Feasibility of a Decision Support System for the Determination of Source Selection Evaluation Criteria

摘要

This thesis aimed to assess the feasibility of creating a decision support system (DSS) to aid a program manager in determining the evaluation criteria to be used in a Source Selection. The topic was approached in general terms with a review of the DOD and USAF regulations and other literature pertaining to source selection evaluation criteria, and also a brief review of decision making processes and a DSS framework. A dataset of 81 previous source selection plans from Air Force Systems Command, Aeronautical Systems Div. was examined with the aid of a commercially available microcomputer-based database management system to see whether previous experience of selection of evaluation criteria could be incorporated into a DSS. A heuristic method was developed which can provide an indication to the program manager of the criteria areas he should consider for use in his source selection, based on historical data. It involves describing the system under procurement in terms of specific attributes of the system, and using the associations observed between those attributes and criteria within the historical dataset to predict the likely criteria for the new system.