Public debt managers have a certain range of borrowing instruments varying in their interest rate type, currency, maturity etc. at their disposal and have to find an appropriate combination of those while raising debt on behalf of the government. In selecting the combination of instruments to be issued, i.e. the borrowing strategy to be pursued for a certain period of time, debt managers need to consider several objectives that are conflicting by their nature, and the uncertainty associated with the outcomes of the decisions made. The objective of this thesis is to propose an approach to support the decision making process regarding sovereign debt issuance. We incorporate Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) tools using a multi-period stochastic programming model that takes into account sequential decisions concerned with debt issuance policies. The model is then applied for public debt management in Turkey.

Selection of the right machine tools is an important decision for most manufacturing companies. The quality and efficiency of manufacture are affected by the correct adoption of machine and equipment, and it will result in reducing the cost, increasing the production, and enhancing the flexibility for the diverse type of machining parts in this competitive globalized environment. On the contrary, an incorrect selection can retard the productivity of company. This research presents the procedures of AHP method for selecting 4-axis CNC machining centers including searching the literature of selecting machines, consulting experts with abundant experience of machine tool, translating the unstructured and biased commercial specification to the objective and hierarchical evaluation criteria for selecting machines. In order to experiment the applicability of the AHP model as well as to realize the relative importance of the criteria for the mold design and manufacturing company, a company was invited as the survey objective. This method proposed in this research is general in form and can be applied to the selections of other machine tools for other manufacturing industries. Also, it is hoped that the results of this experimental study will provide a reference for the domestic machinery manufacturing company to develop 4-axis CNC machining centers.

The interval programming model (IvP) is a mathematical programmingmodel for representing and solving multi-objective optimizationproblems. The central characteristic of the model is the use ofpiecewise linearly defined objective functions and a solution methodthat searches through the combination space of pieces rather thanthrough the actual decision space. The piecewise functions typicallyrepresent an approximation of some underlying function, but thisconcession is balanced on the positive side by relative freedom fromfunction form assumptions as well as the assurance of global optimality.In this paper the model and solution algorithms are described, and theapplicability of IvP to certain applications arediscussed.

Submitted by Automa??o e Estat?stica (sst@bczm.ufrn.br) on 2016-04-25T21:18:31Z No. of bitstreams: 1 LucasMartorelliGondimLuz_DISSERT.pdf: 1583842 bytes, checksum: df20ff101760de2e1c9cd23c387cd2ea (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Arlan Eloi Leite Silva (eloihistoriador@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-04-27T19:40:20Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 LucasMartorelliGondimLuz_DISSERT.pdf: 1583842 bytes, checksum: df20ff101760de2e1c9cd23c387cd2ea (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T19:40:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LucasMartorelliGondimLuz_DISSERT.pdf: 1583842 bytes, checksum: df20ff101760de2e1c9cd23c387cd2ea (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-15 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico (CNPq) / Este trabalho apresenta uma aplica??o multicrit?rio h?brida Fuzzy-ELECTRETOPSIS para o problema de sele??o de Servi?os de Computa??o em Nuvem. A pesquisa foi de car?ter explorat?rio, utilizando de um Estudo de Caso, baseado nas exig?ncias reais de profissionais da ?rea de Computa??o em Nuvem. A obten??o dos resultados foi feita a partir da condu??o de Experimento alinhado ao Estudo de Caso, utilizando o perfil distinto de tr?s decisores, para tal, utilizou-se o m?todo Fuzzy-TOPSIS e Fuzzy-ELECTRETOPSIS para obten??o destes resultados e compara??o entre eles. A solu??o contempla a Teoria dos conjuntos Fuzzy, para assim poder suportar informa??es de car?ter impreciso ou subjetivo, facilitando assim a interpreta??o do julgamento do decisor no processo de tomada de decis?o. Os resultados obtidos mostram que ambos os m?todos foram capaz de classificar as alternativas existentes no problema da maneira esperada, por?m o m?todo Fuzzy-ELECTRE-TOPSIS foi capaz de atenuar o car?ter compensat?rio existente no m?todo Fuzzy-TOPSIS, resultando na ordena??o diferenciada das alternativas existentes no problema de decis?o. A atenua??o do car?ter compensat?rio destacou-se de maneira positiva dentro do problema abordado, pois valorizou alternativas mais balanceadas que o m?todo Fuzzy-TOPSIS, um fator que foi comprovado como importante na valida??o do estudo, visto que para composi??o de um mix de servi?o as alternativas mais balanceadas constituem um mix mais consistente ao se trabalhar com restri??es. / This work presents an application of a hybrid Fuzzy-ELECTRE-TOPSIS multicriteria approach for a Cloud Computing Service selection problem. The research was exploratory, using a case of study based on the actual requirements of professionals in the field of Cloud Computing. The results were obtained by conducting an experiment aligned with a Case of Study using the distinct profile of three decision makers, for that, we used the Fuzzy-TOPSIS and Fuzzy-ELECTRE-TOPSIS methods to obtain the results and compare them. The solution includes the Fuzzy sets theory, in a way it could support inaccurate or subjective information, thus facilitating the interpretation of the decision maker judgment in the decision-making process. The results show that both methods were able to rank the alternatives from the problem as expected, but the Fuzzy-ELECTRE-TOPSIS method was able to attenuate the compensatory character existing in the Fuzzy-TOPSIS method, resulting in a different alternative ranking. The attenuation of the compensatory character stood out in a positive way at ranking the alternatives, because it prioritized more balanced alternatives than the Fuzzy-TOPSIS method, a factor that has been proven as important at the validation of the Case of Study, since for the composition of a mix of services, balanced alternatives form a more consistent mix when working with restrictions.

