A new MCDM method combining QFD with TOPSIS for knowledge management system selection from the user's perspective in intuitionistic fuzzy environment

• The fuzzy MCDM method combining QFD with TOPSIS is proposed for the selection of KMS.
• The proposed method allows the selection of KMS from the user's perspective.
• Opinions concerning customer criteria is transformed into opinions concerning system criteria.
• User's perspectives and designer's perspectives are connected in the evaluation of KMS.
• Decision makers’ linguistic opinions are dealt with by intuitionistic fuzzy sets.

Knowledge management system (KMS) is crucial for organization knowledge management. In order to help the evaluation and selection of KMS from the user's perspective, a new multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) method combining quality function deployment (QFD) with technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) in intuitionistic fuzzy environment is proposed. In the method, the customer criteria and system criteria for KMS selection are required. These two kinds of criteria are established from the user's perspective and the designer's perspective respectively. Customers give their linguistic opinions about the importance of the customer criteria and the rating of alternatives with respect to the customer criterion. Analysts give their linguistic opinions about the relationship between the customer criteria and the system criteria, and the correlation between the system criteria. After the aggregation of linguistic opinions in intuitionistic fuzzy environment, the customers’ opinions are transformed into the rating of the weight of system criteria and rating of the alternatives concerning the system criteria by the QFD. Afterwards the alternatives are ranked according to system criteria by TOPSIS method in intuitionistic fuzzy environment and the best alternative is determined. In the end an example is provided to illustrate the applicability of the proposed method.

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