Developing a fuzzy TOPSIS approach based on subjective weights and objective weights

Multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) is widely used in ranking one or more alternatives from a set of available alternatives with respect to multiple criteria. Inspired by MCDM to systematically evaluate alternatives under various criteria, we propose a new fuzzy TOPSIS for evaluating alternatives by integrating using subjective and objective weights. Most MCDM approaches consider only decision makers subjective weights. However, the end-user attitude can be a key factor. We propose a novel approach that involves end-user into the whole decision making process. In this proposed approach, the subjective weights assigned by decision makers (DAM) are normalized into a comparable scale. In addition, we also adopt end-user ratings as an objective weight based on Shannon's entropy theory. A closeness coefficient is defined to determine the ranking order of alternatives by calculating the distances to both ideal and negative-ideal solutions. A case study is performed showing how the propose method can be used for a software outsourcing problem. With our Method, we provide decision makers more information to make more subtle decisions. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.