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"Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) is the study of methods and procedures by which concerns about multiple conflicting criteria can be formally incorporated into the management planning process", as defined by the International Society on Multiple Criteria Decision Making
MCDM is also referred as:
Decision analysis looks at the paradigm in which an individual decision maker (or decision group) contemplates a choice of action in an uncertain environment. The decision theory helps identify the alternative with the highest expected value (probability of obtaining a possible value). The theory of decision analysis is designed to help the individual make a choice among a set of pre-specified alternatives. The decision making process relies on information about the alternatives. The quality of information in any decision situation can run the whole gamut from scientifically-derived hard data to subjective interpretations, from certainty about decision outcomes (deterministic information) to uncertain outcomes represented by probabilities and fuzzy numbers. This diversity in type and quality of information about a decision problem calls for methods and techniques that can assist in information processing. Ultimately, these methods and techniques (MCDA, MCDM) may lead to better decisions.
Criterion outcomes of decision alternatives can be collected in a table (called decision matrix or decision table) comprised of a set of columns and rows. The table rows represent decision alternatives, with table columns representing criteria. A value found at the intersection of row and column in the table represents a criterion outcome - a measured or predicted performance of a decision alternative on a criterion. The decision matrix is a central structure of the MCDA/MCDM since it contains the data for comparison of decision alternatives.
At a practical level, mathematical programming under multiple objectives has emerged as a powerful tool to assist in the process of searching for decisions which best satisfy a multitude of conflicting objectives, and there are a number of distinct methodologies for multi-criteria decision-making problems that exist. The decision theory is descriptive when it shows how people take decisions, and prescriptive when it tells people how they should take decisions. These methodologies can be categorized in a variety of ways, such as form of model (e.g. linear, non-linear, stochastic), characteristics of the decision space (e.g. finite or infinite), or solution process (e.g. prior specification of preferences or interactive). For an example of a multi-objective methodology for the management of water resources integrating climate change and climate variability data, look at the article on Climate and Water in the West: Science, Information, and Decision-Making.
The true goal in integrated decision-making support is to provide the decision-maker with the ability to look into the future, and to make the best possible decision based on past and present information and future predictions. In the case of sustainable development, this means to be able to predict in advance the risk and vulnerability of populations and infrastructure to hazards, both natural and man-induced. This requires that data be transformed into knowledge, and that the consequences of information use, as well as decision-making and participatory processes, be analyzed carefully (see Science, vulnerability and the search for equity: El Niño events, forecasts and decision making in Peru and Brazil).
A decision involves making a selection from a set of alternative choices. Broadly speaking, a decision-support systems (DSS) is simply a computer system that helps you make a decision by leveraging the multi-criteria decision-making model. DSS provide a means for decision-makers to make decisions on the basis of more complete information and analysis. Among the main advantages of the use of DSS are the following:
There is a need for approaches that combine available quantitative data with the more subjective knowledge of experts. Decision-theory techniques applied by high-end knowledge professionals have been successfully used for contrasting expert judgments and making educated choices. The multi-criteria decision-making model, by coupling theory and knowledge, provides an analytical approach to expert consultation and is adapted for a variety of technology and business fields aiming at suitability assessments.
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"No doubt that these letters save time"
- Pascal PERRY
by Project on Government Oversight (POGO)
Podcast: How Bad Performance Can Be Good for Business in Government Contracting
POGO's Scott Amey dishes out a post-mortem on a recent Commission on Wartime Contracting hearing--at which he testified--on contractor accountability..
POGO Provides Post-hearing Supplemental Materials to the Commission on Wartime Contracting
Pursuant to the Commission on Wartime Contracting's (Commission) request that the record for the hearing held on February 28, 2011, "Ensuring contractor accountability: Past performance and suspensions and debarments," be supplemented within thirty days, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) provides the following information. Specifically, POGO believes the Commission should recommend that the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) be expanded in scope and that the Department of Defense's (DoD) revolving door database of senior level acquisition officials be made publicly available.[2].
Solution: How the Government Can Stop Doing Business With Risky Contractors
It is very hard for the federal government to have a successful criminal or civil prosecution of their contractors and it is the hardest to do with the Department of Defense (DoD). In January, the DoD created a stir when it released its Report to Congress on Contracting Fraud, which examined the extent to which the Pentagon awarded contracts to companies that defrauded the government. The report found that, from Fiscal Year 2007 to Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, the DoD awarded almost $270 billion in contracts to 91 contractors found liable in civil fraud cases, and $682 million to 30 contractors convicted of criminal fraud. .
U.S.Government Rarely Suspends or Debars Those Responsible for Billions in Tax Dollars Lost to Fraud, Waste, Abuse in War Zones
Tens of billions of dollars are being lost to waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan because of a toothless U.S. contracting system so reliant on a handful of major contractors that it rarely suspends or desbars them, even when those companies have committed serious offenses, according to the Project On Government Oversight's (POGO) testimony today before a independent, federal commission..
Commercial Item Exceptions Must be Eliminated From New Suspension and Debarment Rule
The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) provides the following public comment to FAR Case 2009-036, "Federal Acquisition Regulation; Uniform Suspension and Debarment Requirement" (75 Fed. Reg. 77739, December 13, 2010). The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (the Councils) issued an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement section 815 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (P.L. 111-84), which extends the restriction on contracting to subcontractors at any tier that have been suspended or debarred, with certain exceptions for commercial item and commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) item acquisition contracts..
Should Debarred Contractors Be Allowed to Build Military Aircraft?
Today, POGO submitted a public comment about a new rule limiting the ability of suspended or debarred contractors to do business with the federal government. The rule prohibits prime contractors from subcontracting with any entity that has been suspended, debarred, or proposed for debarment..
Pentagon Cuts Back Contract Audits, Opens Door for Contractor Overpayments
Under the guise of eliminating overlap, the Pentagon last month sharply reduced oversight of defense contracts, according to memos obtained by the Project On Government Oversight (POGO). The changes, which give some of the duties of the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) to the less aggressive Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), were outlined in a January memo signed by Shay Assad, the director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy. DCAA staff were informed of the changes in a Jan. 31 memo from DCAA Director Patrick Fitzgerald..
Testimony of POGO's Nick Schwellenbach on "Improving Federal Contract Auditing"
We believe that there should be an independent Federal Contract Audit Agency (FCAA), as long as it is done right. This isn't a new idea: it is an idea that has been batted around since at least the 1980s, when DCAA whistleblower George Spanton exposed serious problems at DCAA. .
Federal Government Needs Strong, Independent Auditor to Oversee Billions in Contract Spending, POGO Tells Senate Panel
The responsibility of auditing the hundreds of billions of dollars spent each year on defense and civilian contracts should fall to a single, independent agency that is outside of the Pentagon's chain of command, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) told a U.S. Senate panel today..
Last Modified: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 1:05:58 PM
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