Improving multicriteria group decision making with automated decision guidance

Many managerial decisions involve consideration of more than one single criterion. Despite the development of multicriteria decision making (MCDM), decision support systems (DSS), and group decision support systems (GDSS) that are aimed at helping decision makers address these complex decisions, there is inadequate success in supporting MCDM. Problems hindering the success of these systems may be due to their undue complexity, over-reliance on quantitative modeling, and failure to accommodate the dynamic learning needs of the people who use them. This study explores the possibility of embedding decision guidance within MCDM GDSS, outlines specific guidelines for the design of such guidance, and demonstrates the potential benefits of enhancing MCDM with guidance for a resource-allocation task. A laboratory experiment was conducted to evaluate the impacts of decision guidance on learning and decision outcomes. Groups using a MCDM GDSS without decision guidance were compared to groups using the same decision model with embedded decision guidance. All groups performed a resource-allocation task. Overall, the findings suggest that the addition of guidance can bring significant advantages to group learning and consensus, as well as to group members' perceptions about their decision making processes and outcomes.