Analysis of heuristic validity, efficiency and applicability of the profile distance method for implementation in decision support systems

This article seeks to enhance acceptance of the profile distance method (PDM) in decision support systems. The PDM is a multiple attributive-based decision making as well as a multiple method approach to support complex decision making and uses a heuristic to avoid computationally complex global optimization. We elaborate on the usability of the method and question the heuristic used. We present a bi-section algorithm, which efficiently supports the discovery of transition profiles needed in a user-friendly and practical application of the method. Additionally, we provide empirical evidence showing that the proposed heuristic is efficient and delivers results within 5% of the global optimizer for a wide range of datasets. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.