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Selection of an optimum decision depends on two types of measures: (1) the efficiency of a course of action for an outcome; (2) the importance or weight of the outcomes. That course of action that maximizes the expected total weighted efficiency (effectiveness) is optimum. A method for estimating importance on a scale of value is provided. It is based on actual or verbal choices of decision-makers. The method can be applied to any number of objectives or outcomes, and to any number of decision-makers. Reliability of the results can be measured. Operations Research, ISSN 0030-364X, was published as Journal of the Operations Research Society of America from 1952 to 1955 under ISSN 0096-3984.
Churchman et al. (1954) studied this question.