Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas

MULTIPLE CRITERIA DECISION MAKING (MCDM) METHODS IN ECONOMICS: AN OVERVIEW

Abstract The main research activities in economics during the last five years have significantly increased. The main research fields are operation research and sustainable development. The philosophy of decision making in economics is to assess and select the most preferable solution, implement it and to gain the biggest profit. Preferences are used in a lot of problem situations both in individual and organizational decision making processes. A number of effective decision making methods that support decisions under conditions of multiple criteria have appeared in the last decade. This paper presents a panorama of decision making methods in economics and summarizes the most important results and applications over the last five years. This paper considers decision making in light of the recent developments of multiple criteria decision making methods (because classical methods are overviewed in a lot of earlier publications). Authors of different approaches, pioneering studies and works are presented in s...

Selection of the effective dwelling house walls by applying attributes values determined at intervals

Abstract The higher life quality standards, the changes of habits and new well‐being requirements have led to an increase in the demand for housing. Decision‐making problems in construction management often involve a complex decision‐making process in which multiple requirements and conditions have to be taken into consideration simultaneously. However, not every attribute used in multidimensional scaling is equally and precisely weighted in the real world. Thus quantitative and qualitative assessments are often required to deal with uncertainty, subjective and imprecise data. The accuracy of performance measures in common multi‐attribute methods is usually assumed to be accurate. Grey theory is a new technique for performing prediction, relational analysis and decision‐making in many areas. This paper considers the application of grey relations methodology for defining the utility of an alternative and is proposed as a method of multiple criteria COmplex PRoportional Assessment of alternatives with Grey ...

State of art surveys of overviews on MCDM/MADM methods

AbstractDecision-making is primarily a process that involves different actors: people, groups of people, institutions and the state. As a discipline, multi-criteria decision-making has a relatively short history. Since 1950s and 1960s, when foundations of modern multi-criteria decision-making methods have been laid, many researches devoted their time to development of new multi-criteria decision-making models and techniques. In the past decades, researches and development in the field have accelerated and seem to continue growing exponentially. Despite the intensive development worldwide, few attempts have been made to systematically present the theoretical bases and developments of multi-criteria decision-making methods. However, the methodological choices and framework for assessment of decisions are still under discussion. The article describes the situation with reviews of MCDM/MADM methods. Furthermore, there is a need for research to study the strengths and weaknesses of different decision-making me...

Multi-Objective Decision-Making for Road Design

Abstract Multi‐objective analysis is a popular tool to solve many economic, managerial and construction problems. The objective of this research is to develop and implement a methodology for multi‐objective optimization of multi‐alternative decisions in road construction. After a rough overview of the articles dealing with the multi‐objective decision and assessment of road design alternatives described by discrete values, Multi‐Objective Optimization on the basis of the Ratio Analysis (MOORA) method was selected. This method focuses on a matrix of alternative responses on the objectives. A case study demonstrates the concept of multi‐objective optimization of road design alternatives and the best road design alternative is determined.

Multicriteria selection of project managers by applying grey criteria

Abstract There is a number of criteria and associated sub‐criteria influencing the match of managers to construction projects. Criteria and sub‐criteria were identified based on a thorough review of the related literature and interviews of management personnel involved in the project managers selection. Project managers characteristics are considered to be less important for an effective project management. The model is based on multicriteria evaluation of project managers. The evaluation embraces the identified criteria influencing the process of construction project manager selection. This paper considers the application of grey relations methodology to defining the utility of alternatives, and offers a multiple criteria method of Complex Proportional Assessment of alternatives with grey relations (COPRAS‐G) for analysis. In this model, the parameters of the alternatives are determined by the grey relational grade and expressed in terms of intervals. A case study presents the selection of construction p...

Evaluating the sustainability of vilnius city residential areas

Abstract The objective of this article is to propose a methodology that would enable to rank residential areas according to the indices of sustainable development and to establish the rank of their priorities. The task was framed basing on the survey performed by RAIT (Market analysis and group of survey) for evaluation of the most desirable residential area in Vilnius city. Vilnius residents took part in this survey. Only Vilnius city residential areas and their characteristic indices were sorted out from the survey performed by RAIT. A system of 22 indices defining the sustainability aspects was compiled. Residential areas were evaluated for their facilities, residential and business environment. On the basis of the surveys performed by experts, the significances of indices were determined. Application of multipurpose evaluation method COPRAS (Complex Proportional Assessment) led to establishment of the rank of priorities of residential areas in respect of their sustainability.

Multimoora Optimization Used to Decide on a Bank Loan to Buy Property

Abstract Different multiple objectives are expressed in different units, which makes optimization difficult. Therefore the internal mechanical solution of a Ratio System, producing dimensionless numbers, is preferred to Weights which are most of the time used to compare the different units. In addition, the ratio system creates the opportunity to use a second approach: a non-subjective Reference Point Theory. The two approaches form a control on each other. The choice of the objectives is even more non-subjective if the opinion of all stakeholders interested in the issue is involved by the use of the Ameliorated Nominal Group and Delphi Techniques. The overall theory is called MOORA (Multi-Objective Optimization by Ratio Analysis). The results are still more convincing if a Full Multiplicative Form is added to MOORA under the name of MULTIMOORA. At that moment the control by three different approaches forms a guaranty for a solution being as non-subjective as possible. MULTIMOORA is used to decide upon a ...

Multi‐objective contractor's ranking by applying the Moora method

Construction, taking off, maintenance and facilities management of a building is a typical example of consumer sovereignty: the new owner likes to have a reasonable price to pay, to have confidence in the contractor, to know about the duration of the works, the service after completion and the quality of the work. On the other side the contractor has his objectives too, like the satisfaction of the client, diminishing of external costs and annoyances and the management cost per employee as low as possible. In other words it concerns a problem of multi‐objectives. Therefore a final ranking will show the best performing contractor from the point of view of the clients but also from the point of view of the contractors themselves. The MOORA method based on ratio analysis and dimensionless measurement will accomplish the job of ranking the contractors in a non‐subjective way. As an application the largest maintenance contractors of dwellings in Vilnius, capital of Lithuania, were approached.

A multiple criteria decision support on-line system for construction

Technological innovations through changes in the availability of information technology inclusive information systems, neural networks, decision support and expert systems, e-commerce that have been provided by a variety of new services were developed by the construction sector. Most of all construction on-line systems seek to find how to make the most economic decisions. Construction alternatives have to be evaluated not only from the economic position, but also take into consideration qualitative, technical, technological and other characteristics. Based on an analysis of the construction on-line systems the authors of paper developed multiple criteria decision support on-line system for construction.

Contractor selection of construction in a competitive environment

Contractor selection is a vital part of the project management cycle and deals with risk and risk management. This paper presents contractors’ assessment and selection based on the multi‐attribute methods in a competitive and risky environment. The model is based on a multi‐attribute evaluation of contractors, the determination of their optimality criterion values according to Hodges‐Lehmann rule. The proposed model could be applied to assessment of construction operations. The attributes of contractor evaluation are selected taking into consideration the interests and goals of the stakeholders as well as factors that influence the process of construction efficiency. The model is based on metric scores. A background and a description of the proposed model are provided and a few key findings from the data analyses are presented.