A likelihood-based multi-criteria sustainable supplier selection approach with complex preference information

Interval type-2 fuzzy sets are more valuable than conventional type-1 fuzzy sets in terms of covering more uncertain and complex preference information. Interval type-2 trapezoidal fuzzy sets, as a particular form of interval type-2 fuzzy sets, can precisely express subjective evaluations and qualitative assessments. In this paper, the concept of the likelihoods of interval type-2 fuzzy preference relations are utilized to propose a novel multi-criteria decision-making model for the sustainable supplier selection problems in which the weights of criteria and performance ratings are expressed as interval type-2 trapezoidal fuzzy sets. A new likelihood-based multi-criteria sustainable supplier selection model is proposed by encapsulating assorted sustainability triple bottom line criteria, collected from the state-of-the-art literature, which turns this framework into a benchmark approach for the evaluations of sustainable suppliers. The practical effectiveness of the proposed likelihood-based method is illustrated by the applications to four real cases and the comparative analysis demonstrates the validation and advantages of the proposed method over conventional multi-criteria sustainable supplier selection methods.