industries by executing transactions among stakeholders in a most reliable and verifiable way. Textile industries in emerging economies, like Pakistan, confront severe economic pressures and uncertain environment and strive to achieve sustainable supply chain excellence through blockchain implementation. This study is an initiative to analyze the key barriers in adopting BCT-related practices within the textile industry. This study conducts an extensive review of the literature using fuzzy Delphi approach for finalizing the barriers and applied fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (AHP) for prioritizing the barriers under uncertain environment. Based on the extensive review of the literature and panel discussions with experts, a total of five main barriers and 21 sub-barriers were categorized and ranked. The results and findings prioritize technological and system-related barriers (TSB) first, and human resources and R&D (HRB) barriers second among the other barrier dimensions. This paper highlights the need for an inclusive understanding of the various technological, environmental, and socio-economic perspectives to create blockchain applications that work for the textile sector. This study’s key findings and policy guidelines can assist concerned stakeholders in making strategic decisions for adopting BCT within the textile supply chain. The managerial implications are provided for the industrial decision-makers and policymakers aiming to integrate BCT into the supply chain processes. Presently, there exists no research in the context of Pakistan that highlights the challenges faced during the adoption of BCT in the supply chain. For this purpose, an approach in the form of an integrated model based on fuzzy set theory is developed. Finally, the robustness of the proposed model is checked through sensitivity analysis.

Background and Aim: Health systems have played an important role in improving and increasing life expectancy. However, there is a large gap between health systems’ potential and their current performance, most of which relate to governance issues. The purpose of this study is to provide a model for improving the governance of the country's health system. Materials and Methods: The present study is applied-developmental in terms of purpose. After reviewing the theoretical foundations and previous research, the governance strategies of the health system were identified. Then, using Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) and surveying 13 academic and executive experts who were purposefully selected, the research model was designed. Finally, in order to validate the model, 169 managers and specialists of health system departments in Tehran were interviewed with a questionnaire, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) and SmartPLS software. At this stage, the sampling method was available and the sample size was calculated by Cochran's method. Results: According to the research findings, in order to promote health governance, 10 main strategies and 58 sub-strategies should be considered. Identified strategies include strategic orientation, optimal financial resource management, stakeholder partnership development, knowledge resource development, administrative health promotion, technical knowledge development, value and ethical orientation, executive and operational platform development, Service delivery capacity management and Balanced and integrated stewardship. Also, the coefficient of determination for the outcome variable is 0.549 and the intensity of the effect of intervening/ facilitating and contextual factors on governance strategies is equal to 0.610 and 0.533, respectively. Conclusion: The results showed that the governance of the health system is a multifaceted and complex phenomenon and in order to improve it, a set of strategies must be implemented. In addition, it is suggested that according to the issues and threats facing the health system, a roadmap and a long-term plan should be developed in order to move towards the governance model proposed in the present study.

China has embarked on a new round of power market reforms since 2015. Traditional power generation groups (TPGGs), as important practitioners of the electricity market, have taken various actions to adapt to the new market environment during recent years. Trading performance, the most manifestation of enterprise operation is evaluated in this paper, to help TPGGs explore transition strategies to improve business and achieve a sustainable development. Considering multiple factors influencing TPGG trading performance, a hybrid framework based on Multiple-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) under fuzzy rules is proposed. Meanwhile, to deal with the ambiguous language in the evaluation process, the fuzzy Delphi method is combined with triangular fuzzy numbers (TFNs). Thus, twelve key indicators are selected, and the integrated evaluation index system is established. Then, a novel method combining Analytic Network Process (ANP) and Matter-Element Extension Cloud model (MEECM) is applied to evaluate the performance, which cover both fuzziness and randomness of the problem. In addition, an optimized cloud entropy algorithm considering the “3En” and “50% relevance” is implemented in MEECM. At further, through empirical analysis of five power generation companies in China, the proposed evaluation framework is verified. The results show that company A is the best, and more attention should be paid to the criteria related to market and support technology research (Z1), as well as trading capability and behavior (Z2). Finally, a series of sensitivity analyses have been conducted to examine the validity and effectiveness of the established evaluation framework and results. Meanwhile, some suggestions are put forward to improve trading performance for TPGGs. The study improves traditional cloud model and MCDM techniques. Therefore, it can help TPGGs track their course of actions during market reforms, and then take steps to enhance their management capabilities. On the other hand, it provides an effective means for market management agencies to evaluate market conditions through physical performance, to achieve a sustainable development of the power industry.

Considering that a significant portion of the share of energy consumption among consumer sectors is in the home and commercial sectors and this share is still increasing, there is a need for research in energy consumption management and evaluation of effective indicators in the building industry. Building the country is vital to optimizing energy consumption. One of the most appropriate ways to optimize fuel consumption in the building and housing sector is the implementation of zero energy buildings which is considered as the main solution in the world. In this research, after analyzing the population and statistical sample, data were collected to evaluate effective criteria and options related to energy consumption management. First, fuzzy Delphi method was used to evaluate the sub-criteria and select the main options of each. At first level the criterion is discussed and at the second level the data analysis and research model is analyzed through paired comparisons using fuzzy hierarchical analysis technique. Finally, the most important indicators and criteria are obtained using fuzzy hierarchical analysis. According to the research findings, among the energy consumption optimization management indices investigated by the FAHP method, the economic, construction and utilities indices with 0.333, 0. 201 and 0.176 have the highest management priority, respectively. Energy-efficient optimization has a zero-energy building approach.

Libraries are digitizing, and challenges are posed by digital technologies for institutions of higher education in China. This study aims to present the dimensionality of perceived service quality, its effect on customer satisfaction, and the case of a non-state-owned library’s academic service quality. A sample consisting of valid 453 respondents used online recruitment to retrieve answers to questionnaires. Ten experts were invited to review the questionnaire for content validity and question clarity. In this study, the Fuzzy Delphi method was used to establish questionnaire indices and the attributes of library academic service quality elements made available by the Kano model. Three dimensions, including emotional service, physical environment, and information control, which are correlated under the attribute classification of the Kano model, indicate support for the validity of using integrated models in measuring library service quality. The results, according to the improvements in the customer satisfaction matrix, provide nine elements to improve the quality of service and two major improvements to enhance the perception of service quality. In addition, users pay less attention to the use of academic resources and academic ethics, but these factors do not affect the quality of service.

Due to advances in information and communication technology, e-teaching has become increasingly popular and is in high demand by educational organizations. During the lockdown period of COVID-19 especially, e-teaching provided prior solutions to address the pressing need for monitoring students’ learning progress. However, in many developing countries, it is apparent that a wide variety of issues are related to e-teaching adoption. Although the implementation issues associated with e-teaching have been addressed in the existing research literature and in practice for many years, from the available research, the evaluation of e-teaching adoption criteria and ranking using fuzzy theory has been ignored. Therefore, the present research aims to evaluate and rank the criteria for e-teaching adoption through Fuzzy Delphi and Fuzzy TOPSIS. A total of four criteria and twelve sub-criteria for e-teaching adoption were determined based on a systematic literature review and professors’ opinions in India. In addition, the Fuzzy Delphi method was employed to finalize the criteria, and the Fuzzy TOPSIS method was employed for ranking the alternatives. The assessment results showed that among the identified alternatives, the “share the technology with other organizations” and “course integration with technology” were the top-ranked alternatives for improving e-teaching adoption. An understanding of these conceptual alternatives can encourage the adoption of e-teaching in educational organizations.

The use of augmented reality as a teaching aid among teachers is becoming more widespread. So, it is a must to create a holistic framework of augmented reality in order to enhance the teaching and learning context. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop an augmented reality immersive learning design (AILeaD) framework by using the Fuzzy Delphi Technique. The objective of this research is to gain experts’ consensus in building and identifying constructs and elements as well as their place in the AILeaD framework. The Fuzzy Delphi Technique is used as a systematic method to evaluate, verify as well as to make a decision in modifying all needed constructs and elements in order to create the AILeaD framework through the consensus of the experts. The research questionnaire is divided into three sections which are technology skills, instructional designs and type of augmented reality applications in a total of 36 items and using the Likert-7point scale. The sample of this research consists of 10 experts from educational technology, teaching technology, augmented reality and model development. The finding showed that the experts agreed and approved all of the constructs and elements where the three conditions were fulfilled which are the item value is less than or same with the threshold value (d) < 0.2, experts' consensus percentage exceeded 75% and defuzzification value per item exceeded α-cut = 0.5. This study could contribute to the educational policy that focuses on the development of teaching quality with the improvement of existing skills among educators through the innovation and utilization of technology in the teaching and learning context. This is in line with Malaysia Education Blueprint known as Shift 7 (2013 – 2025) where it leverages the utilization of ICT to enhance the quality of education in Malaysia. The implication of this study is to make the AILeaD framework as a guideline for teachers, lecturers and instructional designers in producing the teaching aids in accordance with augmented reality and taking Gagne Nine Events, Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning dan Revised Bloom Taxonomy into account.

