E-alliance is the union of e-commerce and its success and efficiency is related to comprehensive quality of e-commerce. Thus, ranking e-commerce websites in e-alliance is of importance, which is a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. This paper proposes an evaluation model based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP), fuzzy sets and technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), to tackle the issue in fuzzy environment. The AHP is applied to analyze the structure of ranking problem and to determine weights of the criteria, fuzzy sets is utilized to present ambiguity and subjectivity with linguistic values parameterized by triangular fuzzy numbers, and TOPSIS method is used to obtain final ranking. Case analysis is conducted to illustrate the utilization of the model for the problem. It demonstrates the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed model.
The advent of the Internet has led to the flourishing development of e-commerce. According to the nature of transactions, e-commerce can be classified into following types: business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), consumer-to-consumer (C2C), consumer-to-business (C2B) et al. Many popular B2C e-commerce websites are operated well in the Internet. However, there are still some difficulties for users to conduct B2C e-commerce transaction. Finding right product in the B2C e-commerce websites mainly relies on web search engines such as Google and Yahoo. In order to find right products, users have to visit websites recommended by these engines one by one until they find suitable products (Kwon, Kim, Kim, & Kwak, 2008). The process is tedious and wastes time. Besides, for some small and medium e-commerce websites, it is impossible to complete with large e-commerce firms (Wang & Lin, 2009). One useful approach is to establish e-alliance. E-alliance is the union to support e-commerce transaction. Information of e-commerce websites can be presented in the form of e-alliance. As stated by Castellani et al. (2003), e-alliance is a software infrastructure. E-commerce strategic alliance model has been implemented into Taiwan tourism industry and achieved better performance (Huang, 2006).
E-commerce performance is related to the success and efficiency of B2C e-alliance. Thus, ranking e-commerce in e-alliance is very critical. The main purpose of this paper is to provide a useful solution for ranking e-commerce in e-alliance. Many factors influence the quality of e-commerce, which determines that the issue is multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) (Vincke, 1992). There are many possible approaches to classify the MCDM methods. Belton and Stewart (2002) gave classification: Value measurement model such as multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP); outranking models such as Elimination and (Et) Choice Translating Reality (ELECTRE) and Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) and at last, goal aspiration and reference level models such as Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). The foundation of above theory is that the decision maker chooses the alternative for which the expected utility value is a maximum (Keeney & Raiffa, 1976). TOPSIS is often criticized for its inability to deal with vague and uncertain problems. However, fuzzy sets have the ability to present these problems and AHP is widely used for tackling MCDM problems in real situations (Chan & Kumar, 2007). Thus, AHP, fuzzy sets and TOPSIS are combined to rank e-commerce in e-alliance, which utilizes AHP to acquire criteria weights, fuzzy sets to describe vagueness with linguistic values and triangular fuzzy numbers, and TOPSIS to obtain the final ranking order of e-commerce websites.
The remainder of this study is structured as follows: Section 2 briefly describes e-commerce and e-alliance. In Section 3, comprehensive quality of e-commerce websites in e-alliance is discussed. AHP and TOPSIS are presented in Section 4. Fuzzy TOPSIS is proposed in Section 5. In Section 6, proposed model is demonstrated. Case analysis is conducted in Section 7. In Section 8, conclusion is discussed.
The e-alliance performance is related to the quality of e-alliance, thus ranking e-alliance has significant impacts to the success and efficiency of e-alliance. Subjective or vague data must be considered during the process. Therefore, an effective ranking approach and model are essential to tackle the issue. A decision approach and model are proposed based on AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS. AHP is used to get weights of criteria, while fuzzy TOPSIS is utilized to rank e-commerce websites. The weights obtained from AHP are included in decision-making process by using them in fuzzy TOPSIS computations and ranking order is determined based on these weights.
Since the decisions will influence the efficiency and success of e-alliance, it is better to invite experts to operate. The accuracy of the decision could be improved. Besides, the difficulty in determining the parameters of most criteria forces us to utilize scientific methods. Therefore, development of a decision approach for ranking e-commerce in e-alliance is very useful and important.
