Criteria weighting by using the 5Ws &amp; H technique

Vesna Čančer

doi:10.2478/v10305-012-0011-3

Abstract

Criteria weighting by using the 5Ws & H technique Background: This paper introduces the use of the 5Ws & H technique, which is the creative problem solving technique based on who, what, when, where, why and how questions, for the establishing of the criteria weights in multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM). Objectives: The main goal of this paper is to adapt and complete the steps of the 5Ws & H technique, usually used in the problem definition phase, to establish the importance of criteria by the methods based on an interval scale. It also aims to verify the applicability of the proposed approach in the selection of the most appropriate blade. Methods/Approach: In terms of prescriptive approach, the creative 5Ws & H technique was used in the weighting step of the frame procedure for MCDM. During synthesis, the additive model was used, whereas interactions among criteria were considered by using the discrete Choquet integral. Results: The first result is a theoretical statement of the weighting scheme for a new decision mechanism. The second result is the application of this scheme in a real-world case-study. Considering interactions among criteria strengthened the decision-making basis in the selection of the most appropriate blade. Conclusion: The creative 5Ws & H technique proved useful in criteria weighting.

Highlights

When solving problems with multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods, decision makers are encouraged to follow one of the MCDM procedures
This paper aims to answer the following research questions: (1) RQ1: How to adapt and complete the steps of the creative 5Ws & H technique to establish the weights in the frame procedure for MCDM by using the methods based on the interval scale? and (2) RQ2: Does the consideration of interactions among criteria strengthen the decision-making basis in the selection of the most appropriate blade?
The problem definition techniques based on questions (W, 5Ws & H, Why, the 5 Whys) and visualisation are usually applied in problem definition – the first step of the frame procedure for MCDM, based on assigning weights, in order to find and describe a problem, relevant criteria and alternatives

Summary

Introduction

When solving problems with multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods, decision makers are encouraged to follow one of the MCDM procedures. Expressing judgements about the criteria’s importance is a kind of difficult issues for decision makers To eliminate this deficiency, in terms of prescriptive approach, the main goal of this paper is to adapt and complete the steps of the 5Ws & H technique, which is the creative problem solving technique based on questions (Cook, 1998), to establish the weights of criteria by using the methods based on the interval scale: SMART (Edwards, 1977) and SWING (von Winterfeldt and Edwards, 1986), and of the subsets of them. If there is interaction among the criteria, decision makers usually return to the hierarchy and redefine the criteria (Belton and Stewart, 2001; Bouyssou et al, 2000) They can use other models to obtain the aggregated alternatives’ values, e.g. the multiplicative and the fuzzy ones. To determine the criteria’s importance by using the SWING method, the frame questions can be written as follows: (1) Q-SWING-1: Which criterion change from the worst to the best level is considered the most important? and (2) Q-SWING-2: With respect ot this change importance, how many points less and how many points are given to other criteria changes? To determine the criteria’s importance by using the SMART method, the following frame questions can be used: (1) Q-SMART-1: Which criterion change from the worst to the best level is considered the least important? and (2) Q-SMART-2: With respect to this change importance, how many points more and how many points are given to other criteria changes?

A Practical Case

Discussion and Conclusion