Task oriented weighting in multi-criteria analysis

Abstract This paper presents a novel approach to criteria weighting, which often plays a crucial role in the selection of a finite set of alternatives involving multiple conflicting criteria for accomplishing a specific task. To ensure a consistent decision is always made in response to a given set of task requirements, a fuzzy knowledge base is constructed to formulate the imprecise weighting process taken by the decision maker (DM) under imprecision and vagueness. As a result, criteria weights are elicited by simply specifying the state of each individual task requirement. This task oriented weighting procedure is incorporated into a fuzzy multi-criteria analysis (MA) model, which is solved by an effective algorithm for evaluating the overall performance of the alternatives for a given task. An empirical study of a dredger dispatching problem in China is conducted to examine the effectiveness of the model. The concept of task oriented weighting and the algorithm presented have significance and general application in MA.

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