DEMATEL Technique: A Systematic Review of the State-of-the-Art Literature on Methodologies and Applications

Table 1

Various applications of the classical DEMATEL.

Papers	Research purposes	Combinations	Remarks
Type 1: interrelationships
B. Efe and Ö. F. Efe [42]	Specify the influence degrees of the patient perceived values when applying lean health-care management in an emergency department		Threshold value- average
Malekzadeh et al. [43]	Investigate the cause and effect relations for the dimensions and components of organizational intelligence in Iranian public universities		Threshold value
Ranjan et al. [44]	Address the interrelationships between different evaluation criteria of Indian Railway zones	VIKOR	Threshold value- average
Tzeng et al. [10]	Address the dependent relations of evaluation criteria and propose a hybrid MCDM model for evaluating intertwined effects in e-learning programs	FA, AHP, fuzzy integral	Threshold value-experts
Hu et al. [45]	Establish the causal relationship and extent of mutual impact among quality features and put forth a decision analysis methodology to remove potential problems from the conventional IPA model	BPNN
Hu et al. [46]	Analyze the cause-effect relationship among different quality characteristics to make revisions to the traditional IPA model and find the core problems involved with winning orders	GA, MRA
Cheng et al. [47]	Explore the connection between service quality attributes and the service quality improvement priority of fine-dining restaurants and use it as a reference for service quality strategy planning and resource reorganizing	IPGA
Hsieh and Yeh [48]	Examine cause and effect relations of factors influencing the service quality in fast food restaurants		Threshold value- average
Chiu et al. [49]	Analyze relationships of customer buying decision factors and provide a marketing strategy planning for firms in the LCD-TV market
Ho et al. [50]	Analyze the cause-effect relation between quality characteristics and build a methodology of supplier quality performance assessment to improve supplier quality through optimizing order-winners and qualifiers	IPA, MRA
Tsai et al. [51]	Determine the causal relationships of and interactive influence among criteria and propose a mixed model to evaluate job satisfaction in high-tech industries	IPA
Najmi and Makui [52]	Understand the relationship between comparison metrics and propose a conceptual model for measuring supply chain performance	AHP
Shafiee et al. [53]	Determine the relationships between four perspectives of BSC and propose an approach to evaluate the performance of supply chain	DEA, BSC	Threshold value- average
Shaik and Abdul-Kader [16]	Understand the interdependence among performance factors and develop a reverse logistics enterprise performance measurement model	BSC	Inner dependence matrix
Lin and Tzeng [11]	Determine the relationship between the evaluation criteria contributing industry clusters and establish their value structures and build a value-created system of science (technology) park		Threshold value-experts
Lin and Sun [18]	Examine the impacts of and determine the relationships among different driving forces for the growth of industrial clusters		Threshold value-experts/inner dependence matrix
Wang and Hsueh [54]	Recognize the causal relationships between design attributes and marketing requirements and propose an approach to incorporate customer preference and perception into product development	AHP, Kano model
Wang and Shih [55]	Identify the impacts of functional attributes on customer requirements and present a framework to incorporate customer preferences into product development	CA1, QFD, TOPSIS
Ko et al. [56]	Analyze direct and indirect impacts among various technology areas and present a combined approach to construct technology impact networks for R&D planning using patents	SNA
Yoon et al. [57]	Assess technological impacts and degree of cause or effect among technology areas within the Korean technology system and observe their dynamic trends	PCCA
Shen and Tzeng [58]	Explore the cause-effect relationships among the attributes in the strong decision rules and propose a model for tackling the value stock selection problem	DRSA, FCA
Altuntas and Dereli [59]	Establish causal relationships among technologies and propose an approach for prioritizing investment projects from the government’s perspective	PCA	Threshold value- average
Shen and Tzeng [60]	Explore the complex relationship among financial indicators and improve future financial performance of the IT industry	VC-DRSA, FIS
Lee and Lin [13]	Find the interrelationship of financial ratios identified by managers of shipping companies and financial experts and compare their cognition maps by country and expert group		Threshold value- MMDE
W.-K. Tan and Y.-J. Tan [61]	Analyze how different factors interact and collectively contribute to the successful transformation and diffusion of the smart-card-based e-micropayment multipurpose scheme
Azadeh et al. [12]	Evaluate the impact degree of leanness factors and presents a comprehensive approach for evaluating and optimizing the leanness degree of organizations (lean production)	DEA, fuzzy DEA, FCM, AHP	Threshold value- average