Objective: Corporate reporting in its general sense refers to all communication channels between companies and stakeholders and is the main mechanism for transmitting information to users. In recent years, there have been growing concerns about the inadequacy of traditional corporate reporting. This highlights the need to think about the factors that influence the future of corporate reporting. As a result, the purpose of this study is to identify and structural analyze of drivers that affect the future of corporate reporting in Iran. Methods: In the first stage, in order to identify the list of drivers, semi-structured interviews with experts in the field of corporate reporting (including managers, auditors, regulatory and standard setting body representatives, investors and analysts, and university professors) were used, and then fuzzy Delphi analysis was used to validate and consensus on important drivers. In the second stage, using the cross-impact analysis method using MICMAC software, the structural analysis of the drivers identified in the first stage was performed. At the interview stage and like most qualitative studies, the sample was selected purposefully using a snowball or chain sampling method. This process has continued until the achievement of theoretical saturation about the drivers that affect the future of corporate reporting.In addition, theoretical sampling method was used to distribute the questionnaire and use "fuzzy Delphi" and "interaction matrix" methods. Purposive sampling was used to select a sample to collect data in different stages of the research. In the first phase, 17 interviews were conducted with experts. The first round Delphi questionnaire was distributed among 35 experts and in the second round among 27 respondents of the first stage. Structural analysis questionnaire was redistributed among 35 people in the first stage of Delphi, from which 20 answers were received. Results: Based on the results of the first phase of the study, 52 drivers were identified in exploratory interviews. After two rounds of fuzzy Delphi implementation, 37 drivers were accepted as important drivers and consensus of experts. In the second stage, after structural analysis of the drivers, the position of each driver was determined as driving variables, linkage variables, dependence variables and autonomous variables. Conclusion: The results show that the three drivers of "entering the global economic arena, lifting sanctions and expanding ties with foreign investors", "privatization of property" and "development of social networks" have the greatest impact on shaping the future of corporate reporting. The results of this study can be used as a basis for identifying the major trends and forces affecting the future of corporate reporting in Iran and optimal policy in this area. The results of this study are expected to be an effective step in providing a structured and systematic interpretation of the main variables affecting the future of corporate reporting and the relationships between them. In addition to the final drivers enumerated in this study, can be used to analyze and design possible scenarios for corporate reporting.

The introduction of cloud computing techniques revolutionized the current of information processing and storing. Cloud computing as a competitive edge provides easy and automated access to the vast ocean of resources through standard network mechanisms to businesses and organizations. Due to the vast diversity of service providers and their respective variety of available services with different qualities, top managements often face difficulty for choosing the best available option. So, considering the growing significance of the mentioned issue, this study aims to identify and rank contributing factors in selection of cloud service providers. In that attempt, this research approaches its goal by going through three major phases. Firstly, in phase one, prior studies are reviewed for extracting related elements of selection. Secondly, by employing Fuzzy Delphi method and obtaining results by interviewing experts in this field such as IT managers and technicians, this study tries to finalize the list of contributing factors. Lastly, by utilizing Fuzzy best-worst multi-criteria decision-making method, which is one of the most recent techniques employed to statistically rank variables, this research introduces a list of vital factors for cloud service selection. Based on the findings of this study, there are five major categories involved in the selection process which are: performance, security, data management, personal data protection and environmental-organizational. The finalized result of ranking shows that, performance related factors such as accessibility, response time and capacity are the first priority. The runner-up is security with reliability and governance. Environmental-organizational variables lands in the third place by considering rental and network costs.

At the beginning of 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) identified an unusual coronavirus and declared the associated COVID-19 disease as a global pandemic. We proposed a novel hybrid fuzzy decision-making framework to identify and analyze these transmission factors and conduct proactive decision-making in this context. We identified thirty factors from the extant literature and classified them into six major clusters (climate, hygiene and safety, responsiveness to decision-making, social and demographic, economic, and psychological) with the help of domain experts. We chose the most relevant twenty-five factors using the Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) screening from the initial thirty. We computed the weights of those clusters and their constituting factors and ranked them based on their criticality, applying the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP). We found that the top five factors were global travel, delay in travel restriction, close contact, social cohesiveness, and asymptomatic. To evaluate our framework, we chose ten different geographically located cities and analyzed their exposure to COVID-19 pandemic by ranking them based on their vulnerability of transmission using Fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity To Ideal Solution (FTOPSIS). Our study contributes to the discipline of decision analytics and healthcare risk management during a pandemic through these novel findings. Policymakers and healthcare officials can also benefit from our study by formulating and improving existing preventive measures to mitigate future global pandemics. Finally, we performed a sequence of sensitivity analyses to check for the robustness and generalizability of our proposed hybrid decision-making framework. Keywords: COVID-19; Epidemic transmission; Fuzzy Decision framework; Fuzzy Delphi

Objective: The purpose of the present study is to identify priority indicators -based on the qualitative analysis of the results of the research carried out- and also to provide a framework for measuring the performance of the information security service supply chain. Methods: The methodology of this research is essentially descriptive and qualitative and has been carried out in two stages. In the first phase, 133 papers were reviewed, after evaluation, 28 articles were approved. Then, by using the CASP method, finally, 15 articles on the measurement of the performance of the service chain received the minimum score for conducting a qualitative analysis of the content. By reviewing these articles, a conceptual framework for measuring the performance of the service chain was presented in the form of a "logic model". This model is a tool that illustrates the logic of doing things in the four components of inputs, processes, outputs and outcomes. After verifying the reliability of the results, in the second stage, in order to map the proposed framework into the field of information security services, by referring to ten experts in this field and receiving their views in the three rounds of the Fuzzy Delphi, validation and final modeling of the research was designed. Results: The evaluation of the performance of the information security service supply chain for 19 indicators and 35 effective sub-indicators, under the logic model, were agreed with the coefficient of coordination of Kendal of 0.742 between experts and specialists. Conclusion: The review of experts' opinions showed that the sub-indicators of knowledge and skills, the provision of new and up-to-dated security technologies and the confidentiality and security of information make the most important and rate of personnel turnover sub-indicator, assessing the least important in the performance evaluation of the information security services supply chain.

Today, due to the importance and expansion of the use of information technology, many organizations are witnessing problems and inconsistencies regarding the non-fulfillment of business needs due to the high volume of investment in information technology. One of the reasons for this discrepancy is the lack of alignment between the IT strategy and the business strategy, and therefore the lack of effective implementation of information technology governance. Therefore, the most important goal of the research is to provide a model for identifying and ranking the factors affecting IT governance. For this purpose, it has been used from the combined approach of fuzzy DEMATEL and fuzzy ANP .In this study, the data of 20 experts in the field of information technology are collected through a questionnaire. Therefore,The research method is descriptive survey based on the nature and data collection and in terms of purpose, it is a practical development. In order to achieve the goals and answer the research questions, this research has been done in three main phases. In the first stage, by reviewing the literature and evaluating the results of studies, Provides a context for the comprehensive identification and extraction of factors and sub-factors affecting IT governance and their classification. In the following, for the screening the identified variables, fuzzy Delphi technique was been used and with the opinion of experts, the classification of 21 key sub-factors among the 7 main factors has been confirmed. In the second step, internal relationships between the main factors are calculated using fuzzy DEMATEL method and the location of the network is plotted. Finally combined DEMATEL and fuzzy ANP and fuzzy ANP method has been used to weigh the factors and rank them. One of the most important result of the current research is to identify the causes and prioritize the effective factors in implementing of information technology governance in organizations. These priorities indicate that, among other factors, the position of information technology in organizational structure in the weight of networks analysis has the first priority. Too, By DEMATEL method .The IT strategy factor with the highest output vector has been identified as the most influential factor and the support and skills of senior IT managers with the highest total output and input vector have been identified as the most interactive factor

Introduction: Drug supply chain management is recognized as one of the main factors influencing the performance of the health sector. The aim of this study was to prioritize factors affecting sustainable drug supply chain management in pharmacies of teaching hospitals affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This applied, cross-sectional study was performed by using Delphi and fuzzy Demetel methods. To identify the factors affecting the management of sustainable drug supply chain in the pharmacies in question, a questionnaire was designed based on the supply-chain operation reference model and was distributed among experts to collect their opinions. The sampling method was purposeful. In the next step, fuzzy Delphi method was used to identify the main factors and then, fuzzy Dimatel method was applied to determine and rank the Cause and Effect actors. Results: According to the findings, 23 factors were identified in five dimensions(reliability,accountability, flexibility, costs and asset management). The factors consisted of 6 exogenous and 17 endogenous factors, 10 of which were Cause factors and 7 were Effect factors. Conclusion: The most important factors identified in the present study were related to asset management and the highest number of factors were pertinent to accountability, indicating the poor response of the management system of the studied pharmacies. Therefore, addressing these two dimensions is more recommended in the management of pharmacies.

