scholarly journals Use of process guides for comprehensive urban sanitation technology decision-making: practice versus theory

Water Policy ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 158-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Rita Ramôa ◽  
Jennifer McConville ◽  
Christoph Lüthi ◽  
José Saldanha Matos

Abstract The need for taking a comprehensive perspective when selecting sanitation technologies in developing contexts has been increasingly discussed. Process guides, which are planning documents describing steps decision-makers need to take, represent one possible contribution to attain comprehensive decisions. An interview study with sanitation experts was carried out to understand the importance and real use of such planning documents for the selection of urban sanitation technologies in developing countries, as well as to understand the relevance and actual consideration of decision elements and to identify recommendations for taking them into account. Although process guides appear to be helpful to guide planning processes, their use does not seem to be common practice. It is actually doubtful that the sector is currently able to make better use of those documents in the form that they exist today. Furthermore, the importance of a comprehensive approach is generally recognised, but relevant decision elements were said to be often neglected. Finally, results from the interview analysis also emphasised the need for a conducive policy environment, namely by developing appropriate institutional and legal frameworks, and by incentivising planners and decision-makers to further adapt to comprehensive decision-making practices that effectively improve the sanitation situation in developing countries.

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1and2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajeev Dhingra ◽  
Preetvanti Singh

Decision problems are usually complex and involve evaluation of several conflicting criteria (parameters). Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) is a promising field that considers the parallel influence of all criteria and aims at helping decision makers in expressing their preferences, over a set of predefined alternatives, on the basis of criteria (parameters) that are contradictory in nature. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a useful and widespread MCDM tool for solving such type of problems, as it allows the incorporation of conflicting objectives and decision makers preferences in the decision making. The AHP utilizes the concept of pair wise comparison to find the order of criteria (parameters) and alternatives. The comparison in a pairwise manner becomes quite tedious and complex for problems having eight alternatives or more, thereby, limiting the application of AHP. This paper presents a soft hierarchical process approach based on soft set decision making which eliminates the least promising candidate alternatives and selects the optimum(potential) ones that results in the significant reduction in the number of pairwise comparisons necessary for the selection of the best alternative using AHP, giving the approach a more realistic view. A supplier selection problem is used to illustrate the proposed approach.


Author(s):  
R. V. Rao ◽  
B. K. Patel

Selection of a most appropriate material is a very important task in design process of every product. There is a need for simple, systematic, and logical methods or mathematical tools to guide decision makers in considering a number of selection attributes and their interrelations and in making right decisions. This paper proposes a novel multiple attribute decision making (MADM) method for solving the material selection problem. The method considers the objective weights of importance of the attributes as well as the subjective preferences of the decision maker to decide the integrated weights of importance of the attributes. Furthermore, the method uses fuzzy logic to convert the qualitative attributes into the quantitative attributes. Two examples are presented to illustrate the potential of the proposed method.


2020 ◽  
pp. 730-750
Author(s):  
Mohamed Marzouk ◽  
Mohamed Abd El-Razek

This article describes how in developing countries, millions of tons of construction and demolition wastes (CDWs) are lost every year due to lack of knowledge of recycling significance and/or procedures. Despite the high value of CDWs, high percentage of this waste is either dumped illegally or disposed in the landfills. Disposal methods should consider saving natural resources and maintaining the environmental conditions through maximizing the value of CDWs. This article aims at choosing the most sustainable disposal alternative using Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) Process, considering several sustainability measure indicators. The research introduces a list containing the most relevant and significant sustainable indicators that affect the selection of alternative for disposal of CDWs. Then, fuzzy TOPSIS technique is applied considering the significant indicators on each alternative to rank and choose the best alternative for disposal of CDWs.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 38-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Marzouk ◽  
Mohamed Abd El-Razek

