MULTIATTRIBUTE DECISION-MAKING - DOMINANCE WITH RESPECT TO AN IMPORTANCE ORDER OF THE ATTRIBUTES

We examine a tool to assist a decision maker with the task of ranking a finite number of alternatives based on a finite number of attributes. The procedure indicates if domination with respect to an importance order (ordinal ranking) of the attributes can be easily detected if one assumes an additive value function. The concept of importance order (or partial information) domination has been developed in the literature but has been ignored in most multi-attribute applications. We show how closed form solutions of the linear programs needed to determine strong dominance are derived and present a graphical display of the results in the context of an example. The procedure outlined is practical to use and the results are easy to interpret. An example illustrates how one might apply the method to decision making in farm management with respect to water quality issues.