When logic is fuzzy: harnessing the uncertainty in determining investment for current and future strategic accounts

As its name suggests, fuzzy logic is designed to assist decision-making where a situation is not clear cut and obvious. As Professor Zimmermann puts it succinctly “there is nothing fuzzy about fuzzy logic mathematics”, it is well established robust computation, and despite its contradicting name ‘fuzzy’ and ‘logic’, it is a precise powerful tool that has been applied to control advanced application. Fuzzy logic has been successfully applied by Professor Labib to improve decision making about resource allocation in the health sector and manufacturing, including maintenance, design and production scheduling. In the case of the relative “strategic-ness” of business relationships, fuzzy logic can offer a very granulated 3D model helping decision-makers to fine-tune resource allocation. This helps with consideration of “grey areas” where business relationships are not clearly one thing or another. In this article, we focus on the importance of strategic decision making in resource allocation to particular customer relationships, enhancing a straightforward portfolio approach with the membership functions and rule-base system of fuzzy logic. We also outline enhanced techniques for scoring business relationships populating the model.