Simultaneous interpretive structural modelling and weighting (SISMW)

Abstract

Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods have been implemented in many fields. In the meantime, several methods have been proposed to obtain the weight of the criteria determined by various methods in different ways. In this paper, a new approach, called simultaneous interpretive structural modelling and weighting (SISMW), is proposed to solve a multi-criterion decision-making (MCDM) problem. Using SISMW, the weight of the criteria and the relationship between them could be determined simultaneously. In this approach, like the ISM method, pair comparison between criteria was made by the decision-maker to determine the relationships among the different criteria. With the help of this data, the weight of the criteria, as well as the causal (cause and effect) relationships between them, were determined in 12 steps. The main advantage of this method is that only one stage of data collection is required for obtaining weights and modelling, and so the research process may be faster. This may increase the reliability of the collected data because, in a one-step survey, the impact of time is minimized. This process can be useful for conceptualizing and developing theories to help decision makers understand the problem better.