Introduction: Today, the provision of medical services to international patients around the world has received widespread attention. This opportunity is being applied to increase GDP and raise quality standards for health care services in centers. In Iran, one of the government programs is the expansion of medical tourism. The purpose of the present study is to Design a technological Entrepreneurship-Based medical Tourism Model in Iran. Methods: The present research is applied-developmental research in terms of its purpose. Due to implementation, it is a Quantitative covered in correlational type. Throughout the first step, to identify the indicators of technological entrepreneurship- based Medical tourism, fuzzy Delphi method was used and in second step, Quantitative -Descriptive-method was applied (Factor-analysis method to practice as well as hierarchical method for grading). Results: Indicators of Structural Factors with Score 0.382, professional factors with score 0.250, management factors with Score 0.160, Staff Support with Score 0.101, External Factors with Score 0.064, and Inter-Organizational Interaction with Score 0.043 are in the most Priority, respectively. Conclusion: The results showed that six major indices and 26 sub-indices were introduced as the most significant indices of Entrepreneurship Based Medical Tourism. Applying the mentioned indices is effective in developing and expanding medical tourism industry and can provide supports to the managers and policy makers of the industry.

Vendor-managed inventory (VMI) is one of effective and crucial tools to alleviate the demand volatility of stocks problems, reduce time and operating cost in healthcare sector. VMI strategy becomes a necessity for both suppliers and hospitals to sustainably develop and to cope with stock availability and overall reliability process by sharing information. The process and management of VMI is a complicated work which needs substantial degrees of collaboration, expertise, and information sharing. This paper purposes a comprehensive multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) to select the best potential supplier for VMI collaboration in healthcare organization. The study developed MCDM framework consists of (i) Fuzzy Delphi approach to select the appropriate evaluation criteria for VMI supplier selection (ii) Fuzzy Step-wise Weight Assessment Ration Analysis (SWARA) method to determine the relative importance weight of evaluation criteria, (ii) Fuzzy Complex Proportional Assessment of Alternatives (COPRAS) to compare, rank and select the best appropriated supplier. An empirical case study was applied for a local famous public hospital and the best potential supplier was selected. The study reveals that the most evaluation criteria when selecting supplier for VMI in healthcare sector are institutional trust, information sharing and exchanging as well as information technology.

Contemporary education in higher education institutions has a goal to provide necessary competences determined by legislative demands, science trends and job market needs to graduated students intending to strengthen their employability. The main idea of this research is to assess the level of students’ competences for lifelong learning (LLL). Since it is a very complex task, it is characterized by a lack of information and the vagueness of the inherently subjective nature of human thinking. The uncertain values of the assessed level of students’ competences for LLL are represented by linguistic expressions which are modeled by the interval type 2 trapezoidal fuzzy numbers. Ranking of the level of students’ competences for LLL is stated as a fuzzy multi-criteria optimization task. The aggregation of students’ opinions into unique marks is given by using the proposed fuzzy Delphi technique. The rank of students’ competences for LLL is given by using the proposed fuzzy Simple Additive Weighting (FSAW). The order of measures that should be delivered to improve students’ competences is based on the obtained rank. The model is tested and discussed on the real data collected from a significant sample of the students with a proposal of future directions of the research.

Introduction Elite migration can be defined as a kind of phenomenon or social issue that has both positive and negative effects and, under specific conditions, it results in desirable advancement of the developing countries. Considering negative effects, elite migration causes the country to face problems in terms of science, research, economics, politics and sociology, and the development cycle will be interrupted. On the other hand, taking the desirable results into consideration, the short-term migration of elites to developed countries make them scientifically richer and once they return to the country, they can effectively contribute to the development of the economic cycle and motivate the human resources inside their country. Therefore, the overall purpose of this research is to design an elite gene retention model emphasizing graduates of higher education and Ministry of Health. Material & Methods In the present study, in order to design and examine the developmental model, mixed sequential exploratory method has been used. Regarding the qualitative section, the primary framework of qualitative pattern of retaining the elite gene was measured using scientific texts and interviewing experts through alignment method. Qualitative research method is a case study which was designed by using thematic analysis and the network of contents including three levels of basic, organizing, and inclusive themes. In the next step, by collecting quantitative data, the model was evaluated by the descriptive-survey method. For the starters, 35 intellectually-qualified professors (associate professors and above, having the experience of living and studying in foreign countries for more than 3 years, graduated from one of the top 500 universities in the world, and teaching at the top universities in Iran) were selected as the potential participants using judicial-purposeful sampling. Subsequently, in the quantitative section, 163 elite professors possessing highly special conditions were picked using Morgan table. The research tool in the qualitative section was semi-structured interviews of the library study and in the quantitative section, a questionnaire was used. In the quantitative section, a questionnaire consisting of 97 questions, which were obtained from the results of the qualitative section, was designed and distributed among the elite professors. It was examined using the Confirmatory Factor Analysis method and Smart PLS2 software. Discussion of Results & Conclusion The data obtained from content analysis method and the formation of themes network suggest that the framework of the qualitative model of elite gene retention includes five aspects of attraction factors, repulsion factors, individual factors, intervention factors, and retention factors. Regarding attraction, factors such as social welfare, job security, income, job independence, proper job opportunities and economic prosperity in the West were recognized as the most important factors. The prominent factors on repulsion were extreme administrative bureaucracy, severe inflation, improper lifestyle, injustice, and inefficient working culture. Factors on individual aspect include human security, dissatisfaction with the social system, and individual stagnation. Distance (physical and mental), unpleasant news, visa and accommodation facilities are of intervening factors. Finally, retention aspects were recognized as organizational downsizing, revision in payments, implementation of meritocracy and dissatisfaction with Western culture. Using the Fuzzy Delphi method, the experts reached agreement in three stages. During three stages of opinion poll since 2018, five questions regarding spreading smuggling, lack of research, lack of progress in manufacturing and industry, providing commuting opportunities, and reducing human resources were selected from the list. Moreover, out of 29 factors, 24 were finally approved and five factors on freedom constraints, job mobility, lack of proper nutrition, dissatisfaction with the West, and localizing the educational system were taken off the model. Conducting Confirmatory Factor Analysis method, R2 values indicate that a high portion of variance in elite gene retention factors are under the influence of attraction, repulsion, individual, intervention, and retention factors. The values obtained for each of the factors are as follows: attraction factors (0.92), repulsion factors (0.827), individual factors (0.748), intervention factors (0.753), and retention factors (0.899). In the present study, in addition to the aforementioned factors of attraction, repulsion, individuals, and intervention, we tried to identify the important factors in retaining elite in the country as well. Therefore, using experts' opinions and field studies, retention factors were picked. In previous studies, suggestions have been proposed to prevent the elite migration, but in none of these studies, retention factors have been mentioned as an important item along with the rest. Meritocracy, organizational downsizing, scientific and research facilities, credit management and job security were among the most important factors in retaining elite.

