This theoretical article investigates the link between multi-criteria decision-making and wholesale-price contracts with consumer prod- uct exchange. It also presents optimal solutions to those contracts within a game-theoretic framework. In the proposed model, the re- tailer manages exchanges and shares associated costs with consumers. A Stackelberg game is used to determine optimal pricing and ordering strategies, with the manufacturer as leader and the retailer as follower. The supply chain is modeled analytically under stochastic multiplica- tive demand. Because of mathematical complexity, optimal quantities are derived numerically in Mathematica based on analytic profit func- tions. Keywords: multiple criteria decision making, wholesale-price contract, Stackel- berg game, product exchange.
The objective of this article is to expose the results of a research using DRSA (Dominance-based Rough Set Approach) to help the European Union (EU) identifying political, economical, sociological and technological strategic objectives. Using the proposed methodology, politicians and leaders will be able to prioritize strategic development objectives according to Political, Eco- nomical, Sociological and Technological (PEST) needs of a specific candidate country to the EU. More precisely, the proposed methodology classifies all the European Union’s countries in the following three categories: [A] EU coun- tries that are doing well according to the selected indicators; [B] EU countries that need support to acquire category A status; [C] EU countries ranked the lowest and needing special support with regard to the criterion or criteria con- sidered. The three categories are delimited by tertiles relative to the average ranking of all EU countries separately and including Canada. Afterwards, the DRSA provides decision rules based on this classification. These decision rules thus focus on the PEST needs of countries and aim at improving their development and classification by pointing out what is needed to be included in the different categories. The case of Canada and Poland are of particular in- terest because Canada’s trade turnover is dominated by exchange with the United States and is currently threatened by the protectionist policy of Presi- dent Trump. Canadian politicians are increasingly proposing to change Cana- da’s trade strategy towards joining the European Union. According to Thomas Lukaszuk Vice Prime Minister of Alberta, Poland could play an important role in this endeavor. Keywords: international development, European Union countries, international aid, economic growth, strategic objectives, Rough Set Theory, Dominance-based Rough Set Approach (DRSA), selection of portfolio projects, multi-criteria analysis, sustainable development.
In the fight for a better environment and to combat global warming, many countries are eagerly looking for ways to get rid of fossil fuels used in installations for thermal electricity generation. There is world-wide agreement about aiming at complete decarbonization by 2050; this ambi- tious plan consists in replacing old fossil fuel plants by renewables. This is a monumental task that involves a myriad of difficulties, which is however, reachable, perhaps not exactly at that date but possibly close enough to it. This paper proposes a methodology or strategy, based on facts, statis- tics and mathematic modelling, and analysis, knowledge and experience of experts, i.e., it is a synthesis of mathematic modelling and human deci- sion-making. This approach, to the best of this author’s knowledge, has not been applied before at this scale. It is a difficult issue, because of the need to take into account future events, which entails uncertainty regard- ing several issues, such as demands, costs, people’s reaction to new tech- nologies, potential new developments in energy generation, new para- digms on consumption, etc. We do not even know the risks that could appear in the future, such as the degree of global warming progress, financial risks of building new plants, new patterns for energy generation and storage, etc. In other words, uncertainty is part of the problem. Keywords: contamination, fossil fuels, clean energy, MCDM, decarbonization, SIMUS, electric generation, transition.
The paper presents multi-objective linear programming problems and ana- lyzes the sensitivity of their efficient solutions. The aim is to apply sensitivity analysis methods to real-life problems. The novelty of this work is based on the integration of results from the following fields: sensitivity analysis theory, multi-objective optimization and real-life problems. The contribution is the development of potential applications for three approaches: the tolerance ap- proach, the standard approach and the range set approach. The proposed methodology is demonstrated using four examples: the transportation prob- lem, the project management problem, the manufacturing problem and the diet problem. Keywords: multi-objective linear programming (MOLP), sensitivity analysis (SA), transportation problem, project management, diet problem, manufacturing problem.
