Developed by Thomas L. Saaty through the 1970s (The Analytic Hierarchy Process, 1980).
Turns pairwise comparisons on a one to nine scale into weights for criteria and scores for options, and flags contradictory judgments with a consistency ratio.
When to reach for it
When a high-stakes selection, such as a site, a vendor, or a senior hire, needs defensible weights and a record of where stakeholders disagree.
How it runs
- Build the hierarchy: goal, criteria, and options.
- Compare the criteria in pairs on the one to nine scale.
- Derive the weights, and check the consistency ratio.
- Revisit the comparisons if the ratio exceeds 0.10.
- Compare options in pairs under each criterion, and combine.
- Vary the weights to see whether the ranking flips.
Where it sits in SOLVE eX
Go to the source
- The Analytic Hierarchy Process: Planning, Priority Setting, Resource Allocation, McGraw-Hill, 1980