Information-Theoretic-Entropy Based Weight Aggregation Method in Multiple-Attribute Group Decision-Making

Weight aggregation is the key process to solve a multiple-attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) problem. This paper is trying to propose a possible approach to objectivize subjective information and to aggregate information from attribute values themselves and decision-makers’ judgment. An MAGDM problem without information about decision-makers’ and attributes’ weight is considered. In order to define decision-makers’ subjective preference, their utility function is introduced. The attributes value matrix is converted into a subjective attributes value matrix based on their subjective judgment on attribute values. By utilizing the entropy weighting technique, decision-maker’s subjective weight on attributes and objective weight on attributes are determined individually based on the subjective attributes value matrix and attributes value matrix. Based on the principle of minimum cross-entropy, all decision-makers’ subjective weights are integrated into a single weight vector that is closest to all decision-makers’ judgment without any extra information added. Then, by applying the principle of minimum cross-entropy again, a weight aggregation method is proposed to combine the subjective and objective weight of attributes. Finally, an MAGDM example of project choosing is presented to illustrate the procedure of the proposed method.