Sara et al. [14]	Assess relative importance and mutual influence of barriers for carbon capture and storage deployment	AHP	Threshold value- average
Liaw et al. [62]	Analyze the indirect relations between subsystems and components and propose a reliability allocation method to solve the fundamental problems of conventional reliability apportionment methods	ME-OWA
Type 2: interrelationships and key factors
Alaei and Alroaia [63]	Identify and prioritize the factors affecting and affected by the performance of small and medium enterprises
Bacudio et al. [64]	Analyze cause-effect relationships of barriers to implementing industrial symbiosis networks in an industrial park		Threshold value- average/inner dependence matrix
Balkovskaya and Filneva [65]	Identify causal relationships between the key evaluation indicators of banking performance as well as defining the most strategically important indicators	BSC	Threshold value-second quartile
Chen [66]	Estimate the importance of the service factors of an academic library and identify the causal factors		Threshold value-experts
Govindan and Chaudhuri [67]	Analyze the risks faced by third-party logistics service providers in relation to one of its customers and extract the causal relationships among them
Govindan et al. [68]	Investigate the influential strength of factors on adoption of green supply chain management practices in the Indian mining industry	AHP	Threshold value- average
Gandhi et al. [69]	Evaluate success factors in implementation of green supply chain management in Indian manufacturing industries
Hwang et al. [70]	Explore the causal relationships among decision factors relating to green supply chains in the semiconductor industry
Hwang et al. [71]	Identify determinants and their causal relationships affecting the adoption of cloud computing in science and technology institutions		Threshold value-
Hwang et al. [20]	Assess the dynamic risk interdependencies for distinct project phases and identify critical risk factors		Threshold value-experts
Rahimnia and Kargozar [72]	Discover causal relationships between objectives in university strategy map and prioritize them for resource allocation	BSC	Threshold value-third quartile
Sekhar et al. [73]	Prioritize and map the causal relation structures in dimensions and subdimensions of HR-flexibility and firm performance from IT industry perspective
Seleem et al. [74]	Select and manage the suitable performance improvement initiatives to enhance the internal processes of manufacturing companies	BSC, TOC	Rank based on and
Sharma et al. [75]	Assess the causal relationships among lean criteria and identify critical ones for the successful implementation of lean manufacturing		Threshold value- average
Shen [76]	Identify the key barriers and their interrelationships impeding the university technology transfer from a multistakeholder perspective		Threshold value-third quartile
Seyed-Hosseini et al. [77]	Analyze the relation between components of a system and propose a methodology for reprioritization of failure modes in FMEA		Rank based on
Chang [78]	Analyze the relationship between components of a system and outline a general algorithm for prioritization of failure modes in FMEA	OWGA	Rank based on
Chang et al. [79]	Examine the direct and indirect relationships between failure modes and causes of failure and propose an approach to rank the risk of failures	GRA	Rank based on
Chang et al. [80]	Examine the direct and indirect relationships between failure modes and causes of failure and propose an approach to rank the risk of failures	TOPSIS	Rank based on
Liu et al. [81]	Construct the influential relations among failure modes and causes of failures and develop a framework for prioritization of failure modes	AHP, VIKOR
Mentes et al. [82]	Consider the direct-indirect relationships between factors and propose an integrated methodology for risk assessment of cargo ships at coasts and open seas	OWGA
Huang et al. [8]	Identify major industry innovation requirements and present reconfigured innovation policy portfolios to develop Taiwan’s SIP Mall industry	GRA, CA1	Threshold value-experts
Li and Tzeng [9]	Discover and illustrate the key services needed to attract SIP users and SIP providers to an SIP Mall		Threshold value-experts
Horng et al. [83]	Identify the relationships and interactions among dimensions of restaurant space design from the expert’s perspective		Threshold value- average
Chen et al. [84]	Determine critical core factors affecting consumer intention to dine at green restaurants and develop specific improvement strategies	SEM, QFD
Cheng et al. [85]	Develop a three-tiered service quality improvement model to identify critical educational-service-quality deficiencies in hospitality, tourism, and leisure undergraduate programs	IPGA, QFD
Shieh et al. [86]	Evaluate the importance and construct the causal relations of criteria from patients’ viewpoints and identify key success factors for improving the hospital service quality	SERVQUAL model	Threshold value- average
