Informatica

This paper focuses on the aggregation or scoring methods to evaluate the alternatives in Multiple Attribute Decision Making problems (MADM), e.g. Weighted Sum Model (WSM) and Weighted Product Model (WPM). The paper deals with the incorporation of the two concepts into the scoring methods, which has not been studied yet. These concepts are decision maker’s Indifference Thresholds (IT) and Yearning Thresholds (YT) on the decision making criteria. Reviewing the related literature reveals that the existent scoring methods do not have a suitable structure to involve the IT, and there is no scoring method which addresses a way to take the YT into account. The paper shows that there is an important drawback to the famous Aspiration Level (AL) concept. Hence, the YT idea is given to resolve the AL limitation. Based on the IT and YT concepts, two new scoring methods are developed: Extended WPM (EWPM) and Extended WSM (EWSM). The EWPM and EWSM are compared with the other scoring methods using a set of simulation analysis. A real-world case extracted from Exploration and Production (E&P) companies in oil industry is examined.

The focus of this paper is on the criteria weight approximation in Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM). An approximate weighting method produces the weights that are surrogates for the exact values that cannot be elicited directly from the DM. In this field, a very famous model is Rank Order Centroid (ROC). The paper shows that there is a drawback to the ROC method that could be resolved. The paper gives an idea to develop a revised version of the ROC method called Improved ROC (IROC). The behaviour of the IROC method is investigated using a set of simulation experiments. The IROC method could be employed in situations of time pressure, imprecise information, etc. The paper also proposes a methodology including the application of the IROC method in a group decision making mode, to estimate the weights of the criteria in a tree-shaped structure. The proposed methodology is useful for academics/managers/decision makers who want to deal with MCDM problem. A study case is examined to show applicability of the proposed methodology in a real-world situation. This case is engine/vehicle selection problem, that is one of the fundamental challenges of road transport sector of any country.