Multicriteria Decision Aid Research Articles

Using MCDA-C to assess the organizational performance of industries operating at Brazilian maritime port terminals

This article describes the use of the constructivist multicriteria decision aid (MCDA-C) model as an intervention instrument, using a case study of a fertilizer industry located at a Brazilian maritime port terminal, with the goal of developing a customized performance evaluation model to help its management process. The sequence of steps created to develop the model occurred interactively through interviews with the decision maker. The developed model allowed the decision maker to incorporate the unique aspects of the company and environment, thereby widening the performance evaluation possibilities and enhancing organizational management.

An interpolation-based method for the time weighed vector elicitation in temporal PROMETHEE II applications

Many real-life decision problems are time-dependant; they cannot be effectively addressed with the classic multi-criteria decision aid methodology which deals with 'static' problems. In fact, comparing time-dependant alternatives (possible decisions, actions …) may require several assessments spaced in time. If the aim is to rank these alternatives by aggregating their periodic assessments, one would wonder how to weigh these assessments with respect to the time scale. This paper introduces a novel method -based on interpolation- for the elicitation of the periodic weights required in temporal PROMETHEE II. Assuming that each periodic assessment has a relative temporal weight, the proposed method derives, from the decision maker, a subset of these weights. Then the remained ones are found by an appropriate linear interpolation. Simulation results show that a few elicited weights are sufficient to determine an effective approximation of the whole set of the desired temporal weights.

On the elicitation of criteria weights in PROMETHEE-based ranking methods for a mobile application

Today, almost everybody has a smartphone and applications have been developed to help users to take decisions (e.g. which hotel to choose, which museum to visit, etc). In order to improve the recommendations of the mobile application, it is crucial to elicit the preference structures of the user. As problems are often based on several criteria, multicriteria decision aiding methods are most adequate in these cases, and past works have proposed indirect eliciting approaches for multicriteria decision aiding methods. However, they often do not aim of reducing as much as possible the cognitive efforts required by the user. This is prerequisite of mobile applications as they are used by everybody. In this work, the weights to assign to the evaluation criteria in a PROMETHEE-based ranking approach are unknown, and therefore must be elicited indirectly either from a partial ranking provided by the user or from the selection of his/her most preferred alternative into a subset of reference alternatives. In the latter case, the cognitive effort required by the decision-maker is minimal. Starting from a linear optimisation model aimed at searching for the most discriminating vector of weights, three quadratic variants are proposed subsequently to overcome the issues arising from the linear model. An iterative quadratic optimisation model is proposed to fit the real setting in which the application should operate, where the eliciting procedure must be launched iteratively and converge over time to the vector of weights, which are the weights that the user implicitly assigns to the evaluation criteria. Finally, three experiments are performed to confirm the effectiveness and the differences between the proposed models.

MCDA approach for agricultural water management in the context of water–energy–land–food nexus

An integrated methodological framework, combining methods for environmental analysis with multi-criteria decision aid (MCDA), is proposed for decision problems related to the selection of agricultural water management measures in river basins. The proposed framework for environmental analysis combines the driving forces–pressures–state–impacts–responses model with the water–energy–land–food (WELF) nexus model to ensure structured, comprehensive and systemic thinking regarding the definition of the alternatives, the points of view and the criteria of the decision problem. The MCDA framework follows a multi-attribute value/utility theory approach for the estimation of marginal value functions for the selected criteria. This process is supported by the multicriteria interactive intelligence decision aiding system. The estimation of points of view and criteria weights is conducted following the newly-established weights assessment through prioritisation method (WAP), which is supported by the relevant WAP software. The MCDA framework includes strong interaction with a decision maker (DM) to elicit the required information for the above methods. Feedback loops and indicators for robustness analysis are applied, aiming at concluding to a robust value system, which models the preferences of the DM as close as possible. An additive value model is used to aggregate all the criteria and express the global value of all examined alternatives. The framework concludes to a recommended alternative for selection by the DM. The strengths and weaknesses of the proposed framework are identified. The framework is applied in a demonstration example from the Pinios river basin in Greece to showcase its use. The outcomes on the potential WELF nexus trade-offs and the identified sources of uncertainty are discussed.

