Towards robust ELECTRE III with simulation: theory and software of SMAA-III

ELECTRE III is a well-established multiple criteria decision making method with a solid track of real-world applications. It requires precise values to be specified for the parameters and criteria measurements, which in some cases might not be available. In this paper we present a method, SMAA-III, that allows ELECTRE III to be applied with imprecise parameter values. By allowing imprecise values, the method also allows an easily applicable robustness analysis. In SMAA-III, simulation is used and descriptive measures are computed to characterize stability of the results. We present a software implementing the method and show the usage by re-analyzing an existing case study.

[1]  Bernard Roy,et al.  A programming method for determining which Paris metro stations should be renovated , 1986 .

[2]  Philippe Smets,et al.  Varieties of ignorance and the need for well-founded theories , 1991, Inf. Sci..

[3]  F. B. Vernadat,et al.  Decisions with Multiple Objectives: Preferences and Value Tradeoffs , 1994 .

[4]  Vincent Mousseau,et al.  Eliciting Information Concerning the Relative Importance of Criteria , 1995 .

[5]  Pekka Salminen,et al.  Choosing a solid waste management system using multicriteria decision analysis , 1997 .

[6]  John C. Butler,et al.  Simulation techniques for the sensitivity analysis of multi-criteria decision models , 1997 .

[7]  Martin Rogers,et al.  A new system for weighting environmental criteria for use within ELECTRE III , 1998, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[8]  Theodor J. Stewart,et al.  Multiple criteria decision analysis - an integrated approach , 2001 .

[9]  Risto Lahdelma,et al.  SMAA-2: Stochastic Multicriteria Acceptability Analysis for Group Decision Making , 2001, Oper. Res..

[10]  Bernard Roy,et al.  Determining the weights of criteria in the ELECTRE type methods with a revised Simos' procedure , 2002, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[11]  Risto Lahdelma,et al.  Pseudo-criteria versus linear utility function in stochastic multi-criteria acceptability analysis , 2002, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[12]  S Kafandaris ELECTRE and Decision Support: Methods and Applications in Engineering and Infrastructure Investment , 2002, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[13]  Matthias Ehrgott,et al.  Multiple criteria decision analysis: state of the art surveys , 2005 .

[14]  Tommi Tervonen,et al.  Implementing stochastic multicriteria acceptability analysis , 2007, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[15]  J. Figueira,et al.  A survey on stochastic multicriteria acceptability analysis methods , 2008 .