A heuristics approach for computing the largest eigenvalue of a pairwise comparison matrix

Pairwise comparison matrices (PCMs) are widely used to capture subjective human judgements, especially in the context of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Consistency of judgements is normally computed in AHP context in the form of consistency ratio (CR), which requires estimation of the largest eigenvalue (Lmax) of PCMs. Since many of these alternative methods do not require calculation of eigenvector, Lmax and hence the CR of a PCM cannot be easily estimated. We propose in this paper a simple heuristics for calculating Lmax without any need to use Eigenvector Method (EM). We illustrated the proposed procedure with larger size matrices. Simulation is used to compare the accuracy of the proposed heuristics procedure with actual Lmax for PCMs of various sizes. It has been found that the proposed heuristics is highly accurate, with errors less than 1%. The proposed procedure would avoid biases and help managers to make better decisions. The advantage of the proposed heuristics is that it can be easily calculated with simple calculations without any need for specialised mathematical procedures or software and is independent of the method used to derive priorities from PCMs

Risks of investment in personnel development: evidence from Ukrainian IT companies

In this paper, we examine key factors that influence the risks of investment in the development of human capital of a firm in the IT sector and estimate their weight in the overall risk. In particular, we single out the risk of premature voluntary termination of an employee, the risk of ineffective training, and the risk of a firm’s incorrect employee development strategy. Moreover, to support management of the mentioned kinds of risks, we enumerate the factors that influence them and classify those factors into three main groups: related to the employee, related to the firm, and related to the external environment. Based on this division, we build a model for estimating the risks of investing in the development of personnel using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)

Is technical efficiency affected by farmers’ preference for mitigation and adaptation actions against climate change? A case study in northwest Mexico

Climate change has adverse effects on agriculture, decreasing crop quality and productivity. This makes it necessary to implement adaptation and mitigation strategies that contribute to the maintenance of technical efficiency (TE). This study analyzed the relationship of TE with farmers’ mitigation and adaptation action preferences, their risk and environmental attitudes, and their perception of climate change. Through the stochastic frontier method, TE levels were estimated for 370 farmers in Northwest Mexico. The results showed the average efficiency levels (57%) for three identified groups of farmers: High TE (15% of farmers), average TE (72%), and low TE (13%). Our results showed a relationship between two of the preferred adaptation actions against climate change estimated using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method. The most efficient farmers preferred “change crops,” while less efficient farmers preferred “invest in irrigation infrastructure.” The anthropocentric environmental attitude inferred from the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale was related to the level of TE. Efficient farmers were those with an anthropocentric environmental attitude, compared to less efficient farmers, who exhibited an ecocentric attitude. The climate change issues were more perceived by moderately efficient farmers. These findings set out a roadmap for policy-makers to face climate change at the regional levelPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Consistency of the decision-maker in pair-wise comparisons

Most authors assume that the natural behaviour of the decision-maker is being inconsistent. This paper investigates the main sources of inconsistency and analyses methods for reducing or eliminating inconsistency. Decision support systems can contain interactive modules for that purpose. In a system with consistency control, there are three stages. First, consistency should be checked: a consistency measure is needed. Secondly, approval or rejection has to be decided: a threshold value of inconsistency measure is needed. Finally, if inconsistency is ‘high’, corrections have to be made: an inconsistency reducing method is needed. This paper reviews the difficulties in all stages. An entirely different approach is to elaborate a decision support system in order to force the decision-maker to give consistent values in each step of answering pair-wise comparison questions. An interactive questioning procedure resulting in consistent (sub) matrices has been demonstrated

Budapest Bridges Benchmarking

This paper is concerned with the comparison of different scaling methods which are applied to a complex bridge evaluation problem. It is shown that both tangible and intangible data and satisfaction of multiple criteria are essential to the success of such projects. Some new inconsistency measures for the matrices emerging in the decision making process are also used. A detailed numerical analysis of the results is presented.

Multi-criteria decision making support tools for maintenance of marine machinery systems

PhD ThesisFor ship systems to remain reliable and safe they must be effectively maintained through a sound maintenance management system. The three major elements of maintenance management systems are; risk assessment, maintenance strategy selection and maintenance task interval determination. The implementation of these elements will generally determine the level of ship system safety and reliability. Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) is one method that can be used to optimise maintenance management systems. However the tools used within the framework of the RCM methodology have limitations which may compromise the efficiency of RCM in achieving the desired results. This research presents the development of tools to support the RCM methodology and improve its effectiveness in marine maintenance system applications. Each of the three elements of the maintenance management system has been considered in turn. With regard to risk assessment, two Multi-Criteria Decision Making techniques (MCDM); Vlsekriterijumska Optimizacija Ikompromisno Resenje, meaning: Multi-criteria Optimization and Compromise Solution (VIKOR) and Compromise Programming (CP) have been integrated into Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) along with a novel averaging technique which allows the use of incomplete or imprecise failure data. Three hybrid MCDM techniques have then been compared for maintenance strategy selection; an integrated Delphi-Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology, an integrated Delphi-AHP-PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organisation METHod for Enrichment Evaluation) methodology and an integrated Delphi-AHP-TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) methodology. Maintenance task interval determination has been implemented using a MCDM framework integrating a delay time model to determine the optimum inspection interval and using the age replacement model for the scheduled replacement tasks. A case study based on a marine Diesel engine has been developed with input from experts in the field to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodologies.Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), a scholarship body of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for providing the fund for this research. My gratitude also goes to Federal University of Petroleum Resource, Effurun, Nigeria for giving me the opportunity to be a beneficiary of the scholarship

Quality Assessment Method for Mobility as a Service

The ongoing development of the concept ‘Mobility as a Service (MaaS)’ along with Shared Mobility contributes to the integration of transportation systems. Several MaaS or similar services are already in operation. The perceived quality of MaaS by the users varies significantly, and no general method is proposed to evaluate the service quality. This scantiness is identified as the research gap. The objective of the research is to elaborate a quantitative method to assess MaaS services. The research question is how to assess the quality of MaaS, and how to transform the qualitative description into quantitative numerical values, namely, the quality index and the level of quality. Since user expectations towards the importance of criteria are taken into consideration, the modified triangular fuzzy analytic hierarchy process method is introduced to calculate the weights of criteria. A quantitative method to calculate the quality index and to assign the quality level has been elaborated. Ten MaaS services are assessed with the method. It was found that the journey comfort is regarded with significant importance among the respondents. Furthermore, the quality index of MaaS services is not high; accordingly, the service quality requires continuous improvement. Our method facilitates decision-making when planning MaaS to identify the expected service attributes.</p