Decisions with Multiple Objectives

TLDR

Decision problems often involve multiple conflicting objectives, yet traditional decision theory typically simplifies to a single objective such as maximizing monetary return. The book guides decision makers to systematically probe their true feelings to navigate trade‑offs among incommensurable objectives. Illustrated with real examples across disciplines, the book shows that generalizing from single to multiple objectives expands decision analysis’s applicability.

Abstract

Many of the complex problems faced by decision makers involve multiple conflicting objectives. This book describes how a confused decision maker, who wishes to make a reasonable and responsible choice among alternatives, can systematically probe his true feelings in order to make those critically important, vexing trade-offs between incommensurable objectives. The theory is illustrated by many real concrete examples taken from a host of disciplinary settings. The standard approach in decision theory or decision analysis specifies a simplified single objective like monetary return to maximise. By generalising from the single objective case to the multiple objective case, this book considerably widens the range of applicability of decision analysis.