The purpose of this study is to identify and prioriti-ze the factors affecting the security of Iranian sports complexes. The mixed research method is a combina-tion of qualitative and quantitative methods. The sta-tistical population of this study consists of two parts: qualitative and quantitative. In the qualitative section, sports management experts have comprised 11 Delphi panel members. In the quantitative section, the sta-tistical population of this study is managers and staff of Karaj sports complexes (N = 785). In the qualitative section, all 11 Delphi Panel Experts have been selected as the sample. In the quantitative section 121 question-naires have been returned to the researcher. The results of this study show that physical protection systems are the most important factor in securing sports complexes, followed by security personnel, sports facility structure, qualification and accreditation, entrance control, emer-gency management, environmental control, Education, risk management, communication, protection against toxic substances and cultural practices. In this study, the effective factors in the security of sport venues in Iran were obtained. Therefore, in order to improve the level of security of sport events, managers are suggested to consider the factors obtained in this study El propósito de este estudio es identificar y priorizar los factores que afectan la seguridad de los complejos deportivos iraníes. El método de investigación mixto es una combinación de métodos cualitativos y cuantitativos. La población estadística de este estudio consta de dos partes: cualitativa y cuantitativa. En el apartado cualitativo, los expertos en gestión deportiva han formado a 11 miembros del panel Delphi. En la sección cuantitativa, la población estadística de este estudio son los gerentes y el personal de los complejos deportivos de Karaj (N = 785). En la sección cualitativa, los 11 expertos del panel Delphi han sido seleccionados como muestra. En la sección cuantitativa se han devuelto al investigador 121 cuestionarios. Los resultados de este estudio muestran que los sistemas de protección física son el factor más importante en la seguridad de los complejos deportivos, seguido del personal de seguridad, estructura de la instalación deportiva, calificación y acreditación, control de ingreso, gestión de emergencias, control ambiental, educación, gestión de riesgos, comunicación, protección. contra sustancias tóxicas y prácticas culturales. En este estudio, se obtuvieron los factores efectivos en la seguridad de las instalaciones deportivas en Irán. Por tanto, para mejorar el nivel de seguridad de los eventos deportivos, se sugiere a los gestores que consideren los factores obtenidos en este estudio Actividad Física y Deporte

“Clean water and sanitation” is listed as one of the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and implementing circular economy principles in the water sector has been widely regarded as an important approach in achieving this goal. In the era of Industry 4.0, research and practice in the digitalisation of the water sector to create a smart water system have attracted increasing attention. Despite the growing interest, limited research has been devoted to how digital technologies might enhance circularity. In practice, smart water systems often fail to promote circularity in such aspects as water reuse and resources recovery. This paper aims to identify the main barriers to implementing circularity in the smart water management system in Zhejiang, China. The research adopts a mixed research method that includes a literature review to identify the potential barriers from the existing studies, a case study to determine the most critical barriers in practice, and a fuzzy Delphi method to reach a consensus on the crucial barriers. The research identified 22 main barriers to implementing circular economy in smart water management. The barriers are divided into three categories: infrastructure and economic, technology, and institution and governance. The results show that the barriers related to recycling technologies, digital technology know-how, and the lack of CE awareness raise the most concern. Our findings also indicate that experts are interested in the decentralized wastewater treatment system. This research provides significant insights that practitioners, researchers, and policymakers can use in developing and implementing digital-based CE strategies to reduce water scarcity and pollution.

This study contributes by developing a set of household waste separation (HWS) attributes to address waste mishandling and to enhance waste separation intentions in households. In Mongolia, a lack of waste separation at the household level needs to be addressed to improve municipal solid waste management systems. However, prior studies have not established attributes in a hierarchical structure, nor do they understand their cause-effect interrelationships. First, the fuzzy Delphi method (FDM) was used to screen out the unnecessary attributes in qualitative information. The fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (FDEMATEL) was then applied to understand the hierarchical structure of the attributes and their cause-effect interrelationships. The study identifies a valid set of attributes consisting of five aspects and 17 criteria under uncertainties. A hierarchical framework consisting of environmental attitudes, social norms, perceived behavioral control, perceived convenience, and persuasive communication is provided. The findings reveal that persuasive communication and environmental attitudes are causal group aspects. Furthermore, persuasive communication has a strong causal impact and higher importance in improving HWS intentions, and it leads to perceived convenience and behavioral control. For policymakers, credibility of information, knowledge and information, awareness of consequences, willingness to sort, and perceived policy effectiveness are the key causal criteria for enhancing HWS intentions. Theoretical and practical policy implications are discussed.

The global economy has been hit by the unexpected COVID-19 outbreak, and foreign investment has been seen as one of the most important tools to boost the economy. However, in the highly uncertain post-epidemic era, determining how to attract foreign investment is the key to revitalizing the economy. What are the important factors for governments to attract investment, and how to improve them? This will be an important decision in the post-epidemic era. Therefore, this study develops a novel decision-making model to explore the key factors in attracting foreign investment. The model first uses fuzzy Delphi to explore the key factors of attracting foreign investment in the post-epidemic era, and then uses DEMATEL to construct the causal relationships among these factors. To overcome the uncertainty of various information sources and inconsistent messages from decision-makers, this study combined neutrosophic set theory to conduct quantitative analysis. The results of the study show that the model is suitable for analyzing the key factors of investment attraction in the post-epidemic period. Based on the results of the study, we also propose strategies that will help the relevant policy-making departments to understand the root causes of the problem and to formulate appropriate investment strategies in advance. In addition, the model is also used for comparative analysis, which reveals that this novel approach can integrate more incomplete information and present expert opinions in a more objective way.

Background: Outsourcing in the Ministry of Health is based on the reforming the structure of the health system and improving the quality of services. Therefore, the present study wanted to present the outsourcing model of services in the Ministry of Health and Medical Education with fuzzy Delphi technique in order to improve the quality of health services with emphasizing on hospitals. Methods: The present research in terms of purpose, data research type, implementation method, was part of the exploratory research which has been done quantitatively and qualitatively in 2021. The statistical population was the outsourcing experts for a study between 59 universities of medical sciences in the country, 50 people were selected by purposive sampling method. They were selected for interviews to collect outsourcing indicators to present a suitable model. The indicators were mined data using the information gain method by Matlab software and the indicators were prioritized according to the scores given. A questionnaire was obtained from the prioritized indicators, which were summarized in 19 dimensions, and the same experts were given to complete in 2 consecutive periods. After completing the questionnaire by experts, fuzzy Delphi method was used for final analysis. Results: According to the obtained model, 44 factors are effective in outsourcing .These factors entered the Delphi poll. During 2 stages of fuzzy Delphi, consensus was reached on all 44 indicators. And the highest degree of expertise agreement with the flexibility component and the lowest level of agreement with the component of the certificate of competency to provide services were outsourced by the company. Conclusion: According to the obtained model, various factors are effective in outsourcing services that need to be considered more in the planning of health centers, especially hospitals. According to the findings, it can be said that the related dimensions with considering the outsourcing services are specifically important .Due to the possibility of outsourcing among many health care units; it can be used for flexibility in providing services and patient satisfaction to manage health centers and hospitals.

Objective The large number of bank customers may sometimes be misinterpreted as loyalty because in many cases the accounts inactive and the customers are not much willing to go to the banks. In the current situation, the main challenge for managers is the constant changes of the expectations and needs of banks' customers, where traditional marketing paradigm is no longer responsive. Accordingly, by emphasizing on the various dimensions of the customer experience and identifying the relevant key factors, one can provide sufficient insight for the bank's management to the key factors needed to succeed in the customer experience. It should be noted that the main gap, currently, exists in the research literature is the gap between the academic field and the implementation on the topic of customer experience. Accordingly, the main purpose of this study is to present a model of customer experience through organization manageable factors in the micro banking industry considering an interpretive structural equation approach. Methodology In this regard, a mixed research design was applied and 68 micro-banking clients were studied through in-depth and focus group interviews. Experts’ opinions and Fuzzy Delphi method were used to analyze the data. In order to confirm the research pattern and to assure the fitness and sustainability of the second-order confirmatory factor analysis model was used. Moreover, a questionnaire was designed and distributed among 400 clients of micro banking industry. Finally, interpretive structural equation (ISM) method was used to explain the model, and the expert survey revealed the relationship between the factors that constitute the customer experience and their respective levels. Findings Out of the 70 dimensions mentioned in customer experience, 37 items were rejected and a total of 33 items were accepted as the main dimensions by experts. Due to the removal of subcategories, the main categories of “physical enclosures” and “service exposures” were completely removed. According to experts’ opinions, the sub-categories of price, security and services have been combined and named as service categories. Other customers were combined with the main social environment category and the social environment category was further classified into three sub-categories. Finally, nine main categories shaping the customer experience in the micro banking industry were extracted along with the thirty three sub-categories. These dimensions were identified at six levels as the outputs of the model and their relationship to each other was determined. Conclusion The extracted model in this study reflects the effective dimensions on customer experience in the micro banking industry. According to the theory of consumer culture, cultural aspects should be considered in consumption research. Banks can put into action the issue of customer experience management in the light of the dimensions of this research. The service categories with six main sub-categories occupy the largest part in this model. The sub-categories related to costs, security and services are the areas where banks can manage their customers to create a better customer experience. In previous models of customer experience, hidden costs were not taken into account in the models. The category of “employees” with four main sub-categories is among the influential aspects of the customer experience in the micro banking industry where banks can manage this sector through coherent HR planning. Another major issue is the extraordinary experience that was not addressed in previous models. Because of the equity in the banking industry, it is difficult for banks to create an extraordinary experience. Therefore, planning for the four sub-categories of this sector including surprise, distinction, rewards and value-added services for bank managers is essential. In the context of the proposal for future research, it should be noted that the issue of customer experience has been raised as a new topic in the field of marketing for Iranian organizations. Related topics such as customer experience management and measuring customer experience should be addressed in future research. Given that ​customer experience is among the hot topics in the coming years, it is therefore essential for organizations to pursue this issue in pursuit of customer experience management models and customer experience measurement models, and ultimately to obtain the expected outputs from customer experience.

