Goal Programming and Its Variants

Author(s):  
John Wang ◽  
Dajin Wang ◽  
Aihua Li

Within the realm of multicriteria decision making (MCDM) exists a powerful method for solving problems with multiple objectives. Goal programming (GP) was the first multiple-objective technique presented in the literature (Dowlatshahi, 2001). The premise of GP traces its origin back to a linear programming study on executive compensation in 1955 by Charnes, Cooper, and Ferguson even though the specific name did not appear in publications until the 1961 textbook entitled Management Models and Industrial Applications of Linear Programming, also by Charnes and Cooper (Schniederjans, 1995). Initial applications of this new type of modeling technique demonstrated its potential for a variety of applications in numerous different areas. Until the middle of the 1970s, GP applications reported in the literature were few and far between. Since that time, primarily due to influential works by Lee and Ignizio, a noticeable increase of published GP applications and technical improvements has been recognized. The number of case studies, along with the range of fields, to which GP has been and still is being applied is impressive, as shown in surveys by Romero (1991) and Aouni and Kettani (2001). It can be said that GP has been, and still is, the “most widely used multi-criteria decision making technique” (Tamiz, Jones, & Romero, 1998, p. 570).

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 65-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Jafarnejad Chaghooshi ◽  
Ehsan Khanmohammadi ◽  
Maryam Faghei ◽  
Amir Karimi

Outsourcing plays an important role in the success of organizations. One of the risks associated with outsourcing is inappropriate contractor selection which significantly influences the implementation of projects in terms of time, quality, and cost. In this study, we applied multi-criteria decision-making techniques in order to determine the best contractor using criteria such as reputation, offered price, and technical capacity. This study is primarily aimed at identifying important criteria of contractor selection, determining the significance of the criteria, and designing a framework for selection of the most appropriate contractor. Important criteria for selecting contractors were extracted from the literature and experts' views were collected using questionnaire. Accordingly, six criteria were selected and their weights were determined by the application of goal programming. Finally, contractors were ranked and the best contractor was selected using fuzzy ELECTRE technique with trapezoidal fuzzy numbers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (9) ◽  
pp. 2287-2313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duc Hoc Tran

PurposeProject managers work to ensure successful project completion within the shortest period and at the lowest cost. One of the main tasks of a project manager in the planning phase is to generate the project time–cost curve, and furthermore, to determine the most appropriate schedule for the construction process. Numerous existing time–cost tradeoff analysis models have focused on solving a simple project representation without regarding for typical activity and project characteristics. This study aims to present a novel approach called “multiple-objective social group optimization” (MOSGO) for optimizing time–cost decisions in generalized construction projects.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, a novel MOGSO to mimic the time–cost tradeoff problem in generalized construction projects is proposed. The MOSGO has slightly modified the mechanism operation from the original algorithm to be a free-parameter algorithm and to enhance the exploring and exploiting balance in an optimization algorithm. The evidential reasoning technique is used to rank the global optimal obtained non-dominated solutions to help decision makers reach a single compromise solution.FindingsTwo case studies of real construction projects were investigated and the performance of MOSGO was compared to those of widely considered multiple-objective evolutionary algorithms. The comparison results indicated that the MOSGO approach is a powerful, efficient and effective tool in finding the time–cost curve. In addition, the multi-criteria decision-making approaches were applied to identify the best schedule for project implementation.Research limitations/implicationsAccordingly, the first major practical contribution of the present research is that it provides a tool for handling real-world construction projects by considering all types of construction project. The second important implication of this study derives from research finding on the hybridization multiple-objective and multi-criteria techniques to help project managers in facilitating the time–cost tradeoff (TCT) problems easily. The third implication stems from the wide-range application of the proposed model TCT.Practical implicationsThe model can be used in early stages of the construction process to help project managers in selecting an appropriate plan for whole project lifecycle.Social implicationsThe proposal model can be applied to multi-objective contexts in diversified fields. Moreover, the model is also a useful reference for future research.Originality/valueThis paper makes contributions to extant literature by: introducing a method for making TCT models applicable to actual projects by considering general activity precedence relations; developing a novel MOSGO algorithm to solving TCT problems in multi-objective context by a single simulation; and facilitating the TCT problems to project managers by using multi-criteria decision-making approaches.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 3466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shen ◽  
Peng ◽  
Tu

Appropriate airport ground handling service (AGHS) equipment vendor selection (AGHSEVS) can prevent aircraft damage and delays in airlines schedules, and ensure reliable and high-quality ground handling service. Previous research has seldom integrated multi-criteria decision-making techniques with goal programming to solve the AGHSEVS problem. This paper describes a new system evaluation model for AGHSEVS by considering both qualitative and quantitative methods. We compare the fuzzy TOPSIS method based on fuzzy weighted average left and right score methods with multi-choice and multi-aspiration goal programming approach of an AGHS company in Taiwan. These study results can help airport ground handling service company managers make optimal decisions for AGHSEVS problems. We hope the practicability of the comparable model with slight modifications of real situation data can be used in other AGHS companies.


Author(s):  
Feyza Gurbuz

Decision-making is important for organisations, since the consequences of given decisions are identified among the major risk factors for organisations’ future. This study aims to prove the importance of using combined decision-making methods for a successful decision-making for managers. In a ceramics company, multi-criteria decision-making processes were applied for taking quick action for future strategies. SWOT analysis was used for determining potential strategies. After then, multicriteria decision-making methods were used to determine the importance of each potential strategy. Keywords: Multi-criteria decision-making, SWOT analysis, strategy management.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document