Merger and Acquisition (MA) is one of the critical strategic decisions for the firms that impact the existence and growth of the organizations. The present paper undertakes the context of MA and aims to compare performance of some of the recent acquirers using fundamental financial ratios and market indicators. The study period spans over four consecutive financial years (FY 2019-20 to FY 2022-23). To carry out a comprehensive evaluation of firm performance, the current work uses a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework of LOPCOW (Logarithmic Percentage Change-driven Objective Weighting) and PIV (Proximity Index Value) methods. To aggregate the year wise rankings of the firms, Borda Count and Rank Index Method (RIM) is used. It is observed that ROE (C1), Net Profit Margin (C4) and EPS (C9) obtained the highest weights over the study period. On aggregate, we find that Infosys (A4), HUL (A3) and ITC (A1) show top performance while Vodafone (A11), PVR Inox (A9) and IDFC First Bank (A13) remain in the bottom bracket. The comparative analysis with other MCDM models reveals that the ranking results are consistent while the outcome of the sensitivity analysis reflects the stability. The present work provides a new perspective to the investors, policy makers and analysts.

The present paper contributes to the literature in two ways. First, it develops a novel p, q Quasirung Orthopair Fuzzy (p, q QOF) based group decision making framework to modify a recently developed multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) model such as Comparisons between Ranked Criteria (COBRAC). Second, the paper ruminates on the Strength-Weakness-Opportunity-Threat (SWOT) of the sugarcane supply chain (SSC) in India vis-à-vis adaptation of the advanced technologies featuring Industry 4.0. To set the sub-factors of various dimensions of SWOT, the theoretical ground of Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework has been used. The sub-factors of SWOT have been derived through an informal in-depth discussion with the experts of the sugar industry. Then using a Likert five-point linguistic scale the experts rated the sub-factors based on their relative importance. To determine the weights the modified COBRAC method has been applied. In subsequent stages the reliability of the model has been tested and sensitivity analysis has been carried out to check the stability of the result. The analysis reveals that while experience, by-product utilization and high demand provides strength and create opportunities for SSC, the areas of concern are lack of variety, fragmented nature of supply chains, shortage of next-gen talent and inadequate infrastructure. However, there are enough promises for SSC. The paper shall provide impetus to strategic decision makers for the sugar industry and puts forth a new decision-making framework for the analysts.