Multi-stage Decision-making Process Research Articles

A multi-stage decision-making process for multiple attributes analysis under an interval-valued fuzzy environment

This paper presents a multi-stage decision-making process for multiple attributes analysis under an interval-valued fuzzy environment. The proposed method does not demand weights of conflicting attributes through the decision-making process under uncertainty. The performance ratings of potential alternatives with respect to selected conflicting attributes are first described by linguistic terms and then are represented as interval-valued triangular fuzzy numbers. Second, an outranking matrix is proposed to denote the frequency with which one potential alternative dominates all the other alternatives according to each selected attribute. Consequently, the outranking matrix is triangularized in order to provide an implicit preordering or provisional order of potential alternatives under uncertainty. Finally, the tentative order of alternatives undergoes different operations of the screening and balancing that requires sequential application of a balancing principle to the advantages–disadvantages table. It hybridizes the conflicting attributes with the pair-wise comparisons of the potential alternatives for the multiple attributes analysis. Furthermore, an application example is used for the decision-making in a selection problem to illustrate the feasibility and applicability of proposed method in an interval-valued fuzzy environment.

Safe Ship’s Control in a Fuzzy Environment Using a Genetic Algorithm

Marine accidents occurring nowadays testify to the fact that systems enhancing the level of navigational safety are indispensable. This paper describes a method of safe ship control in the collision situation in a fuzzy environment based on a genetic algorithm. The optimal safe ship trajectory in a collision situation is presented as multistage decision-making process. The results have been discussed.

Judging the fairness of voice-based participation across multiple and interrelated stages of decision making

Recent multifoci research reports that multiple sources of justice exist in organizations. In expanding this framework, we address how judgments of overall procedural fairness and behavioral intentions are influenced by different experiences of voice-based participation across a multi-stage decision-making process. The results of two experiments were consistent with a fairness theory framework. Overall, decision procedures were judged to be the fairest and the intention to volunteer was highest when participants were allowed voice in their team and when their team was allowed voice by organizational authorities. When voice was denied by both the team and the organization or was denied by either party, fairness ratings, and participant intentions were depressed and did not significantly differ from each other. This pattern of results suggests that individuals are influenced by transactions across decision-making stages and that such interdependence should be considered when attempting to understand the meaningfulness of voice-based participation.

STOCHASTIC MODELING: A Three-Stage Tourist Choice Process

This study analyzes a multistage tourist choice process which includes three basic decisions: first taking a vacation; second visiting foreign vs. domestic destinations, and third taking multi- vs. single-destination vacations. Various research hypotheses relating to the impact of a number of personal characteristics on these decisions are stated. The methodology uses multinomial logit models with random coefficients estimated by hierarchical Bayesian procedures. The empirical application is carried out in Spain and leads to the conclusion that personal characteristics relating to the chosen destination, personal restrictions, and sociodemographic and psychographic characteristics are determinants of these decisions and that the nested and nonindependent character of the three decisions reveals a multistage decisionmaking process.

An organizational decision support system for effective R&D project selection

Research and development (R&D) project selection is an important task for organizations with R&D project management. It is a complicated multi-stage decision-making process, which involves groups of decision makers. Current research on R&D project selection mainly focuses on mathematical decision models and their applications, but ignores the organizational aspect of the decision-making process. This paper proposes an organizational decision support system (ODSS) for R&D project selection. Object-oriented method is used to design the architecture of the ODSS. An organizational decision support system has also been developed and used to facilitate the selection of project proposals in the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). The proposed system supports the R&D project selection process at the organizational level. It provides useful information for decision-making tasks in the R&D project selection process.

Robust contingency plans for transportation investment planning

A multistage decision process for transportation investment planning is described. Most transportation investment problems inherently involve multiple criteria and uncertainty. To deal with the variations arising from changes in external environments, robust contingency plans should be integrated in the planning process-not after plans are developed-to account for uncertainty. With the proposed decision process, a multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) method is first used to select a set of good potential designs (or potential solutions). Corresponding optimal contingency plans for each design under uncertainty are then prepared. Robustness considerations are used in making the final selection among contingency plans. To demonstrate the proposed decision-making process, a scenario approach is applied to develop a multistage decision-making process for transportation investment planning problems. Finally, an example of regional transportation investment is presented to illustrate the method. >