Title: From mono-criterion to multi-criteria decision aid: a necessary but unfinished evolution in operational research

Authors: Belaïd Aouni; Simon Laflamme

Addresses: Management and Marketing Department, College of Business and Economics, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar ' Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Sociology, Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON, P3E 2C6, Canada

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to discuss the evolution process from the mono-criteria decision making paradigm to the multi-criteria decision aid paradigm. This process is based on the fact; in general, the decision-maker desires to consider simultaneously several heterogeneous and conflicting dimensions instead of optimising one single objective such as minimising the cost or maximising the profit. This paradigm shift has led to a different way of using mathematical reasoning and tools within the discipline of operational research. Basically, a shift that has meant a return to the roots of the decision making process in order to develop models that attempt to integrate explicitly the decision-maker's preferences where he/she will be playing the main role during the decision-making process. In this paper we will look at some epistemological aspects of this evolution and point out that this mission of integrating explicitly the decision-makers preferences within the multi-criteria decision aid models remains unfinished.

Keywords: monocriteria decision making; orthodox model; multicriteria decision aids; MCDA; preference modelling; multicriteria decision making; MCDM; operational research; epistemology.

DOI: 10.1504/IJADS.2014.060332

International Journal of Applied Decision Sciences, 2014 Vol.7 No.2, pp.123 - 135

Published online: 28 Jun 2014 *

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