Cloud model-based best-worst method for group decision making under uncertainty

AbstractThis study aims to enhance computational and analytical aspects of multi-criteria group decision-making (MCGDM) under uncertainty. For this, we use the best-worst method (BWM) and cloud models to develop a more reliable MCGDM algorithm including three stages: first, collecting data through the BWM reference pairwise comparison; second, extracting interval-weights using the BWM bi-level optimisation models and aggregating different opinions via cloud models; and third, using the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) to prioritise alternatives. We have also investigated the effectiveness of the proposed approach in a real-life problem of online learning platform selection within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The experiment results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method over the Bayesian BWM in terms of computational time by 96%. Moreover, the proposed approach outperforms BWM and Bayesian BWM techniques by 33% and 25%, respectively, in terms of conformity to the decision-makers’ intuitive judgments. Our findings also bring important practical implications. Application of the proposed method led to robustness against the number of decision-makers and significantly increased time efficiency in group decision-making. Besides, the computations with the lower inconsistency enhanced the effectiveness of prioritisation in group decision-making.Keywords: Multiple criteria group decision-makinguncertaintycloud modelsinterval weights AcknowledgementsThis research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.