Evaluating airline service quality using a combined fuzzy decision-making approach

Abstract Developments in the airline industry in the last decade have been forcing airlines to evaluate the quality of their service performance with the goal of improving their competitive advantage. It has also become one of the most challenging tasks potentially influencing airlines' long-term success. This challenge calls for a systematic decision-aid tool that can not only handle the vagueness and conflicting nature of service quality evaluation criteria but also integrates the strengths of various multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods in a fuzzy environment. This paper aims to evaluate airline service quality in Turkey, using a combined fuzzy decision-making approach, for the first time in the literature. For this purpose, it identifies sixteen airline service quality criteria under five dimensions. The paper then describes the fuzzy DEMATEL method to deal with the interactions among the evaluation criteria. In addition, it proposes a fuzzy ANP method to consider the interdependence and calculate the relative importance of each criterion. Finally, it introduces a fuzzy VIKOR method for evaluating and ranking the service quality performance of airlines in Turkey. The paper also implements a sensitivity analysis to validate the proposed solution methodology's usefulness and practicality by testing different parameters of index values.

[1]  Ming-Shin Kuo,et al.  A novel interval-valued fuzzy MCDM method for improving airlines’ service quality in Chinese cross-strait airlines , 2011 .

[2]  Ravi Kant,et al.  Hybrid decision making approach to predict and measure the success possibility of green supply chain management implementation , 2016 .

[3]  F. Pakdil,et al.  Expectations and perceptions in airline services: An analysis using weighted SERVQUAL scores , 2007 .

[4]  Yi-Kuei Lin,et al.  Performance evaluation of extension education centers in universities based on the balanced scorecard. , 2011, Evaluation and program planning.

[5]  Safak Aksoy,et al.  AIRLINE SERVICES MARKETING BY DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN FIRMS: DIFFERENCES FROM THE CUSTOMERS' VIEWPOINT , 2003 .

[6]  T. Saaty.  The Analytic Network Process , 2001 .

[7]  G. Büyüközkan,et al.  An integrated DEMATEL-ANP approach for renewable energy resources selection in Turkey , 2016 .

[8]  S. Vinodh,et al.  Application of fuzzy VIKOR and environmental impact analysis for material selection of an automotive component , 2012 .

[9]  A. Gabus,et al.  Perceptions of the world problematique: communication procedure, communicating with those bearing collective responsibility , 1973 .

[10]  Slobodan Zecevic,et al.  A novel hybrid MCDM model based on fuzzy DEMATEL, fuzzy ANP and fuzzy VIKOR for city logistics concept selection , 2014, Expert Syst. Appl..

[11]  Gwo-Hshiung Tzeng,et al.  Multicriteria Planning of Post‐Earthquake Sustainable Reconstruction , 2002 .

[12]  Doraid M. Dalalah,et al.  A fuzzy multi-criteria decision making model for supplier selection , 2011, Expert Syst. Appl..

[13]  Umut Rifat Tuzkaya,et al.  A fuzzy analytic network process based approach to transportation-mode selection between Turkey and Germany: A case study , 2008, Inf. Sci..

[14]  Kevin F. R. Liu,et al.  Decision-support for environmental impact assessment: A hybrid approach using fuzzy logic and fuzzy analytic network process , 2009, Expert Syst. Appl..

[15]  Ru-Jen Lin.  Using fuzzy DEMATEL to evaluate the green supply chain management practices , 2013 .

[16]  D. Chang.  Applications of the extent analysis method on fuzzy AHP , 1996 .

[17]  R. P. Mohanty,et al.  A fuzzy ANP-based approach to R&D project selection: A case study , 2005 .

[18]  Wei-Wen Wu,et al.  Developing global managers' competencies using the fuzzy DEMATEL method , 2007, Expert Syst. Appl..

[19]  I-Shuo Chen,et al.  A combined MCDM model based on DEMATEL and ANP for the selection of airline service quality improvement criteria: A study based on the Taiwanese airline industry , 2016 .

