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A novel consensus reaching method for MCGDM in social network with intuitionistic grey linguistic numbers

Sandang Guo (College of Information and Management Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China)
Qian Li (College of Information and Management Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China)
Yaqian Jing (College of Information and Management Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China)

Grey Systems: Theory and Application

ISSN: 2043-9377

Article publication date: 7 September 2022

Issue publication date: 16 March 2023

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Abstract

Purpose

The existing consensus reaching mechanisms ignore the influence of social triangle structure on the decision-makers’ (DMs') weights, and the consensus reaching process (CRP) fails to fully reflect the DMs' subjectivity and can be time consuming and costly. To solve these issues, a novel CRP for multi-criteria group decision-making (MCGDM) problems with intuitionistic grey linguistic numbers (IGLNs) is proposed in this paper.

Design/methodology/approach

First, a weight calculation method is proposed by analysing the triangle structure of DMs' social network and scale of adjacent nodes. Then, a consensus degree index based on three-level polygon area is defined and applied to identify the inconsistent DMs. Finally, the feedback mechanism based on particle swarm optimisation (PSO) algorithm under grey linguistic environment is developed, where subjective trust relationships in social network is utilised to determine the adjustment coefficient.

Findings

The advantages of the proposed method are highlighted by two practical applications of the evaluation of tunnel construction method and the selection of a hotel for the centralised isolation. Comparision analysis and numerical simulation are performed to reveal the effectiveness and applicability of the method.

Practical implications

The proposed model can not only reflect the effect of triangle structure in social network on DMs' weights, but also reduce the time and cost of decision-making.

Originality/value

The main contribution of this paper is to propose a new MCGDM model based on intuitionistic grey linguistic numbers, which can handle the problem of inconsistency of information more effectively.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work is funded by the Acknowledgments as follows. This work is funded by the Soft Science Research Plan Project of Henan Province (No.222400410148), Key Scientific Research Projects of Colleges and Universities in Henan Province (No.22A630021), Higher Education Teaching Reform Research and Practice Project of Henan Agricultural University (2021XJGLX061), and Science and Technology Innovation Fund of Henan Agricultural University (No. KJCX2020C01).

Citation

Guo, S., Li, Q. and Jing, Y. (2023), "A novel consensus reaching method for MCGDM in social network with intuitionistic grey linguistic numbers", Grey Systems: Theory and Application, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 209-237. https://doi.org/10.1108/GS-05-2022-0043

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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