Decision process: A stakeholder-oriented video conferencing software selection in sustainable distance education

The decision processes are paramount of importance in both the manufacturing industry and service sector. In decision processes, both individuals and authorities evaluate multiple factors, such as cost, quality, and time to derive final decisions. Service delivery requires the ability to sustain the service flow so that stakeholders’ experiences could be achieved successfully. Particularly, due to the COVID-19 pandemics-caused interruptions, sustainable distance education (SDE) has gained a remarkable position. Besides, there are various decision processes in the SDE, such as determining the right stakeholders and identifying the objectives to manage this service network. Hence, in this chapter, the decision process background is underlined in detail, next in the application part, the decision process of a video conferencing software selection for an SDE target in higher education institutions is addressed, and a picture fuzzy MACTOR (Matrix of Alliances and Conflicts: Tactics, Objectives and Recommendations) method is proposed. This is the first time that picture fuzzy sets (PFSs) are incorporated into the MACTOR method (PF-MACTOR) and applied to the decision-making process of video conferencing software selection decision process with the sustainability target of distance education by the stakeholders’ side. The findings of this study demonstrate that “continuation of uninterrupted teaching delivery”, “ability to give and collect course materials/exams”, and “recording the courses in a cloud” are the most prominent among all objectives in SDE. The results of the analysis also highlight that “managerial staff” and “representatives of technology providers” are influential stakeholders, while the “academic staff” is a key player leading other stakeholders. In addition, this study provides a theoretical contribution by proposing a novel approach and presents managerial and practical implications by highlighting the relationship requirements between each stakeholder.