Preface

Chapter 8 **Disaster Risk Assessment Developing a Perceived**

**Approach and AHP Algorithm 193** Ramo Šendelj and Ivana Ognjanović

Chapter 9 **Framework for Optimal Selection Using Meta‐Heuristic**

Chapter 10 **Evaluation of Growth Simulators for Forest Management in**

Clemens Blattert, Renato Lemm, and Oliver Thees

Chapter 12 **Combining AHP Method with BOCR Merits to Analyze the**

Emmanuel O. Oyatoye and Adedotun A. Odulana

Chapter 13 **A Prototype AHP System for Contractor Selection**

**Outcomes of Business Electricity Sustainability 277** Rabah Medjoudj, Fairouz Iberraken and Djamil Aissani

Chapter 11 **Measuring in Weighted Environments: Moving from Metric to Order Topology (Knowing When Close Really**

**Chilean Cities 165**

**VI** Contents

**Means Close) 247** Claudio Garuti

**Decision 297**

**Comprehensive Disaster Risk Index: The Cases of Three**

Carmen Paz Castro, Juan Pablo Sarmiento and Claudio Garuti

**Terms of Functionality and Software Structure Using AHP 219**

We make important decisions every day, simple choices and hard choices. Our lives are the sum of our decisions, whether in business or in personal spheres. Often, when we decide is just as important as what we decide. Deciding too quickly can be hazardous; delaying too long can mean missed opportunities. In any case it is important to decide. Decision making is fundamental to furthering our goal of survival and ensuring the quality of our life. To be a person is to be a *decision maker.*

This book is about making decisions the natural way which we call the *Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)*. It involves assumptions about what people do with their biological equip‐ ment. They should not need to steep themselves for long in technical training to organize their thinking and discover what judgments they hold. They should be able to approach a decision problem by posing and answering the right kind of questions.

The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), described in several of our earlier works and now widely used in decision making, is a theory that depends on values and judgments of indi‐ viduals and groups. It is a structured technique for organizing and analyzing complex deci‐ sions, based on mathematics and psychology.

This book presents some application examples of Analytic Hierarchy. It contains original research and application chapters from different perspectives, and covers different areas such as supply chain, environmental engineering, safety and social issues.

In detail, **Chapter 1** presents AHP applications to solve two real supply chain management problems faced by Brazilian companies: one problem regarding resource allocation (RA) in the automotive industry and another one regarding supply selection (SS) in a chemical cor‐ poration.

**Chapter 2** "An Analytical Hierarchy Process to Decision Making in Human Blood, Cells, and Tissue Banks" offers an application of AHP to the production of blood and presents a case study that could be interpreted as applicable to other situations in these organizations. A case study on the application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to assess agri-envi‐ ronmental measures of the Rural Development Programme (RDP 2007-2013) in Slovenia is presented in **Chapter 3**. The issue of environmental management is analyzed in **Chapter 4** with particular attention to 3 case studies: the first one concerning the selection of the best municipal solid waste disposal system, the second one regarding the assessment of the tap and bottled water consumption on the environment, and the last one on the selection of the heat pump for the individual home. In **Chapter 5**, the authors analize two aspects: a model for maintenance policy selection based on the AHP methodology and a model to determine the importance of sustainability factors for employee suggestion systems. A strategic deci‐

sion model, based on AHP, in the transport sector, concerning the reconfiguration of the railway infrastructure of the seaport of Trieste is presented in **Chapter 6**. In **Chapter 7** au‐ thors propose a novel approach to ensure safety in emergency conditions in industrial plants considering the presence of dangerous equipment and human errors. The proposed idea aims to integrate the Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) and the Failure Mode and Ef‐ fects Analysis (FMEA).

The topic is extended in **Chapter 8** where the authors develop a perceived comprehensive disaster Risk Index in three Chilean Cities. In **Chapter 9** we shift our attention to identify stakeholders' decision criteria using a meta-heuristic approach and AHP. **Chapter 10** presents an analysis on evaluation of growth simulators for forest management in terms of functionality and software structure using AHP. The problem of measuring closeness in weighted environments (decision-making environments) is developed in **Chapter 11**. The relevance of this article is related to having a dependable cardinal measure of distance in weighted environments. **Chapter 12** provides an AHP Method with BOCR Merits to Ana‐ lyze the Outcomes of Business Electricity Sustainability. Finally, **Chapter 13** addresses how AHP model developed for contractor selection can be implemented on the computer to get the right ratings using some existing computer software.

This book is intended to be a useful resource for anyone who deals with decision making problems. Furthermore, we hope that this book will provide useful resources, techniques and methods for further research on Analytic Hierarchy Process.

As editors of this book, we would like to thank the authors who accepted to contribute with their invaluable research as well as the referees who reviewed these papers for their effort, time and invaluable suggestions. Our special thanks to Ms. Ana Pantar, Publishing Process Manager, for her precious support and her team for this opportunity to serve as guest editors.

> **Fabio De Felice** University of Cassino and Southern Lazi, Cassino, Italy

> > **Thomas L. Saaty** University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA

**Antonella Petrillo** University of Naples Parthenope, Naples, Italy
