Aggregation of the nearest consistency matrices with the acceptable consensus in AHP-GDM

Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is widely used in group decision making (GDM). There are two traditional aggregation methods for the collective preference in AHP-GDM: aggregation of the individual judgments (AIJ) and aggregation of the individual priorities (AIP). However, AHP-GDM is sometimes less reliable only under the condition of AIJ and AIP because of the consensus and consistency of the individual pair-wise comparison matrices (PCMs) and prioritization methods. In this paper, we propose aggregation of the nearest consistent matrices (ANCM) with the acceptable consensus in AHP-GDM, simultaneously considering the consensus and consistency of the individual PCMs. ANCM is independent of prioritization methods while complying with the Pareto principal of social choice theory. Moreover, ANCM is easy to program and implement in resolving highly complex group decision making problems. Finally, two numerical examples illustrate the applications and advantages of the proposed ANCM.