Insights and challenges into decision management and operational analytics

Guest Editors:
Dr. S. A. Edalatpanah
Department of Applied Mathematics, Ayandegan Institute of Higher Education, Tonekabon, Iran
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Interests: Operations Research and Optimization, Multi-criteria Decision Making, Numerical Modeling, Uncertainty, Fuzzy Mathematics.

Dr. Robert S. Keyser
Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, Kennesaw State University, Marietta, Georgia 30060, USA
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Interests: Lean Production Systems, Work Measurement, Facilities Layout and Material Handling Systems, Human Factors.

Dr. Jun Ye
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, P. R. China
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Interests: Soft computing; fuzzy decision theory and method; pattern recognition and fault diagnosis; optimization design.

Dr. José Carlos Sá
ISEP–School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
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Interests: Quality Management, Lean Six Sigma, Sustainability, EFQM model.

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Special Issue Information

 

Every organization, whether manufacturing or service, starts with a decision and ends with a decision. Between these two, organizations make numerous decisions determining the organization's future. Taking a broader view, it can be said that micro and macro systems, as well as public and private systems, are formed, grow, survive, or collapse due to our decisions. Managers and system owners are responsible for making decisions, arguably their most important role. As we live in a globalized society, this process has been challenged on a number of levels. The growth and development of organizations, the impression, and effectiveness of systems, the occasionally unimaginable quantity of data, successive environmental changes, etc., have forced decision-makers to consider the dimensions of complexity and uncertainty in their decisions. Complexity refers to the existence of a multitude of data or quantitative and qualitative indicators (often conflicting) and the relationships between them. Uncertainty refers, on the one hand, to ambiguity in experts' judgments (problem owners), and on the other hand, to a future diverse from today's. Specifically, facing complex and uncertain problems perplexes and disempowers decision-makers. In reaction, decision management can assist decision-makers in these circumstances.             

The inherent task of decision knowledge is to help decision-makers in making efficient and practicable decisions. In this regard, decision-making knowledge has expanded significantly in recent years. In the decision-making literature, after presenting and developing the hard operations research methods used more in accordance with the operational and well-structured problems, or the economic and financial models that applied in the efficiency evaluation, multi-criteria decision-making approaches were introduced for facing complex cases including several quantitative and qualitative indicators and also examining their internal relationships. Straightway, introducing fuzzy sets and fuzzy sets extensions such as intuitionistic, neutrosophic, and plithogenic sets as a response to the problem of uncertainty and indeterminacy has been outstandingly considered by researchers. Soft operations research methods have also been recently noticed in scientific circles as a response to messy situations. Furthermore, artificial intelligence, genetic algorithm, deep learning, data mining, etc., have been used many times in decision-making studies over the past years. The philosophy of operations research teaches us that a better answer can always exist within a small distance from the current solution; On this basis and despite the progress made, the path of obtaining models that provide more appropriate answers to decision-making problems is still ongoing. This special issue addresses these challenges and possible insights to encounter them.

Topics include but are not limited to:

  • New modeling in decision management
  • Operational analytics under uncertainty and indeterminacy
  • Efficiency analysis for complex social systems
  • Supply chain and logistics management
  • Lean Production Systems
  • Big data and analytics
  • System analysis methods
  • Human-centric computing
  • Information systems and e-business
  • Forecasting and predictive analytics
  • Reliability and maintenance engineering
  • Competitiveness index

Important dates:

Paper Submission Starts: 1st December 2022;
Paper Submission Closes: 31st December 2023;
Expected Publication of Special Issue: March 2024.