Application Of Analytic Hierarchy Process Research Articles

Interactive management control via analytic hierarchy process (AHP). An empirical study in a public university hospital

Management control in public university hospitals is a challenging task because of continuous changes due to external pressures (e.g. economic pressures, stakeholder focuses and scientific progress) and internal complexities (top management turnover, shared leadership, technological evolution, and researcher oriented mission). Interactive budgeting contributed to improving vertical and horizontal communication between hospital and stakeholders and between different organizational levels. This paper describes an application of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to enhance interactive budgeting in one of the biggest public university hospital in Italy. AHP improved budget allocation facilitating elicitation and formalization of units' needs. Furthermore, AHP facilitated vertical communication among manager and stakeholders, as it allowed multilevel hierarchical representation of hospital needs, and horizontal communication among staff of the same hospital, as it allowed units' need prioritization and standardization, with a scientific multi-criteria approach, without using complex mathematics. Finally, AHP allowed traceability of a complex decision making processes (as budget allocation), this aspect being of paramount importance in public sectors, where managers are called to respond to many different stakeholders about their choices.

An application of the AHP in evaluating the sales channels of the Chinese flower market

In this case study, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is applied to evaluate the marketing modes of the Shanghai flower market, because of the large flower consumption volume and the location of gathering flower products from nationwide before export. The relative weights of four elements of marketing tools (4Ps), and eventually the optimal marketing mode is selected. The results provide two different modes of marketing strategies, such as packaging design, on-line advertisement, and authorized agencies, to gain the competitiveness. The results obtained provide useful implications for developing innovation and learning for flower industries in developing economies.

Aplicação do Processo de Análise Hierárquica (AHP) no mapeamento de perigo de escorregamentos em áreas urbanas

O método de mapeamento de perigo de escorregamentos em áreas urbanas mais utilizado atualmente no Brasil é o adotado pelo Ministério das Cidades. Com a finalidade de torná-lo mais sistemático e diminuir o grau de subjetividade na comparação e hierarquização dos setores de perigo, porém sem modificar sua abordagem fundamental, o presente trabalho propõe incorporar na análise o Processo de Análise Hierárquica (AHP). Para validar essa proposta foi realizado um ensaio de aplicação em áreas de risco a escorregamentos no Município de São Sebastião (SP), mapeadas anteriormente pelo Instituto Geológico da Secretaria do Meio Ambiente do Estado de São Paulo (IG/SMA/SP), segundo a abordagem tradicional, ou seja, sem a incorporação sistemática do AHP. Os resultados do mapeamento do IG para uma das áreas (Vila Baiana), exemplificada neste trabalho, foram mais conservadores que aqueles obtidos com a incorporação do método AHP. A sua aplicação diminuiu a subjetividade e evidenciou a facilidade e praticidade na ponderação dos indicadores na classificação do perigo. A análise das opiniões de três especialistas nos julgamentos paritários dos indicadores de perigo a escorregamentos mostrou não haver discrepâncias na classificação do perigo.

Application of AHP and Taguchi loss functions in evaluation of advanced manufacturing technologies

The purpose of this study is to develop the decision model to help decision makers with their technology selection. Evaluation and selection of a new technology is a multi-criteria decision-making process encompassing various tangible and intangible factors. Thus, these factors should be identified for inclusion in the evaluation process. A thorough analysis of the impact, both positive and negative, of such factors on the organization is also required in the evaluation technique. Therefore, the first step in the development of a decision model for evaluation of technology alternatives is the identification of the pertinent factors. To accomplish this, both risks and benefits of implementing a new technology are identified for inclusion in the evaluation process. Once pertinent risks and benefits are identified, a mechanism for analysis of these factors is developed. Since these factors can be objective and subjective, a hybrid approach that applies to both quantitative and qualitative factors is used in the development of the model. Taguchi loss function is used to measure performance of each technology candidate with respect to the risk and benefit categories. Appropriate Taguchi loss functions are formulated based on the target value and the specification limits set by the decision maker. These loss functions are then used to calculate Taguchi loss scores for each technology alternative. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is used to determine the relative importance of the risks and benefits to the decision maker. The weighted loss scores are calculated for each technology alternative by using the relative importance as the weights. The composite weighted loss scores are then calculated and used for ranking of the technology alternatives. The technology with the smallest composite loss score is recommended for adoption. The proposed model provides guidelines for managers to make an informed decision regarding technology selection. In addition, combining Taguchi loss function and AHP provides a novel approach for ranking of the potential technology alternatives for implementation purposes.

