AHP-based support tools for initial screening of manufacturing reshoring decisions

Site Selection of Urban Parks Based on Fuzzy-Analytic Hierarchy Process (F-AHP): A Case Study of Nanjing, China

The scientific siting of urban parks is critical for sustainable urban environment development, and this study aimed to identify suitable areas for future urban parks in Nanjing, China. This study has integrated geographic information systems (GIS) and fuzzy hierarchical analysis (F-AHP) in order to evaluate the suitability of the site selection of urban parks in Nanjing, China. Different physical, natural, environmental, accessibility, and human activity factors were evaluated in order to assess the suitability of a park site. The results revealed that 5% were highly suitable for urban park site selection, 36% were more suitable, 32% were moderately suitable, 19% were less suitable, and 8% were unsuitable for urban park site selection. The findings suggest that the areas that are highly suitable for urban park placement are located in the western and eastern parts of Nanjing. Carbon storage was the most important factor in the suitability of urban park site selection, followed by the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the heat-island effect. The methodology that has been adopted in this study helps to improve the methodological framework of combining F-AHP and GIS; in addition, generating urban park site selection maps assists planners and decision-makers in making scientific site selection decisions.

A hybrid fuzzy-AHP-TOPSIS model for evaluation of manufacturing relocation decisions

Manufacturing relocation decisions are complex because they involve combinations of location modes like offshoring or reshoring, and governance modes like insourcing or outsourcing. Furthermore, the uncertainty involved in the decision-making process makes it challenging to reach a right-shoring decision. This study presents a hybrid fuzzy-AHP-TOPSIS model to support generic relocation decisions. Industry experts were involved in a pairwise comparison of the competitive priorities’ decision criteria. A meta-synthesis of empirical studies is used to generate theoretical relocation scenarios. The presented hybrid model is used to rank the relocation scenarios in order to identify the most pertinent alternative. The resiliency of the solution is presented through a sensitivity analysis. The results indicate that the proposed hybrid model can simultaneously handle all the main relocation options involving governance modes. Based on the input data in this study, the competitive priorities criteria quality, time and cost are shown to have a strong impact, whereas the sustainability criterion has a weak impact on the choice of relocation option. The research presented in this paper contributes to the research field of manufacturing relocation by demonstrating the suitability of the hybrid fuzzy-AHP-TOPSIS model for relocation decisions and the resilience of the results. Furthermore, the research contributes to practice by providing managers with a generic relocation decision-support model that is capable of simultaneously handling and evaluating various relocation alternatives.

Does COVID-19 influence the maturity management of industrial sectors? Evidence from global data

Purpose

This study aims to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically impacts the maturity of all industrial sectors globally. This paper analyses the general patterns of managing maturity in terms of performance and risk-taking of S&P 500 industrial sectors while determining their association with COVID-19.

Design/methodology/approach

To analyse the immediate response of COVID-19 on maturity management, the authors gather time-series daily index data of S&P sectors from October 2019 until June 2020 from Bloomberg. The authors select this study period to show the immediate effect of COVID-19 on industrial sector maturity management. The performance and volatility of stock are proxies for managing the maturity of each sector. The authors use vector auto-regression (VAR) methodology to determine the impact of global coronavirus.

Findings

This study’s findings suggest that the information technology sectors outperform the other sectors; in contrast, the utility sector exhibits the worst performance during a pandemic. Furthermore, the real estate sector depicts a higher level of systematic risk pattern than other sectors. Interestingly, the empirical result of VAR shows that almost every sector is significantly negatively affected by this pandemic; however, the consumer discretionary sector is immune to it.

Research limitations/implications

Overall, this study’s findings for individual economic sectors demonstrate that the managing maturity of each sector acts differently to the coronavirus outbreak. This study offers insights to researchers, policymakers, regulators, financial report users, investors, employees, clients and society.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the existing literature on managing the maturity of industry sectors in terms of observing their trends during the financial crisis.

An integrated SWOT-AHP-fuzzy TOPSIS approach for maturity management following the COVID-19 outbreak: lessons learned from fast fashion

Purpose

Focussing on issues that have impacted textiles, clothing and fast fashion following the COVID-19 outbreak, this study aims to identify agility factors pertinent to retail maturity management, mainly on resilience. These factors were then assessed based on priority.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis to identify the main factors. This analysis was integrated with the analytic hierarchy process to rank the internal and external factors. Then, the authors used fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to the ideal solution to evaluate the significant strategies from the SWOT analysis based on adaptability and flexibility. Thus, the authors produced a prioritised list of relevant factors and guidelines useful in practical settings.

Findings

The authors identified and ranked 14 agility and resilience SWOT factors for maturity management and proposed and prioritised six relevant strategies. These highlighted changes and adaptations must be undertaken by various actors, ranging from the supply/manufacturing side to global retail locations.

Research limitations/implications

The sampling study of experts is limited, and the application is focussed on one area. Future research might investigate other fields, for retail and industry.

Practical implications

The output of this study enables a better understanding of the internal and external factors of maturity management for fast-fashion retailers. Hence, it will further help them go through resilience and agility challenges following the pandemic.

Originality/value

This study significantly contributes to the literature because the results can guide retailers in developing effective decision-making systems for mature business operations following the pandemic outbreak. Here, the authors incorporate internal, external, agility and resilience aspects into one decision-making support system while enhancing existing knowledge on fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making applications. Further, this study discusses critical issues that have affected several aspects of the fashion and textile industry and will likely persist for some time.