Title: On-Line Group Decision Support by Preference Programming in Traffic Planning

Authors: Raimo P. Hämäläinen and Mari Pöyhönen

Status: Group Decision and Negotiation, 5, 1996, pp. 485-500.

Keywords: Multiple criteria decision making, Hierarchical weighting techniques, Preference programming, Group decision support systems

Preference programming is a decision support technique which allows decision makers to give preference statements of weight ratios in terms of intervals instead of single numbers in a value tree. Individual preferences, based on single number statements, can be combined into an interval model, and the negotiation proceeds by focusing on decreasing the width of the intervals. The preference programming approach was evaluated with a realistic traffic planning problem by using the HIPRE 3+ Group Link software. The results from nine test groups indicate that preference programming is an operational group decision support technique which initiates negotiations and efficiently directs the discussion towards issues which are relevant in reaching a consensus.