Environmental perception in 33 European countries: an analysis based on partial order

The environmental perception in 33 European countries is based on eight indicators: ‘Air Pollution,’ ‘Drinking Water Pollution and Inaccessibility,’ ‘Dissatisfaction with Garbage Disposal,’ ‘Dirty and Untidy,’ ‘Noise and Light Pollution,’ ‘Water Pollution,’ ‘Dissatisfaction to Spend Time in the City’ and ‘Dissatisfaction with Green and Parks in the City.’ This system of indicators characterizes a set of objects, here 33 countries, with respect to a complex ranking aim, which may be formulated as attitude toward quality in urban life. Usually such system of indicators is analyzed by methods of multicriteria decision aids, such as the well-known PROMETHEE. Here our focus is on what insights bring the indicators if they are not numerically combined to get a ranking index, like that proposed by Numbeo. In the study performed here, we divide the indicator set into two subsets, the first, the so-called pressure set includes indicators of pollution; the other set, denoted as “quality of life in urban areas” (briefly “urban quality”), includes indicators describing the attitude toward urban services. We show the different roles of pressure and urban quality indicators, and thus the role of conflicts among the indicators. We perform a similarity study and apply methods to find the intrinsic importance of indicators. Further we disclose the combined effect of both indicator systems and the role of each indicator for the ranking. The most important factors for the overall environmental perception were found to be ‘Noise and Light Pollution’ and ‘Dissatisfaction with Green and Parks in the City,’ whereas ‘Water Pollution,’ ‘Dissatisfaction with Garbage Disposal’ and ‘Air Pollution’ apparently play a less dominant role.

Complementary Judgment Matrix Method with Imprecise Information for Multicriteria Decision-Making

The complementary judgment matrix (CJM) method is an MCDA (multicriteria decision aiding) method based on pairwise comparisons. As in AHP, the decision-maker (DM) can specify his/her preferences using pairwise comparisons, both between different criteria and between different alternatives with respect to each criterion. The DM specifies his/her preferences by allocating two nonnegative comparison values so that their sum is 1. We measure and pinpoint possible inconsistency byinconsistency errors. We also compare the consistency of CJM and AHP trough simulation. Because preference judgments are always more or less imprecise or uncertain, we introduce a way to represent the uncertainty through stochastic distributions, and a computational method to treat the uncertainty. As in Stochastic Multicriteria Acceptability Analysis (SMAA), we consider different uncertainty levels: precise comparisons, imprecise comparisons with a stochastic distribution, and missing comparisons between criteria. We compute rank acceptability indices for the alternatives, describing the probability of an alternative to obtain a given rank considering the level of uncertainty and study the influence of the uncertainty on the SMAA-CJM results.

Measuring of International Financial Integration with a Multicriteria Decision Aid Approach

ABSTRACTDespite the diversity of advanced approaches, the concept of ‘financial integration’ couldn’t be explicitly analyzed. Indeed, empirical studies have shown that the measures of international financial integration are one-dimensional analysis. Due to the ambiguity of the concept and its multiple determinants, it must be analyzed in multidimensional levels. The interest of this research is a proposal of a decision aid by a multicriteria approach (ELECTRE TRI) for determining the ranking of 47 countries according to the links between their degree of international and financial dependencies and the behavior of financial actors (trying to make governance decisions or diversification strategies of international portfolio).Abbreviations: MCDA – Multi-Criteria Decision Approach

Multicriteria decision aid for agile methods evaluation using fuzzy PROMETHEE

AbstractThe last decade is marked by the blossom of agile methods and their growing use in many IT projects. They shared common principles and values, such as customer collaboration, early and continuous delivery of releases, accept requirements changing, and other common principles advocated by the agile manifesto since 2001. Meanwhile, there are significant differences among the practices adopted by the agile methods to fulfill agility's principles and values. The differences could be interpreted in terms of how an agile method judges the relative importance of such principles or its orientation to a specific project viewpoint (organizational, technical, or conceptual) rather than others. This fact leads to a necessity of a deep evaluation of agile methods to choose the best‐fit method suited for a project. Moreover, vague and uncertain information used to evaluate those lightweight methodologies could represent an additional difficulty for decision makers (DM). To drawback this problem, the multiple criteria decision aid (MCDA) method fuzzy PROMETHEE is proposed to assess agile methods with regard to different conflicting criteria and handling besides uncertainty in decision making. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis is provided to validate results and verify their stability.

