基于前景理论的多阶段随机多准则决策方法

研究一种基于动态参考点的多阶段随机多准则决策方法。考虑多阶段决策过程中决策者的风险偏好,建立了基于前景理论的多阶段随机多准则决策分析框架,提出了一种基于阶段发展特征的动态参考点设置方法;构建准则权重的目标规划模型,结合阶段参考点动态变化的特征测算各阶段备选方案的综合前景值;设计方案综合前景值的范围估算模型,以反映决策风险对评价结果的影响;案例研究验证了上述方法的可行性和实际效果。     

DNMA: A double normalization-based multiple aggregation method for multi-expert multi-criteria decision making

This paper develops a comprehensive algorithm for multi-expert multi-criteria decision making problems considering quantitative and qualitative criteria in forms of benefit, cost or target types. We focus on using probabilistic linguistic term sets to express the qualitative evaluations due to their excellence in expressing complex individual and collective linguistic assessments. Firstly, we develop a target-based linear normalization technique and a target-based vector normalization technique. A weight adjustment method is proposed to achieve the tradeoff between criteria after normalization. Given that the two target-based normalization techniques have different advantages, we then propose a ranking method, which consists three subordinate models, based on these two target-based normalization approaches and three aggregation techniques. Reliable results of a multi-expert multi-criteria decision making problem are determined by integrating the subordinate utility values and the ranks of alternatives. The proposed method is implemented to solve the green enterprise ranking problems and the excavation scheme selection problem for shallow buried tunnels, respectively. The advantages of the proposed method are emphasized through comparative analyses with other ranking methods.     

基于CI-TOPSIS的梯形直觉模糊多准则群决策分类方法

模糊群决策分类方法广泛应用于政治、经济与社会生活各个领域,可有效避免个人知识与经验局限性所导致的决策失误。针对信息不完备的多准则群决策问题,提出基于CI-TOPSIS的梯形直觉模糊多准则群决策分类方法。首先,给出梯形直觉模糊集及广义梯形直觉模糊几何聚类算子,兼顾考虑群决策中相应依赖属性与决策者的决策偏好。其次,给出基于离散Choquet积分的TOPSIS算子（CI-TOPSIS）,以此为基础,进一步给出基于CI-TOPSIS的梯形直觉模糊多准则群决策分类步骤,用于确定具有最大可信度群体一致案例比较信息集,并逐步引导决策者给出部分及全部方案的精确分类,充分考虑模糊决策环境下决策者偏好与案例比较信息的级别关系。最后,通过一个投资决策实例对所提出的多准则分类方法进行验证。实例分析表明：该方法克服了决策过程中信息的遗漏,充分保留了决策过程中信息的完备性,更适用于直觉模糊群决策环境下的决策实践,是一种非常有效和科学的方法,可应用推广到更多决策领域。本文所得结论,对于有效解决多人多投资方案的群决策问题,具有一定的借鉴意义。     

Bayesian best-worst method: A probabilistic group decision making model

The best-worst method (BWM) is a multi-criteria decision-making method which finds the optimal weights of a set of criteria based on the preferences of only one decision-maker (DM) (or evaluator). However, it cannot amalgamate the preferences of multiple decision-makers/evaluators in the so-called group decision-making problem. A typical way of aggregating the preferences of multiple DMs is to use the average operator, e.g., arithmetic or geometric mean. However, averages are sensitive to outliers and provide restricted information regarding the overall preferences of all DMs. In this paper, a Bayesian BWM is introduced to find the aggregated final weights of criteria for a group of DMs at once. To this end, the BWM framework is meaningfully viewed from a probabilistic angle, and a Bayesian hierarchical model is tailored to compute the weights in the presence of a group of DMs. We further introduce a new ranking scheme for decision criteria, called credal ranking, where a confidence level is assigned to measure the extent to which a group of DMs prefers one criterion over one another. A weighted directed graph visualizes the credal ranking based on which the interrelation of criteria and confidences are merely understood. The numerical example validates the results obtained by the Bayesian BWM while it yields much more information in comparison to that of the original BWM.     