Application of a RS- and GIS-based semi-quantitative approach (analytical hierarchy process – AHP) in landslide hazard risk assessment of the Shivkhola Watershed, Darjiling Himalaya

The present study deals with the application of analytical hierarchy process to prepare landslide hazard risk map of the Shivkhola Watershed applying remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS). Firstly, to integrate all the required thematic data layers and to prepare landslide susceptibility map, prioritised class rating value and prioritised factor rating value were obtained by developing couple-comparing matrix with a reasonable consistency and with the help of MATLAB software after Saaty. Three important risk factor/element maps, that is, weighted land use/land cover map, road contributing area map and settlement density map, were developed and their weighted linear combination was performed to prepare landslide risk exposure map. Then by integrating landslide susceptibility map and landslide risk exposure map, a classification was incorporated on ARC GIS Platform to prepare landslide hazard risk map. To evaluate the validity of the landslide hazard risk map, probability/chance of landslide hazard risk event has been estimated by means of frequency ratio between landslide hazard risk area (%) and number of risk events (%) for each landslide hazard risk class. Finally, an accuracy assessment was also made on ERDAS Imagine (8.5) which depicts that the classification accuracy of the landslide hazard risk map was 92.89 with overall Kappa statistics of 0.8929.

Application of Analytical Hierarchy Process in Evaluation of Municipal Solid Waste Utilization

With the rapid development of economic, substantial increase of production and consumption, the resource is developed and used excessively, which brought a growing deterioration of the environment and ecological problems. Researching and selecting scientific and rational disposal technologies can effectively solve the current municipal solid waste pollution of environment. This paper introduced the municipal solid waste utilization methods used commonly. This paper establishes a solid waste utilization evaluation indices system based on Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Then it discusses the theoretical foundations and application process of AHP and analyzed dependence and feedback among indices.

The Application of AHP and GIS to the Analysis of Urbanization Spatial Development:A Case Study of Zitong County, a Low Mountain Hilly Old Revolutionary Base Area

With Zitong County in Sichuan Province,an old revolutionary base area,as the study area,the authors classified the factors affecting urbanization spatial development into three types,i.e.,traffic,regional dynamics and landform,and,on the basis of ASTER GDEM,ETM and basic geographic information data,extracted nine factors,namely national highway,provincial road,county road,vegetable orchid area,ecological tourism area,ecological industrial area,stream system,slope and degree of topographic relief.The weights of these factors were calculated in combination with Analytical Hierarchy Process(AHP),and the spatial pattern adaptability gradation and zoning charts were compiled by means of spatial superimposition analysis in ArcGIS 9.3.The realization of this method has provided a entirely new workable means for scientific quantitative evaluation of urbanization spatial pattern model in the lower mountain hilly old revolutionary base area.

Application of analytic hierarchy process in selecting a biological indicator for a river flow restoration

Biological indicators play a vital role in monitoring and assessing river health and their selections are, consequently, directly related to the overall success of monitoring programs. In this study, we employed the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to select an appropriate indicator from several indicator candidates. The process was first to form a three level AHP model with four criteria and three indicator alternatives, and then to evaluate the indicator alternatives mathematically, and finally to obtain the most appropriate one with highest values. The use of the proposed model showed that it can be relatively easy to select the most desirable indicator from several candidates. Also, the selection process was performed mathematically which was somewhat transparent.

Ranking municipal solid waste treatment alternatives based on ecological footprint and multi-criteria analysis

The selection of a municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment alternative is a complex task in which a widespread set of criteria must be taken into account. Additionally to economic or social aspects, the decision process should consider the environmental perspective. With the purpose of quantifying the environmental burdens, a wide variety of environmental and sustainability indicators have been developed in the last years. Furthermore, integrative frameworks have been highlighted as the best option to achieve more comprehensive assessments.In this work, four different options of MSW treatment were ranked from an environmental point of view applying two methods: (1) the ecological footprint (EF) as single composite indicator and (2) multi-criteria analysis (MCA) integrating the EF together with other material flow indicators related to water consumption, emissions to air and water and occupied landfill volume. The MCA methods selected were a combination of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) aided by Geometrical Analysis for Interactive Aid (GAIA). The objective was twofold: on the one side, the identification of the most beneficial waste treatment alternative (including thermal plasma gasification which as yet has not been assessed systematically) from an environmental perspective and, on the other side, the comparison of the results yielded by the two ranking methods proposed.The ranking obtained in both cases was (from best to worst): thermal plasma gasification, biological treatment of organic fraction with energy recovery from refuse derived fuel, incineration with energy recovery and landfilling. Hence, the EF proved to be a good screening indicator although it did not provide a comprehensive measure of environmental impacts associated to the waste treatment options considered. Besides, the combined application of AHP and PROMETHEE/GAIA as MCA methodology was found to be a suitable way, not very complex at user level, to integrate the information provided by a set of environmental criteria and to aid decision making.

