Multi-Criteria Decision Making Methods

Abstract

With the continuing proliferation of decision methods and their variants, it is important to have an understanding of their comparative value. Each of the methods uses numeric techniques to help decision makers choose among a discrete set of alternative decisions. This is achieved on the basis of the impact of the alternatives on certain criteria and thereby on the overall utility of the decision maker(s). The difficulty that always occurs when trying to compare decision methods and choose the best one is that a paradox is reached, i.e., What decision-making method should be used to choose the best decision-making method? This problem is examined in Chapter 9.