A comprehensive study of Weighted Product Model for selecting the best laptop model available in the market

Abstract

Goal: the main objective of this research paper is to select the best laptop model among 6 models actually available in the market by applying multiple criteria decision making methodology (MCDM) on the basis of a physical market survey and opinions of 100 people specially consists of students. Since, choosing an appropriate laptop model among thousands of different available models is quite a challenging task for the students. Design / Methodology / Approach: for this present analysis, a combined approach of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and weighted product model (WPM) is developed. Where, AHP is used to calculate the criteria weightages and WPM is used to choose the best option and to rank the alternatives. The selection process is done based on the following seven important criteria of the laptop i.e. processor, hard disk capacity, operating system, RAM, screen size, brand, color. Results: The final outcome result shows that Model 5 is the best choice among these 6 models followed by Model 3 and Model 2 whereas model 4 is the worst one among them. The specifications of the best laptop model 5 among this group are having I5 processor, 1TB hard disk capacity, windows operating system, 8GB RAM, 15.6-inch display, HP brand and color silver. Limitations of the investigation: Since the weightages calculation and the final ranking mainly depends on the structure of the pair-wise comparison matrix and the decision matrix, so the final results may vary based on the opinion of the other decision maker. Moreover, if the same problem is solved by applying other MCDM tools, the final output results may or may not be same. Practical implications: From this present research work, students who are willing to buy a laptop can get a general guideline about the best laptop model and their specifications in the present market. Moreover, the laptop manufacturing companies can also get some ideas about the present market scenario since this analysis is based on the actual market survey which can help to frame their future strategies. Originality / Value: Although, many literatures have been recorded related to the applications of MCDM tools in solving different decision making problems in different areas but very limited research work have been done in solving our daily life decision problems by applying MCDM.