Deriving Weights from Interval Multiplicative Preference Relations in Group Decision Making

In this article, we investigate group decision making problems with interval multiplicative preference relations (including complete interval multiplicative preference relations and incomplete interval multiplicative preference relations). On the basis of the number of judgments and the consistency degree of each interval multiplicative preference relation, we first give a combined weighting method to derive the weights of decision makers. Then, we establish two linear programming models to derive the weight intervals of alternatives from all individual consistent interval multiplicative preference relations and utilize the continuous ordered weighted averaging operator or the continuous ordered weighted geometric operator to aggregate all the values in each weight interval. In addition, we establish a more general model to check the consistency of all individual interval multiplicative preference relations. In the cases where the optimal objective value of the model is not zero, we can get the optimal weights of alternatives directly, and then utilize these optimal weights and the optimal deviation values derived from the model to construct consistent interval multiplicative preference relations. Furthermore, we discuss some special cases of the established models and illustrate our models with a practical example.     

Compatibility Analysis of Intuitionistic Fuzzy Preference Relations in Group Decision Making

Compatibility analysis is an efficient and important tool used to measure the consensus of opinions within a given group of individuals. In this paper, we give a compatibility measure between intuitionistic preference values and a compatibility measure between intuitionistic preference relations, respectively, and study their properties. It is shown that each individual intuitionistic preference relation and the collective intuitionistic preference relation is perfectly compatible if and only if all the individual intuitionistic preference relations are perfectly compatible. Based on the compatibility measures, a consensus reaching procedure in group decision making with intuitionistic preference relations is developed, and a method for comparing intuitionistic fuzzy values is pointed out, by which the considered objects are ranked and selected. In addition, we extend the developed measures, procedure and method to accommodate group decision making situations with interval-valued intuitionistic preference relations. Numerical analysis on our results through an illustrative example is also carried out.     

A Practical Procedure for Group Decision Making under Incomplete Multiplicative Linguistic Preference Relations

The aim of this paper is to investigate a group decision making problem with incomplete multiplicative linguistic preference relations. We first define the concept of an incomplete multiplicative linguistic preference relation, and then develop a simple algorithm to extend each incomplete multiplicative linguistic preference relation to a complete multiplicative linguistic preference relation. Finally, we develop a practical procedure for group decision making under incomplete multiplicative linguistic preference relations, and give a numerical example to illustrate the developed procedure.     

Resolving Group Choice Paradoxes Using Probabilistic and Fuzzy Concepts

The standard assumption of modern social choice theory is that the individuals are endowed with complete and transitive preference relations over the decision alternatives. A large number of incompatibility results has been achieved regarding aggregation of these kinds of preferences. Yet, most voting procedures make no use of this information. Instead they essentially cut down the information provided by the voters. In this paper we deal with some alternatives to the complete and transitive voter preference assumption. Particular attention is paid to imprecise notions: probabilistic and fuzzy preference relations. Rather than establishing new impossibility results, our focus is in resolving various voting paradoxes using imprecise preference concepts.     

Uncertain Power Average Operators for Aggregating Interval Fuzzy Preference Relations

In this paper, we investigate group decision making problems based on interval fuzzy preference relations. We define an uncertain power weighted average (UPWA) operator and an uncertain power ordered weighted average (UPOWA) operator, on the basis of the power average operator of Yager (IEEE Trans Syst Man Cybern A 31:724–731, 1988) and the uncertain geometric mean. In the situations where the weights of experts are known, we develop a method based on the UPWA operator for group decision making with interval fuzzy preference relations; and in the situations where the weights of experts are unknown, we develop a method based on the UPOWA operator for group decision making with interval fuzzy preference relations.     

Knows Me and My Business: The Association between Preference for Relational Governance and Owners' Choice of Banks

We explore the relative importance of relational and economic preferences in small business owners' choice of a primary bank. We measured preferences directly at three points within 14 years and found that business owners' preference for relational versus economic governance was associated with the type of bank chosen and that the effect of relational preference remained relatively stable over time. Our findings support the idea that a preference for social relations might shape even the most straightforward economic decisions and suggest that variation in this preference is large, persistent enough to support business opportunities for small firms, including small banks.     

区域贸易优惠与最惠国待遇关系的冲突与法律协调——兼论我国之应对措施

区域贸易合作与多边贸易体制虽具有互补性,但彼此不能相互替代;区域贸易优惠与多边最惠国待遇实质上存在冲突,但它作为一项特殊例外存续于世贸组织体制之内。世贸组织规则确立了区域贸易优惠的合法性,从而为区域贸易提供了前所未有的发展机遇。分析区域贸易合作与多边贸易体制的关系、区域贸易优惠与世贸组织最惠国待遇的冲突,以及世贸组织规则对两者间关系的协调,有助于了解区域一体化发展进程,及时采取积极的应对措施。     

On Consensus of Group Decision Making with Interval Utility Values and Interval Preference Orderings

Uncertainty is a common phenomenon in our real world. Interval utility values and interval preference orderings are two of the simplest and most convenient tools to describe uncertain preferences in decision making. In this paper, we investigate consensus problems in group decision making with interval utility values and interval preference orderings. We first establish their transformation relations, and give a formula for calculating the association coefficients of individual uncertain preferences and group ones. We then develop a consensus procedure for group decision making with interval utility values and interval preference orderings, which takes interval utility values as the uniform preference representation. This procedure can be reduced to a series of processes for dealing with some special group decision making situations, such as: group decision making with utility values and preference orderings, group decision making with interval utility values, group decision making with interval preference orderings, etc. Finally, we illustrate the applications of the developed procedures with two practical examples.     