Combining the functional unit concept and the analytic hierarchy process method for performance assessment of public transport options

This paper presents a case study covering the operational and functional performances of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), Light Rail Transit (LRT), and Monorail (MNT) modes in the São Paulo City, Brazil. The innovative multicriteria decision aid model (MCDAM) combine the use of a Functional Unit with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method to access objective and subjective preferences of stakeholders and performances of alternatives of three transport options. The case study shows that the MCDAM has proven to be the most effective. The Functional Unit provided a common set of requirements to guide the performance assessment of the modal options. In addition, the evaluated stakeholders’ preferences were combined with the performance assessment resulting into global priority indexes based on a linear additive function algorithm.

Teaching Case. The Case of Assabi: Expanding the Learning on Sustainability Through an Experiential Qualitative Multi-Criteria Decision Making Activity

ABSTRACTThis teaching case study provides a learning context to explore the integration of sustainability concepts into business decision-making processes from multiple stakeholder perspectives. The case study consists of the simulation of a multi-criteria decision process in a fictitious story about stakeholders interested in the export of frozen fruit pulp from the Amazon forest in Brazil to a large supermarket chain in the UK. Within this case, we present: the key stakeholders and their interests; the alternatives for negotiation and; indicators related to financial performance and the economic, social and environmental impacts predicted by the implementation of each alternative. The learning activities are structured using an integration of Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) and learning in teams with a qualitative engagement with a Multi-Criteria Decision Aid (MCDA). Student groups experience the role of stakeholders by representing their values, knowledge, and preferences in an interactive process where they are progressively exposed to different levels of information about the decision and its consequences. The activity has the potential to offer a practical and complementary contribution in different learning environments to accounting and business decision-making for sustainability.

Combining a dynamic simulation tool and a multi-criteria decision aiding algorithm for improving existing District Heating

The work aims to evaluate the recovering potential of excess heat in the return pipe of a district heating (DH) for heating some substations.The proposed method combines a DH simulation tool and a multi-criteria decision aiding algorithm. It is based on the analysis of the measured return temperatures at each sub-station in order to identify those with high potential of efficiency gains by using the return flow (with support of the supply pipe when needed). Combinations of substations from this set of eligible ones define potential scenarios of connection to the return pipe. The impacts of each scenario on the DH operational performance and the energy savings are evaluated with a detailed hydro-thermal model. The technical parameters and the energy efficiency are not the only points of view in the selection process “of best compromise” scenarios for the improvement of the DH, so that we propose a complex decision aiding process, involving multiple criteria, dealing with different points of view (economic, energy, technical…) and different decision makers. The evaluations of the scenarios on the criteria are summed up in a so-called performance table and aggregated by an outranking model (MR-Sort) to identify relevant scenarios.This methodology is illustrated by the example of a part of the DH in Nantes (France). Interpretation of data from substations of a specific branch showed the potential of connecting some of them to the return pipe. Six scenarios were generated and evaluated with four criteria. Then, the Multi-criteria Decision Aiding method associated to two actors who have different priorities lead to not obvious results at a first glance.

Two-Stage Composition of Probabilistic Preferences

A strategy of multicriteria decision aid in which initial acceptance of all the alternatives is followed by an automatic classification of them is here proposed. This classification is used in the next step to limit to the alternatives in the upper class the comparisons employed to choose the best alternative. A procedure to perform the classification through successive divisions is proposed. It is also studied the replacement, in the calculation of the preference score according to each criterion, which is a central step in the Composition of Probabilistic Preferences, of the probability of being preferable simultaneously to all alternatives by the average of the probabilities of being preferable to each one. Another development brought is the calculation of preference probabilities based on empirical cumulative distributions, derived from the observed preference counts. Procedures for effectively bringing to practice each of these proposals are presented and the results of applying them to different practical situations are discussed.

