An Empirical Investigation of Integrated Multicriteria Group Decision Models in a Simulation/Gaming Context

Abstract

This article proposes two models of group decision making that integrate mathematical and behavioral concepts. Further, the results of an empirical test of these two integrated spatial proximity multicriteria decision-making-problem-solving technology models are presented. The performance of these models is compared to the performance of a nonintegrated multicriteria model for two strategic operations decisions: plant location and process selection. The empirical test utilized free simulation methodology and was conducted in the context of the Business Management Laboratory simulation game. Results include the finding that both the integrated and nonintegrated models generally described choices more accurately than a random process did. Findings relating the performance of the integrated models to that of the nonintegrated model were mixed. For the process selection decision, one integrated model, TOPSIS-PST, outperformed the others. Additional results indicate that the number of decision criteria might be a critical factor to consider when selecting a multicriteria decision-making model Finally, the study showed free simulation to be a valuable methodology for the study of multicriteria decision making.