Logarithm Compatibility of Interval Multiplicative Preference Relations with an Application to Determining the Optimal Weights of Experts in the Group Decision Making

We propose the new compatibility of interval multiplicative preference relations (IMPRs) in the group decision making (GDM) and apply it to determine the weights of experts. Firstly, we introduce the operation of interval numbers and define the new conception of logarithm compatibility degree of two interval multiplicative preference relations. Then, we prove the properties of logarithm compatibility of IMPR. It is pointed that if IMPR provided by every expert and its characteristic matrix are of acceptable compatibility, then the synthetic preference relation and the synthetic characteristic matrix are also of acceptable compatibility. Furthermore, we construct a mathematical programming model to determine the optimal weights of experts by minimizing the square logarithm compatibility in the GDM with IMPR and discuss the solution to the model. Finally, a numerical example is illustrated to show that the model is feasible.     

Consistency in MCGDM Problems with Intuitionistic Fuzzy Preference Relations Based on an Exponential Score Function

This paper investigates an approach for multiple criteria decision making problems with intuitionistic fuzzy preference relations (IFPRs). An exponential score function for intuitionistic fuzzy numbers is developed. Its novelty is that it can convert an IFPR into a multiplicative preference relation. Then, the exponential score preference relation is introduced and its associated optimal transfer matrix is proposed. The optimal transfer matrix can guarantee the consistency via the additive transitivity property. Furthermore, an optimal model for aggregating group IFPRs to reach consistency is proposed. Finally, a group decision making approach and a multi-criteria decision making approach with IFPRs are presented.     

Time orientation and construal level: effects on eating and exercising behaviour and preferences

Eating and exercising behaviour are both characterized by immediate and future consequences. Consequently, consideration of these consequences (i.e. time orientation) predicts eating and exercising behaviour. We investigate whether construal level acts as an underlying mechanism of these relations. Students (N = 101) completed measures of consideration of immediate and future consequences (i.e. CFC‐food and CFC‐exercise), construal level, eating and exercising behaviour and preferences. For self‐reported eating and exercising behaviour, only direct effects of consideration of immediate and future consequences were found. For eating preferences, however, there was evidence of an indirect effect through construal level. A stronger tendency to consider future consequences led to a stronger preference for utilitarian (as compared with hedonic) food products through a more abstract construal level. All in all, construal level partially explains the differential relations between consideration of immediate and future consequences and eating and exercising behaviour and preferences.     

消费者品牌偏好的形成及行为经济学视野的分析

本文认为,企业品牌产品在生产、销售、服务等价值链活动中的行为及信息传播构成了消费者从外部环境中认知品牌最基础的信息。成功的品牌信息会引起一种情感反应,可以把消费者与产品的距离拉近,品牌如能成为消费者自我实现或表现自我的媒介,消费者就会产生接受、喜欢的行为倾向。文章提出,消费者对品牌功能的预期是形成品牌情感的先决条件,偏好反转现象与消费行为倾向密切关联。     

Conditions for disarmament: A game theoretical model

Starting from the widely accepted Prisoners' Dilemma model to describe arms race situations between rival powers, we investigate how changes of preference relations among the four strategy combinations (disarmament and armament for both sides) can help to overcome the arms race dilemma.Part of the research for this paper was carried out under a fellowship from Merriam Laboratory for Analytic Political Research, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL, USA. An extended version of this paper is part of the author's dissertation (Engelmann 1993) at Technical University Darmstadt, Germany.     

Experimental dramas: Prototyping a multiuser negotiation simulation

This article describes the use, in prototype form, of a distributed system for simulating negotiation. Participants are provided with a common initial model of a situation, in this case an industrial relations dispute. They then communicate with each other via e-mail before each side commits itself to a particular choice of strategy. The system is considered both as a means of investigating conflict behavior in general (including possible use as a training device) and as a means of testing specific hypotheses about emotion and preference change.     