Submitted by Fernanda Rodrigues de Lima (fernanda.rlima@ufpe.br) on 2018-07-10T21:33:52Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 811 bytes, checksum: e39d27027a6cc9cb039ad269a5db8e34 (MD5) TESE Rachel Perez Palha.pdf: 2001794 bytes, checksum: cd8aadd0de5d3cdbe54cfc0566b292df (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-10T21:33:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 811 bytes, checksum: e39d27027a6cc9cb039ad269a5db8e34 (MD5) TESE Rachel Perez Palha.pdf: 2001794 bytes, checksum: cd8aadd0de5d3cdbe54cfc0566b292df (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-28 / CNPQ / The literature presents several supplier selection models which discuss what features might be present in this type of analysis, such as plant localization, organizational structure, structures for governance, and models which consider uncertainty in information levels. Usually, models that focus on the selection itself impose the same method for running the selection process on all decision makers (DMs), even when a group of DMs makes the decision. However, a given problem might be evaluated differently depending on the DM, due to his/her having different objectives for the same problem and, due to the diversity found in civil construction projects, different activities have to be hired, and these have different effects on the project. Usually, in the civil construction industry, the hiring process ends up with a negotiation phase between the contractor and the top rated subcontractors. Thereby, in order to support DMs of contractors to follow a structured decision process to reach a better deal, this thesis presents a framework to aid DMs in selecting subcontractors. The framework considers two models to deal with each phase of the hiring process. The first model to be employed is the Additive-veto model for sorting problematic. Thus, an analyst lists the activities to be hired, and the DMs’ preferences are used to sort them into classes. This procedure enables DMs to apply a governance process compatible with the effect such activity may produce in the project, client, and contractor. Following a selection model is used. The analyst has to evaluate the rationality of each DM to choose a compatible MCDM/A method. Later on, when the framework directs the process to a group decision, a voting procedure chosen based on the preferences of the DMs is used to aggregate the DMs’ preferences. At last, the DMs follow a negotiation phase with the top-ranked subcontractors to decide which the best deal is. All models are illustrated with a numerical application in the civil construction industry. It can be verified that the framework proposed brings flexibility and allows DMs to make more informed decisions, enabling them to feel more secure about the hiring process of subcontractors. Since it requires less DMs to get involved in the decision process, the project benefits from reducing the time required from DMs, thus, reduces the cost of the decision process. In addition, the framework proposed can be used in other contexts, due to its flexibility. / A literatura apresenta vários modelos para seleção de fornecedores que discutem as características que podem estar presentes neste tipo de análise, tais como localização de plantas, estrutura organizacional, estrutura de governança e modelos que consideram níveis de incerteza na informação. Normalmente, modelos que focam na seleção em si, impõem a todos os decisores o mesmo método para o processo de seleção, ainda que um grupo de decisores seja responsável pela decisão. Entretanto, uma determinada situação pode ser analisada de diferentes formas a depender do decisor, devido aos diferentes objetivos que estes apresentam e, devido a diversidade encontrada nos projetos de construção civil, diferentes atividades precisam ser subcontratadas e estes impactam o projeto de forma diferente. Normalmente, na indústria da construção civil, o processo de contratação termina em uma fase de negociação entre a construtora e os subcontratados que apresentaram as melhores propostas. Desta forma, a fim de dar suporte para que os decisores de construtoras possam tomar decisões utilizando um processo decisório estruturado, esta tese apresenta um framework para auxiliar decisores na escolha de subcontratados. O framework utiliza dois modelos para tratar cada fase do processo de contratação. O primeiro modelo a ser utilizado é o modelo Aditivo com veto para a problemática de classificação. Um analista deve listar todas as atividades a serem contratadas e as preferências dos decisores são utilizadas para classifica-las em categorias. Esse procedimento permite que os decisores administrem cada subcontratado de acordo com o impacto da atividade sob o projeto, cliente e construtora. Em seguida, o analista precisa avaliar a racionalidade de cada decisor para escolher um método multicritério de ordenação compatível. A agregação das preferências dos decisores é realizada usando um procedimento de votação, o qual é escolhido pelo grupo quando o framework assim o indicar. Por fim, os decisores negociam com os subcontratados que apresentaram as melhores propostas para escolher um. Todos os modelos são apresentados com aplicação numérica na construção civil. Pode ser verificado que o framework proposto traz flexibilidade e permite aos decisores tomarem decisões com informação, permitindo que eles se sintam seguros a respeito do processo de contratação. Uma vez que requer que menos decisores se envolvam no processo decisório, pode haver redução no tempo em que se requer a atenção dos decisores, reduzindo o custo do processo. Adicionalmente, o framework pode ser usado em outros contextos devido à sua flexibilidade.

Multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) is a field of decision theory concerned with analyzing discrete sets of variables evaluated by multiple criteria. Facilitating decisions in such situations are several methods, among them a family known as ELECTRE. Using threshold values and the concept of outranking, they allow for improved modeling of the uncertain nature of real systems. This thesis sets out to describe all of the basic ELECTRE methods, as well as several of their modifications and further extensions and aims to do so with a sufficient level of detail and using precise mathematical language. It also presents key applications of said methods and reviews their implementation in software. Lastly, it introduces a brand new software, ELIA, developed as a part of the thesis. It allows users to solve practical problems using four of the basic ELECTRE methods.

This Bachelor thesisis  a  comparison  of  two  different  concrete  forms  viewed  from  a sustainable perspective by using a Multi Criteria Decision Making(MCDM)method. Sustainability  is  a  broad  concept,  often  degraded  in threepartswhich  are  financial-,environmental-and  socialsustainability. This Bachelor thesisstrives  to  determine what sustainability is when it comes to monolithic concrete casting in Sweden. In this Bachelor thesissustainabilityhas   been   degraded   in threeparts,   financial-,environmental-and work environmental sustainability.Although,the  two  different  forms  fill  the  same  function,  they  differ  in  many  areas. The first one, TRIO,is made of steel and plywoodand is heavy, loud, with a big area and in need of a crane to be able toassemblethe form. The second one, DUO,is made from the composite  materialPolytech  and  isalmost  soundless,  with  a  smaller  area and lightweight tobe able to be used without crane.    The purpose of the MCDM-methodis to create a tool with the purpose of facilitating the  choice  of  concrete  forms  for  monolithic  casting  while  taking  sustainability  into account.   The   tool   is   to   ease   the   decision   in   building   production   for   both  the contractor and for designers. The Bachelor thesisis a case study with both qualitative and quantitative methods.To make  a  fair  comparison  between  the  two forms  in  this Bachelor thesis,a  fictitious project  is  created toevaluate  different  criteria  for  sustainability  in  design  and production. This is doneunder the same premises to be able to obtain an equivalent result.In the fictitious project it turned out that TRIO was the best choice from work environment and economic sustainability, from environmental sustainability it turned out that DUO was the best. Furthermore, it has been difficult to obtain full validity in the MCDM method, all criteria have not been fulfilled inthe environmental field. The environmental area has been the most difficult to investigate and to obtain relevant data in.MCDM has good opportunities to provide great benefit if there were more standardized data to put into it. In this work, very much work was done for a small result.

