Title: An integrated fuzzy DEMATEL-TOPSIS approach for financial performance evaluation of GREENEX industries

Authors: S. Visalakshmi; P. Lakshmi; M.S. Shama; Kamala Vijayakumar

Addresses: Department of Management Studies, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India ' Department of Management Studies, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India ' Department of Production Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India ' Department of Production Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India

Abstract: In the global market scenario, organisations are implementing green concepts to attain competitive advantages. A precise financial evaluation is imperative in this region to ascertain the performance level of these companies. In this paper, we propose a fuzzy-based multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) perspective to evaluate and rank the 14 GREENEX companies in India pertaining to different manufacturing sectors. The proposed framework is structured on accounting-based financial performance using 16 financial ratios. Fuzzy decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) methodology is used to assign weights to criteria and sub criteria, the companies in the GREENEX sector are ranked using technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) methodology. The analysis covers the period between 2008 and 2012 to assess the progress in the financial performance. The integrated fuzzy DEMATEL-TOPSIS approach facilitates the companies to revise their financial information and analyse the best firms' financial position. The empirical findings also demonstrate that financial performance evaluation and ranking of GREENEX companies can be more comprehensive, if financial ratios are considered in MCDM framework.

Keywords: GREENEX; financial performance; fuzzy DEMATEL; multicriteria decision making; MCDM; fuzzy TOPSIS; fuzzy logic; firm performance; India; manufacturing industry; accounting; green manufacturing; environmental friendly equity indexes; environmental performance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOR.2015.069626

International Journal of Operational Research, 2015 Vol.23 No.3, pp.340 - 362

Received: 22 May 2013
Accepted: 09 Aug 2013
Published online: 29 May 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article