XOR analytic hierarchy process and its application in the renewable energy sector

Uncertainty is a ubiquitous and inherent feature of the decision-making process. This paper proposes a new method called the XOR-analytical hierarchy process (XOR-AHP) to solve multi-criteria decision-making problems in uncertain and imprecise environments. In particular, the method derives a priority vector from an XOR comparison matrix, an XOR weighting (XOR-W) technique based on mathematical programming that allows decision makers (DMs) to set multiple judgments for a particular evaluation using XOR logic. To incorporate DMs’ preferences in this process, three types of XOR matrices are proposed: optimistic, pessimistic, and neutral. How the new model offers an alternative way to support DMs under uncertain conditions and in imprecise environments is illustrated by considering a hypothetical application (ranking and selecting North African countries for RE investments in the case of the Desertec project).     

An approach to stochastic programming for medium term planning

A number of methods of obtaining the distribution of the optimum of the ‘wait and see’ stochastic programming model have been proposed, but computational experience for these is currently limited to the solution of small problems. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of the ‘wait and see’ model in planning, and to propose a method of analysis based on the minimax and maximax decision criteria. The approach requires the solution of a special class of non-linear programming problems. Computational results to date suggest that it will be possible to analyse practically sized problems in this way.     

A multi-criteria ranking algorithm (MCRA) for determining breast cancer therapy

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women. The selection of an effective, patient-specific treatment plan for breast cancer has been a challenge for physicians because the decision process involves a vast number of treatment alternatives as well as treatment decision criteria, such as the stage of the cancer (e.g., in situ, invasive, metastasis), tumor characteristics, biomarker-related risks, and patient-related risks. Furthermore, every patient's case is unique, requiring a patient-specific treatment plan, while there is no standard procedure even for a particular stage of the breast cancer. In this paper, we first determine a comprehensive set of criteria for selecting the best breast cancer therapy by interviewing medical oncologists and reviewing the literature. We then present two analytical hierarchy process (AHP) models for quantifying the weights of criteria for breast cancer treatment in two sequential steps: primary and secondary treatment therapy. Using the weights of criteria from the AHP model, we propose a new multi-criteria ranking algorithm (MCRA), which evaluates a large variety of patient scenarios and provides the best patient-tailored breast cancer treatment alternatives based on the input of nine medical oncologists. We then validate the predictions of the multi-criteria ranking algorithm by comparing treatment ranks of the algorithm with ranks of five different oncologists, and show that algorithm rankings match or are statistically significantly correlated with the overall expert ranking in most cases. Our multi-criteria ranking algorithm could be used as an accessible decision-support tool to aid oncologists and educate patients for determining appropriate and effective treatment alternatives for breast cancer. Our approach is also general in the sense that it could be adapted to solve other complex decision-making problems in medicine, healthcare, as well as other service and manufacturing industries.     

A Sensitivity Analysis Approach for Some Deterministic Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Methods*

Often, data in multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problems are imprecise and changeable. Therefore, an important step in many applications of MCDM is to perform a sensitivity analysis on the input data. This paper presents a methodology for performing a sensitivity analysis on the weights on the decision criteria and the performance values of the alternatives expressed in terms of the decision criteria. The proposed methodology is demonstrated on three widely used decision methods. These methods are the weighted sum model (WSM), the weighted product model (WPM), and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). This paper formalizes a number of important issues on sensitivity analysis and derives some critical theoretical results. Also, a number of illustrative examples and computational experiments further illustrate the application of the proposed methodology.     

Uncertainty in competitive bidding – a framework for product–service systems

Owing to servitisation, manufacturing companies are increasingly required to compete through the provision of services around their products. The contracts for these services are often allocated through competitive bidding where the potential suppliers submit a price bid to the customer. The pricing decision is influenced by various uncertainties. This article proposes a conceptual framework depicting these influencing uncertainties on the bidding strategy. This framework is based on three empirical studies with industry investigating different viewpoints on the decision-making process. The intention is to support the pricing decision when competitively bidding for a service contract. The framework can be applied to specific competitive bidding situations to identify the influencing uncertainties, model them and depict their influences on the pricing decision.     

On multi-criteria chance-constrained capacitated single-source discrete facility location problems

This work aims at investigating multi-criteria modeling frameworks for discrete stochastic facility location problems with single sourcing. We assume that demand is stochastic and also that a service level is imposed. This situation is modeled using a set of probabilistic constraints. We also consider a minimum throughput at the facilities to justify opening them. We investigate two paradigms in terms of multi-criteria optimization: vectorial optimization and goal programming. Additionally, we discuss the joint use of objective functions that are relevant in the context of some humanitarian logistics problems. We apply the general modeling frameworks proposed to the so-called stochastic shelter site location problem. This is a problem emerging in the context of preventive disaster management. We test the models proposed using two real benchmark data sets. The results show that considering uncertainty and multiple objectives in the type of facility location problems investigated leads to solutions that may better support decision making.     