Forest resource exploitation and the achievement of full forest potential depend on the density and quality of the forest road network. The forest road network has to fulfill multiple functions; it thus has strategic importance in forest management. When planning the forest road network development, decision makers have to consider various technological, economic, social, and environmental factors. A comprehensive and functional approach is needed. A hybrid methodological framework for the formulation of guidelines, within which the strategy for the development of the state-owned forest road network should be defined, is presented in this paper. A fuzzy modification of the A'WOT method is proposed. The model, named FDA’WOT model, is based on an idea to provide a conceptual framework for strategic option selection by combining the fuzzy Delphi technique, the fuzzy SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) and the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP). The FDA’WOT model overcomes the problems of a classical SWOT analysis related to the vagueness and uncertainties in assessment of the character, impact and relative importance of strategic factors. It is a frame for a multicriteria approach in decision making which allows analytical prioritization of alternative strategic options and selection of an optimal one. The proposed model is applied to a case study of the strategy selection for the forest road network development in the Republic of Serbia. The presented results have shown that the FDA'WOT model can successfully create conditions for sustainable strategy formulation. / Эксплуатация лесных ресурсов и достижение полного потенциала лесного хозяйства зависят от плотности и качества сети лесных дорог. Поскольку сети лесных дорог выполняют не одну, а несколько функций, то их с правом можно считать чрезвычайно значимым стратегическим фактором в управлении лесным хозяйством. При планировании развития сети лесных дорог лица, принимающие решения, должны учитывать многочисленные технологические, экономические, социальные и природно- экологические факторы. При этом необходимо придерживаться комплексного и функционального подхода. В настоящей статье представлена гибридная методологическая основа для разработки принципов, которые помогут определить стратегию развития государственной сети лесных дорог. В данной связи предлагается нечёткая модификация метода A'WOT. Предложенная модель, названная моделью FDA'WOT, основана на идее сочетания нечёткого анализа дельфи, нечёткого SWOT анализа (Силы - Strengths, Слабости - Weaknesses, Шансы - Opportunities, Угрозы - Threats) и Аналитического Иерархического Процесса (AHP), которое формирует концептуальные рамки для выбора оптимального стратегического варианта. Модель FDA'WOT поможет преодолеть проблему классического SWOT- анализа, связанную с нечёткостью и неопределенностью в оценке характера, воздействия и относительной важности стратегических факторов. Эта модель представляет собой формальную основу для принятия многокритериальных решений, которая позволяет аналитическим способом определить приоритет альтернативных стратегических вариантов и выбрать лучший из них. Предлагаемая модель разработана на примере выбора стратегического варианта при развитии сети лесных дорог в Республике Сербия. Представленные результаты показывают, что модель FDA'WOT создает условия для разработки устойчивой стратегии. / Eksploatacija šumskih resursa i ostvarenje punog potencijala šuma zavise od gustine i kvaliteta mreže šumskih puteva. Kako treba da zadovolji više funkcija, ona ima strategijski značaj u upravljanju šumama. Pri planiranju razvoja mreže šumskih puteva, donosioci odluka moraju da uzmu u obzir brojne tehnološke, ekonomske, društvene i prirodne - ekološke faktore, što znači da je neophodan sveobuhvatan i funkcionalan pristup. U ovom radu prikazan je hibridni metodološki okvir za formulisanje smernica na kojima treba definisati stretegiju razvoja državne mreže šumskih puteva. U tu svhu predložena je fuzzy modifikacija A'WOT metode. Predloženi model, nazvan FDA'WOT model, zasnovan je na ideji da se kroz kombinaciju fuzzy delfi tehnike, fuzzy SWOT (snage - Strenghts, slabosti - Weaknesses, šanse - Opportunities, pretnje - Threats) analize i analitičkog hijerarhijskog procesa (AHP) obezbedi konceptualni okvir za izbor optimalne strategijske opcije. FDA'WOT model omogućava prevazilaženje problema klasične SWOT analize koji se odnose na neodređenosti i neizvesnosti prilikom procene karaktera, uticaja i relativne važnosti strategijskih faktora. On predstavlja formalni okvir za višekriterijumsko odlučivanje, koji omogućava da se na analitičan način odredi prioritet alternativnih strategijskih opcija i izabere optimalna. Predloženi model primenjen je na primeru izbora strategijske opcije razvoja mreže šumskih puteva u Republici Srbiji, a prezentovani rezultati pokazuju da FDA'WOT model stvara uslove za formulaciju održive strategije.

A flood risk assessment of urban areas in Kaohsiung city along the Dianbao River was performed based on flood hazards and social vulnerability. In terms of hazard analysis, a rainfall-runoff model (HEC-HMS) was adopted to simulate discharges in the watershed, and the simulated discharges were utilized as inputs for the inundation model (FLO-2D). Comparisons between the observed and simulated discharges at the Wulilin Bridge flow station during Typhoon Kongrey (2013) and Typhoon Megi (2016) were used for the HEC-HMS model calibration and validation, respectively. The observed water levels at the Changrun Bridge station during Typhoon Kongrey and Typhoon Megi were utilized for the FLO-2D model calibration and validation, respectively. The results indicated that the simulated discharges and water levels reasonably reproduced the observations. The validated model was then applied to predict the inundation depths and extents under 50-, 100-, and 200-year rainfall return periods to form hazard maps. For social vulnerability, the fuzzy Delphi method and the analytic hierarchy process were employed to select the main factors affecting social vulnerability and to yield the weight of each social vulnerability factor. Subsequently, a social vulnerability map was built. A risk map was developed that compiled both flood hazards and social vulnerability levels. Based on the risk map, flood mitigation strategies with structural and nonstructural measures were proposed for consideration by decision-makers.

Proper assets management and maintenance, especially equipment in the value chain of an organization, the failure of which leads to interruptions in the system and waiting in the production line, are very vital and of special importance in "equipment-oriented" organizations, including industries such as oil, gas, petrochemicals, steel, minerals, companies involved in the production and distribution of water, electricity, etc. Usually such organizations have a constant need to create an efficient and effective life cycle in order to achieve an efficient physical asset management system. The present study aimed to investigate the physical assets management in equipment-oriented industries with the equipment life cycle management (resource-based) view in oil and gas industries with a case study in an upstream oil industry company (namely North Drilling Company). For this purpose, first 15 criteria have been obtained based on literature review and research literature for evaluating the performance of physical asset management in oil and gas companies. Then, eight of the most important performance evaluation criteria were determined based on experts’ opinions and the fuzzy Delphi method, and in the next step, these criteria were weighted using the fuzzy SWARA method. According to the results, the most important criterion is the cost of maintenance and the least important is the cost of service-support. Finally, solutions are presented in the form of practical suggestions to improve the physical asset management system in this company.

