Decision making on business issues with foresight perspective; an application of new hybrid MCDM model in shopping mall locating

•New perspective in decision making on business issues.•Presenting a new hybrid MCDM model based on SWARA–WASPAS.•Selecting the best place for shopping mall locating with foresight perspective.•Presenting a real example in Tehran (Iran).

Shopping malls are one of the glories of metropolises with their attractive shops and a wide variety people who are walking in order to purchase goods. Location of a shopping mall is one of the critical criteria, because it can influence the success of the project. In addition, selecting an appropriate location to establish a new shopping mall is a sophisticated, time consuming and risky decision. Commonly multi-factors should be considered in the decision making model. Thus, a comprehensive model should be considered for similar studies. Moreover, the foresight perspective can be necessary for the future competitiveness of the project. Decision makers need powerful tools for the process of the decision making, for this aim two Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods are applied in our model. Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) is applied to decision making in order to prioritize and calculating the relative importance of the criteria. Then, Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS) methodology is used to evaluate potential alternatives. Tehran is considered as a real example of this research and potential places for this mean considered in research. This brand-new hybrid MCDM method is presented in this research as a powerful framework is decision making. This framework can be useful as an appropriate framework for solving locating issues in other companies.