The partner selection in virtual enterprises based on fuzzy pattern recognition

Partner selection is an important part of the formation of virtual enterprises. The author introduced a fuzzy pattern recognition model extended by TOPSIS to resolve this question. In this model, the author converted an absolute (classical) closeness degree into a relative closeness degree according to the concept of TOPSIS. The author defined the fuzzy positive ideal pattern (FPIP) and the fuzzy negative ideal pattern (FNIP). And then, considering the preference of the decision maker, the author used the weighted closeness degree to calculate the absolute closeness degree of each alternative from FPIP and FNIP, respectively. Finally, the author used an example to make a conclusion that we can decrease the difference caused by adopting the different absolute closeness degree by using the relative one. This method may be regarded as an extension of TOPSIS.