TOTAL AREA BASED ON ORTHOGONAL VECTORS (TAOV) AS A NOVEL METHOD OF MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION AID

Multi criteria decision aid (MCDA) deals with the problem of evaluating a set of finite alternatives regard to a set of finite criteria. A remarkable volume of qualitative and quantitative researches are done on decision making methods and situations, indicating its important role for managers at different organizational levels. These types of problems are applied in many different fields of human life. A challenging feature of these problems is non-existence of an optimal solution due to considering multiple criteria and the proposed methods seeking to find a satisfactory solution called efficient of Pareto-optimal. In consideration of MCDA problem, in this paper a new method is proposed for solving DM problems, consisting three fundamental steps of initialization, orthogonalization, and comparison. Thus, a new MCDA method called total area based on orthogonal vectors (TAOV) is introduced. This method is constructed on orthogonality of decision criteria. Application of TAOV method is illustrated in a decision problem and its performance is evaluated regard to other MCDA methods. Furthermore, its features are explained around the features of a desirable MCDA method. The obtained results indicate that the TAOV method can be considered as an acceptable method of handling multi-criteria decision making problems.

Decision aiding model with entropy-based subjective utility

An entropy-based method is presented to model a decision-maker’s (DM’s) subjective utility for a criterion value. The proposed method considers distribution of all the values that the criterion takes for the given set of alternatives. Based on the utility so modeled, and and the DM’s attitudinal character, a multi criteria decision aiding (MCDA) approach is developed to find the best alternative. The proposed method and the approach are applied in a real car selection case-study.

Development of a web graphic model with fuzzy-decision-making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory/Multi-criteria-Spatial Decision Support System (F-DEMATEL/MC-SDSS) for sustainable planning and construction of rural housings

There is often a complicated process for planning and constructing rural housings under the influence of (mass)-tourism in reservoir areas, involving multiple evaluation criteria use and geographical information analysis. With some methodologies within a unique framework considering current increasing construction sprawls and ecological consequences, these approaches will overcome existing shortcomings, especially spatial decision and visual impact problems on sustainable rural housing planning and construction. This paper presents a distinct web-based graphic model of sustainable rural housing planning and construction with a Fuzzy-DEcision-MAking Trial and Evaluation Laboratory/Multi-Criteria-Spatial Decision Support System (F-DEMATEL/MC-SDSS) method in a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment applied to Alange, Spain as a case study. The aim of this methodology is to optimally eco-design rural housings under (mass)-tourism in reservoir areas, as for their sensitivity and effect. The methodology presents herein the combined method of GIS and Multi-Criteria Decision Aid (MCDA) together with F-DEMATEL method. Because of the technological improvements in the area of information systems, it has a great necessity to study in what way to combine GIS, MCDA, Weighted Linear Combination (WLC), sensitivity analysis, the Internet, modeling, and database, targeting to generate MC-SDSS based on a web-based platform. A methodological framework named as web-based F-DEMATEL/MC-SDSS is suggested by means of a totally united GIS and definite MCDA model by programed in ArcGIS software’s Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and Model View Controller (MVC) to be an object-oriented system. These program languages interact on an algorithmic web server that processing the MCDA products. The model consists of four main modules: the general overview module, the F-DEMATEL/MC-SDSS module, the sensitivity analysis module, and, finally, the final result module especially with the buildings suitability option, which users can access consecutively. Through the web graphic model developed, seven rural housings constructed in the area can be checked their suitability based on the selected criteria of decision-makers. Therefore, the results can be used to verify sustainable housings’ sites and designs differentiated parts of space as the asynchronous process of decision-makings. Thus, this model can be a channel to collaborate and communicate the spatial design and visual impact strategies of sustainable housings for decision-makers, who have practical and specific purposes.

AVALIAÇÃO DE DESEMPENHO MULTICRITÉRIO DA RELAÇÃO UNIVERSIDADE EMPRESA: ESTUDO DE CASO EM UMA UNIVERSIDADE PÚBLICA

A presente pesquisa objetiva construir um modelo de avaliação de desempenho da relação da Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná - Câmpus Pato Branco com as Empresas, por meio da Metodologia Multicritério de Apoio à Decisão Construtivista. O estudo caracteriza-se como estudo de caso, de natureza exploratória. Para coleta de dados utilizou-se entrevistas e análise documental. Entre os principais achados identificou-se 53 indicadores. Conclui-se que o instrumento de avaliação de desempenho desenvolvido é útil para auxiliar o gestor no gerenciamento das atividades, pois se considerou as particularidades do contexto e contribuiu para a ampliação dos conhecimentos do decisor.