Globalisation and the rapid growth of technologies call for ease and automation in different aspects, including in tourism. Tourism is an important sector in Malaysia as it generates income for the country. In recent years, Malaysia has seen a surge in the arrival of high-spending Arab tourists. This reflects the need to provide a tool, specifically a tourism mobile application in the Arabic language, that could help ease their journey in Malaysia. Thus, this study aims to determine the usability of the i-Suyyah mobile application for Arab tourists in Malaysia. The data obtained were analysed using the Fuzzy Delphi method, and twelve experts were selected to analyse the fuzziness consensus. It was found that the i-Suyyah mobile application recorded a high percentage of expert consensus, specifically on its usability. All usability items have reached unity with the threshold value of d 0.2, and the percentage of consensus among the expert group is more than 83%, La globalización y el rápido crecimiento de las tecnologías requieren facilidad y automatización en diferentes aspectos, incluido el turismo. El turismo es un sector importante en Malasia ya que genera ingresos para el país. En los últimos años, Malasia ha experimentado un aumento en la llegada de turistas árabes que gastan mucho dinero. Esto refleja la necesidad de proporcionar una herramienta, específicamente una aplicación móvil de turismo en idioma árabe, que podría ayudar a facilitar su viaje en Malasia. Por lo tanto, este estudio tiene como objetivo determinar la usabilidad de la aplicación móvil i-Suyyah para turistas árabes en Malasia. Los datos obtenidos se analizaron mediante el método Fuzzy Delphi, y se seleccionaron doce expertos para analizar el consenso de fuzziness. Se encontró que la aplicación móvil i-Suyyah registró un alto porcentaje de consenso de expertos, específicamente sobre su usabilidad

Blockchain can help to fundamentally alter aspects of circular economy (CE) activities and overcome pressing sustainability issues. Nevertheless, limited studies have investigated the barriers to blockchain adoption in the CE. This study aims to close the knowledge gap by providing a comprehensive review of the barriers hampering the adoption and integration of blockchain technology in the CE. An integrated approach based on fuzzy Delphi and best-worst methods has been applied to analyze and rank the barriers. Sixteen barriers to blockchain adoption in the CE were identified from the academic literature and validated by a panel of experts. The findings from the fuzzy Delphi technique identified ten significant barriers for further analysis. Then, using the best-worst method, the optimal weights were determined based on the experts’ judgment to recognize the importance of each barrier. The findings from this method showed that a lack of knowledge and management support, reluctance to change and technological immaturity are the most significant barriers. In contrast, the least significant barriers are investment costs, security risks, and scalability issues. Theoretically, this study is the first to apply an integrated approach combining fuzzy Delphi and best-worst techniques to prioritze the barriers to blockchain adoption in the CE. It also provides valuable insights for managers and decision-makers that can be used to optimize blockchain implementations in the CE.

The purpose of this study is to explore the ability indices of VR (virtual reality) technology when it is applied to assist the teaching of a welding practice course, develop a VR welding course as the basis of course planning and teaching design, and implement experimental teaching to verify its effectiveness. On the basis of a literature review and focus group interviews, initial ability indices of a VR welding course were proposed. Then, 15 experts from VR- and welding-related specialties were invited to form a consulting team to determine &ldquo, the ability indices of the VR welding course&rdquo, according to the results of a Fuzzy Delphi expert questionnaire. Moreover, the results of an ANP (Analytic Network Process) expert questionnaire were used to understand the relative importance of the ability indices of the VR welding course, as well as the relative feasibility of VR-assisted welding teaching, in order to develop a &ldquo, VR welding course&rdquo, in which 34 first-grade students of the welding practice course were taken as the research objects during the implementation of experimental teaching. The qualitative research and analysis results are as follows: (1) the VR welding course includes 8 ability indices and 30 evaluation indices, (2) the item with the highest feasibility in VR-assisted welding teaching is &ldquo, welding construction&rdquo, followed by &ldquo, map reading and drawing&rdquo, (3) best feasibility of VR technology &ldquo, Interaction&rdquo, in assisting welding teaching, (4) the relative importance of the ability indices of the VR welding course is the greatest for &ldquo, welding inspection&rdquo, (5) the VR welding course students express significant positive responses to the learning of ability indices and ability demonstration, (6) the majority of students express significant positive learning satisfaction with VR-assisted welding course teaching. This study puts forward a set of rigorous models for the construction of ability indices for a VR course and course development. It can provide a reference for introducing VR-assisted teaching to related welding courses that are run by universities of science and technology in Taiwan. Furthermore, such VR courses can offer students a safe, diversified, and efficient learning environment.

Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengembangkan model implementasi M-Learning berdasarkan kegiatan pembelajaran dalam program pendidikan guru. Model ini ditujukan untuk melihat bagaimana M-Learning dapat digunakan untuk mendukung pembelajaran formal dalam membantu mahasiswa mencapai kebutuhannya, yaitu keberhasilan dalam proses pembelajaran dan nilai akhir yang didapatkan setelah melaksanakan proses perkuliahan. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan Design and Development (D n D) yang diperkenalkan oleh Richey and Klein (2007) untuk mengembangkan sebuah model. Berdasarkan pendekatan yang digunakan, penelitian ini menggunakan tiga fase. Fase pertama adalah analisis kebutuhan yang dilaksanakan menggunakan survei berupa kuesioner kepada 220 orang mahasiswa untuk mengidentifikasi kebutuhan apa saja yang diperlukan dalam menerapkan M-Learning. Kemudian data yang berhasil diperoleh pada fase ini dianalisis menggunakan statistik deskriptif. Fase kedua adalah proses mengembangkan model dengan menggunakan metode Interpretive Structural Model (ISM) yang melibatkan beberapa kelompok pakar ahli. Fase ketiga yaitu bekerjasama dengan kelompok ahli sebanyak 48 orang ahli untuk menilai M-Learning yang sedang dikembangkan menggunakan Teknik Fuzzy Delphi yang diberikan sedikit modifikasi. Penilaian tersebut didasarkan pada pendapat dan jawaban para ahli yang tercantum dalam tujuh kuesioner yang diberikan dengan menggunakan skala likert.Kata Kunci: M-Learning, Fuzzy Delphi, ISM. AbstractThe purpose of this study is to develop a model for applying M-Learning based on learning activities in teacher education programs. This model is used to see how M-Learning can be used to support formal learning in helping students achieve their needs, namely in the learning process and the costs needed for the lecture process. This study uses the Design and Development (D n D) approach introduced by Richey and Klein (2007) to develop a model. Based on the nature of the approach, this study uses three phases. The first phase is needs analysis which is carried out using a questionnaire survey for 220 students to identify what is needed in implementing M-Learning. Then the data that was obtained at this stage was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The second phase is the process of developing models using the Interpretive Structural Model (ISM) method which focuses on several expert groups. The third phase is a combination of an expert group of 48 experts to assess M-Learning which is being developed using the Fuzzy Delphi Technique which is given a little modification. The evaluation is based on the opinions and answers of the experts used in the seven questionnaires given using a Likert scale.