This article describes how in developing countries, millions of tons of construction and demolition wastes (CDWs) are lost every year due to lack of knowledge of recycling significance and/or procedures. Despite the high value of CDWs, high percentage of this waste is either dumped illegally or disposed in the landfills. Disposal methods should consider saving natural resources and maintaining the environmental conditions through maximizing the value of CDWs. This article aims at choosing the most sustainable disposal alternative using Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) Process, considering several sustainability measure indicators. The research introduces a list containing the most relevant and significant sustainable indicators that affect the selection of alternative for disposal of CDWs. Then, fuzzy TOPSIS technique is applied considering the significant indicators on each alternative to rank and choose the best alternative for disposal of CDWs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (06) ◽  
pp. 1875-1908
Author(s):  
Akshay Hinduja ◽  
Manju Pandey

ERP system is a software package that integrates and manages all the facets of the business and deeply influences the success of a business endeavor. The increasing competition in the market, rapidly changing demands, and increasing intricacy of business procedures induce enterprises to adopt ERP solutions. Adopting an ERP solution increases synchronization between business activities and reinforces managerial decision-making. However, it also involves a large investment, a significant amount of human resources and time, and risk of failure. Therefore, the selection of an ERP solution is a crucial decision for enterprises. To address this decision-making problem, we propose a four-stage multi-criteria decision-making approach in this paper. Three prevalent MCDM techniques, DEMATEL, IF-ANP, and IF-AHP, are used in different stages of the methodology to achieve better outcomes. The methodology incorporates the intuitionistic fuzzy sets to capture uncertainty and hesitancy involved in decision makers’ judgments. In addition, we develop a novel priority method to derive weights from the intuitionistic fuzzy preference relations. To validate the feasibility of the proposed approach, a case study is carried out on the selection of cloud-based ERP system for SMEs in the Chhattisgarh state of India, which indicates that the proposed four-stage approach effectively handles the ERP selection problem.


Author(s):  
Pascal D. König ◽  
Georg Wenzelburger

AbstractThe promise of algorithmic decision-making (ADM) lies in its capacity to support or replace human decision-making based on a superior ability to solve specific cognitive tasks. Applications have found their way into various domains of decision-making—and even find appeal in the realm of politics. Against the backdrop of widespread dissatisfaction with politicians in established democracies, there are even calls for replacing politicians with machines. Our discipline has hitherto remained surprisingly silent on these issues. The present article argues that it is important to have a clear grasp of when and how ADM is compatible with political decision-making. While algorithms may help decision-makers in the evidence-based selection of policy instruments to achieve pre-defined goals, bringing ADM to the heart of politics, where the guiding goals are set, is dangerous. Democratic politics, we argue, involves a kind of learning that is incompatible with the learning and optimization performed by algorithmic systems.


Author(s):  
NINA RADUHA

Natov koncept strateških komunikacij, ki je osrednja tema prispevka, je v Sloveniji in Slovenski vojski premalo poznan in uporabljen pojem, še manj je znana njegova vsebina. Pogosto je napačno razumljen in enačen s strateškimi odnosi z javnostmi. Ni direktivno sprejet in uveden v procese odločanja in načrtovanja, vendar v ospredje vedno bolj prihaja zavedanje, da je nujen, in sicer z vsemi svojimi zmogljivostmi in na vseh ravneh delovanja, kot eden ključnih načinov celovitega pristopa k učinkovitemu reševanju kriz v svetu in vedno bolj tudi v domačem okolju. Cilj pisanja je na diplomatski in vojaški ter taktični in strateški ravni spodbuditi zavedanje o nujnosti, pomembnosti in uporabnosti koncepta strateških komunikacij v sodobnem informacijskem času. S predstavitvijo teoretičnega okvira, vsebine in resničnih implikacij koncepta strateških komunikacij v praksi drugih držav, zavezniških in nasprotnikovih sil želimo s prispevkom poiskati zanimanje in pot do stvarne uvedbe in uporabe koncepta v slovenskem okolju. Analitični pregled stanja v Slovenski vojski in širše pokaže, da se sistem še ne zaveda nujnosti uvajanja koncepta v uporabo, čeprav bi se moral. V sklepu so zato zapisani izhodišča in podlaga za gradnjo obravnavanega koncepta v našem okolju, ki bodo predvsem v SV in na Ministrstvu za obrambo, pa tudi širše v slovenskem okolju, temelj za razpravo o oblikovanju nujnih odgovorov na izzive sodobnega varnostnega okolja. In Slovenia and the Slovenian Armed Forces, NATO's Strategic Communication's Concept, which is the main topic of this article, is a little known and used term, while its contents is even less known. It is often misunderstood and compared to strategic public relations. It has not been regulated and incorporated into the decision-making and planning processes. However, the awareness of its paramount importance is coming more and more to the fore. It is needed with all its capabilities and at all levels of operation as one of the key ways of adopting a comprehensive approach to an effective resolution of crisis worldwide and, more and more, in Slovenia. The aim of this article is to encourage the awareness on the urgency, importance and usefulness of the concept of strategic communication in the modern information era. By presenting the theoretical framework, contents and actual implications of the strategic communications concept in the practice of other nations, allied and adversary forces, we aim at ascertaining interest and way to actually implement and apply the concept in Slovenia. According to the analytical overview of the situation in the Slovenian Armed Forces and beyond, the system is not yet aware of the urgency of implementing the concept, although it should be. The conclusion thus includes the platform and foundation for the formulation of the discussed concept in Slovenian environment, which will serve as the basis for the Slovenian Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence and other institutions to discuss the formulation of urgent responses to the challenges posed by the modern security environment


