Summary

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This chapter introduced the concept of making decisions when there is more than one objective or criterion to consider. Three specific modeling techniques were presented to solve decision-making problems with multiple criteria: goal programming, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), and scoring methods . These techniques can be applied to a wide variety of decision-making situations when there are objectives besides just profit or cost. They are often applicable to decision-making problems in public or governmental organizations in which the levels of service or efficiency in carrying out numerous goals are more important than are profit or cost.

The presentation of goal programming completes the coverage of linear programming. One of the implicit assumptions of linear programming has been that all parameters and values in the model were known with certainty . Upcoming chapters will consider techniques that are probabilistic and are used when a situation includes uncertainty.