Evaluation and Decision Models

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-viii

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2. Introduction

   • Denis Bouyssou, Thierry Marchant, Marc Pirlot, Patrice Perny, Alexis Tsoukiàs, Philippe Vincke

   Pages 1-6

3. Choosing on the Basis of Several Opinions: The Example of Voting

   • Denis Bouyssou, Thierry Marchant, Marc Pirlot, Patrice Perny, Alexis Tsoukiàs, Philippe Vincke

   Pages 7-28

4. Building and Aggregating Evaluations: The Example of Grading Students

   • Denis Bouyssou, Thierry Marchant, Marc Pirlot, Patrice Perny, Alexis Tsoukiàs, Philippe Vincke

   Pages 29-52

5. Constructing Measures: The Example of Indicators

   • Denis Bouyssou, Thierry Marchant, Marc Pirlot, Patrice Perny, Alexis Tsoukiàs, Philippe Vincke

   Pages 53-71

6. Assessing Competing Projects: The Example of Cost-Benefit Analysis

   • Denis Bouyssou, Thierry Marchant, Marc Pirlot, Patrice Perny, Alexis Tsoukiàs, Philippe Vincke

   Pages 73-89

7. Comparing on the Basis of Several Attributes: The Example of Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis

   • Denis Bouyssou, Thierry Marchant, Marc Pirlot, Patrice Perny, Alexis Tsoukiàs, Philippe Vincke

   Pages 91-152

8. Deciding Automatically: The Example of Rule Based Control

   • Denis Bouyssou, Thierry Marchant, Marc Pirlot, Patrice Perny, Alexis Tsoukiàs, Philippe Vincke

   Pages 153-184

9. Dealing with Uncertainty: An Example in Electricity Production Planning

   • Denis Bouyssou, Thierry Marchant, Marc Pirlot, Patrice Perny, Alexis Tsoukiàs, Philippe Vincke

   Pages 185-209

10. Supporting Decisions: A Real-World Case Study

    • Denis Bouyssou, Thierry Marchant, Marc Pirlot, Patrice Perny, Alexis Tsoukiàs, Philippe Vincke

    Pages 211-242

11. Conclusion

    • Denis Bouyssou, Thierry Marchant, Marc Pirlot, Patrice Perny, Alexis Tsoukiàs, Philippe Vincke

    Pages 243-252

12. Back Matter

    Pages 253-274

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1. 1 Motivations Deciding is a very complex and difficult task. Some people even argue that our ability to make decisions in complex situations is the main feature that distinguishes us from animals (it is also common to say that laughing is the main difference). Nevertheless, when the task is too complex or the interests at stake are too important, it quite often happens that we do not know or we are not sure what to decide and, in many instances, we resort to a decision support technique: an informal one-we toss a coin, we ask an oracle, we visit an astrologer, we consult an expert, we think-or a formal one. Although informal decision support techniques can be of interest, in this book, we will focus on formal ones. Among the latter, we find some well-known decision support techniques: cost-benefit analysis, multiple criteria decision analysis, decision trees, . . . But there are many other ones, sometimes not presented as decision support techniques, that help making decisions. Let us cite but a few examples. • When the director of a school must decide whether a given student will pass or fail, he usually asks each teacher to assess the merits of the student by means of a grade. The director then sums the grades and compares the result to a threshold. • When a bank must decide whether a given client will obtain a credit or not, a technique, called credit scoring, is often used.

• Attribut
• decision models
• evaluation
• multiple criteria
• operations research
• social choice theory

• ESSEC, France

  Denis Bouyssou

• Ghent University, Belgium

  Thierry Marchant

• Faculté Polytechnique de Mons, SMRO, Belgium

  Marc Pirlot

• LIP6, Université Paris VI, France

  Patrice Perny

• LAMSADE — CNRS, Université Paris Dauphine, France

  Alexis Tsoukiàs

• SMG — ISRO, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

  Philippe Vincke

Policies and ethics