A new method for probabilistic linguistic multi-attribute group decision making: Application to the selection of financial technologies

“No technology, no finance” has been the consensus in banking industry. Under the background of financial technology (Fintech), how to select an appropriate technology company to cooperate for the banks has become a key. The technology company selection can be regarded as a kind of multi-attribute group decision making (MAGDM) problems. The probabilistic linguistic term set (PLTS) is a useful tool to express decision makers’ (DMs’) evaluations in the technology company selection. This paper develops a new method for MAGDM with PLTSs. Firstly, the possibility degree and range value of PLTSs are defined. Then a possibility degree algorithm is designed for ranking PLTSs. An Euclidean distance measure between PLTSs is presented and extended to probabilistic linguistic matrices. Based on Archimedean t-norm and s-norm, some new operational laws for PLTSs are defined and some desirable properties are discussed. Then, a generalized probabilistic linguistic Hamacher weighted averaging (GPLHWA) operator and a generalized probabilistic linguistic Hamacher ordered weighted averaging (GPLHOWA) operator are developed. Some useful properties for these operators are investigated in detail. Combined with the subjective weights of DMs, the DMs’ weights are determined by the adjusted coefficients. Using the GPLHWA operator, the collective decision matrix is obtained by aggregating all the individual decision matrices. By maximizing the total weighted square possibility degree, a multi-objective program is constructed to derive the attribute weights. The ranking order of alternatives is generated by integrating ELECTRE and TOPSIS. Thereby, a new method is put forward for MAGDM with PLTSs. A Fintech example is analyzed to show the effectiveness of the proposed method. The sensitivity analysis and comparative analyses are conducted to illustrate its advantages. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.