Dominance intensity measure within fuzzy weight oriented MAUT: An application

We introduce a dominance intensity measuring method to derive a ranking of alternatives to deal with incomplete information in multi-criteria decision-making problems on the basis of multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT) and fuzzy sets theory. We consider the situation where there is imprecision concerning decision-makers' preferences, and imprecise weights are represented by trapezoidal fuzzy weights. The proposed method is based on the dominance values between pairs of alternatives. These values can be computed by linear programming, as an additive multi-attribute utility model is used to rate the alternatives. Dominance values are then transformed into dominance intensity measures, used to rank the alternatives under consideration. Distances between fuzzy numbers based on the generalization of the left and right fuzzy numbers are utilized to account for fuzzy weights.     

An analytic hierarchy process based simulation model for entry mode decision regarding foreign direct investment

A methodology is developed for ranking entry mode alternatives encountered by individual firms considering foreign direct investment (FDI). The methodology deals with the risks and uncertainties related to FDI. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is used to solve the multiple criteria decision-making problem using input from a firm's management. A simulation approach is incorporated into the AHP to handle the uncertainty considerations encountered in an FDI environment. The uncertainties include: (1) uncertainty regarding the future characteristics of the FDI decision making environment, (2) uncertainty associated with the decision maker's judgment regarding pairwise comparisons necessitated by the AHP.     

基于价值-风险双准则的风险决策理论

风险决策问题一直是管理学、心理学和经济学十分关注的重要研究领域。本文对重要的风险决策理论进行回顾,根据已有的研究成果,分析并提出本文研究的理论基础：多重参照点、风险认知和决策多准则。本文将个体决策的参照点归纳为期望参照点和厌恶参照点,并将风险界定为决策事件的未来可能状态与期望参照点发生负偏离的综合,即价值的负偏离和概率的负偏离。在此基础上,论文提出了价值最大化-风险最小化双准则的风险决策理论,给出风险测算方法,及基于期望价值和风险的综合决策值公式。最后,应用该决策理论对经典决策悖论进行了消解,并应用典型的决策实验数据对理论进行验证,结果表明本文所提出的风险决策理论具有很强的解释性。     

基于区间灰色不确定语言的多准则决策方法

定义了区间灰色不确定语言及其运算法则和距离公式。拓展了连续区间数据的OWA(C-OWA)算子,提出了基于区间灰色不确定语言的有序加权C-OWA(IGULOWC-OWA)算子,并对其性质进行了分析。针对准则权重已知而方案的准则值为区间灰色不确定语言的多准则决策问题,提出了一种基于IGULOWC-OWA算子的多准则决策方法。该方法通过对各方案在各个准则下的评价值进行转换,将区间灰色不确定语言转化为不确定语言,然后,利用集结算子计算出各个方案的综合准则值,进而得出各方案的排序。最后通过算例表明了方法的可行性和有效性。     

Ranking irregularities when evaluating alternatives by using some ELECTRE methods

The ELECTRE II and III methods enjoy a wide acceptance in solving multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problems. Research results in this paper reveal that there are some compelling reasons to doubt the correctness of the proposed rankings when the ELECTRE II and III methods are used. In a typical test we first used these methods to determine the best alternative for a given MCDM problem. Next, we randomly replaced a non-optimal alternative by a worse one and repeated the calculations without changing any of the other data. Our computational tests revealed that sometimes the ELECTRE II and III methods might change the indication of the best alternative. We treat such phenomena as rank reversals. Although such ranking irregularities are well known for the additive variants of the AHP method, it is the very first time that they are reported to occur when the ELECTRE methods are used. These two methods are also evaluated in terms of two other ranking tests and they failed them as well. Two real-life cases are described to demonstrate the occurrence of rank reversals with the ELECTRE II and III methods. Based on the three test criteria presented in this paper, some computational experiments on randomly generated decision problems were executed to test the performance of the ELECTRE II and III methods and an examination of some real-life case studies are also discussed. The results of these examinations show that the rates of the three types of ranking irregularities were rather significant in both the simulated decision problems and the real-life cases studied in this paper.     

