A new method to evaluate weights of decision makers and its application in water resource management

A new method to evaluate weights of decision makers and its application in water resource management Hojjat Mianabadi; Abbas Afshar Abstract: In a real world group decision making problem, decision makers (DMs) have different knowledge, proficiency and experiences and therefore the importance of each expert against an attribute may not be equal. In many studies this difference of knowledge and experiences (relative weight) of each expert has not been considered and equal weight has been assigned to each expert. Obviously, it is inconsequential and creates imprecise and inaccurate solutions. This paper presents a new rational approach to evaluate relative weights of decision makers (DMs). In order to assess the relative weights of DMs, this method integrates subjective preferences of group manager and opinions of DMs about themselves simultaneously. The proposed method is general may be applied to great variety of practical problems. A case study (a water resource management problem) is used to illustrate the application of the model to real world decision making processes. Results indicate that rational determination of the DMs’ weights should be an integral part of the group decision making process.