<p>An increasing number of AEC firms are positioning themselves to expand operations in the international construction market. To undertake such decisions, it is critical for companies to analyze the risks, benefits, and future market potential of the host country. Further, companies typically select appropriate entry modes and develop business strategies to navigate the complex formal and informal institutions of the host country. The Board of directors and upper-management employees are typically involved in making such decisions. Previous researchers have identified various risks such as the political, financial, supply-chain using tools like the International Construction Risk Assessment Model (ICRAM) and the International Project Risk Assessment (IPRA). Such comprehensive models encompass various risk factors at the country, market, and project levels. At each level, data are to be collected from various sources that could be susceptible to political agenda, bias, and inaccessibility. Research findings suggest that the results provided by such models heavily rely on the credibility of the information and the information source.</p><p>First, this research provides comprehensive definitions for Information and Source Credibility with respect to the international construction decision-making domain. Second, the research proposes a framework to assist decision-makers in evaluating Information and Source credibility to rank and prioritize their sources. This research has identified (a) 5 Criteria and 20 Metrics for Information Credibility and (b) 3 Criteria and 18 Metrics for Source Credibility. Third, a survey of construction industry professionals was carried out to determine the relevancy and relative importance of the identified criteria and metrics with respect to international construction decisions. The collected survey responses have a Cronbach’s Alpha value of 0.89 which indicates that the responses are reliable for further analysis. A one-way ANOVA test was conducted to investigate the influence of the prior credibility evaluation experience of the respondents on the relative weights for the framework. The results indicate that prior evaluation experience does not significantly affect the perception of the users towards selecting and weighing the criteria and metrics.</p><p>Finally, a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model is proposed to incorporate the proposed credibility evaluation framework with the relative weights of the criteria and metrics. An Excel-based macro-enabled tool (with a user-friendly interface) is developed to accept user inputs associated with their information and sources. A well-defined scale of measurement is developed to reduce the subjectivity and biases involved in making such abstract assessments. Final scores, Cr_Information and Cr_Source, are calculated for every piece of information and source selected by the user. The MCDM results are expected to assist users in determining the undertaking of robust decisions by incorporating one additional layer of determining the credibility of their information and prioritizing their information sources. The suggested point of application for this research is before Financial Investment Decision (pre-FID) stage to ensure sufficient time for all the stakeholders to reevaluate their FIDs.</p>

This can be considered as a multidisciplinary research where ideas from Operations Research, Data Science and Logic came together to solve an inconsistency handling problem in a special type of ontology. / High data quality is a prerequisite for accurate data analysis. However, data inconsistencies often arise in real data, leading to untrusted decision making downstream in the data analysis pipeline. In this research, we study the problem of inconsistency detection and repair of the Ontology Multi-dimensional Data Model (OMD). We propose a framework of data quality assessment, and repair for the OMD. We formally define a weight-based repair-by-deletion semantics, and present an automatic weight generation mechanism that considers multiple input criteria. Our methods are rooted in multi-criteria decision making that consider the correlation, contrast, and conflict that may exist among multiple criteria, and is often needed in the data cleaning domain. After weight generation we present a dynamic programming based Min-Sum algorithm to identify minimal weight solution. We then apply evolutionary optimization techniques and demonstrate improved performance using medical datasets, making it realizable in practice. / Thesis / Master of Computer Science (MCS) / Accurate data analysis requires high quality data as input. In this research, we study inconsistency in an ontology known as Ontology Multi-dimensional Data (OMD) Model and propose algorithms to repair them based on their automatically generated relative weights. We proposed two techniques to restore consistency, one provides optimal results but takes longer time compared to the other one, which produces sub-optimal results but fast enough for practical purposes, shown with experiments on datasets.