A DYNAMIC ANALYSIS ON PUBLIC BUS TRANSPORT'S SUPPLY QUALITY BY USING AHP

Nowadays, it is a really important issue to improve the supply quality of city public bus transportation in many cases. Meanwhile, the different participants of transport systems have different ideas on the ways of improvement, for this reason the taken measures can be inefficient and expensive. The operational costs are steadily increasing (e.g. price of fuel, wages, etc.) therefore the decision makers do not really have the opportunity to lower the price of tickets. For solving the above mentioned problems, before creating a plan of improving a certain public system, a clear image should have been gained on the preferences of passengers, company managers and governmental decision makers. In the current paper a general three-level-hierarchical model has been set up to analyze dynamically the public bus transport system of a city. The price is excluded, only the elements of supply quality are assessed in the hierarchy. Based on the model, questionnaires were created and for the analysis, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to determine preference weights of evaluators from different evaluator groups. Passengers, company managers and governmental officers evaluated exactly the same type of questionnaires so the results are comparable. Avoiding the difficulties of other AHP applications, we used a simplified Saaty-scale for scoring so that the missing data of the matrices could be calculated by an algorithm as well. This study revealed a priority ranking of the elements of supply quality within each level, and this ranking is comparable among the participants of public bus system. This may help the policy makers to synthesize various aspects of public transportation.

The updated criteria for global investment after the collapse of Lehman Brothers

When Lehman Brothers fell in September 2008, it was the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The financial crisis spread from the United States, its source and hard hit area, to the Euro zone and the globe and triggered a global economic recession, which the world still had not yet recovered from and quickly became a global financial crisis. Nearly three years after Lehman Brothers filed bankruptcy; there are still a lot of unsolved mysteries. Was political responsibility the main reason for the bankruptcy? Or did the US government deliberately let Lehman fall? Or was the US government incapable of saving it? The purpose of this study is to construct an evaluation model of the factors for the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. We first used Modified Delphi Method to collate Taiwanese experts’ opinions selecting appropriate evaluation criteria and then applied Analytic hierarchy Process (AHP) to decide the relative weights and orders of the criteria of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The updated criteria can be used as guide for the overseas investment. Key words: Crisis, Lehman Brothers, Delphi, AHP, global investment.

Application of analytic hierarchy process and multicriteria decision analysis on waste management: A case study in iran

This research compares the various waste management strategies in Tabriz, Iran, and selects the best one by a decision‐making method. Selection the best strategy is conducted based on the Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA). In this regard, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), a mathematical technique for multicriteria decision making, and the Multi Criteria Analysis which is a developed decision‐making tool have been used. This research compares four waste management strategies including various practices such as Source Separation (SS), Biological and Mechanical Treatment (BMT), Refused Derived Fuel (RDF), Incineration and Landfilling. There are mainly eight criteria weighted based on the AHP method to select the best strategy. These criteria consist of required land for waste management, energy recovery, investment and operation costs, income to cost ratio (benefit), environmental impacts, and complexity of implementation and operation of process, public acceptance, and recycling materials. The results of this study demonstrate that the first strategy provides the best solution for waste management which includes SS, Compost production, BMT, RDF and Landfilling. Finally, study suggests various solutions that minimize environmental impacts and social cost and improve the public acceptance. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 32: 810–817, 2013

A BOCR structure for privatisation effective criteria of Iran newsprint paper industry

The privatisation of the Iran newsprint industry has caused an increase in production and decrease in importation. Recognition of effective criteria in newsprint privatisation will accelerate privatisation of the industry. The goal of the research is expediting privatisation in the Iran newsprint industry through benefits, costs, opportunities and risk merits. We applied analytical hierarchy process (AHP) to solve the problem plus questionnaires and pair wise comparisons of the matrices by the experts have also been done in the research. The results show a decrease of budget deficiency, national debts (economic and financial), limiting rules, heavy taxes (economic and executive), encouragement possibility, absorption of foreign, internal investment (economic and financial) and limiting regulative costs (economic and financial) which are the most important sub criteria regarding benefits, costs, opportunities and risks merits, respectively.

Analytic hierarchy prioritisation of new product development activities for electronics manufacturing

New product development (NPD) is a managerial process, performed by many activities. The purpose of this paper is to present the application of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to prioritise activities of NPD for manufacturing companies of electronic products. Mathematical modelling was the research method adopted. An electronics cluster located in the southeast region of Brazil was studied. Therefore, 10 of the 42 activities from an NPD model were suggested to be excluded for the electronics companies. These activities have less than 0.5% overall priority. The results from the AHP application were welcomed by the companies’ NPD experts.

