Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Decision Support Models


Everyone can appreciate a little support in their decision making, can a model help you?


When do I need a model? How much will it cost? What will be the benefit?


Jane Materna of OrgCapacity.com presented a case study where she supported the DoD Joint Staff with a model to select resource allocations annually. The model was created using http://www.decisionlens.com/ which uses the Analytic Hierarchy Process (Dr. Thomas Saaty).


In this example, a six-week investment to discover the stakeholders, the decision criteria, and the weights provided a defensible process that will have the buyin of multiple stakeholders. The computer program allows for voting and analysis to rack and stack 92 initiatives and the ability to easily tweak the scenarios.


Like all problem solving, the computer can automate the routine, but the underlying process can be easily practiced with some household decisions to learn the mechanics of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). AHP is a fundamental Systems Engineering tool and useful in Six Sigma facilitation.


I recommend using the process outlined http://thequalityportal.com/q_ahp.htm to create a model that will help you decide on which make and model for your next car purchase.

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