A study of using RST to create the supplier selection model and decision-making rules

Building the model of supplier selection is a critical role to improve competitiveness and business process. The purpose of this study was to build a model of supplier selection to better encourage organizational capability and competitiveness and apply the model to solve practical problems. After literature reviewing, this study chooses the critical criteria for supplier evaluation and then develops the questionnaire which differentiates class 1 (excellent firms), class 2 (common firms), and class 3 (disappointed firms) from suppliers to evaluate by participants. And next step was to use rough set theory (RST) to analyze the rules of supplier selection. After attributes reduct and core, the decision-making rules could be created by the supplier selection model. In the future, the model and rules may assist procurement personnel or manager responsible for supplier selection to execute relevant policies. The model can also be readjusted in order to accord with actual needs and changes in the competitive environment. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.