Assessing environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of global electronics industry: an integrated MCDM approach-based spherical fuzzy sets

The integrity of environmental, social and governance (ESG) data in corporate sustainability reports is of heightened importance to socially responsible investors. This study aims to define essential ESG criteria influencing investment and assess corporate ESG performance. A novel method, combining Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS) in a spherical fuzzy context, is introduced to address uncertainties linked to imprecision and subjectivity in ESG evaluations. Employing Spherical Fuzzy-AHP (SF-AHP) to determine evaluation criteria for global electronics companies, followed by Spherical Fuzzy-WASPAS (SF-WASPAS) to finalize rankings, this approach was examined within the global electronics industry. The research underscores the method's value in gauging ESG performance and guiding executives in investment decisions. Furthermore, comparative analysis (SF-WASPAS, SF-TOPSIS and Fermatean Fuzzy WASPAS) supports the framework's reliability, suggesting its applicability in resource management for attracting investors and enhancing stakeholder interaction. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed SF-AHP-WASPAS method in assessing corporate ESG performance under uncertainty, providing executives with a robust decision-making framework for sustainable investment strategies.