USING AHP FOR RESOURCE-ALLOCATION PROBLEMS

AHP has been used for solving multi-criteria resource allocation probl ems by converting them into equivalent single objective, maximization- type LP problems. At least two approaches can be identified for such a pplications. In the first approach, the AHP priorities are used as coe fficients in the objective function of the LP format, and in the secon d approach, the benefit-cost ratios are used as the coefficients. This paper evaluates the two approaches. It is shown here that both the ap proaches are suitable if the criteria (used in the AHP model) are soug ht to be maximized. However, they are shown to be inappropriate if the criteria are sought to be minimized. A new, simple approach is sugges ted for the latter case and an extension has been proposed to tackle p roblems with mixed criteria. The implications of the study on other pr eference elicitation methods have also been pointed out.