On-line group decision support by preference programming in traffic planning

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.     

Building consensus in strategic decision making: System dynamics as a group support system

System dynamics was originally founded as a method for modeling and simulating the behavior of industrial systems. In recent years it is increasingly employed as a Group Support System for strategic decision-making groups. The model is constructed in direct interaction with a management team, and the procedure is generally referred to as group model-building. The model can be conceptual (qualitative) or a full-blown (quantitative) computer simulation model. In this article, a case is described in which a qualitative system dynamics model was built to support strategic decision making in a Dutch government agency.Since people from different departments held strongly opposite viewpoints on the strategy, the agency had discussed its strategic problem for more than a year, but was obviously not able to reach consensus. The application of group model-building was successful in integrating opposite points of view, as well as in fostering consensus and creating commitment.The purpose of the article is twofold: first, to illustrate the process of group model-building with system dynamics; second, to evaluate why it was successful. Evaluation results reveal the importance of both systemic thinking through model-building and the role of the facilitator in catalyzing the strategic decision-making process.     

An object-oriented architecture for group decision support systems

An object-oriented GDSS can produce a rich environment for easily accessing software tools or applications running under a Graphical User Interface and can provide communication among meeting participants. This requires definition of (1) objects to manage the meeting and participant sessions, (2) applications that can run under these sessions, and (3) data storage and data communications capability that handle both private and shared data. This article suggests that a GDSS system can operate under three layers of software: an application-layer, a GDSS environment, and an operating system environment. It defines the structure and behavior of the GDSS environment layer in terms of (1) objects and messages used to communicate among these objects and (2) a message passing protocol between the GDSS environment and the other two layers. These specifications result in an architecture that is sufficiently modular to enable addition of various GDSS software. This article also discusses a prototype implementation of the architecture that is developed in Smalltalk and runs under Microsoft's Windows 3.0.     

A framework for interactive multiple criteria group decision support

An interactive framework is developed for multiple criteria group decision support. Decision makers are asked to specify aspiration and reservation levels to establish a preferred range for the value of each objective for each decision maker. Group and individual solutions are generated as a function of these levels. Decision makers are asked to react to current solutions by revising their aspiration and reservation levels and additional solutions are generated. The framework is both simpler and more flexible than previous approaches.     

A linguistic decision process in group decision making

Assuming a set of linguistic preferences representing the preferences of the individuals, a linguistic choice process is presented. This is developed using the concept of fuzzy majority for deriving a collective linguistic preference, and the concept of nondominated alternatives for deriving the selected alternatives in the linguistic choice process. The fuzzy majorities are equated with fuzzy linguistic quantifiers. The collective linguistic preference is derived by means of a linguistic ordered weighted averaging operator whose weights are defined using a fuzzy linguistic quantifier. In order to obtain the nondominated alternatives, we present a novel reformulation of Orlovski's nondominance degree under linguistic information.     

A multiobjective decision support system for multiresource forest management

A multiobjective and/or multiperson decision support system for analyzing multiresource forest management problems is developed in this paper. The procedure includes formulating the problem in a multiobjective and group decision making framework, and solving it using two solution techniques which consist of a distance-based compromise programming (CP) and a cooperative game theoretic approach of the Nash equilibrium type. The problem consists of five forest resources management objective functions to be maximized. Solving the problem using the two solution techniques enables determining a satisfactory compromise solution of the five forest resource management objectives. Sensitivity analysis of the two techniques shows compromise programming to be more sensitive to changes in the weight and the p-parameter of the technique while the cooperative game theoretic approach is relatively robust with respect to changes in the worst utility set.     

A Comparison of Full Profile and Hierarchical Information Integration Conjoint Methods to Modeling Group Preferences

This paper presents a comparative test of full profile (FP), original hierarchical information integration (HII-O), and integrated hierarchical information integration (HII-I) conjoint methods for modeling group preferences. It is hypothesized that in settings where groups need to decide about complex multi-attribute alternatives, HII-O will predict holdout profiles better than FP, and that HII-I will perform better than HII-O. The predictive ability of the three methods is tested for the case of housing preferences of housing co-ops, which are groups consisting of three to five people who jointly own a house. The results confirm that HII-I outperforms the other two methods and further suggest that FP and HII-O perform equally well. In addition, two variations of HII-I are developed. One of these provides independent estimates of the relative influence of group members on the decision outcomes, however at the expense of requiring larger designs. The two HII-I variations are also tested and found to be equivalent in predictive ability.     

