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The purpose of this paper is to determine priority order of Indian energy sector projects on investments and strategic dimension angles. Grey System Theory (GST) and COmplex PRroportional ASsessment (COPRAS-G) method, a flexible multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) analyses, is used for this purpose to prioritize Indian energy sector projects, namely, coal, gas, hydro, solar and nuclear.

The GST-based MCDM approach of COPRAS is used. Five projects of energy sector are compared based on various grey criteria. These criteria were selected on the perspectives of life-cycle costing and management-thinking approach for prioritizing these projects. The GST-based COPRAS-G is described, and results are discussed to draw a strategic road map for measuring the sustainability in the energy sector.

On applying COPRAS-G on five energy projects, solar projects get high-priority order, and realistic scenario of results shows that renewable energy projects are preferred over the conventional projects such as coal and gas.

Here, COPRAS-G method is used as MCDM techniques. However, few other MCDM techniques such as fuzzy Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evolution, elimination and choice expressing reality and efficiency analysis technique with output satisficing can be also explored to outrank various Indian energy sector projects.

Indian energy sector involves high degree of complexity, and, therefore, it needs more flexibility to overcome the present barriers of effective decision-making. Grey decision theory-based method like COPRAS-G is able to address energy security dimensions on different scenario of energy supply, i.e. pessimistic, optimistic and realistic, precisely.

The results can provide guidance to the government or public sector regarding various possible investment options for energy supply and can help in drawing a rough trajectory of strategy toward energy security of the country.

This paper can supplement and act as the support for decision-making in conflicting situations specifically to have outlook of the sub-sector project on different flexible scenarios. Moreover, such work can synergize conflicting ideas of decision makers and various stakeholders of the Indian energy sector.

The study aims at evaluating the most appropriate transport project which is one of the critical concerns of transport infrastructure scheduling. This process will be applied considering a set of criteria and discussed alternatives with sustainable perspectives.

In this paper, a complex proportional assessment (COPRAS) framework is discussed to handle the sustainable transport investment project (STIP) assessment problem within a single-valued neutrosophic set (SVNSs). To form the procedure more useful in handling with uncertain features, a SVNS is applied as a valuable procedure to handle uncertainty. First, a new discrimination measure for SVNSs is introduced and discussed some elegant properties to determine the significance degree or weight values of criteria with the sustainabality perspectives. Second, an integrated approach is introduced based on the discrimination measure and the COPRAS method on SVNSs and named as SVN-COPRAS.

A case study of an STIP evaluation problem is used to confirm the practicality and effectiveness of the SVN-COPRAS framework. Lastly, comparative discussion and sensitivity investigation are illustrated to prove the strength and solidity of the proposed framework.

The SVNSs enrich the essence of linguistic information when a decision expert (DE) vacillates among different linguistic values (LVs) to measure a sustainable transport project alternative problem. The utilization of SVNSs provides a more stable procedure to describe DEs' evaluations. So, an elegant methodology is developed to incorporate the DEs' awareness and experience for electing the desired STIPs. The introduced methodology has higher operability than the single-valued neutrosophic set technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (SVN-TOPSIS) procedure during the larger numbers of attribute(s) or option(s). For the SVN-COPRAS methodology, there is no need to estimate the single-valued neutrosophic ideal solution (SVN-IS) and single-valued neutrosophic anti-ideal solution (SVNA-IS). The outcomes are calculated with handling the realistic data, which elucidates that the introduced model can tackle more intricate and realistic multi-criteria decision-making issues.

The purpose of this research paper is to assess e-governance efficacy in various sectors of India. The paper develops on Grey System Theory (GST) methodology and enlightens grey portions of e-governance in select sectors. Research study identifies few grey criteria which affect implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) applications to support sustainable e-governance. Such criteria are related to information security breaches, information technology (IT) policy implementation, investments and strategic advantages for the various sector developments.

Considering “information” as a sensitive element to security for administration and part of dark portion to Indian economy, GST-based COmplex PRroportional ASsessment (COPRAS-G) method is adopted to assess the e-governance efficacy. The method provides flexible multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) approach to assess e-governance in prioritizing the sector alternatives of future strategic development. Priority order of select sectors is estimated, and COPRAS-G method is used in the research study to support decision-making on e-governance. Study compares ten major gross domestic product-dependent sectors based on few grey criteria. These criteria are chosen based on authors’ perspective on this study and feedback received from government officials of district levels under the Digital India-training programme. To address the subjectivity that lies in e-governance grey areas of sector, criteria are also weighted using fuzzy scale. Later methodology-based results are presented to draw a strategic road map for strategic development of the country.

On applying COPRAS-G method to predict pessimistic, optimistic and realistic scenarios of e-governance implementation across the ten sectors, high priory order in realistic scenario of results shows that implementation of ICT applications for e-governance should be in the sectors such as environment, climate change and in the railways. Industrial sector is also ranked as the preferred one over the other sectors on the basis of e-governance efficacy assessment.

