Fuzzy cognitive mapping in factor elimination: A case study for innovative power and risks

Factor or criteria prioritization is essential for decision making and planning. In most areas in decision making, integrating the related literature yields an exuberance of criteria which leads a robust decision. Yet, an excess number of criteria may handicap decision making or evaluations in terms of computational time and complexity. In these circumstances, decreasing the number of factors in exchange for a negligible amount of knowledge can emancipate the decision maker yet does not affect the quality of the decision. This elimination can be conducted through qualitative methods such as interviews or quantitative methods. However, quantitative methods are more trustworthy since qualitative methods can be deceptive due to the perceptions of the interviewee. Furthermore, working with larger groups is more prone to neutrality in terms of group thinking. On the subject of innovative power and risks, the literature offers 48 criteria depending on the industry, size or demographics of related companies. Prioritizing and working with these criteria for their decision making applications becomes computationally expensive, especially when embedded in more complex algorithms. In this study, 48 criteria will be reduced using Fuzzy Cognitive Maps and it is believed to provide a sufficient number of criteria with a negligible loss of information and comparisons will be conducted.