Best-worst multi-criteria decision-making method: Some properties and a linear model

The Best Worst Method (BWM) is a multi-criteria decision-making method that uses two vectors of pairwise comparisons to determine the weights of criteria. First, the best (e.g. most desirable, most important), and the worst (e.g. least desirable, least important) criteria are identified by the decision-maker, after which the best criterion is compared to the other criteria, and the other criteria to the worst criterion. A non-linear minmax model is then used to identify the weights such that the maximum absolute difference between the weight ratios and their corresponding comparisons is minimized. The minmax model may result in multiple optimal solutions. Although, in some cases, decision-makers prefer to have multiple optimal solutions, in other cases they prefer to have a unique solution. The aim of this paper is twofold: firstly, we propose using interval analysis for the case of multiple optimal solutions, in which we show how the criteria can be weighed and ranked. Secondly, we propose a linear model for BWM, which is based on the same philosophy, but yields a unique solution.     

不完全确定信息的群体语言指派问题的求解方法

针对决策者权重和准则权重为不完全确定信息且评价语言值确定或位于二个标准语言值之间甚至缺失的多准则指派问题,提出了一种求解方法。首先利用证据推理算法计算得到各候选人完成各任务的优劣程度属于各个语言评价等级的信任度,并据此利用二元语义的Δ函数及其函数Δ-1将其集成为群体在所有准则下的综合评价矩阵,然后结合决策者权重和准则权重的不完全确定信息等构建非线性混合整数规则模型,并利用粒子群算法与匈牙利算法联合进行求解。最后实例说明该方法的可行性和有效性。     

Best-worst multi-criteria decision-making method

In this paper, a new method, called best-worst method (BWM) is proposed to solve multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problems. In an MCDM problem, a number of alternatives are evaluated with respect to a number of criteria in order to select the best alternative(s). According to BWM, the best (e.g. most desirable, most important) and the worst (e.g. least desirable, least important) criteria are identified first by the decision-maker. Pairwise comparisons are then conducted between each of these two criteria (best and worst) and the other criteria. A maximin problem is then formulated and solved to determine the weights of different criteria. The weights of the alternatives with respect to different criteria are obtained using the same process. The final scores of the alternatives are derived by aggregating the weights from different sets of criteria and alternatives, based on which the best alternative is selected. A consistency ratio is proposed for the BWM to check the reliability of the comparisons. To illustrate the proposed method and evaluate its performance, we used some numerical examples and a real-word decision-making problem (mobile phone selection). For the purpose of comparison, we chose AHP (analytic hierarchy process), which is also a pairwise comparison-based method. Statistical results show that BWM performs significantly better than AHP with respect to the consistency ratio, and the other evaluation criteria: minimum violation, total deviation, and conformity. The salient features of the proposed method, compared to the existing MCDM methods, are: (1) it requires less comparison data; (2) it leads to more consistent comparisons, which means that it produces more reliable results.     

Assigning machines to incomparable maintenance strategies with ELECTRE-SORT

The increasing demand on productivity and quality requires machines to be constantly available for production. It is therefore crucial to develop an adequate maintenance programme. To facilitate this, several criteria need to be considered, such as: downtime, maintenance frequency, spare parts costs, bottleneck impacts, etc. In the literature, a strategy is selected for each machine with a multi-criteria decision choice method. However, before making an informed decision, each strategy needs to be tested on each machine and then their performances evaluated with a multicriteria decision method. This is time-consuming, inefficient and often unfeasible. As machines׳ performances are usually systematically collected by industries, a much more practical approach is to assign machines to a maintenance strategy. This is referred to as a sorting problem. However, this problem cannot be solved by existing multi-criteria sorting methods because maintenance strategies cannot always be completely ordered: incomparable strategies exist. Recently, a Decision Making Grid was proposed to allocate machines to incomparable strategies. However, this technique can only be applied to problems with two criteria. In this paper, we have developed ELECTRE-SORT, a new sorting method that is able to consider an unlimited number of criteria in order to assign machines to incomparable strategies. A case study illustrates that ELECTRE-SORT provides more precise and flexible maintenance strategies than the Decision Making Grid.