Purpose – The first objective of this paper is to explain and compare new business models that are currently being successfully applied worldwide. The second objective is to carry out an empirical analysis to observe the perception of experts regarding these models, the differences between them, and their orientation toward the traditional theory of the firm or the stakeholder approach in some of the characteristic elements of the organizational structure of the firm. Design/methodology/approach – In a first step we conduct a literature review that compares the dominant theory of the firm (neoclassical model) with the stakeholder theory. Secondly, we present six additional business models and compare them with both the neoclassical and stakeholder approaches. In a second part of the paper we use a fuzzy Delphi methodology in order to collect qualitative information from a group of experts about those six additional business models. Findings – The stakeholder approach is a valuable explanatory tool to address how firms can generate a broader positive impact at the social level. Identifying the stakeholders that interact within the firm allows the firm’s managers to take into account their specific needs, which are usually not limited to profit maximization. Originality/value – Emerging business models can benefit from the stakeholder approach to integrate those needs due to an organizational structure focused on stakeholders' interests. Objetivo – O primeiro objetivo deste artigo é explicar e comparar novos modelos de negócio que estão sendo aplicados com sucesso em todo o mundo atualmente. O segundo objetivo é realizar uma análise empírica para observar a percepção dos especialistas sobre esses modelos, as diferenças entre eles e sua orientação para a teoria tradicional de empresas ou para a abordagem das partes interessadas em alguns dos elementos característicos da estrutura organizacional das empresas. Metodologia – Em uma primeira etapa, realizamos uma análise da literatura que compara a teoria dominante de empresas (modelo neoclássico) com a teoria das partes interessadas. Em segundo lugar, apresentamos seis modelos de negócio adicionais e os comparamos com as abordagens neoclássica e das partes interessadas. Em uma segunda parte do artigo, usamos uma metodologia Delphi difusa para coletar informações qualitativas de um grupo de especialistas sobre esses seis modelos de negócio adicionais. Resultados – A abordagem das partes interessadas é uma ferramenta explicativa útil para abordar como as empresas podem gerar um impacto positivo mais amplo no nível social. A identificação das partes interessadas que interagem na empresa permite que os gestores levem em consideração suas necessidades específicas, que geralmente não se limitam à maximização do lucro. Contribuições – Modelos de negócio emergentes podem se beneficiar da abordagem das partes interessadas para integrar essas necessidades, devido a uma estrutura organizacional focada nos interesses das partes interessadas. Objetivo – O primeiro objetivo deste artigo é explicar e comparar novos modelos de negócio que estão sendo aplicados com sucesso em todo o mundo atualmente. O segundo objetivo é realizar uma análise empírica para observar a percepção dos especialistas sobre esses modelos, as diferenças entre eles e sua orientação para a teoria tradicional de empresas ou para a abordagem das partes interessadas em alguns dos elementos característicos da estrutura organizacional das empresas. Metodologia – Em uma primeira etapa, realizamos uma análise da literatura que compara a teoria dominante de empresas (modelo neoclássico) com a teoria das partes interessadas. Em segundo lugar, apresentamos seis modelos de negócio adicionais e os comparamos com as abordagens neoclássica e das partes interessadas. Em uma segunda parte do artigo, usamos uma metodologia Delphi difusa para coletar informações qualitativas de um grupo de especialistas sobre esses seis modelos de negócio adicionais. Resultados – A abordagem das partes interessadas é uma ferramenta explicativa útil para abordar como as empresas podem gerar um impacto positivo mais amplo no nível social. A identificação das partes interessadas que interagem na empresa permite que os gestores levem em consideração suas necessidades específicas, que geralmente não se limitam à maximização do lucro. Contribuições – Modelos de negócio emergentes podem se beneficiar da abordagem das partes interessadas para integrar essas necessidades, devido a uma estrutura organizacional focada nos interesses das partes interessadas.

In the business world today, intense competition among the firms forces them to operate under conditions of uncertainty which, in turn, gives rise to numerous risks that can negatively impact the supply chain and lower profitability and competitive advantage. Expansion and density of communication network in the supply chain, on the one hand, and inevitability of some disorders, on the other, underscore the importance of measuring and evaluating suppliers. Supplier resilience defined as less influenceability from and the capacity to quell disorders, hence, requires more rigorous scrutiny. The aim of the current research was thus to identify and level suppliers’ resilience criteria at Avrand's Industrial Group supply chain using a combination of Fuzzy Delphi (FDELPHI) and Interpretative Structural Modeling techniques. The results of the FDELPHI method showed that 16 of the 27 criteria extracted from the literature review were verified by the team of 10 experts. Further, the Interpretive Structural Modeling was employed to offer a hierarchical model of the verified criteria. The results revealed a five-level hierarchy of resilience criteria with the delay time criterion at the highest level and the most influenceable factor and financial strength criterion as the most influential factor placed at the lowest level.

In today's competitive world, Six Sigma can serve as a corporate strategy to improve quality and reduce costs. Six Sigma is a comprehensive and flexible system for achieving, maintaining and maximizing organizational success, through an improved performance of processes. However, this tool can only be successful in organizations which are already prepared for Six Sigma implementation. This study investigated the readiness of an Iranian company, Tabarestan Steel Co., in terms of Six Sigma projects. In doing so, the study proposed a model designed for assessing the readiness of Six Sigma in organizations. To this end, primarily Six Sigma readiness indicators were identified through Fuzzy Delphi, by recourse to the experts’ opinions. Next the interrelationships between the indicators were examined through the Fuzzy DEMATEL method. The internal links between the indicators were determined after the examination, and the degree of importance and the weights of the indicators were decided. Ultimately, three highly important dimensions were discovered that had a significant function in Six Sigma implementation (leadership and perspective, corporate strategy, and focus on the customer).

The purpose of this study is to obtain expert consensus and views on the elements of the sign language learning assessment model for special education teacher students. This study uses the Fuzzy Delphi method by using likert 5 scales to collect feedback from 30 experts in the field of pedagogical sign language in Malaysia. A total of 4 main elements of the questionnaire were given to the experts for evaluation. The Fuzzy Delphi method has been used to analyze the data. The data were analyzed using triangular fuzzy number and ranking with each model element determined by the “defuzzication” process. Analytical results of expert agreement and expert consensus have reached a very good consensus. The elements agreed upon by the experts on consensus are arranged in order of importance, expressive and receptive judgments, interaction assessments and written assessments. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17977/um029v5i12018p026

Objective: Current dynamic and complicated environment has made organizations and industries compete at an international level. If a world-class level production is pursued, they have to manufacture their products in a world-class level. To meet the world-class production indicators and remain competitive, they need to be more integrated at the level of organization, partners and supply chain. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between supply chain integration (SCI) and world class manufacturing (WCM). Methods: This study uses a descriptive-correlative method and its research population covers Electronic Domestic Appliance Industry companies. The samples in this research were selected using simple random sampling method. Fuzzy Delphi method was used to identify the dimensions and indicators of production in the world class level and to collect data, a researcher-made questionnaire was used. AMOS software was used to test the hypotheses through a statistical test of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results: The results showed that three dimensions of SCI namely, internal integration, supplier and customer have significantly positive impacts on obtaining products in world class level. The impact of customer integrity on delivery was not confirmed while high level of integral integrity is claimed to have more effects on cost and on-time delivery rather than other integration dimensions of supply chain integration. Conclusion: As the results showed, the companies in the industry are required to take actions on integrating supply chain comprising internal, supplier and customer integration in order to obtain WCM dimensions such as cost, innovation, quality, delivery, flexibility and services. Also result of. This paper helps managers to distinguish the effects of the different dimensions of SCI on obtaining WCM.

In this paper, it was aimed to select a suitable method to extract the dimensional stone to increase dimensional stone quarries efficiency. The usual methods including diamond cutting-wire method, blasting method, plug, and feather method, Katrock expanding material and Fract expanding material have compared using TOPSIS (Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution) method by respecting to the following criteria: grass income, safety, desirability, reduction of environmental impacts, waste and reduction of extracting time. FDAHP (Fuzzy Delphi Analytic Hierarchy Process) approach was used in determining the degree of importance of the criteria by expert decision makers. Also, those criteria performed the same impacts were not considered. Consequently, the diamond wire saw method was suggested as the most appropriate method to extract the dimensional stones. It was concluded that the extraction of dimensional stone using diamond wire saw is the best method based on the mentioned criterion compared to other methods.

With increasing market competition and environmental awareness, the freight transport industry has become under ever-increasing pressure to achieve better sustainability. Through horizontal transport collaboration (HTC), companies can consolidate their freight into fewer numbers of trucks, leading to cost and environmental savings. Therefore, HTC has been considered a promising strategy to boost the sustainability of freight transport. However, the successful applications of HTC are hampered by multiple barriers. This study contributes to the literature by identifying and prioritizing these barriers through integrating the fuzzy Delphi method (FDM) and the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Firstly, a holistic list of 30 barriers divided into five categories is identified using literature review. Secondly, FDM is used to reach a consensus of experts' opinions regarding the important barriers that warrant undergoing the assessment process by AHP. Thirdly, AHP is used to identify the priority rankings of the five barrier categories and their associated barriers. Finally, the proposed approach is used to examine the critical HTC barriers in a case study from Denmark.

Subsidiaries typically start out as a company division. As the company expands its product lines, the regions it operates in, or the customers it serves, the company is likely to combine the related research and development, procurement, production, and sales departments into a relatively discrete organizational structure. As such, the head of the division is often of equal importance as the company president. In particular, when the product has a competitive advantage, the head of the division has more authority in the company’s future operational planning. Thus, when a company has a multidivisional organizational structure, the heads of those divisions typically have considerable responsibilities. In this study, literature data were combined with a fuzzy Delphi expert questionnaire survey to determine the constructs and criteria for assessing candidates for division manager. Subsequently, the fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) and the fuzzy DEMATEL-based analytic network process were used to identify the causal relationships between criteria and their weights, and the fuzzy technique for the order of preference by similarity to ideal solution was used to rank the solutions to approximate the company’s optimal candidate for division manager and provide the ideal decision-making solutions, which may offer companies with the reference of selecting the senior executives.

