Interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy cognitive maps for supplier selection

Abstract

Fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) are used to aid decision-making in complex highly nonlinear problems dealing with uncertainty. In FCMs, decision concepts are linked in order to represent causal relationships. In business decision-making, it is difficult to precisely estimate the strengths of the relationships. To address this issue, we propose interval-valued intuitionistic FCMs (IVIFCMs). A multi-criteria decision making method is introduced in which the concepts of IVIFCM represent criteria and the edges represent interaction effects among the criteria. To identify the best alternative, the steady state solution of the IVIFCM is compared with the desired values of the concepts. The proposed method provides us with an effective tool for multi-attribute decision making in complex decision-making problems with a strong uncertainty.