Analysis of Preference Dependencies among Objectives

In decision problems there are often preference dependencies for the achievement of various objectives. This paper suggests a problem-oriented approach to address such preference dependencies. First, a diagnostic analysis is conducted to identify the basis for the dependencies. Based on this, the attributes are divided into components or transformed into an alternate set of attributes with a lesser degree of preference dependence. Quantification of the value structure by developing a utility function is easier in such cases, making use of existing independence concepts.