Addressing the contractor selection problem using an evidential reasoning approach

Abstract

Selecting the ‘best’ main contractor is a complex decision process for construction clients. It requires a large number of criteria to be simultaneously measured and evaluated. Many of these criteria are related to one another in a complex way and therefore, they very often conflict insofar as improvement in one often results in decline of another(s). Furthermore, as contractors’ attributes are expressed in both quantitative and qualitative terms, decision‐makers have to base their judgements on both quantitative data and experiential subjective assessments. In this paper, the evidential reasoning (ER) approach (which is capable of processing both quantitative and qualitative measures) is applied as a means of solving the contractor selection problem (CSP). The process of building a multiple criteria decision model of a hierarchical structure is presented, in which both quantitative and qualitative information is represented in a unified manner. The CSP is then fully investigated using the ER approach. Both the advantages of applying this model in practice and the analysis process itself are discussed.

Providing a structured methodology for supplier selection and evaluation for strategic outsourcing

“…ER algorithm is one of the methods in this field and many researchers (Yang andXu, 2003, 2004;Sonmez et al, 2001Sonmez et al, , 2002aSonmez et al, , 2002bYang and Xu, 1998;Zhou et al, 2010;Taroun and Yang, 2011;Xu, 2009;Mokhtari et al, 2012;Fu et al, 2015;Yang et al, 2013) have applied it in order to reduce the effect of uncertainty caused by human judgment on decision making in selection.…”

“…These characteristics of ER approach make it different from traditional MCDA methods and a suitable method for handling (Yang and Singh, 1994). The concept of 'degree of belief' can be described as the degree of expectation that an alternative will provide on a particular criterion that highly depends on the knowledge of the subject and experience (Sonmez et al, 2001;Taroun and Yang, 2011). In addition, the ability of representing incomplete and fuzzy subjective judgment and contributing for the combination of attributes is the effective features of this method (Zhou et al, 2010).…”

Use of fuzzy rule-based evidential reasoning approach in the navigational risk assessment of inland waterway transportation systems

“…ER has the following useful properties (Yang & Xu, 2002;Sönmez et al, 2001):  It is difficult to deal with both quantitative and qualitative criteria under uncertainty, however ER provides an alternative way of handling such information systematically and consistently.  The uncertainty and risk surrounding the problem can be represented through the concept of Degree of Belief (DoB).…”

An Intelligent Tender Evaluation System using Evidential Reasoning Approach

“…This process is very subjective and is more susceptible to the biases of the decision maker [10][11].…”