Creating Multi-Objective Value Functions From Non-Independent Values

<p>Decisions are made every day and by everyone. As these decisions become more important involve higher costs and affect a broader group of stakeholders it becomes essential to establish a more rigorous strategy than simply intuition or going with your gut. In the past several decades the concept of Value Focused Thinking (VFT) has gained much acclaim in assisting Decision Makers (DMs) in this very effort. By identifying and organizing what a DM values VFT is able to decompose the original problem and create a mathematical model to score and rank alternatives to be chosen. But what if the decision should not be completely decomposed? What if there are factors that are inextricably linked rather than independent? In the past several years Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) have quickly become the number one killer of American troops overseas. To this end the Joint IED Defeat Organization worked to create a VFT model to solicit and grade countermeasure proposals as candidates for funding. While much time and care was put into soliciting a valid VFT hierarchy from the appropriate DM it does not represent the only option. With JIEDDO as an example this paper examines a strategy to better reflect a DM's combined values in a way which is understandable to the DM and maintains a level of mathematical rigor.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p>