Understanding and profiling user requirements to support the conceptual design of an integrated land monitoring system

Acquiring and organizing knowledge and information elements can be essential not only to understand, but also to eliminate, reduce and control complexity and uncertainty. An integration of tools from different disciplines could systematically help in the construction of an agreed framework for problem formulation, above all when the situation is "new". An application was de-veloped in relation to an industrial project, in order to propose profiles of the potential users of an innovative system and of their requirements, and to for-mally develop models that can orient analysis, decision and action. Some ele-ments and results of this integrated application of "soft" and "hard" decision aid tools are here proposed as steps of an organizational learning cycle, which is a basic element of each innovation proces

A Multi-Criteria Methodology to Support Public Administration Decision Making Concerning Sustainable Energy Action Plans

For municipalities that have joined the Covenant of Mayors promoted by the European Commission, the Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) represents a strategic tool for achieving the greenhouse gas reductions required by 2020. So far as the energy retrofit actions in their residential building stock are concerned, which in the small-to-medium municipalities are responsible for more than 60% of CO2 emissions, the scenarios for intervening are normally decided on the basis of an economic (cost/performance) analysis. This type of analysis, however, does not take into account important aspects for small and medium-sized communities such as social aspects, environmental impacts, local economic development and employment. A more comprehensive and effective tool to support the choices of public administrators is the multi-criteria analysis. This study proposes a methodology that integrates multi-criteria analysis in order to support Public Administration/Local Authorities in programming Sustainable Energy Action Plans with a more targeted approach to sustainability. The methodology, based on the ELECTRE III method, was applied to a medium-size municipality in the Lombardy region of Italy. The results obtained with this approach are discussed in this pape

Profiling analysts and actors in interaction: how behavioural aspects can positively affect the decision aid process

The behaviour of the actors in a decision aid process is determined by different factors, all of which have an impact on the effectiveness of the process and its results. A framework, originally created to document decision aid processes and to study the reasons for backward and forward cycles in the process, has been used to comparatively analyse several multi-criteria decision aid interventions. The study has led to the identification of three basic process typologies, in relation with some organisational and processual complexities and factors which, as behavioural aspects, have the main influence on the interaction between the analysts and actors of a decision aid process. The work is a proposal for the behavioral OR research agenda

Understanding and profiling user requirements to support the conceptual design of an integrated land monitoring system

Acquiring and organizing knowledge and information elements can be essential not only to understand, but also to eliminate, reduce and control complexity and uncertainty. An integration of tools from different disciplines could systematically help in the construction of an agreed framework for problem formulation, above all when the situation is “new”. An application was de-veloped in relation to an industrial project, in order to propose profiles of the potential users of an innovative system and of their requirements, and to for-mally develop models that can orient analysis, decision and action. Some ele-ments and results of this integrated application of “soft” and “hard” decision aid tools are here proposed as steps of an organizational learning cycle, which is a basic element of each innovation process

A decision support system in order to facilitate new financing actions in the public sector

This analytical in-depth study on the financing modalities adopted in the Region of Piedmont was carried out with the contribution of those directly involved in the decision-making process enabling to acquire, codify and organize important elements of information which can be used to increase the evaluation culture in the Region. Owing to an increased interest in making public financing actions more efficient, the results of this analysis are of particular interest as they can be used as a multi-criteria evaluation model and a decision support system aimed at facilitating and implementing new financing and monitoring actions in a context of organizational learning

An Application of ELECTRE Tri to Support Innovation

In relation to the economic crisis, the airports were pressed from their national civil aviation authorities and from the market to lower their costs and improve their capability in organizing the supply of public facilities. Some airports reacted to this situation improving their efficiency in invoicing and collecting user charges. An enterprise that supplies different services to the Italian Aviation Authority and to several Italian companies who are airport concessionaires decided to analyse the Italian airport revenues from off-flight services, in order to compare their different results and help them improve their product offerings and identify new products’ value drivers. To meet this requirement, an outranking method, ELECTRE Tri, was used to evaluate the marginal and overall activation of each Italian airport in reacting to the crisis and making profit by organizing public facilities and services that are different from the classic air navigation services on the ground. The choice of the method and the adopted procedure were motivated by the difficulties in reliable data acquisition, comparison of different and almost incomparable situations and preference elicitation, without the involvement of the actual decision makers and, in relation to a sequence of model versions, different in terms of problem structuring and parameters definition. A collaborative procedure of model structuring and incremental result analysis and several ELECTRE Tri applications, assigning each airport to a specific category, were oriented to the generation of a ‘robust’ model and a clear result, to read and synthesize all the information elements, understand the situation and acquire a shared vision of the problem, orient the process of information acquisition and support the definition of some improving actions

Integrated use of mathematical programming and multiple criteria methods in engineering design processes

A decision aiding methodology was required by a company of the aeronautical sector to support their engineering design processes. An integrated use of mathematical programming and multiple criteria methods was proposed to orient the conceptual design of functional and physical solutions. As a first step, linear programming was used in relation to some case studies to generate design alternatives that satisfy the initial requirements. Subsequently multiple criteria methods were proposed to interact transparently with the client in relation to some aspects that were not included in the linear programming model. Design alternatives were evaluated and compared, in order to identify and formalize expectations that the first design solutions were not able to meet. An iterative use of the two approaches, in a cyclic procedure of mutual learning, can allow the requirements to be defined more clearly and a final satisfying solution to be reached

Designing major appliances: A decision support model

Although competitors from low-cost countries are pushing manufacturers to lowering prices and replace the production at the expense of quality, the definition of new scenarios through research and development seems the best way to succeed. This paper seeks to explain why companies should invest in the redesign of household appliances when there is a potential improvement in the sustainability of the product. This work considers home appliances investigating their disassembly, the updating of components and the management of end of life, combined with their connectivity and the communication with the final user. This research develops a multi-criteria model to select among the major appliances the most suitable to redesign, providing a ranking of alternatives. The analysis is based on the potential improvement on eco-design of products, determined on eight relevant criteria about sustainability and relationship between users and appliances. This study attempts to prove that business models based on Multi Criteria Decision Aid (MCDA) methodology, combined with two design approaches to sustainability, are able to move from linear to circular economy. Waste management and product refurbishment - through Design by Components focused on product maintenance and replacement of its parts - are, in fact, key aspects to achieve valuable results. The paper proposes an analysis of this decision process, synthesizing the most critical aspects and the result of a Multi Criteria Decision Aid intervention

A multiple criteria approach to map ecological-inclusive business models for sustainable development

The paper presents the first attempt to apply a multiple criteria approach to map ecological-inclusive business models and to structure their main features, in terms of sustainable development. Ecological-inclusive business models are presented in this study, and 15 cases pertaining to agro-food organisations located in Sub-Saharan Africa are considered. These companies simultaneously deliver positive social and environmental value, and confirm a well-established market presence. As far as social value is concerned, the companies included in the sample use a Bottom-of-Pyramid approach, involving low-income customers and/or low-income business partners. As for environmental value, all the analysed companies implement frugal innovation or sustainable exploitation of natural resources in the afro-food sector. One of the results that has been achieved is that of disentangling the complexity behind a triple bottom-line business model through a multidimensional analysis framework that identifies the aspects that play a fundamental role in ecological-inclusive business models. An evaluation model and the application of a multiple criteria outranking method are proposed as examples of how some criteria, such as the extent of socio-environmental concerns, strategy orientation and value of partnerships can be used to compare, rank and/or select business models to facilitate decision makers. This work presents the results of an interdisciplinary study on the social entrepreneurship field of knowledge