Towards Identifying Multicriteria Outliers

This article tackles the problem of outlier detection in the multicriteria decision aid (MCDA) field. The authors propose an outlier detection method based on binary outranking relations and Local Outlier Factor (LOF) algorithm. The outlier is detected by applying LOF algorithm on the distribution of the outranking relations generated by a multicriteria outranking method. The proposed approach is illustrated on an artificial example and evaluated on a real life financial problem, the country risk problem.

A SMARTS-Choquet’s approach for multicriteria decision aid applied to the innovation indexes in sustainability dimensions

this paper purpose is aligning innovation indicators regarding Ignacy Sach’s sustainability dimensions. The methodology applies multicriteria decision for ordering countries according to the innovation indicators most sustainable founded at Sachs’ dimensions alignment. Innovation indicators were considered about their impact as each one of eight Sach’s sustainability dimensions impact. Regarding methodology, this paper proposes a hybrid method SMARTS-Choquet with SMARTS-TOPSIS’ to use in sensibility analysis. Multicriteria decision aid (MCDA) used considered selection and ordination. Results show eleven countries from 127 sustained their ranking positions using SMARTS-TOPSIS; whilst 126 countries changed completely using SMARTS-Choquet application, provoking a different perspective for investments in these countries; considering MCDA sensibility analysis. The Methodology consider innovation indicators’ relevance, strongest indicators from each dimension, where selection for ordering a ranking where the sustainability aligned to innovation promotes a ranking with the countries more innovative but also sustainable countries.

The CLIOSjre Process: A Flexible Multicriteria, Multistakeholder Decision Framework for Transportation Planning under Uncertainty

Transportation investments determine the long-term success or failure of a transportation provider. It is therefore vital for decision makers to have an in-depth understanding of the alternatives available before they choose to invest. However, often, the process of evaluating alternatives is lengthy, costly, and contentious, particularly for transportation infrastructure investment decisions that are large, complex, and interconnected with other economic development and sustainability goals. Furthermore, transportation investments involve many decision makers, each with different priorities and expertise. Therefore, there is a need for transparent, accurate, flexible, and practicable decision-making aids that can handle the complex challenges facing the decision-making bodies of transportation providers and planning organizations. This paper introduces a new decision aid—the CLIOSjre Process—that combines insights from multicriteria decision analysis, multistakeholder negotiation theory, and uncertainty analysis. The CLIOSjre Process helps decision makers compare multiple alternatives across multiple objectives and seek an informed collective transportation investment decision. Unlike other multicriteria decision aids, the CLIOSjre Process accounts for differences of opinion among decision makers and is designed to facilitate constructive negotiation among them. Finally, the CLIOSjre Process formally accounts for sources of uncertainty inherent in these decisions. In this way, the CLIOSjre Process provides a unique and flexible framework for investment analysis that can adapt to changes in transportation alternatives, decision-maker priorities, and emerging real-world conditions. The usefulness of this new decision aid is illustrated for the East Japan Railway Company’s consideration of a transportation investment opportunity in high-speed rail development on the Northeast Corridor of the United States.

Multicriteria Decision Integrated Prospective Theory Applied at Engineering Services' Company

This paper proposes a model integrates future scenario planning techniques, based on the Multicriteria Decision Aid (MCDA) approach, which can be used as a tool for attending companies' strategic planning, applying it to an engineering company services, located in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The motivation of the studied theme is the possibility of applying MCDA techniques added to the future scenario concepts planning as a tool for strategic (and progress) planning. Thus, the usefulness of the proposed model was proven, since it enabled the manager to analyse investment alternatives in the light of the future prospecting conducted. Recent discussions suggest the use of resources in an optimized way due to the increasing scarcity. This fact makes decision-making and strategic planning based on future scenarios a complex task, since it has multiple and uncertain alternatives. A bibliographic review was performed to identify methods are more applicable to the problems. An innovative proposal is made to unite prospective with multicriteria in a compensatory problem; proposing a methodology with six steps.