This research was aimed at identifying, prioritizing, and structuring the governance challenges of Tehran’s disaster management network. For this purpose, Tehran was selected as the case to study. Data gathering was in the form of in-depth interviews and completing questionnaires. The participants consist of the representatives (senior and junior managers and experts) of 26 governmental and private organizations involved with Tehran’s natural disaster management. These organizations were among the ones listed in the disaster-relevant regulations and they were selected with the aid of snowball sampling method. A fuzzy Delphi method and interpretive structural modeling (ISM) were employed to prioritize and structure the identified challenges. The findings determined 18 major challenges with which Tehran’s disaster governance has faced. At the end, the researchers proposed some recommendations for better management of such challenges and also some suggestions for future studies.

The development of intermodal transportation (IT) systems is of vital importance for the sustainability of logistics activities. The existing research point at individual directions of action for system improvement and increase of IT participation in overall transportation, thus reducing negative impacts of logistics on sustainability. However, there is a lack of research defining complex scenarios that unite existing ideas and concepts of IT system development and improvement. Accordingly, this article deals with the definition and selection of the most appropriate IT development scenario for the region of Southeastern Europe. Six different potential scenarios that differ in the network configuration, the required level of logistics infrastructure development, the role of different IT terminal categories, the involvement of different transportation modes, and goods flows’ transformation degree, are defined. The scenarios are analyzed according to four stakeholder groups and twelve defined criteria. A novel hybrid multi-criteria decision-making model, based on fuzzy Delphi, fuzzy Factor Relationship (FARE), and fuzzy Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking according to Compromise Solution (MARCOS) methods, is developed for solving the problem. The definition and analysis of the problem, the way of establishing the scenarios, as well as the development of a novel hybrid model are the main contributions of this article. A significant contribution is also the consideration of the Dry Port (DP) concept for the first time in the context of river ports. The results indicate that the scenario referring to the development of the IT core network with the Danube DP terminals is potentially the most appropriate scenario for the Southeastern Europe IT system.

Efficiency and effectiveness of the organization is result ofmanagement performance and supply chain structure.Today, several factors in selection the supplier or the best combination of suppliers have been identified that this issue would increase the complexity of suplier selecting.This study investigates the application of Fuzzy Delphi in order to identify the important factors in selecting a supplier in the steel industry and then provide a comprehensive and holistic model of supplier selection to overcome the complexity.In this context, Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) unlike other methods, the holistic, dealing with supplier selection to prioritize components-surfacing and identifying key components, so industry leaders will provide comperhensive map to select the best combination based on their.The results of this study indicate that "technically possible", "financial health" and "geography situation" are the basic components to the selection of suppliers.

Nowadays, tourism industry is considered as the main part of the global economy. tourism industry is among the most important industries capable of stimulating economic growth. Understanding what drives satisfaction for a tourist is one of the most relevant areas of research for the tourism industry. Tourists’ satisfaction is a strong indicator of their intention to visit and recommend destinations to others. This is one of the cheapest and most effective forms of marketing and development. Yazd province is important in tourism. In this research, fuzzy DEMATEL is used to investigate and modeling the relationship among effective factors in Domestic tourists’ satisfaction in Yazd province. To achieve this purpose, factors were identified after a comprehensive review of literature and fuzzy Delphi. Then to explain and evaluate the relationship among the factors, the fuzzy DEMATEL approach was used. According to the results, factors affecting the satisfaction of Yazd domestic tourists are cost levels and their fairness; public transportation performance; provided services; quality of facilities and services; tour operators’ knowledge; cleanness of places; quality of attractions; parking services; urban architecture beauty and quality; cultural values; hospitality of host community; tourism advertisement at province level; quality of tourist guide books, brochures and maps; destination facilities and infrastructure; variety of customs, traditions and cultures; variety of accommodation and entertainment services; region’s health; uniqueness of attractions; variety of tour services, souvenirs, handicrafts, food and beverage; and secondary attractions. Finally, some recommendations were offered for enhancing tourists’ satisfaction based on findings.

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Environmental issues have been worldwide matters of concern especially in the recent decade and have made many firms implement end-of-life strategies such as remanufacturing. In prior studies, the supply side of remanufacturing supply chain has been vastly brought into focus compared to the demand side. Motivational factors that encourage consumers to purchase remanufactured products are getting firms attentions in developing effective marketing strategies to assist them being more productive in the current competitive market. However, consumer acceptance of remanufactured products has been regarded as one of the main reasons why remanufacturing has remained a majorly untapped opportunity for improving supply chain productivity. This study aims at exploring the major motivational factors for buying a remanufactured bike based on the consumers' and experts' opinions. Firstly, twelve motivations identified by scrutinising the literature. Secondly, single valued trapezoidal neutrosophic numbers (SVTNN) and trapezoidal neutrosophic weighted arithmetic averaging (TNWAA) operator were employed to obtain seven significant motivations using the survey data collected from potential customers. This method is applied owing to its capability in capturing the uncertainty of consumers' subjective judgements. Thirdly, the resulted seven motivations are prioritised in accordance with the experts' judgements utilising a proposed modified fuzzy Delphi (FD) method. Ultimately, the most significant motivation to purchase a remanufactured bike identified as quality that suggests quality is the major factor affecting purchase decision of a remanufactured bike. It indicates remanufacturers should focus on quality and attempt to improve the quality of products to gain more competitive advantage. The other six factors that should be stressed by remanufacturer's marketing strategies are prioritised as warranty, price, information provision, remanufacturer's reputation, value-added services and retailer's reputation respectively.

The concept of sustainability has become an essential theme for many industries and organisations due to a heightened sensitivity towards environmental protection and social responsibility. At the same time, firms still need to achieve economic viability and retain their competitive advantage. Because suppliers are the first entity and the initial source of any supply chain, organisations should select their suppliers by a careful evaluation of their critical success factors (CSF). Achieving a successful sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) strategy requires a firm to consider its stakeholders’ views. Based on the CSF theory and by considering the multi-stakeholders’ view in a sustainability perspective, this work provides a decision support system for the sustainable supplier selection (SSS) problem in a real world textile industry located in the emerging economy of India. Through a three-phase methodology, this study examines Indian suppliers by considering the sustainability views of various stakeholders, including employees, customers, researchers, shareholders, and a government environmental officer. The CSF priorities show that the first four influential CSFs are categorized as social concerns (i.e., maintaining long-term relationships and alliances, stakeholder empowerment, equity labour sources, and individual human rights). The fifth factor is an environmental issue (i.e., production of polluting agents). Among the five suppliers being evaluated in this work, Supplier 4 receives the top ranking. Specifically, the results show that the supplier rankings are highly influenced by CSF’s social dimensions. Hence, to validate the influence of CSF’s social dimensions in relation to the SSS process, a sensitivity analysis has been done by varying the respective weights. The study concludes with the relevant managerial implications and limitations.

Due to strong competition, numerous technology advancements and the monetary policy of the government, the survival of Indian real estate firms now depends on their capacity to measure their existing innovation capabilities, rebuild them and adopt new ones. The aim of this study is to evaluate the technology and human resources innovation capabilities of Indian real estate firms by applying fuzzy Delphi and DEMATEL techniques. After identifying the innovation capabilities through an extensive literature review, a questionnaire is designed based on fuzzy linguistic scales to manage any vagueness of information received. Data has been collected from experts in the field, with capabilities then finalized by using a fuzzy Delphi method. To establish cause-effect relationships among capabilities, a DEMATEL method is applied to the data collected from a second questionnaire. Analysis of the data divides capabilities into two groups i.e. cause and effect. The results show that innovation management, robustness of product and process design capability, strategic planning and knowledge resources fall in the cause group; these are critical findings given the effect on the other capabilities. The study outcomes can help real estate firms to enhance their capabilities with the proposed model providing guidelines and direction in this regard.

Suitable supplier selection is the most important factor in supplier chain management; so that correct decisions in this phase, caused to reduce costs, make permanent relationship with suppliers and strong competitive strategy in market. In this paper, by reviewing the past articles, important related criteria found and then weighting of criteria and evaluation of alternatives were done with fuzzy Delphi. By ranking the alternatives in fuzzy TOPSIS, five thresholds obtained for grouping in the future. The results that obtained from these computations, converted to knowledge base (KB) of Expert System for Supplier Evaluation (ESSE). The ESSE was designed in Java Expert System Shell (Jess), so that its KB could be updated in the future. To make a user friendly interface, java language was used. The proposed system and experts individually evaluated some sample alternatives and by compare the results, they were very close.