HYBRID MULTIPLE CRITERIA DECISION MAKING METHODS: A REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING

Abstract

To support evaluation and selection processes in engineering, formal decision making methods can be used. A great number of works applying diverse multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) techniques for engineering problems have been published recently. A new approach of hybrid MCDM methods has been developing rapidly during the past few years. The current paper aims at filling the gap and to summarize publications related to applications of hybrid MCDM for engineering. The study is limited solely on papers referred in Thomson Reuters Web of Science Core Collection academic database. It aims to review how the papers have been distributed by period of publishing and by country, which multiple criteria decision making methods have been used the most frequently in developing hybrid approaches and in what domains the methods have been applied. For a more detailed analysis of applications, journal articles from engineering research area were grouped by research domains and further by analyzed issues. Findings of the current review paper confirm that hybrid MCDM approaches, due to their abilities in integrating different techniques, can assist in handling miscellaneous information taking into account stakeholders’ preferences when making decisions in engineering.