The Ranking of Pharmaceutical Companies using an Integrative Multi-Standard Decision-Making and Genetic Algorithm

The purpose of this study is to rank the financial performance measures and to rank the pharmaceutical companies using an integrative multi-criteria decision-making and genetic algorithm، and finally to compare the obtained results with those of Topsis technique. In this study، first، the most important financial measures were identified using Shannon Entropy method. Second، the pharmaceutical companies were ranked using an integrative approach، and the results were compared to those of Topsis method. To this aim، five major measures (including leverage indicator، efficiency ratio، market value ratio، liquidity ratio and activity ratio) and 24 secondary indicators involved in ranking financial performances of companies were used. The population of this study includes all the pharmaceutical companies listed in Tehran Stocks Exchange from 1385/12/29 to 1390/12/29. The data used in this study comprised of financial statements and the legal declarations of the companies in 1390. The results of the study indicate that the most important measures are account turnover، earning per share، and the percentage of the dividend. Given all the measures، Sobhan pharmaceutical company was chosen as the best one and Daroupakhsh and Alborzdarou were among the next two best companies، respectively. The results obtained through Genetic Algorithm are similar to those obtained through Topsis technique in 75 % of observed cases. Moreover، the Genetic Algorithm is capable of not only ranking the pharmaceutical companies but also the determining the distance between them.