一种多属性的多物品拍卖方法研究

通常意义的多物品拍卖中,卖方只对买方的竞标价格和数量感兴趣,而不考虑竞标的其他属性。而在实际交易时,卖方往往需要考虑买方竞标更多的属性,如买方的企业信誉、付款方式、合作关系等,卖方对不同属性的买方竞标评价值不同。为此采用一种多属性的多物品拍卖模型,并用基于效用理论的多属性决策方法PROMETHEE-Ⅱ且属性的优先值与属性值成非线性关系正弦准则的优先函数进行实证分析。     

Beyond plug and play: The acquisition and meaning of vibrators in heterosexual relationships

This article presents an exploration into women's purchasing of vibrators and how they negotiate the meaning of these sex toys with their partners' preferences and attitudes. Drawing on semi‐structured interviews with 32 female consumers, the study identifies ways in which emotional, transformative and contextual aspects of meaning revolve around choosing, buying and using vibrators in heterosexual relationships. In analysing such experiences, the article points to the potential of vibrators to become imbued with notions of desire, maintenance, privacy and preference. Overall, this research draws attention to salient and nonsalient meanings attached to vibrators that constitute the sex toys' significance beyond simply functional elements. The paper enriches research on consumer behaviour and vibrator use in sexual relationships and proposes an understanding of object relations grounded in the intimate spheres of consumer studies.     

Prioritization and Aggregation of Intuitionistic Preference Relations: A Multiplicative-Transitivity-Based Transformation from Intuitionistic Judgment Data to Priority Weights

This article proposes a goal programming framework for deriving intuitionistic fuzzy weights from intuitionistic preference relations (IPRs). A new multiplicative transitivity is put forward to define consistent IPRs. By analyzing the relationship between intuitionistic fuzzy weights and multiplicative consistency, a transformation formula is introduced to convert normalized intuitionistic fuzzy weights into multiplicative consistent IPRs. By minimizing the absolute deviation between the original judgment and the converted multiplicative consistent IPR, two linear goal programming models are developed to obtain intuitionistic fuzzy weights from IPRs for both individual and group decisions. In the context of multicriteria decision making with a hierarchical structure, a linear program is established to obtain a unified criterion weight vector, which is then used to aggregate local intuitionistic fuzzy weights into global priority weights for final alternative ranking. Two numerical examples are furnished to show the validity and applicability of the proposed models.     

An Acceptable Consistency-Based Framework for Group Decision Making with Intuitionistic Preference Relations

This article studies acceptable consistency of intuitionistic preference relations (IPRs) and examines how to aggregate individual IPRs into a collective judgment in a group decision making (GDM) context. A consistency index is first introduced to measure the consistency level, thereby defining acceptable consistency for IPRs. If a decision-maker is unwilling or unavailable to revise his/her judgment for an IPR with unacceptable consistency, an automated approach is developed to improve its consistency to an acceptable level. The acceptably consistent IPRs are subsequently aggregated into a group opinion by using an induced ordered weighted averaging operator. A procedure is then proposed to solve GDM problems with IPRs. An illustrative example is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed approach.     

Cultural Dimensions and Prototypical Criteria for Multi-Criteria Decision Support in Electronic Markets: A Comparative Analysis of Two Job Markets

Electronic markets are virtual meeting places where buyers and sellers interact to trade products or services. The main motivation for both buyers and sellers to participate in an electronic market is the desire to maximize their private utility (Bakos 1998). Electronic markets therefore usually provide some form of communication, decision or negotiation aid for buyers and sellers to support their utility maximizing goals. This paper presents a comparative analysis of two electronic job market case studies conducted at a university in Europe (Brussels, Belgium) and in the United States (Newark, New Jersey). At the occasion of the universities’ career fairs, students (n = 392) and local companies (n = 57) were invited to participate in an electronic job market to identify the best job offers (n = 137) and students, respectively. Participants were able to create personalized software agents to aid their search and decision making activities in the market. Every software agent was embedded with a multi-criteria decision support tool to produce a rank ordered list of students or job offers. Preference data gathered from market participants’ use of the multi-criteria decision model allow us to construct relational preference structures using a technique based on the mathematical theory of fuzzy relations (Bandler and Kohout 1980). These preference structures express relationships among the criteria that students and companies have used to identify job offers and companies, respectively. The purpose of the paper is to present the communicative and cultural implications of these relational preference structures. The theories of Hofstede (1983), Hall (1977) and Trompenaars (1993) on cultural dimensions allow us to discuss cultural differences on the choice of prototypical criteria. The paper concludes with implications for the use of electronic markets in the staffing industry and the role of software agents in such job markets.     

The NAFTA Preference and US‐Mexico Trade: Aggregate‐Level Analysis

This paper focuses on the US tariff preference afforded to Mexico relative to non‐NAFTA trading partners and evaluates the trade effects of NAFTA in a manner consistent with the idea behind a preferential trading agreement. The estimation technique exploits the time‐varying dimension of the tariff preference over 1989 to 2001. This is important because the tariff preference for Mexico into the United States market existed prior to NAFTA. Further, the NAFTA preference was phased in over time. We find that a higher US tariff preference for Mexico corresponds to increased US import demand for Mexican goods, and that a higher Mexican tariff preference for the United States corresponds to increased Mexican demand for US exports. Interestingly, import demand was more responsive to changes in the tariff preference once NAFTA was in place than it was on average.