A Hybrid Grounded Theory, Fuzzy DEMATEL and ISM Method for Assessment of Sustainability Criteria for Project Portfolio Selection Problems

In this paper, a set of sustainability criteria is introduced and a hybrid Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) method is performed in order to identify and classify a set of criteria for selecting a project portfolio. Proposed criteria based on fuzzy DEMATEL technique in an uncertain environment  are assessed to determine the relation among all of the criteria. Moreover, ISM method is used to level the proposed criteria which are effective in the process of selecting the project or not. The results obtained from the proposed method demonstrates that profit, cost, soil, atmosphere, energy, waste and risk are the most effective criteria in selecting project portfolio, especially in construction project selection. Furthermore, environmental issues play an important role in the selection of project portfolio while social issues are not as much significant as others. Technical requirement, water, security, and public utility are less effective criteria in selecting project portfolio. Besides, biodiversity, social integration, and responsibility criteria are the most effected criteria in selecting project portfolio.