Here COPRAS-G method is used as MCDM techniques. However, few other MCDM techniques such as GRA, DRSA, VIKOR, SMAA, SWARA and SAW can be also explored to outrank various Indian sectors to deal with subjectivity in decision-making.

Implementation of ICT applications to support e-governance varies from sector to sector. ICT-based governance involves high degree of complexity in driving the operations for development of respective sectors. Therefore, government and policymakers need more flexibility to overcome present barriers of sector development. Such research can support decision-making where GST-based COPRAS-G method is able to capture and address the breaches of information security. Moreover, management concern for sector development has been presented on the basis of pessimistic, optimistic and realistic scenarios more precisely.

The results can provide guidance to the academicians, policymakers and public sectors highlighting various possible measures to handle the security breaches in multi-facet intention of sustainable development. The outcomes from MCDM framework can also help in drawing a rough trajectory of strategy, i.e. development of ICTs applications and e-governance process.

This paper can supplement and act as the support for decision-making in conflicting situations on different flexible scenarios. Moreover, such work can synergize conflicting ideas of decision makers, academics and various other stakeholders of the Indian IT sector.

This paper explores the institutional challenges and opportunities in Fiji's integration into the global value chain. Fiji is naturally endowed with coconut palms across its many islands. However, the coconut sector remains rudimentary with little value-addition. Coconut products of high-value are now being produced and exported throughout the world. While many coconut producing countries have benefitted from this coconut demand surge, Fiji has been unable to benefit from the international market.

This study utilizes a mixed-methods approach to analyze the challenges and opportunities. First, an analysis is done on a macro-level at the link between institutional quality and Fiji's export of coconut products. Then, primary data is collected with semi-structured interviews with key stakeholder groups in regions of Fiji. The goal is to gain an understanding of the perceived challenges and opportunities from each actor.

The empirical results show that institutional quality matters for Fiji's coconut exports. Increased scores in the government effectiveness and voice and accountability indicators enhance coconut exports from Fiji, suggesting that domestic institutions play an important role. Interviews with key actors reveal that communications among each stakeholder group are fragmented. The main institutional actors and the producers have different perceptions of the industry's challenges, thus resulting in different ideas on how to address the issues.

This study is limited by the data availability of coconut production and trade volume of more specific products. Furthermore, due to the transportation and weather constraints during our visit to Fiji, certain parts of the island were not accessible.

This paper uses a mixed-methods approach to assess a specific case study.

This paper uses the complex proportionality assessment (COPRAS) method to examine the driving factors of Industry 4.0 (I4) technologies for lean implementation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Adopting I4 technology is imperative for SMEs seeking to maintain competitiveness within the manufacturing sector. A thorough understanding of the driving factors involved is required to support the implementation of I4. For this objective, the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) tool COPRAS was used to efficiently analyze and rank these driving elements based on their importance. These factors can help small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) prioritize their efforts and investments in I4 technologies for lean implementation.

This study evaluates and prioritizes the nine I4 factors according to the perceptions of SMEs. The ranking offers significant insights into the factors SMEs consider more accessible and effective when adopting I4 technologies.

The author's original contribution is to examine I4 driving factors for lean implementation in SMEs using COPRAS.

Blood availability is critical for saving lives in various healthcare services. Ensuring blood availability can only be achieved through efficient management of the blood supply chain (BSC). A key component of the BSC is bloodmobiles, which are responsible for a significant portion of blood donation collections. The most crucial factor affecting the efficacy of bloodmobiles is their location selection. Therefore, detailed decision analyses are essential for the location selection of bloodmobiles. This study proposes a comprehensive approach to bloodmobile location selection for resilient BSCs.

This study provides a novel integration of the spherical fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (SF-AHP) and spherical fuzzy complex proportional assessment (SF-COPRAS) methodologies. In this framework, the criteria are weighted using SF-AHP. The alternatives are then evaluated using SF-COPRAS, employing criteria weights obtained from SF-AHP without defuzzification.

The results show that supply conditions and resilience are the most important criteria for a bloodmobile location selection. Additionally, the validation analyses confirm the stability of the solution.

This study presents several managerial implications that can aid mid-level managers in the BSC during the decision-making process for bloodmobile location selection. The critical factors revealed, along with their importance in choosing bloodmobile locations, serve as a comprehensive guide. Additionally, the framework proposed in this study offers decision-makers (DMs) an effective method for ranking potential bloodmobile locations.

This study presents the first application of multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) for bloodmobile location selection. In this manner, several aspects of bloodmobile location selection are considered for the first time in the existing literature. Furthermore, from the methodological aspect, this study provides a novel SF-AHP-integrated SF-COPRAS methodology.

Existing studies have found that most merger and acquisition (M&A) activities do not create the intended synergy. These studies have mainly investigated how firms' internal factors contribute to M&A successes or failures. The current study differs from the earlier ones by exploring how governments' activities can contribute to the creation of acquisition synergy.

