Problem Structuring for Multicriteria Decision Analysis Interventions

Multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) has been extensively used in management science as a tool for evaluating options in decisions, which involve the achievement of multiple objectives. Multicriteria methods have been widely researched from an axiomatic perspective; however, much less attention has been devoted to the process of structuring multicriteria decision models. Furthermore, despite the significance of problem formulation in organizational decision making, it is surprising that much of the MCDA literature has paid relatively minor consideration to the processes of articulating and defining a multicriteria problem. In this article, we examine the role of problem structuring in MCDA interventions from defining the problem situation and the required level of participation to structuring the multi-criteria evaluation model. We comment on the challenges that a decision analyst faces in this context and on the modeling tools that may be employed to support problem structuring in MCDA interventions.