Title: How a college solved the problem of large-scale multi-criteria team formation

Authors: William A. Young II; Vic Matta

Addresses: Department of Analytics and Information Systems, College of Business, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA ' Department of Analytics and Information Systems, College of Business, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA

Abstract: This paper discusses a goal programming technique for creating equitable teams from large numbers of individuals with differing attributes and talents subject to multiple constraints. The solution is derived based on a utility function that applies a weighted penalty for deviation from the optimally equitable team. This technique is then tested by forming teams from a pool of over 200 students with a range of attributes for a high-quality business consulting experience. In addition to saving time and effort, benefits include procedural justice and elimination of bias, defensibility of team formation and expectation of trust, and equitable distribution of competence across teams. As demonstrated here, the technique was remarkably successful at creating teams with respect to the competing priorities from stakeholders. Results are discussed in detail and exemplify efficiency, scalability, and most importantly, equitably formed teams.

Keywords: equitable team formation; higher education; optimisation; goal programming.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSS.2020.112406

International Journal of Society Systems Science, 2020 Vol.12 No.4, pp.329 - 351

Received: 25 Dec 2019
Accepted: 18 Apr 2020

Published online: 14 Jan 2021 *

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