A novel technique based on multi-objective optimization by ratio analysis and complex proportional assessment method under an interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy (IVIF) environment is proposed to prioritize these government roles needed during the M&A process focusing on the Chinese M&A market.

Enactments of regulations and loan guarantees are the most important strategies to help Chinese acquirers overcome acquisition failures. While tax relief ranks third, government training support ranks fourth. Finally, the result shows that government institutional support is the least to help acquirers overcome acquisition failures.

The government has a role to play in the acquisition success. Although this study has prioritized governments' role in relative importance order, the authors recommend that governments capable of providing all these strategies should do so without any specific order. However, if otherwise, governments should not neglect the strategies with less weight completely but rather consider reducing capital allocations to such strategies. Moreover, this study shows how firms with stronger business ties with government officials may enjoy success during acquisition activities. The authors recommend that firms intending to make acquisitions develop stronger ties with governments in order to benefits from governments.

This is the first study to develop a theoretical framework showing how government can contribute to M&A success. The study achieves this by extending Keynesian's arguments and identifies five (5) ways in which governments can ensure acquisition success. Second, within fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making (F-MCDM) research, this study is the first to show the applicability of integrated multi-objective optimization by ratio analysis (MULTIMOORA) and complex proportional assessment (COPRAS) techniques in an IVIF environment. The novel methodology proposed in this study offers an insightful research method to future studies focusing on group decision problems.

The current study aims to deliver a consolidated view of environmental sustainability in cold supply chain performance systems (CSCPS), incorporating theoretical and empirical analysis for improving environmental standards. For this purpose, this study firstly aims to explore and analyze the various crucial challenging factors for environmental sustainability in the cold supply chain (CSC). Secondly, it discovers the most effective sustainable strategies for improving the environmental sustainability of CSCPS.

The exploration of the crucial challenging factors and the proposed sustainable strategies have been done using a systematic literature review relevant to the sustainable performance of CSC. At the same time, semi-structured brainstorming sessions were conducted with the domain professionals having an industrial and academic background to finalize the strategies. Empirical analysis has been performed using an intuitionistic fuzzy (IF) based hybrid approach of SWARA and COPRAS methods.

The key findings of the study address that “higher energy consumption during refrigerated transportation and storage” is the most crucial challenge for environmental sustainability in CSC. In addition, “managerial refrain to profit decline due to sustainability implementation” is the second most crucial challenge that hinders the adoption of sustainable practices in CSCs. Meanwhile, the governmental attention to motivating organizations for green adoption and implementation of solar energy-driven refrigeration technologies are the two most important discoveries of the study that might help in improving CSC's environmental performance.

From the implications side, the study enriches and extends the current literature content on CSC sustainability. In addition, it offers sound managerial implications by identifying the challenges that create threats among the management for sustainability adoption and suggesting the most suitable sustainable strategies, which may help the management to raise the environmental performance of their CSC. Besides having various important theoretical and managerial implications for the study, contemplation of only environmental sustainability traits as a broader perspective limits the scope of the study.

The study's main contribution is the exploration of the most crucial challenges imparting obstructions in sustainable development and sustainable strategies, which may get the interest of the CSC players, market leaders, and industrial and academic practitioners working in the domain of CSC sustainability. In addition, this study offers structured theoretical and empirical evidence for CSC's environmental sustainability, thus playing a bridging role between theoretical sustainability concepts and its practical implications in CSC industries.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent at which the reliability of an aluminium wire rolling mill can be improved by ameliorating current control and maintenance practices.

The paper deals with the discrimination of the most critical components by substantial shop-floor failure data. The research work narrates a method for evaluating maintainability criticality index for each failure cause of identified critical components through two different MCDM approaches: one based on grey-complex proportional risk assessment (COPRAS-G) and the other based on preference section index (PSI).

The primary findings of this research work are to prioritize the maintenance activities by comparing results obtained through different failure analysis models. It is proposing improvements in the maintenance plan of critical components like bearings, gears and shafts of an aluminium wire rolling mill which are commonly representing the most critical components in a large range of industrial processes.

The limitation of the proposed study is that the failure models may not represent failures due to the first instant every time as adequate of design as such components are not checked for a high failure rate.

The proposed study is an interdisciplinary work which will help to understand about the working lives of components and associated failures. It will lead to reengineer new tools efficiently and to gain the maintenance excellence.

Originality mainly consists in the contemporary application of two non-identical MCDM-based methods (COPRAS-G and PSI). It will help to elucidate maintenance issues of major process industries and recommended deliverable keys.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the methodology of a decision-making method for selection of rapid prototyping process and comparison of it with previously developed methods.

Here in this work, the methodology of improved complex proportional assessment (COPRAS) method is used which can handle even qualitative data for attributes.

The proposed methodology is useful and can be applied to any kind of decision-making situation.

The proposed method provides more effective results as compared to other methods and with a simple flow of analysis.