Marko Bohanec:
Systems and Techniques of Decision Support

Course Description: Systems and Techniques of Decision Support

Programmes:

• Information and Communication Technologies (ICT2)
• Ecotechnology (ECO3)

Scheduled Lectures

Introductory lecture: 16.11.2010, 17:15-18:00

After the lecture, the work will be carried out individually and through consultations with the professor.

Practical Assignment Presentations and Examinations

• 15.6.2011 15:15, IPS Lecture Room
• 14.9.2011 15:15, IPS Lecture Room

Requirements and procedure

1. Each student is required to make their Practical Assignment and write a report (see the instructions below).
2. The report must be sent by e-mail to marko.bohanec@ijs.si no later than the last Friday, 12:00 a.m., before the presentation/examination event. Sending reports for earlier previews is encouraged.
3. A final printed version of the report must be handed to Marko Bohanec at the presentation/examination event.
4. Examinations: Each student should give a 10-15 minutes oral presentation of their work (preferrably accompanied by PowerPoint slides).
5. Discussion and oral examination will take place immediately after each student's presentation.

Topics

Selected Reading

• Bohanec, M.: Odločanje in modeli [Chapters 1-17]. DMFA - založništvo, 2006. [O knjigi...]
• Interdisciplinarily on Decision Making. Special Issue of Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems 7(2), 2009.
• Jereb, E., Bohanec, M., Rajkovič, V.: DEXi: Računalniški program za večparametrsko odločanje, Moderna organizacija, Kranj, 2003.
• Bohanec, M.: DEXi: Program for Multi-Attribute Decision Making, User's Manual, Version 3.00. IJS Report DP-9989, Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, 2008.
  
• Bohanec, M., Messéan, A., Angevin, F., Žnidaršič, M.: SMAC Advisor: A decision-support tool on coexistence of genetically-modified and conventional maize. Proc. Information Society IS 2006, Ljubljana, pp. 9-12, 2006.
• Žnidaršič, M., Bohanec, M., Kok, E.J., Prins, T.W.: Qualitative risk assessment for adventitious presence of unauthorized genetically modified organisms. Proceedings of ISIT 2009, 1st International Conference on Information Society and Information Technologies, Novo mesto: Faculty of information studies. 12.-13.10.2009, Dolenjske Toplice, 7 p., 2009.
• Žnidaršič, M., Bohanec, M., Lavrač, N., Cestnik, B.: Project self-evaluation methodology: The Healthreats project case study. Proc. Information Society IS 2009, Ljubljana, 85-88, 2009.

Web Pages

• IJS Decision Support Resources

Practical Assignment

A Typical Practical Assignment

Goals:

• to understand two multi-attribute modelling methods (preferrably a quantitative and qualitative one), and
• to be able to solve a medium-size real-life decision problem using these two methods and corresponding software tools.

Method:

1. Define your own decision-making problem.
2. Create a multi-attribute model containing about 10-20 basic attributes.
3. Define about 4-6 alternatives (possibly real-life ones)
4. Implement the model in:
   • DEXi, and
   • Quantitative modeling software of your choice (Web-HIPRE, WinPre, spreadsheet, MATLAB, ...)
5. Evaluate and analyse the alternatives.
6. Write a report ... and submit it to your professor.

A completed practical assignment is required to enter the final oral examination, and will account for 50% of the final evaluation mark.

The report should consist of:

1. Title page: Project title and Author info
   
2. Main Part:
   1. Introduction:
      • Description of the decision problem
      • Aims and goals of your decision
        
   2. Description of attributes and their structure
   3. Description of alternatives
   4. Utilisation of the model:
      • Evaluation of alternatives
      • Analysis: Sensitivity and/or what-if analysis
   5. Conclusion:
      • Which alternative to choose and why (its good and bad points)
      • Brief comparison with other alternatives
        
3. Appendices:
   1. Printout of your DEXi model
   2. Printout (or some other kind of documentation) of the quantitative model

Other Practical Assignments

Other types of practical assignments, related to decision making and decision support, are possible in agreement with the professor. Some examples: implementation of a decision-support method, comparison of different methods, study of decision analysis software, implementation of a decision-support solution, supplementing data mining with decision support methods, etc. For complex decision problems, a development of only one model may be sufficient.