Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 32759
A Stochastic Analytic Hierarchy Process Based Weighting Model for Sustainability Measurement in an Organization

Authors: Faramarz Khosravi, Gokhan Izbirak

Abstract:

A weighted statistical stochastic based Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) model for modeling the potential barriers and enablers of sustainability for measuring and assessing the sustainability level is proposed. For context-dependent potential barriers and enablers, the proposed model takes the basis of the properties of the variables describing the sustainability functions and was developed into a realistic analytical model for the sustainable behavior of an organization. This thus serves as a means for measuring the sustainability of the organization. The main focus of this paper was the application of the AHP tool in a statistically-based model for measuring sustainability. Hence a strong weighted stochastic AHP based procedure was achieved. A case study scenario of a widely reported major Canadian electric utility was adopted to demonstrate the applicability of the developed model and comparatively examined its results with those of an equal-weighted model method. Variations in the sustainability of a company, as fluctuations, were figured out during the time. In the results obtained, sustainability index for successive years changed form 73.12%, 79.02%, 74.31%, 76.65%, 80.49%, 79.81%, 79.83% to more exact values 73.32%, 77.72%, 76.76%, 79.41%, 81.93%, 79.72%, and 80,45% according to priorities of factors that have found by expert views, respectively. By obtaining relatively necessary informative measurement indicators, the model can practically and effectively evaluate the sustainability extent of any organization and also to determine fluctuations in the organization over time.

Keywords: AHP, sustainability fluctuation, environmental indicators, performance measurement, environmental sustainability.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.12489863

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 834

References:


[1] Collins RD, Selin NE, Weck OL, Clark WC (2017) Using inclusive wealth for policy evaluation: Application to electricity infrastructure planning in oil-exporting countries.. Ecological Economics, 3(3), 193–213.
[2] Bates, G., & Beruvides, M. (2015). Financial and groundwater credit in contractionary environments: Implications for sustainable groundwater management and the groundwater credit crunch. International Annual Conference of the American Society for Engineering Management 2015, ASEM 2015.
[3] Victorl, PA. (2005). Weak Versus Strong Sustainability. Ecol Econ, Vol 52, no 1, pp 127-128
[4] Neumayer, E. (2012). Human Development and Sustainability. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 13(4), 561–579.
[5] Pellenc J. (2015). Strong sustainability critical natural capital and the capability approach. Ecol Econ 8:103–108
[6] Galdeano-Gómez, E., Aznar-Sánchez, J. A., Pérez-Mesa, J. C., & Piedra-Muñoz, L. (2017). Exploring Synergies Among Agricultural Sustainability Dimensions: An Empirical Study on Farming System in Almería (Southeast Spain). Ecological Economics, 140, 99–109.
[7] Sala, S., Ciuffo, B., & Nijkamp, P. (2015). A systemic framework for sustainability assessment. Ecological Economics, 119, 314–325.
[8] Saaty, T. L. (1977). A scaling method for priorities in hierarchical structures. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 15(3), 234–281.
[9] Saaty, T. L. (2001). Fundamentals of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (pp. 15–35).
[10] Kasperczyk N, Knickel k, Analytic hierarchy process (AHP). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ivm.vu.nl/en/Images/MCA3_tcm234-161529.pdf
[11] Ball, J., & Srinivasan, V. C. (1994). Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process in house selection. The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 9(1), 69–85.
[12] Nguyen. H.L, Fong.C.M “Using Analytical Hierarchy Process in Decision Analysis -The Case of Vietnam State Securities Commission,” iBusiness, vol. 02, no. 02, pp. 139–144, 2010.
[13] Vaidya, O. S., & Kumar, S. (2004). Analytic hierarchy process: An overview of applications. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2004.04.028
[14] Roy, R. (Ed.). (2004). Strategic Decision Making. London: Springer London. https://doi.org/10.1007/b97668
[15] Pearce D (1988) Economics, equity and sustainable... - Google Akademik. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2017,
[16] Kuan, F.-Y., Ho, Y.-P., Wang, R.-Y., & Chen, C.-W. (2013). Using RPC Block Adjustment models for the accuracy of environmental research, cartography and geo marketing: a new concept of cartography. Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, 27(6), 1315–1331.
[17] Schaefer F, Luksch U, Steinbach N, Cabec ̧a J, Hanauer J (2006) Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity: The world’s ability to regenerate resources and absorb waste in a limited time period - Product - Eurostat. (n.d.).
[18] Giannetti BE, Almeida CMVB, Bonilla SH (2010). Comparing energy accounting with well-known sustainability metrics: the case of Southern Cone Common Market, Mercosur. Energy Policy 38:3518-3526
[19] Dzemydiene D (2008) Preface to sustainable development problems in the issue. Technol Econ Dev Econ 14:8-10
[20] Nijkamp, P., Rossi, E., & Vindigni, G. (2004). Ecological Footprints in Plural: A Meta-analytic Comparison of Empirical Results. Regional Studies, 38(7), 747–765.
[21] Rees WE (2006) Ecological Footprints and Bio-Capacity: Essential Elements in Sustainability Assessment. (n.d.).
[22] Marchini A, Facchinetti T, Mistri M (2009) F-IND: A framework to design fuzzy indices of environmental conditions. (2009). Ecological Indicators, 9(3), 485–496.
[23] Putzhuber, F. Hasenauer, H (2010) Deriving sustainability measures using statistical data: A case study from the Eisenwurzen, Ecological Indicators, 10, 32–38.
[24] Ahi P, Searcy C (2014) A Stochastic approach for sustainability analysis under the green economics paradigm. Stoch. Environ.Res. Risk Assess. 28, 1743–1753.
[25] Khosravi, F., Izbirak, G., & Adesina, K. A. (2019). An exponentially distributed stochastic model for sustainability measurement of a healthcare system. Sustainability (Switzerland), 11(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/su11051285
[26] Khosravi, F., & Izbirak, G. (2019). A Stakeholder perspective of social sustainability measurement in healthcare supply chain management. Sustainable Cities and Society, 101681. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2019.101681
[27] Saaty, T. L. (1980). The analytic hierarchy process : planning, priority setting, resource allocation. New York: McGraw-Hill International Book Co.
[28] Hydro-Quebec (2010-2016) Corporate Profile and Publications, Sustainability Reports.http://www.hydroquebec.com/publications/enviro_ performance /index.html