[20]  Chung-Hsing Yeh,et al.  A survey analysis of service quality for domestic airlines , 2002, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[21]  Osman M. Karatepe,et al.  Measuring service quality of banks: Scale development and validation , 2005 .

[22]  Ming-Lang Tseng,et al.  Evaluation of customer perceptions on airline service quality in uncertainty , 2011 .

[23]  Nihan Çetin Demirel,et al.  Group decision making process for insurance company selection problem with extended VIKOR method under fuzzy environment , 2012, Expert Syst. Appl..

[24]  Rong-Ho Lin,et al.  Using a modified grey relation method for improving airline service quality. , 2011 .

[25]  Muhammet Gulź,et al.  A state of the art literature review of VIKOR and its fuzzy extensions on applications , 2016 .

[26]  Hung-Che Wu,et al.  A hierarchical model of service quality in the airline industry , 2013 .

[27]  Suihuai Yu,et al.  A hybrid approach based on fuzzy AHP and 2-tuple fuzzy linguistic method for evaluation in-flight service quality , 2017 .

[28]  Dursun Delen,et al.  Development of a fuzzy ANP based SWOT analysis for the airline industry in Turkey , 2012, Expert Syst. Appl..

[29]  Metin Dagdeviren,et al.  Using the fuzzy analytic network process (ANP) for Balanced Scorecard (BSC): A case study for a manufacturing firm , 2010, Expert Syst. Appl..

[30]  Hee Yong Youn,et al.  Multi-criteria group decision making with fuzzy logic and entropy based weighting , 2011, ICUIMC '11.

[31]  Gwo-Hshiung Tzeng,et al.  A Non-Additive Model for Evaluating Airline Service Quality , 2007 .

[32]  Reza Tavakkoli-Moghaddam,et al.  A novel two-phase group decision making approach for construction project selection in a fuzzy environment , 2012 .

[33]  Gin-Shuh Liang,et al.  Combining VIKOR with GRA techniques to evaluate service quality of airports under fuzzy environment , 2011, Expert Syst. Appl..

[34]  Tsu-Ming Yeh,et al.  Factors in determining wind farm location: Integrating GQM, fuzzy DEMATEL, and ANP , 2014 .

[35]  Ming-Lang Tseng,et al.  Application of fuzzy DEMATEL to develop a cause and effect model of municipal solid waste management in Metro Manila , 2009, Environmental monitoring and assessment.

[36]  Hyun Jeong Kim,et al.  The US airlines relative positioning based on attributes of service quality. , 2005 .

[37]  Hideki Aoyama,et al.  A hybrid approach for fuzzy multi-attribute decision making in machine tool selection with consideration of the interactions of attributes , 2014, Expert Syst. Appl..

[38]  B. Merrilees,et al.  Towards an understanding of total service quality in hotels , 2007 .

[39]  Gwo-Hshiung Tzeng,et al.  A new hybrid MCDM model combining DANP with VIKOR to improve e-store business , 2013, Knowl. Based Syst..

[40]  Gwo-Hshiung Tzeng,et al.  A modified VIKOR multiple-criteria decision method for improving domestic airlines service quality , 2011 .

[41]  Gwo-Hshiung Tzeng,et al.  Combining VIKOR-DANP model for glamor stock selection and stock performance improvement , 2014, Knowl. Based Syst..

[42]  Cemalettin Kubat,et al.  RETRACTED ARTICLE: Evaluation of the hospital service in Turkey using fuzzy decision making approach , 2015, J. Intell. Manuf..

[43]  Wen-Chin Chou,et al.  A hybrid fuzzy MCDM approach for evaluating website quality of professional accounting firms , 2012, Expert Syst. Appl..

[44]  Ravi Kant,et al.  A hybrid approach based on fuzzy DEMATEL and FMCDM to predict success of knowledge management adoption in supply chain , 2014, Appl. Soft Comput..