Constrained Fuzzy Hierarchical Analysis for Portfolio Selection Under Higher Moments

Marginal impacts of assets on portfolio higher moments are characterized by triangular fuzzy numbers and then evaluated by fuzzy ranking procedures in order to assemble fuzzy reciprocal matrices that are needed for the constrained fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methods. The proposed methodology increases the scope for emphasizing objective quantitative measures, thus alleviating the influence of subjective qualitative factors. Employing constrained fuzzy arithmetic during fuzzy AHP application produces greater precision and reliability compared with applications of the standard fuzzy arithmetic. By reference to higher moments, the investor is able to strategize portfolios so that there is a reduction not only in exposure to normal risk (i.e., volatility) but also to risk of asymmetry (skewness) and the risk of “fat tails” (kurtosis). The efficiency of the proposed approach is highlighted in the ability to handle investor preferences regarding higher moment risks. More optimal values for a particular risk can be obtained if that risk is of more concern. Moreover, in terms of obtaining portfolio diversification, the method is shown to be more useful than conventional optimization models.

Robustness of AHP in selecting wastewater treatment method for the coloured metal industry: Serbian case study

Selection of the most suitable wastewater treatment method is a difficult task that requires the assessment of alternative methods across usually conflicting criteria. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is applied to evaluate four possible methods (chemical treatment, evaporation, separation by the use of the membranes, and biological treatment) applicable to the manufacture of coloured metals in Serbia. Seven typical criteria are used in the assessment of the treatment methods: energy consumption, price of the chemicals, effectiveness, simplicity of the process, price of the facilities, ecological impact, and necessary educational level of the workers. Following the standard AHP application to identify the most desirable treatment method, a sensitivity analysis is performed to explore the robustness of the final solution (the method to be applied in the factory) if ecological impact and energy consumption receive an increased relative weight compared to other criteria.

Application of Analytical Hierarchy Process to Risk Analysis of Port Construction Project

The application of analytical hierarchy process (AHP) to the risk analysis of port construction project was investigated. Firstly, the happening probabilities of various risk factors during port construction were calculated. Secondly, the aftereffects of the risks were concluded by consulting the experts. Thirdly, the weight of each risk factor was obtained by AHP. Finally, the total risk of port construction project could be evaluated by fuzzy comprehensive evaluation. This risk analysis method was applied to evaluate the total risk of a real port construction project, and the exemplification verified its feasibility.

A review of applications of Analytic Hierarchy Process in operations management

The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on the applications of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in operations management and suggest possible gaps from the point of view of researchers and practitioners. This paper systematically categorises the published literature from 1990 to 2009 in 291 peer reviewed journals articles (searched via Emerald, Ingenta, MetaPress, ProQuest, and ScienceDirect) and then reviews and analyses them methodologically. Our analysis has revealed that a significant number of AHP applications are found when problems require considerations of both quantitative and qualitative factors (e.g., socioeconomic operations decisions). AHP has been largely applied to macro (complex and real) and people (managerial–subjective) oriented problems. The most addressed decision themes are product and process design and, managing the supply chain. A majority of AHP applications are application or case study oriented and only a few papers aimed at contributing to AHP modelling before applying to practical problems. Our review has found that significant research gap exists in the application of AHP in the areas of forecasting, layout of facilities and managing stocks. This paper presents a comprehensive listing of AHP applications in operations management and develops a framework for identifying the decision areas that have better research gaps to be studied by future researchers.

An application of analytic hierarchy process for the selection of a methodology to improve the product development process

PurposeAccording to the literature, on an average, it takes around three to four years to develop a new product and about 50 percent of the costs incurred in product development (PD) tend to be spent on waste that occurs during the PD process. Hence, organizations are implementing various alternative methodologies such as Concurrent Engineering (CE), Lean Product Development (LPD)/Lean New Product Development (LNPD), and Agile Product Development (APD)/Agile New Product Development (ANPD) to improve their existing PD process. However, it is not clear: how does an organisation or a PD manager choose between these alternative methodologies for improving their PD process?Design/methodology/approachSince the above‐mentioned problem requires multiple factors/criteria/elements (in short, it will be called as “attributes” for the sake of simplicity) to be considered simultaneously; the use of a Multi‐Attribute Decision Making (MADM) model is warranted. The most commonly used MADM model, namely the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is utilized to model the above problem using a hypothetical case situation.FindingsIn this paper, the different attributes that are to be considered while making a decision of selecting a suitable PD methodology were identified. Furthermore, the results of AHP indicated that LPD is a better alternative for the case situation under consideration.Originality/valueAccording to the authors' knowledge, no paper exists in the literature of AHP or PD or LPD/LNPD that discusses the application of AHP for the selection of a product development methodology, especially for making a strategic decision in a product design and development department of an organisation.

Mass Customization–Oriented Module Combination Method

For the modular design in manufacturing paradigm of mass customization (MC), module combination is a complex process. To the study on this problem, this paper put forward a module combination method based on module family model. Based on the module family model and tree-type storage structure, this method used a “most similar module" search algorithm to carry out the module search, and applied analytic hierarchy process(AHP) to construct the hierarchy model for the evaluation of module combination configuration program. This module combination method has some theoretical and practical ignificance.