Ranjan et al. [87]	Analyze and explain the interaction relationships and impact levels between evaluation criteria and develop a framework for performance evaluation of engineering departments in a university	VIKOR, entropy method	Threshold value- average
Tan and Kuo [15]	Prioritize facilitation strategies of rural park and recreation agencies from the perspective of leisure constraints		Threshold value-maximum value
Wu et al. [88]	Describe the contextual relationships evaluated among criteria and evaluate the importance of the criteria used in employment service outreach program personnel		Threshold value- average
Sun [89]	Handle the inner dependence and identify core competences of newly qualified nurses		Threshold value-experts
Wu and Tsai [90]	Describe the contextual relationships among the criteria and evaluate the importance of dimensions/criteria in auto spare parts industry		Threshold value- average
Sun [91]	Identify and analyze critical success factors in the electronic design automation industry		Threshold value-experts
Wu and Tsai [92]	Depict the causal relations and evaluate the importance of criteria in auto spare parts industry	AHP	Threshold value- average
Wei et al. [93]	Reprioritize the amended modes in the SEM model and establish a causal relationship model for Web-advertising effects
Wu et al. [24]	Explore the factors hindering the acceptance of using internal cloud services in a university	TAM	Four quadrants
Hsu [94]	Find the determinant factors influencing blog design and simplify and visualize the interrelationships between criteria for each factor	FA	Threshold value-experts
Hsu and Lee [95]	Explore the critical factors influencing the quality of blog interfaces and the causal relationships between these factors
Lee et al. [96]	Establish the causal relationship and the degree of interrelationship of DTPB variables (university library website)
Wu et al. [23]	Explore decisive factors affecting an organization’s Software as a Service (SaaS) adoption		Four quadrants
Pathari and Sonar [97]	Analyze a set of security statements in information security policy, procedures, and controls to establish an implicit hierarchy and relative importance among them
Jafarnejad et al. [98]	Classify the criteria in ERP selection into the two groups of “cause” and “effect” and propose a combined MCDM approach to select the proper ERP system	Entropy method, fuzzy AHP
Tsai and Cheng [99]	Analyze KPIs for E-commerce and Internet marketing of elderly products	BSC
Wang et al. [25]	Capture the causal relationships among divisions and identify those divisions within a matrix organization that may be responsible for the poor performance of a high-tech facility design project	SIA	Net influence matrix
Lin et al. [100]	Explore the core competences and investigate their cause and effect relationships of the IC design service company		Threshold value-experts
Chuang et al. [21]	Investigate the complex multidimensional and dynamic nature of member engagement behavior in environmental protection virtual communities	ISM	Threshold value-experts/four quadrants
Rahman and Subramanian [101]	Identify critical factors for implementing EOL computer recycling operations in reverse supply chain and investigate the causal relationship among the factors		Threshold value- average
Hsu et al. [102]	Recognize the influential criteria of carbon management in green supply chain to improve the overall performance of suppliers		Threshold value
Falatoonitoosi et al. [103]	Examine complex causal relationship between factors in green supply chain management and provide an evaluation framework to select the most eligible green suppliers
Ren et al. [104]	Identify key driving factors and map their cause-effect relationships for enhancing the sustainability of hydrogen supply chain		Threshold value-experts
Muduli and Barve [105]	Extract the causal relationships among green supply chain management barriers and establish a sustainable development framework in scale Indian mining industries
Wu and Chang [106]	Identify the critical dimensions and factors to implement green supply chain management in the electrical and electronic industries		Threshold value- average
Behera and Mukherjee [107]	Capture relationships and analyze key influencing factors relevant to selection of supply chain coordination schemes		Threshold value- MMDE
Ahmed et al. [108]	Select the most important dimensions and criteria for evaluating sustainable EOL vehicle management alternatives	Fuzzy AHP
Ahmed et al. [109]	Select the most important dimensions and criteria and propose an integrated model for sustainable EOL vehicle management alternative selection	AHP, fuzzy AHP
Miao et al. [110]	Evaluate the importance and unveil the implicit interrelationships among different scales of CPV and construct a multiscale model for the measurement of CPV of EVs	HoQ	Threshold value-experts/rank based on
Lin [111]	Analyze interactions among industrial development factors and explore how to establish the competitiveness of solar photovoltaic industry	Porter’s Diamond model