Tesis por compendio / [EN] Academics, managerial and policy making community reinforce that renewable energy investments are one of the most effective instruments to attain CO2 emission reduction targets set by the Kyoto Protocol and by the recent Paris Agreement signed at the Paris climate conference (COP21) in December 2015 in which 195 countries adopted the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal. The problem of financing Renewable Energy (RE) projects has become a crucial issue for private and public decision makers worldwide. Budget constraints from governments and limited bank lending capacities have led to a reconsideration of the traditional financial instruments in the RE sector. The lack of credit makes impossible for commercial banks to fund RE projects with traditional loans. Research on new financing techniques for RE projects, such as Project Finance (PF) has gained interest in recent years. PF is a recent technique applied in large investments projects. During the last decades of the 20th century new public private partnership schemes enabled large infrastructure, energy and environmental projects. In these sectors PF has been used to reduce cost agency conflicts and better risk management. There is a wide number of contributions underlying the relevance of RE, however there is a lack of research on the financial aspects of RE projects. This research aims to make several contributions. First, to provide a better understanding of the PF technique and its use in the RE sector. Second, to fill the gap of research on financial aspects of RE in the literature by reviewing contributions of MCDM to RE project evaluation from the investor's perspective. Third, we propose a MPDM Moderate Pessimism Decision Making model, which adds to the rational financial evaluation of investment opportunities a set of non-financial factors that affects the investor's decisions. Finally, within the illustrative example, we apply this multi-criteria decision making process to help banks to decide if they must join a project or not. / [ES] Investigadores, comunidad empresarial y clase política destacan que la inversión en energías renovables es uno de los instrumentos más efectivos para alcanzar los objetivos de reducción de CO2 establecidos por el reciente acuerdo firmado en la conferencia de Paris (COP21) en diciembre de 2015, en el cual, 195 países adoptaron el primer acuerdo universal y jurídicamente vinculante de la historia. El problema de la financiación de los proyectos de energía renovable (RE) es un tema crucial para cualquier decisor público o privado. Las limitaciones presupuestarias de los gobiernos y la falta de crédito han provocado que se reconsideren los instrumentos de financiación en el sector de las RE, por lo tanto, la investigación en nuevas técnicas de financiamiento para los proyectos de RE, como Project Finance (PF) ha ganado interés en los últimos años. PF es una técnica que se aplica en grandes proyectos de inversión. A finales del Siglo XX, los nuevos esquemas de colaboración público-privadas han permitido llevar a cabo grandes proyectos de infraestructuras y de RE. En estos sectores, el PF se ha utilizado para reducir costes, conflictos y mitigar riesgos. Numerosas contribuciones científicas subrayan la importancia de la RE, sin embargo hay un vacío en la investigación sobre los aspectos financieros de los proyectos de RE. Esta tesis tiene como objetivo aportar varias contribuciones. En primer lugar, proporcionar una mejor comprensión de la técnica del PF y su uso en el sector de las RE. En segundo lugar, cubrir el vacío existente en la literatura sobre la investigación de los aspectos financieros de las RE mediante la revisión de las contribuciones sobre MCDM para la evaluación de los proyectos de RE desde el punto de vista del inversor. En tercer lugar, se propone un modelo MPDM (Moderate Pessimism Decision Making), el cual añade a la evaluación financiera racional de oportunidades de inversión, un conjunto de factores no financieros que afectan a las decisiones de los inversores. Finalmente, se aplica este modelo multicriterio de toma de decisiones para ayudar a decidir a los bancos si deben unirse al proyecto. / [CA] Investigadors, comunitat empresarial i classe política, destaquen que la inversió en energies renovables és un dels instruments més efectius per assolir els objectius de reducció de les emissions de CO2 establerts pel recent acord signat a la conferència de Paris (COP21) al desembre de 2015, mitjançant el qual, 195 països van adoptar el primer acord universal i jurídicament vinculant de la història. El problema del finançament dels projectes d'energia renovable (RE) s'ha convertit en un tema crucial per a qualsevol decisor públics i privats. Les limitacions pressupostàries dels governs i La falta de crèdit han provocat que es reconsiderin els instruments de finançament en el sector de les RE, per tant, la investigació en noves tècniques de finançament per als projectes de RE, com el Project Finance (PF) ha guanyat interès en els últims anys. PF és una tècnica que s'aplica en grans projectes d'inversió. Durant les últimes dècades del Segle XX, els nous esquemes de col-laboració publico-privades han permès portar a terme grans projectes d'infraestructures i de RE. En aquests sectors, el PF s'ha utilitzat per reduir costos, conflictes i gestionar millor els riscos. Existeixen nombroses contribucions científiques que subratllen la importància de la RE, però hi ha un buit en la investigació pel que fa als aspectes financers dels projectes de RE. Aquesta tesis té com a objectiu aportar diverses contribucions. En primer lloc, proporcionar una millor comprensió de la tècnica del PF i el seu ús en el sector de les RE. En segon lloc, cobrir el buit existent en la literatura sobre la investigació dels aspectes financers de les RE mitjançant la revisió de les contribucions sobre MCDM per a l'avaluació dels projectes de RE des del punt de vista de l'inversor. En tercer lloc, es proposa un model MPDM Moderate Pessimism Decision Making, que afegeix a l'avaluació financera racional d'oportunitats d'inversió, un conjunt de factors no financers que afecten les decisions dels inversors. Finalment, mitjançant un exemple il-lustratiu, s'aplica aquest model multicriteri de presa de decisions per ajudar a decidir als bancs si han de unir-se al projecte. / Mayor Vitoria, F. (2016). Project Finance and MCDM financial models: An application in renewable energy projects [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/73067 / Compendio