[45]  Ling Zhang,et al.  A non-additive multiple criteria analysis method for evaluation of airline service quality , 2015 .

[46]  Mukesh Mohan Pandey,et al.  Evaluating the service quality of airports in Thailand using fuzzy multi-criteria decision making method , 2016 .

[47]  R. Parameshwaran,et al.  An integrated fuzzy MCDM based approach for robot selection considering objective and subjective criteria , 2015, Appl. Soft Comput..

[48]  Gwo-Hshiung Tzeng,et al.  Airline safety measurement using a hybrid model , 2007 .

[49]  Gwo-Hshiung Tzeng,et al.  Improving metro–airport connection service for tourism development: Using hybrid MCDM models , 2013 .

[50]  Kannan Govindan,et al.  Application of fuzzy VIKOR for evaluation of green supply chain management practices , 2015 .

[51]  Tsung-Han Chang.  Fuzzy VIKOR method: A case study of the hospital service evaluation in Taiwan , 2014, Inf. Sci..

[52]  Ming-Lang Tseng,et al.  Using a hybrid MCDM model to evaluate firm environmental knowledge management in uncertainty , 2011, Appl. Soft Comput..

[53]  Özer Uygun,et al.  An integrated DEMATEL and Fuzzy ANP techniques for evaluation and selection of outsourcing provider for a telecommunication company , 2015, Comput. Ind. Eng..

[54]  S. Vinodh,et al.  Application of fuzzy analytic network process for supplier selection in a manufacturing organisation , 2011, Expert Syst. Appl..

[55]  Lotfi A. Zadeh,et al.  Fuzzy Sets , 1996, Inf. Control..

[56]  Li Mo,et al.  A TFN-ANP based approach to evaluate Virtual Research Center comprehensive performance , 2010, Expert Syst. Appl..

[57]  Selçuk Çebi,et al.  A quality evaluation model for the design quality of online shopping websites , 2013, Electron. Commer. Res. Appl..

[58]  James J. H. Liou,et al.  Developing a hybrid multi-criteria model for selection of outsourcing providers , 2010, Expert Syst. Appl..

[59]  Mary A. Gowan,et al.  Service quality in a public agency: same expectations but different perceptions by employees, managers, and customers , 2001 .

[60]  Mohammad Jafar Tarokh,et al.  A fuzzy VIKOR method for supplier selection based on entropy measure for objective weighting , 2011, Expert Syst. Appl..

[61]  Metin Dagdeviren,et al.  A fuzzy analytic network process (ANP) model for measurement of the sectoral competititon level (SCL) , 2010, Expert Syst. Appl..

[62]  Gwo-Hshiung Tzeng,et al.  Combined DEMATEL technique with a novel MCDM model for exploring portfolio selection based on CAPM , 2011, Expert Syst. Appl..

[63]  Jin-Woo Park,et al.  Passenger perceptions of service quality: Korean and Australian case studies , 2007 .

[64]  Sheng-Hshiung Tsaur,et al.  The evaluation of airline service quality by fuzzy MCDM. , 2002 .

[65]  Zeki Ayağ,et al.  An intelligent approach to ERP software selection through fuzzy ANP , 2007 .

[66]  Chih-Hung Wu,et al.  Fuzzy DEMATEL method for developing supplier selection criteria , 2011, Expert Syst. Appl..

[67]  I-Shuo Chen,et al.  Aviatic innovation system construction using a hybrid fuzzy MCDM model , 2010, Expert Syst. Appl..

[68]  Rodolfo Vázquez,et al.  Service quality in supermarket retailing: identifying critical service experiences , 2001 .

[69]  Jin-Woo Park,et al.  The Effects of Individual Dimensions of Airline Service Quality: Findings From Australian Domestic Air Passengers , 2006 .

[70]  Unal A. Kahraman,et al.  RETRACTED ARTICLE: Analysis of interactions between performance indicators with fuzzy decision making approach in healthcare management , 2015, J. Intell. Manuf..