Azarnivand and Chitsaz [112]	Quantify the interlinkages among fundamental anthropogenic indicators and propose a systematic approach for water shortage mitigation in the arid regions	eDPSIR, AHP, COPRAS-G
Chen et al. [113]	Quantify the influence on PM2.5 by other factors in the weather system and identify the most important factors for PM2.5	RM	Four quadrants
dos Muchangos et al. [114]	Assess the barriers to municipal solid waste management policy planning and identify the most onerous barriers to the effective implementation of the policy	ISM	Net influence matrix
Guo et al. [115]	Evaluate and investigate green corporate CSR indicators of manufacturing corporations from a green industry law perspective		Four quadrants
Chen and Chi [116]	Explore key factors of China’s CSR from the perspective of accounting experts
Chang et al. [117]	Identify key strategic factors in the implementation of CSR in airline industry
Lee et al. [118]	Calculate the causal relationship and interaction level between TAM variables and find the core variables for management or improvement while introducing a new etching plasma technology		Four quadrants
Wu [119]	Determine the causal relationships between the KPIs of the BSC and link them into a strategy map for banking institutions	BSC
Chien et al. [22]	Identify relationships between risk factors and assess critical risk factors for BIM projects		Four quadrants
Wang et al. [26]	Evaluate the performance of design delay factors and identify key factors that drive design delays of a facility construction project	ISA	Net influence matrix
Tzeng [19]	Investigate the relationship between factors affecting parole boards’ decision making in Taiwan		Simplified normalized total-relation matrix/threshold value
Gazibey et al. [120]	Analyze the cause and effect relations among the criteria affecting main battle tank selection		Threshold value- average
Type 3: interrelationships and criteria weights
Khalili-Damghani et al. [121]	Determine the relative importance weights of compensatory objective functions and propose a hybrid multiple objective metaheuristic algorithm to solve land-use suitability analysis and planning problem	AHP
Khazai et al. [29]	Analyze direct and indirect dependencies within social and industrial vulnerability indicators and develop a framework for spatial assessment of industrial and social vulnerability to indirect disaster losses		Threshold value/dependency weights
Tseng [122]	Resolve criteria interdependency relationships weights and propose a hybrid method to evaluate service quality expectation in hot spring hotel’s ranking problem	Fuzzy TOPSIS	Inner dependence matrix
Quader et al. [123]	Determine the cause and effect relationships among criteria and evaluate the critical criteria for CO2 capture and storage in the iron and steel industry		Criteria weights- vector length/threshold value
Quader and Ahmed [124]	Identify critical factors for evaluating alternative iron-making technologies with carbon capture and storage systems	Fuzzy AHP	Criteria weights- vector length/threshold value
Seyedhosseini et al. [17]	Identify the cause and effect relationships among lean objectives and proposed a systematic & logical method for auto part manufacturers to determine the company’s lean strategy map	BSC	Inner dependence matrix/weights-
Cebi [27]	Determine importance degrees of website design parameters based on interactions and types of websites		Threshold value- average/determining weights using
Yazdani-Chamzini et al. [28]	Analyze interdependence and dependencies and compute the global weights for evaluation indicators and propose a new hybrid model to select the strategy of investing in a private sector	AHP, fuzzy TOPSIS	Threshold value-experts/weights- +

Note. Backpropagation neural network: BPNN; balanced scorecard: BSC; building information modeling: BIM; cluster analysis: CA1; conjoint analysis: CA2; corporate social responsibility: CSR; customer perceived value: CPV; data envelopment analysis: DEA; decomposed theory of planned behavior: DTPB; dominance-based rough set approach: DRSA; electric vehicle: EV; enhanced driving force-pressure-state-impact-response: eDPSIR; enterprise resource planning: ERP; end-of-life: EOL; factor analysis: FA; failure mode and effect analysis: FMEA; fuzzy cognitive map: FCM; fuzzy inference system: FIS; formal concept analysis: FCA; gap analysis: GA; grey complex proportional assessment: COPRAS-G; grey relational analysis: GRA; houses of quality: HoQ; importance-performance analysis: IPA; importance-performance and gap analysis: IPGA; importance-satisfaction analysis: ISA; information technology: IT; interpretive structural modeling: ISM; integrated circuit: IC; key performance indicator: KPI; maximal entropy ordered weighted averaging: ME-OWA; multiple regression analysis: MRA; ordered weighted geometric averaging: OWGA; patent citation analysis: PCA; patent coclassification analysis: PCCA; relation map: RM; satisfied importance analysis: SIA; silicon intellectual property or Semiconductor-Intellectual-Property: SIP; social network analysis: SNA; structural equation modeling: SEM; technology acceptance model: TAM; theory of constraints: TOC; variable consistency DRSA: VC-DRSA.