Elsevier

Decision Support Systems

Volume 5, Issue 3, September 1989, Pages 303-312
Decision Support Systems

An examination of the effectiveness of multi-dimensional decision-making methods: A decision-making paradox

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Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study that compared four decision-making methods. The methods examined were the weighted sum model, the weighted product model, the analytic hierarchy process, and the revised analytic hierarchy process. Two evaluative criteria were used in an attempt to find the best method. The first criterion was to see if the method when accurate in a multi-dimensional situation remained accurate in a single-dimension case. The second criterion determined the stability of a method in yielding the same outcome when a nonoptimal alternative was replaced with a worse alternative. Tests were conducted using simulated decision problems where random numbers were used for the values of the many combinations of alternatives and criteria. The results illustrate the paradox of deciding on a single best decision-making method. While this paradox is not resolved, useful information is presented for comparing the four methods tested.

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1

Evangelos Triantaphyllou is a computer consultant and a research member in the Center for Academic Computing at the Pennsylvania State University while he is working on his dissertation for the Dual Ph.D. in Operations Research and Industrial and Management Systems Engineering at the same university. He received the Diploma in Architectural Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, in 1983. He received a Dual M.S. degree in Operations Research and Man-Environment Relations in 1984 and the M.S. degree in Computer Science both from the Pennsylvania State University. His research interests are expert systems, decision support systems, fuzzy sets, and the application of optimization techniques to logical problems.

2

Stuart H. Mann is Professor of Operations Research in the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management at Penn State. He has a Ph.D. and a M.S. in Operations Research from Case Western Reserve University, and a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Illinois. His research interests are in the application of decision-making methods to problems in the hospitality and service industries. He is an active consultant in the strategic management of retail operations.

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