An interval type-2 fuzzy ANP approach to evaluate enterprise technological innovation ability
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to overcome the drawbacks of analytic hierarchy process in solving complex decision-making problems, especially for the evaluation of enterprise technology innovation ability (ETIA). Because interval type-2 fuzzy sets (IT2 FSs) can handle uncertainty linguistic variables in a more flexible and precise way than type-1 fuzzy sets with their second fuzzy membership functions, a fuzzy ANP method with IT2 FSs is proposed to evaluate the ETIA.
Design/methodology/approach
The criteria of evaluation on ETIA are identified and an evaluation model for ETIA is constructed on the basis of the application analysis of ETIA and theoretical design of ANP. In addition, two different ranking methods of IT2 FSs are applied in processing the relationships between influence factors of ETIA.
Findings
By using the proposed interval type-2 fuzzy ANP (IT2 FANP) method, the efficiencies of the whole evaluation of ETIA can be measured and the important factors in the ETIA can also be determined. Compared with the type-1 FANP through the ranking results, the proposed IT2 FANP is more reasonable and robust for the evaluation of ETIA.
Practical implications
The proposed IT2 FANP method is applied on the evaluation of ETIA. With respect to the application, the proposed method can be used to evaluate many more complex problems that contain feedback and circular relationships.
Originality/value
The proposed IT2 FANP approach can solve the complexities and uncertainties at the same time. Considering the subjective initiative of decision-makers and the feedback between influence factors, the proposed method is more efficient than the existing type-1 approaches in the literature.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (71171048, 71371049) and the PhD Program Foundation of Chinese Ministry of Education (20120092110038).
The authors would like to thank Dr Jindong Qin for his contribution towards the research for this study which has assisted the authors in writing this paper.
Citation
Wu, T. and Liu, X. (2016), "An interval type-2 fuzzy ANP approach to evaluate enterprise technological innovation ability", Kybernetes, Vol. 45 No. 9, pp. 1486-1500. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-01-2016-0011
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited