Decision Sciences Journal
Volume 28, Number 1
Winter 1997
A Sensitivity Analysis Approach for Some Deterministic Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Methods
Evangelos Triantaphyllou
Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, 3128 CEBA Building, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-6409, e-mail: ietrian@lsuvm.sncc.lsu.edu
Alfonso Sánchez
Department of Industrial Engineering, 218 Durland Hall, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506
ABSTRACT
Often, data in multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problems are imprecise and changeable. Therefore, an important step in many applications of MCDM is to perform a sensitivity analysis on the input data. This paper presents a methodology for performing a sensitivity analysis on the weights of the decision criteria and the performance values of the alternatives expressed in terms of the decision criteria. The proposed methodology is demonstrated on three widely used decision methods. These methods are the weighted sum model (WSM), the weighted product model (WPM), and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). This paper formalizes a number of important issues on sensitivity analysis and derives some critical theoretical results. Also, a number of illustrative examples and computational experiments further illustrate the application of the proposed methodology.
Subject Areas: Analytic Hierarchy Process, Deterministic Decision Making, Multi-Criteria Decision Making, Sensitivity Analysis, Weighted Product Model, and Weighted Sum Model.
|