Enhancing ESG performance assessment in Vietnam’s logistics sector: utilizing an innovative hybrid model for complex decision-making and sustainable investment

As sustainable development becomes a global imperative, assessing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance in the logistics sector is crucial for advancing responsible supply chain practices and guiding sustainable investment. Given the operational complexity and multi-dimensional nature of logistics activities, ESG criteria in this industry are particularly diverse and difficult to quantify. Therefore, a robust evaluation framework is required to accommodate ambiguity and uncertainty in expert judgments. To address these challenges, this study proposes an innovative hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) approach. This method integrates the Spherical Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (SF-AHP) and the Spherical Fuzzy Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (SF-WASPAS) to assess ESG performance among logistics enterprises with improved accuracy and flexibility. This proposed evaluation framework is tested through an empirical case involving Vietnam’s most reputable logistics companies. In the first stage, SF-AHP is applied to assess the relative importance of ESG criteria based on expert evaluations, effectively managing subjective uncertainty. In the second stage, SF-WASPAS utilizes derived weight parameters to construct a comprehensive and nuanced company ranking. A sensitivity analysis is performed to validate the robustness of the findings and confirm the reliability of the proposed method. Comparative analysis among MCDM methods validates the efficacy and consistency of the approach. This research contributes to the evolving discourse on ESG in logistics by providing valuable insights that support investors in identifying sustainable opportunities, mitigating long-term risks, and making informed decisions aligned with responsible logistics practices.