استفاده از ANP (فرایند تحلیل شبکه ای) در مدل های فرایندی : مثال همکاری استراتژیک

Analytic network process (ANP) is a new tool for multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) but can also be applied in academic research to prioritize factors or criteria. It enhances the function of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to develop a complete model that can incorporate interdependent relationships between elements from different levels or within levels, which are assumed to be uncorrelated in AHP. Although ANP has recently been applied in the construction field, it cannot be applied easily to process models. This is because its concept does not consider the impacts of an element on another element occurring at different periods in a process, such as stages, phases, etc. This paper uses the strategic partnering model as an example to present a method that helps to form the super-matrix for process models. The procedure of ANP is also highlighted in this paper.

Analytic network process (ANP) is a new tool for multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) but can also be applied in academic research to prioritize factors or criteria. It is seen as a generic form of analytic hierarchy process (AHP). In AHP, it is assumed that a decision problem can be translated into a hierarchical structure that consists of uni-directional relations between decision levels. As Meade and Sarkis [1] mentioned, the top level of the hierarchy (apex) is usually the overall goal for the decision model, which can be decomposed to one or more specific levels of clusters until a manageable level of sub-clusters is met. Yet, the strict hierarchical structure may need to be relaxed when modeling a more complicated problem that involves interdependencies among elements between and within model levels, which are assumed to be uncorrelated in AHP. It is expected that by using ANP, researchers are able to establish a complete multi-criteria model without sacrificing the validity due to limitations of the analytical tool. In addition to its usefulness in other areas, its application in construction research has been documented recently (e.g., [2] and [3]). Despite the generic form of ANP, it cannot be applied easily to process models where the stages or phases in the process occur at different periods. This is because the basic concept of ANP does not specify the impacts of an element on another element occurring at different periods in the process. In order to strengthen its application in process models, the present research uses the strategic partnering model as an example to present a method that helps to form the super-matrix and the limit matrix for process models. This method is probably the first of its kind to apply ANP in process model study.

The paper presents a method for applying ANP in process models decision-making. It involves the formation of the super-matrix that specifies the relationships between elements within the process model and the generation of limit matrix that prioritizes the relative weights for the elements. The example of strategic partnering is demonstrated showing how the relationships among the process stages and among the CSFs affect the prioritization results. In order to ascertain the utility of ANP, relative weights of the critical factors produced by AHP and ANP have been compared. The results indicate that the relative weights have been changed considerably when the interdependent relationships exert substantial influence on the process model. As strategy partnering can be applied to not only construction projects but also other projects (e.g., shipbuilding, software production), the method developed in this paper can be adopted across different areas. Since this method is probably the first take to apply ANP in process model study, researchers are encouraged to modify the method or create other ways to expand the utilization and function of ANP.