11.5 Summary and Wrap-up
In this last section of the chapter, we want to introduce some basic recommendations to consider when building a MAUT model. although previous sections in the chapter have focused on the normalization and comparison processes, defining the problem, goals and understanding the alternatives are not trivial tasks. If not done properly, all the quantitative analysis is not very useful for the decision making process. In this way, we extract and share some best practices from the book “Smart Choices: A Practical Guide to Making Better Decisions” by Hammond, Keeney and Raiffa.
Good Practices in Defining the Problem
- Define the problem
- Start with a small statement
- Identify and question the boundaries
- Break-down the problem in its components
- Identify other decisions that may be affected (or affect) this one
- Define the approach (not to wide, not to narrow)
- Ask advice from others
- Revise problem definition constantly
- Be creative, look for new approaches to the problem
Good Practices in Defining Objectives
- They are the basis for evaluating alternatives.
- They are personal
- Help to:
- Determine what information to look for
- Explain the decision to others
- Determine the importance of the decision.
Common Mistakes in Building MAUT models
- Spending a short amount of time defining the problem, objectives, alternatives; and identifying weights and appropriate scenarios
- Waiting too long in making a decision and have to choose what others left (choosing a date to get married to pick a place for the reception)
- Alternatives
- Having a list that is too short
- Only considering the usual alternatives
- Having an automatic alternative
- Only using alternatives suggested by others
- Objectives
- Ignoring qualitative objectives
- Ignoring objectives for which it is difficult to find Information/data
- Ignoring long-term objectives
Additional Good Practices
- Try before buying (if possible)
- Use known scales to describe consequences (dollars for income)
- Choose scales easy to interpret (travel time vs. Distance)
- Do not use only hard data
- Use your judgement with the available Information
- Create scales for the subjective objectives
- Use expert advice only after reflecting by yourself
Attribution
By Luis F. Luna-Reyes, Erika Martin and Mikhail Ivonchyk, and licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
