Decision Analysis Applications in the Operations Research Literature, 1970–1989

Abstract

In order to provide a guide to source material for practitioners interested in applying decision analysis methods, this paper surveys applications of decision analysis published from 1970 through 1989. In addition, it presents references for useful decision analysis methods that are often omitted from introductory textbooks. As used in this article, the term decision analysis refers to a set of quantitative methods for analyzing decisions which use expected utility as the criterion for identifying the preferred decision alternative. To be included in this survey, an application had to explicitly analyze alternatives for a decision problem using judgmental probabilities and/or subjectively assessed utility functions. The paper classifies the applications into five areas: energy, manufacturing and services, medical, public policy, and general. It further subclassifies energy applications into bidding, product and project selection, regulation, site selection, and technology choice. Those in manufacturing and services are subclassified into budget allocation, product planning, strategy, and miscellaneous. Applications in public policy are subclassified into standard-setting and miscellaneous. The paper notes articles that present significant detail about methodological and implementation issues, including problem structure/formulation, decision trees, probability and utility assessment, communication/facilitation, and group decision making.