SHANURSA – A New Approach to Multi-Attribute Ranking and Selection in the Setting of Shadowed Set Theory
Pub. online: 24 August 2026
Type: Research Article
Open Access
Open Access
Received
1 November 2025
1 November 2025
Accepted
1 July 2026
1 July 2026
Published
24 August 2026
24 August 2026
Abstract
Shadowed set (SHS) theory was introduced by Witold Pedrycz in 1998 to play a vital role in handling vagueness and providing a way to approximate a given fuzzy set (FS) by a construct, which is easy to deal with in practice. Nonetheless, the application of SHSs and shadowed numbers (SHNs) is surprisingly underrepresented in fuzzy multi-attribute decision-making (FMADM) literature. To address this gap, the current research aims to introduce and demonstrate a new FMADM method called the SHAdowed $\boldsymbol{N}\boldsymbol{U}$mber based $\boldsymbol{R}\mathit{anking}\hspace{2.5pt}\mathit{and}\boldsymbol{S}\mathit{election}\hspace{2.5pt}\boldsymbol{A}\mathit{pproach}$ (SHANURSA). The methodology involves, inter alia, transforming FNs into their corresponding SHNs using Grzegorzewski’s (2013) approach, then implementing an efficient weighted Minkowski Distance Metric (MDM) for SHNs to better gauge the proximity/remoteness between them. Additionally, a new and unusual closeness coefficient is introduced and defined to enhance the ranking accuracy of alternatives. Finally, the applicability and effectiveness of this closeness coefficient and proximity-based FMADM method is demonstrated by means of three distinct case studies from literature. The findings of this research show that the suggested method is trustworthy.
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Biographies
Souissi Mohamed
M. Souissi is a member of the Modelling and Optimisation for Decisional, Industrial and Logistic Systems (MODILS) Research Laboratory at the Faculty of Economics and Management of Sfax, University of Sfax, Tunisia. He obtained his master’s degree in operations research and production management in 2013 and his PhD in logistics and production management in 2017 from the University of Sfax, Tunisia.
His research interests mainly lie in the field of multi-attribute decision-making (MADM), with a particular focus on the development of decision-support methodologies for complex decision problems under uncertainty, imprecision, and incomplete information.
Zavadskas Edmundas Kazimieras
E.K. Zavadskas, PhD, DSc, Dr. habil, Dr. H. C. multi, prof. chief researcher of Institute of Sustainable Construction, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuania. PhD in building structures (1973). Dr. Sc. (1987) in building technology and management. Dr. Habil (1993). Founder of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (1990). Member of the Lithuanian Academy of Science; member of several foreign Academies of Sciences; Honorary doctor from Poznan, Saint-Petersburg, and Kyiv universities. Member of international organizations; member of steering and programme committees at many international conferences; chairman of EUROWorking Group ORSDCE; associate editor, guest editor, or editorial board member for 40 international journals (Computers-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, Automation in Construction, Informatica, International Journal of Information Technology and Decision Making, Archives of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, International Journal of Fuzzy Systems, Symmetry, Sustainability, Applied Intelligence, Energy, Entropy and other); author and co-author of more than 600 papers and a number of monographs in Lithuanian, English, German and Russian. Founding editor of journals Technological and Economic Development of Economy, Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, International Journal of Strategic Property Management. He was a highly cited researcher in 2014, 2018, 2019, 2020. Research interests: multi-criteria decision making, civil engineering, sustainable development, fuzzy multi-criteria decision making.
