Title: An evaluation of suppliers' performance using TOPSIS method: a case study in the ecommerce industry in Iran

Authors: Mahboubeh Kamalkhani; Shib Sankar Sana

Addresses: Industrial Engineering and Management, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrud, Iran ' Department of Mathematics, Kishore Bharati Bhagini Nivedita College, Ramkrishna Sarani, Behala, Kolkata 700060, India

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to use the Multi Criteria Decision Making Tool (MCDM)-TOPSIS method to evaluate suppliers based on their operational performance. One of the industries that have been growing lately and has a high dependency on its suppliers is ecommerce industry. Among several criteria for supplier evaluation, five operational criteria have been chosen by the Delphi method. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to measure the weightage of the criteria, and TOPSIS is used to evaluate and rank the suppliers. This study provides a model that gives clear insight to the company about all the suppliers as to where they stand with respect to their performance. It is suggested that companies share the ranking with their suppliers to assist them in identifying the areas that need strengthening. Sharing these rates also provides a competitive environment to improve their performance. Application of this method is demonstrated through a case study in the ecommerce industry in Iran.

Keywords: supplier performance evaluation; seller performance; supplier evaluation; TOPSIS; multi criteria decision making.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCM.2022.130700

International Journal of Comparative Management, 2022 Vol.4 No.2, pp.139 - 152

Received: 29 Oct 2021
Accepted: 03 Mar 2022
Published online: 03 May 2023 *

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