Author(s):  
Muhammad Isa Daud ◽  
Mufty Mufty

Making the right decision is very important in a management, wrong decision making can be fatal for both companies and individuals Through the Education Office the government seeks to allocate funds to provide scholarships to students who are economically unable to finance their education and provide scholarships to students who have achievements. In order for the implementation of scholarships to be achieved, it must be in accordance with the principle of 3T, namely On target, Right amount and On time. The provision of tuition fee assistance in the form of scholarships is also given to students in universities. Scholarships are given to students who excel and are underprivileged. The selection of scholarship recipients so far is not maximal because of the assessment that seems to favor one student so that students who really deserve it become unable to get. In this research using Weighted Products method to conduct the assessment process and the process implemented into a system, it is expected that with the system of decision-makers can choose students who really deserve. The results showed that Mahasiswa 4 was selected as a scholarship student with a score of 0.237


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3.12) ◽  
pp. 392 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Rishi Kanth ◽  
A Srinath ◽  
J Suresh Kumar

Analytical Network process (ANP), is applied here as a decision making technique for the selection of appropriate robots for industrial and automation applications. The core motivation of applying, in particular, the ANP technique is that robot selection is dependent upon a number of attributes and criteria which have strong influences/interdependencies upon each other. The ANP, as a multiple attribute decision making (MADM) technique for robot selection, captures the effects of these cross hierarchical dependencies, and appropriately maps the influences within the clusters and between the various alternatives. Simultaneously, the technique does not include the assumption of independence of higher-level elements from lower level elements and about the independence of the elements within a level. First, a set of attributes, which influence the selection of the robots, are identified. Next, using the various steps of ANP, viz., pair wise comparisons matrices and priority vectors determination and the development of the super-matrix the global weights of the attributes with respect to other attributes are determined. The final alternatives are then rated as per the graduated weights of the respective attributes. Thus, a comprehensive solution towards selection of robots enabling the decision-makers to suitably understand the complex relationships of the relevant qualitative and quantitative attributes in the decision-making is obtained. The technique is also illustrated using detailed analysis for a specific case of decision making between three robot suppliers and selection of appropriate robot from alternatives. In order to get more insight into relationships among various attributes and their effect on decision makers, the sensitivity analysis of the results with respect to determinant level attributes is carried out.   


Author(s):  
Mahmoud Modiri ◽  
Mohammad Dashti

Today, IS supplier selection is one of the most critical steps in the outsourcing process; the success of outsourcing is highly dependent on the selection of IS suppliers. This paper proposes a new hybrid fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model, which uses decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) technique, analytic network process (ANP), and Vlse Kriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje(VIKOR) to evaluate four potential suppliers using seven factors and five decision makers using a realistic case study. the results showed that Service support is importance for outsourcing. The proposed model can help practitioners improve their decision making process.


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