Multikriteria

Multikriteria, or multicriteria decision making (MCDM), is a field within operations research that studies how to compare and choose among alternatives when multiple criteria must be considered. It addresses scenarios where improving one criterion may worsen another, requiring trade-offs rather than a single-objective solution.

A typical MCDM problem involves a finite set of alternatives and a set of criteria. Criteria may be quantitative or qualitative and carry different importance. Performances are normalized and weighted to reflect priorities, producing a basis for ranking, selecting, or identifying Pareto-optimal options.

Common approaches fall into scoring and outranking families. Scoring methods, such as weighted sums or TOPSIS, aggregate performance into a single score. Outranking methods, such as ELECTRE or PROMETHEE, compare alternatives through pairwise judgments to reveal preference relations. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and its variants are also widely used.

Typical workflows include problem framing, criteria selection, data gathering, normalization, weighting, method application, and result interpretation. Sensitivity analysis assesses robustness to changes in weights or data.

MCDM is used in procurement, project selection, energy planning, environmental management, urban planning, and healthcare to support informed, transparent decisions across sectors.

Challenges include subjectivity in weighting, inconsistent judgments, data quality, and the need for transparent, repeatable procedures. Robustness and stakeholder engagement are common practices to address these issues.