Knowledge management of interconnected decisions with application to project management

In this paper we describe a methodology to support decisionmaking in a multiple decision environment using previous experience regarding decisions and their interrelationships. This methodology comprises: (a) new kinds of knowledge which help to better understand the interrelationships between decisions; (b) a human reasoning process incorporating the reuse of past experience in making interrelated decisions; (c) lessons that can be learned or formulated, on the basis of past experience, when current interconnected decisions are to be made. Case-based reasoning (CBR) is used to manage decision knowledge using cases—experience gained from previous decisions. This is complemented by dyad-based reasoning (DBR) to manage the interrelationships between decisions. A dyad is a pair of linked decisions reflecting past experience in making successive decisions. DBR provides a new type of knowledge: the nature and composition of an interconnected set of decisions involving several aspects of a decisionmaking situation. We demonstrate the application of the proposed methodology to a typical example of a multiple decision environment—project management. When a project manager has to make a number of interrelated decisions while carrying out several project management processes, a dyad knowledge base and DBR provide guidance as to the complementary considerations needed to make a multi-faceted set of decisions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.