Innovative Work Behavior in the Energy Sector by Fuzzy VIKOR Method

Introduction

Technology has developed radically all over the world, especially in the last decades. This process can be observed for all sectors in the economy (Saviotti, 2018). For example, after this developing technology, there have been significant changes in the logistics sector. Logistics activities, which used to last much longer, can now be completed in much shorter periods. International trade activities are also very advanced thanks to technology (Cressey, 2018; Magotra et al., 2018). In the past, a significant majority of companies could only trade on a local basis, but with the help of the Internet these companies can now trade with companies on the other side of the world (Söderholm et al., 2019). In addition, the health sector is highly affected by technological developments. Today, some diseases can be treated with very modern medical techniques (Naqvi et al., 2018; Safeena et al., 2018). Similarly, innovation is quite important for banking industry. In this context, it is important to make alternative distribution channels such as ATM, mobile banking and internet banking compatible with modern technology (Tunay et al., 2019). In this way, it will be possible to reduce the burden on bank branches (Dinçer et al., 2019a,b). This will contribute to the reduction of the costs of banks in the long run (Yüksel and Zengin, 2016; Yüksel et al., 2016).

Energy is another industry which has different processes. For instance, the renewable energy projects include complex engineering stages. Therefore, in order for these energy companies to be successful in the business, they should give importance to the technological improvement. This situation is also quite similar for the non-renewable energy projects (Mikhaylov et al., 2020). As can be clearly understood from the above-mentioned issues, technological developments have affected the energy sector radically. Therefore, energy companies need to keep up with these technological developments in order to survive in an increasingly competitive environment. In other words, these companies should attach serious importance to research and development activities. Therefore, the indicators which affect the innovative effectiveness of the energy companies should be defined in a clear way (Mikhaylov et al., 2018). For instance, technological capacity of these companies plays a crucial role. In addition to this situation, the quality of the personnel is also quite significant in order to achieve this objective.

In parallel with these issues, this study analyzes the innovative working behavior of the energy companies. In this context, 5 different behaviors developed by De Jong and Den Hartog (2010) are considered as criteria in this study. Based on these criteria, Turkish energy companies are listed in the context of innovative working behavior. In this context, 10 different companies were analyzed. The fuzzy VIKOR method has been taken into consideration in the performance of these companies. As a result of the analysis, it will be possible to determine which company types are better.

It is possible to mention some differences that distinguish this study from other studies. First of all, in this study, energy companies are listed in the framework of their innovative working behavior performance. In this process, a comparative analysis of the performance of state, private and foreign energy companies will be made. In this way, it will be possible to produce strategies specific to company types. However, in such an analysis, the fuzzy VIKOR method is used for the first time in this study. In this way, the results of this model, which is highly preferred in the literature, on the performance of innovative working behavior of the energy companies can be seen.