Using multi-criteria decision methods for selecting a language school

Authors

  • Mileine Henriques Elias Velasco Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense - UENF
  • André Luís Policani Freitas Unversidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14488/1676-1901.v14i4.1705

Keywords:

Multi-criteria decision aid., Analytic Hierarchy Process. language schools.

Abstract

Nowadays, the interest of organizations by professionals who have deep knowledge concerning more than one language has been increasing. In this scenario, the choice of a language school has been one of the most common decision problems, which has been often made on the basis of word-of-mouth, marketing activities of schools and trials without criteria. In order to contribute to this problem, this paper presents a study in which two multi-criteria decision aid methods (AHP and Weighted Average) were used to select a language school. Thus, the degree of importance of criteria relating to the problem and the degree of satisfaction of undergraduate and postgraduate students in relation to language schools they study were taken into account. The best ranked language school was the same for both MCDA methods, although some schools have obtained different positions. It was found that the analysis with AHP is richer and more elaborate than with the Weighted Average method. However, the large number of pairwise comparisons which were required to the study demanded significant attention and cognitive effort from the decision maker, and more time to perform the analysis - aspects that may contribute to the preference for the Weighted Average method in similar studies.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Mileine Henriques Elias Velasco, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense - UENF

Mestranda em Engenharia de Produção (UENF), possui graduação em Administração de Empresas - Institutos Superiores de Ensino do CENSA (2011). Tem experiência na área de Administração, com ênfase em Administração de Empresas. 

André Luís Policani Freitas, Unversidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense

DOUTOR EM CIÊNCIAS DE ENGENHARIA-ENGENHARIA DE PRODUÇÃO - UENF

MESTRE EM CIÊNCIAS DE ENGENHARIA-ENGENHARIA DE PRODUÇÃO - UENF

ENGENHEIRO MECÂNICO - UFF

Published

2014-11-15

How to Cite

Velasco, M. H. E., & Freitas, A. L. P. (2014). Using multi-criteria decision methods for selecting a language school. Revista Produção Online, 14(4), 1433–1451. https://doi.org/10.14488/1676-1901.v14i4.1705

Issue

Section

Papers