A framework for communication support in group work with special reference to negotiation systems

Communication is central to all group interactions, including negotiations. Group interfaces can limit or enhance communication flows among participants. Hence, group interface design requires the identification of the communication flows among participants, which in turn requires an identification of the various dimensions of intragroup communication. This article outlines a framework to guide researchers in examining the communication needs of group members in computer-supported collaborative work (CSCW), highlighting its application to the context of negotiation. An analysis of communication flows is provided along four dimensions:concurrency, message, channel andparticipant characteristics. The framework is intended to encourage a detailed focus on key aspects of the group interface, to provide a scheme for categorizing the contributions of empirical work, and to identify factors worthy of empirical scrutiny.An earlier version of this article, A Communication-Based Framework for Group Interfaces in Computer-Supported Collaboration by F. Lim and I. Benbasat, appeared in theProceedings of the 24th Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences, pp. 610–620.     

Cognitive hurdles in the use of decision support systems to enhance problem understanding

Computer-assisted decision support systems have been widely promoted as a means of enhancing problem understanding in crisis and noncrisis decision making. Clinical observation of actual applications of a particular category of software for interactive decisions (CONAN, DECISIONMAKER) have identified cognitive hurdles in the use of such systems. These hurdles not only pose a challenge to the development of such normative interventions in the decision process, but also an opportunity for furthering the shift to a new psychologically informed paradigm for decision making.     

An Integrated System to Acquire Knowledge and Support Decisions in Complex Innovation Design Processes

A system that integrates tools from different disciplines, ranging from cognitive and social psychology to multicriteria analysis and mathematical programming, is introduced to cope with the complexities and uncertainties that generate criticality in the organization innovation processes. An intelligent combined use of tools can facilitate the integration of unstructured or semistructured information resources and support individuals or groups of stakeholders in a complex environment, in order to structure a problem situation, to agree on a “problem focus” and to make commitments on a set of possible actions. The purpose of this article is to examine the potentiality of this system, above all in terms of knowledge acquisition, fusion, and use in various organizational contexts, and to describe an application in relation to an industrial project, in order to support the conceptual phase of the design process.     

Language influence in responses to questionnaires by bilingual respondents: A test of the Whorfian hypothesis

This paper examines how sub-cultural respondents differ in their perceptions and answers to questionnaire items tapping their acculturation and ethnic identity. A related objective is to examine how bilingual respondents exposed to an instrument in the source language perceive it compared to subjects exposed to the instrument in their native language. Prior studies find that respondents can answer differently according to the language of the questionnaire. The framework is based on the Whorfian hypothesis and the Revised Hierarchical Model. About 500 questionnaires are collected from Greek-Canadians residing in Eastern Canada. Findings indicate the presence of several non-invariant factor loadings and covariances, indicating that caution should be exercised when carrying out ethnic identity studies with respondents who are given the choice of the language of the questionnaire. Research on how differences between languages affect consumer information processing and cognitions can shed light on a new form of response style in cross-cultural research.     

Consumer Preferences and Buying Criteria in Rice: A Study to Identify Market Strategy for Thailand Jasmine Rice Export

ABSTRACT

Rice consumption per capita in many Asian countries decreased, but it is consumed more in non-rice-eating countries. This study aimed to investigate consumer preferences and attitudes toward Jasmine rice among consumers in target rice export countries to identify opportunities and strategic implications. A quantitative study with 1,128 consumers of target nationalities was conducted in combination with focus group discussions. Factor analysis of consumers' buying decision criteria yielded four factors: marketing activities (explained variance 26.8%), quality (13%), price (10.5%), and country of origin (7.7%). Discrimination analysis was performed to investigate differences in buying criteria between traditional rice-eating and non-rice-eating countries (p?=?0.000). Marketing activities, price, and country of origin were the best discriminators, whereas quality was a poor discriminator. Rice was not a substitute to other staple foods due to price change. Product quality, differentiation, and price play an important role. Building a reputation by using a clear statement on the country of origin should be a priority for Thailand. On the basis of their preference, consumers were segmented into three groups and marketing strategies were proposed.