Decision Support for Innovation Management: Application to the Lighting Industry

Making decisions about resource allocation for future innovations is a challenging task in both planned and market economies. Not only can such decisions not be reversed without considerable loss of efficiency, but the decision maker generally faces a number of conflicting objectives. In this report the authors try to combine two disciplines that have been evolving independently for a long time: innovation theory and decision theory. A decision support system for managing innovations should reflect the multistage nature of the innovation process and should also be suited to multiobjective decision making. At the same time it is necessary to simplify the real situation for the decision maker in order to apply former procedures. A very promising scheme is the decision tree, though it has shortcomings. Application of decision trees is closely connected with the evaluation process. Almost all models for evaluating innovation projects operate with only one objective. However, discussions with decision makers in the lighting industry, which shows classic features of the innovation process, revealed the necessity to include at least three objectives in the evaluation. Therefore, the authors have made use of the possibilities of multiobjective decision making. The decision problem in this work concerns the allocation of resources to innovation projects for the 1981-85 Five-Year Plan in the German Democratic Republic. At present the model for evaluating innovation projects is based upon linear programming and decision trees. It will be improved in close collaboration with decision makers, using the results of goal programming and other aspects of decision theory

Multi crteria decision making and its applications : a literature review

This paper presents current techniques used in Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) and their applications. Two basic approaches for MCDM, namely Artificial Intelligence MCDM (AIMCDM) and Classical MCDM (CMCDM) are discussed and investigated. Recent articles from international journals related to MCDM are collected and analyzed to find which approach is more common than the other in MCDM. Also, which area these techniques are applied to. Those articles are appearing in journals for the year 2008 only. This paper provides evidence that currently, both AIMCDM and CMCDM are equally common in MCDM

Multiple Criteria Decision Making and Multiattribute Utility Theory

T his paper is an update of a paper that five of us published in 1992. The areas of multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) and multiattribute utility theory (MAUT) continue to be active areas of management science research and application. This paper extends the history of these areas and discusses topics we believe to be important for the future of these fields

The MODERE Model and The Economic Analysis of Farmers’ Decisions

The MODERE, the Ministry of the Environment Irrigation Decision Model, is a simulation tool which uses mathematical programming methods to reveal the implicit multiattribute objective function lying behind the observed cropping decision. The model takes different criteria such as profit maximization, risk aversion, avoidance of management complexities and so forth into account. In order to determine the feasible combination of attributes of this objective function the model considers the production possibility frontier explicitly as depending on market prices, policy incentives, availability of production factors, water irrigation facilities agronomic vocation and other constraints. Once calibrated the model becomes a powerful tool to assess the impact of different policy scenarios such as subsidies decoupling, water prices modifications, irrigation technique substitution and so on. The MODERE is a preference revelation model purposedly designed to be integrated in the Decision Support Platform which is used by the Spanish Ministry of the Environment to compare the policy scenarios which are relevant to assess the effectiveness and economic impact of the measures designed to reach the environmental objectives of the Water Framework Directive. The model is supported by a comprehensive data base built on purpose for its implementation covering almost all the Spanish Irrigation Districts with high spatial detail. This model is currently one of the important modules of the information and decision support systems developed by the Economic Analysis Unit of the Water Directorate at the Ministry of the Environment in Spain.Agricultural Economics, Water Economics, Simulated Models, Land Economics/Use, Political Economy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

An Examination of the Decision Analysis Approach to R&D Portfolios

A portfolio can be defined as “a purposeful combination of items” (Chien and Sainfort 1998). As the topic relates to research and development (R&D) the items in question are technologies, projects or products under consideration for inclusion in a given portfolio. As described by surveys from Cooper et al (1998), companies have widely varying practices for portfolio selection. This thesis examines existing literature to determine the key characteristics of good portfolio and portfolio method. The approach needs to handle multiple objectives, account for project interactions, and address the social aspect of decision making. The resulting portfolio should be aligned with business strategy, balanced, and of maximum value. It introduces general concepts that have been used to select single projects and reviews five specific applications and assesses them against the key characteristics from the literature. After identifying gaps in the current approaches, a comprehensive approach is proposed. This approach would (1) apply multi-attribute decision analysis at the portfolio level, (2) apply constraints for common inputs to cost such as resources, and (3) apply probabilistic methods to account for project interaction. This approach incorporates successful elements from existing approaches and addresses the two areas that are not adequately addressed with current approaches

System and Decision Sciences at IIASA 1973-1980

This report contains a brief history of the past achievements of the System and Decision Sciences Area at IIASA, and a summary of its current and future research directions. There is a comprehensive list of the scientific staff of the Area since 1973, together with a list of their publications; abstracts of the most recent reports and biographies of the scholars working in the Area in 1980 are also included

Integrating Multiple Criteria Decision-Making Models Into the Decision Support System Framework for Marketing Decisions

The paper focuses on integrating the multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) models within the decision support system (DSS) framework to encourage greater use of these models. A DSS framework and the criteria used for the choice of a model is discussed. Based on these criteria MCDM models generally used in the marketing field are evaluated. The possibility of using a mixture of MCDM models within the DSS framework is also explored. Following this, the role of the MCDM models in DSS is delineated. It is argued that, within the problem-solving process, the confluence of MCDM models and DSS plays a vital role in developing high-quality solutions

Wind Energy and Multicriteria Analysis in Making Decisions on the Location of Wind Farms: A Case Study in the North-Eastern of Poland

This chapter presents an investigation of different methods of multicriteria analysis and different rules of proceedings that have to be taken into account for making decision about location of a wind farm with application in the north-eastern (NE) Poland. Ten multicriteria analyses were discussed taking into account the main criteria on which they are based on utility functions (MAUT, AHP, and DEMATEL), relationship outranking (ELECTRE, PROMETHEE, and ARROW-RAYNAUD), distances (TOPSIS), and decision support (BORDA ranking methods and their modified and COPELAND). Taking into account of nine criteria that should be met by the location of 15 wind turbines in Krynki and Szudzialowo communities, the main three criteria (C3, C8, and C9) were found to differentiate location of eight wind turbines (T-6–T-13), according to two variants (I and II). The Borda ranking method proved that from among the two variants considered, the more suitable location of wind turbines is second variant W II than first variant W I. Variant W II had a higher altitude of the terrain (C3) and less risk of impact on birds (C8) and bats species (C9) than variant W I

Integrating Multiple Criteria Decision-Making Models Into the Decision Support System Framework for Marketing Decisions

The paper focuses on integrating the multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) models within the decision support system (DSS) framework to encourage greater use of these models. A DSS framework and the criteria used for the choice of a model is discussed. Based on these criteria MCDM models generally used in the marketing field are evaluated. The possibility of using a mixture of MCDM models within the DSS framework is also explored. Following this, the role of the MCDM models in DSS is delineated. It is argued that, within the problem-solving process, the confluence of MCDM models and DSS plays a vital role in developing high-quality solutions