Ranking Performance of MARCOS Method for Location Selection Problem in the Presence of Conflicting Criteria

Abstract

The selection of the best location for a facility is generally a complex process especially when considering multiple criteria in the selection process. The costs associated with purchasing the land and related constructions makes the location selection problem a long-term investment decision. Hence, the problem should be analysed carefully with a reliable approach to avoid the consequences that follows awkward decisions. Many multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods are developed recently which made the selection of a suitable MCDM method has become a confusing decision. In this study, measurement alternatives and ranking according to compromise solution (MARCOS) method is used to solve a location selection problem with conflicting criteria. The ranking produced by MARCOS method is analysed by a comparison with other common MCDM methods and a sensitivity analysis. The aim of the comparison to show that the method agreed the choice of the best alternative while the sensitivity analysis is employed to check the robustness and efficiency of this method. The sensitivity analysis includes the sensitivity of weight test and rank reversal (RR) test. The comparison of ranking with different methods showed that MARCOS method has strong ranking correlation with other methods. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis showed the reliability and robustness of MARCOS method as it produced high consistency of ranking through the tests. Thus, this study validates the applicability of MARCOS method to handle the presence of conflicting criteria in location selection problems.