An Improved Fuzzy TOPSIS Method with a New Ranking Index

Abstract

Owing to vague concepts frequently represented in decision data, the crisp values are inadequate to model real-life situations. In this paper, the rating of each alternative and the weight of each criterion is described by linguistic terms which can be expressed in triangular fuzzy numbers. Next, we focus on fuzzy TOPSIS (FTOPSIS) method. We show that, however, the conventional FTOPSIS is interesting, but it suffers from some flaws. The shortcomings of classical FTOPSIS are shown and some solutions are given. Further, a new similarity index is proposed and then is illustrated using numerical examples. By treating the separations of an alternative from the fuzzy positive ideal solution (FPIS) and the fuzzy negative ideal solution (FNIS) as “cost” criterion and “benefit” criterion, respectively, we reduce the original fuzzy multiple criteria decision making (FMCDM) problem to a new one with two criteria. Illustrative examples are given to show the advantages of the proposed approach.