{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,12]],"date-time":"2025-10-12T02:59:46Z","timestamp":1760237986906,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"13","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,3]],"date-time":"2020-07-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1593734400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e a Tecnologia","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UID\/CEC\/00319\/2020","PTDC\/CCI-INF\/29178\/2017","UID\/EEA\/00760\/2020","SFRH\/BD\/137150\/2018"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UID\/CEC\/00319\/2020","PTDC\/CCI-INF\/29178\/2017","UID\/EEA\/00760\/2020","SFRH\/BD\/137150\/2018"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Applied Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>To support Group Decision-Making processes when participants are dispersed is a complex task. The biggest challenges are related to communication limitations that impede decision-makers to take advantage of the benefits associated with face-to-face Group Decision-Making processes. Several approaches that intend to aid dispersed groups attaining decisions have been applied to Group Decision Support Systems. However, strategies to support decision-makers in reasoning, understanding the reasons behind the different recommendations, and promoting the decision quality are very limited. In this work, we propose a Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis Framework that intends to overcome those limitations through a set of functionalities that can be used to support decision-makers attaining more informed, consistent, and satisfactory decisions. These functionalities are exposed through a microservice, which is part of a Consensus-Based Group Decision Support System and is used by autonomous software agents to support decision-makers according to their specific needs\/interests. We concluded that the proposed framework greatly facilitates the definition of important procedures, allowing decision-makers to take advantage of deciding as a group and to understand the reasons behind the different recommendations and proposals.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/app10134614","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,3]],"date-time":"2020-07-03T06:51:20Z","timestamp":1593759080000},"page":"4614","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["A Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis Framework for Dispersed Group Decision-Making Contexts"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1430-5465","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o","family":"Carneiro","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"GECAD\u2014Research Group on Intelligent Engineering and Computing for Advanced Innovation and Development, Institute of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Diogo","family":"Martinho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GECAD\u2014Research Group on Intelligent Engineering and Computing for Advanced Innovation and Development, Institute of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3997-311X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Patr\u00edcia","family":"Alves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GECAD\u2014Research Group on Intelligent Engineering and Computing for Advanced Innovation and Development, Institute of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3454-4615","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lu\u00eds","family":"Concei\u00e7\u00e3o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GECAD\u2014Research Group on Intelligent Engineering and Computing for Advanced Innovation and Development, Institute of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Goreti","family":"Marreiros","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GECAD\u2014Research Group on Intelligent Engineering and Computing for Advanced Innovation and Development, Institute of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Paulo","family":"Novais","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ALGORITMI Centre, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimar\u00e3es, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,3]]},"reference":[{"doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Carneiro, J., Alves, P., Marreiros, G., and Novais, P. (2020). Group Decision Support Systems for Current Times: Overcoming the Challenges of Dispersed Group Decision-Making. Neurocomputing.","key":"ref_1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neucom.2020.04.100"},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"499","article-title":"A web-based group decision support system for multicriteria ranking problems","volume":"17","author":"Carrillo","year":"2017","journal-title":"Oper. Res."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"195","DOI":"10.2307\/248666","article-title":"Issues in the design of group decision support sytems","volume":"8","author":"Huber","year":"1984","journal-title":"MIS Q."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1287\/opre.33.1.1","article-title":"Disappointment in decision making under uncertainty","volume":"33","author":"Bell","year":"1985","journal-title":"Oper. Res."},{"unstructured":"Kaner, S. (2014). Facilitator\u2019s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making, John Wiley & Sons.","key":"ref_5"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"834","DOI":"10.1037\/0021-9010.74.5.834","article-title":"A realistic test of individual versus group consensus decision making","volume":"74","author":"Michaelsen","year":"1989","journal-title":"J. Appl. Psychol."},{"doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hackman, J.R., and Morris, C.G. (1975). Group tasks, group interaction process, and group performance effectiveness: A review and proposed integration. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Elsevier.","key":"ref_7","DOI":"10.1016\/S0065-2601(08)60248-8"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"803","DOI":"10.1037\/0021-9010.76.6.803","article-title":"Member competence, group interaction, and group decision making: A longitudinal study","volume":"76","author":"Watson","year":"1991","journal-title":"J. Appl. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"516","DOI":"10.1109\/TFUZZ.2013.2262769","article-title":"A consensus model to detect and manage noncooperative behaviors in large-scale group decision making","volume":"22","author":"Palomares","year":"2013","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Fuzzy Syst."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"84","DOI":"10.1016\/j.inffus.2020.01.006","article-title":"Large-Scale decision-making: Characterization, taxonomy, challenges and future directions from an Artificial Intelligence and applications perspective","volume":"59","author":"Ding","year":"2020","journal-title":"Inf. Fusion"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"217","DOI":"10.1016\/j.inffus.2017.09.011","article-title":"A consensus model for large-scale group decision making with hesitant fuzzy information and changeable clusters","volume":"41","author":"Wu","year":"2018","journal-title":"Inf. Fusion"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"221","DOI":"10.1109\/TFUZZ.2018.2857720","article-title":"A consensus model for large-scale linguistic group decision making with a feedback recommendation based on clustered personalized individual semantics and opposing consensus groups","volume":"27","author":"Li","year":"2018","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Fuzzy Syst."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"269","DOI":"10.1007\/s10479-016-2391-1","article-title":"Including cognitive aspects in multiple criteria decision analysis","volume":"265","author":"Carneiro","year":"2018","journal-title":"Ann. Oper. Res."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"517","DOI":"10.1142\/S0219622018500542","article-title":"Arguing with behavior influence: A model for web-based group decision support systems","volume":"18","author":"Carneiro","year":"2019","journal-title":"Int. J. Inf. Technol. Decis. Mak."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"109","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cogsys.2017.09.002","article-title":"Representing decision-makers using styles of behavior: An approach designed for group decision support systems","volume":"47","author":"Carneiro","year":"2018","journal-title":"Cogn. Syst. Res."},{"doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Greco, S., Figueira, J., and Ehrgott, M. (2016). Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis, Springer.","key":"ref_16","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4939-3094-4"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"206","DOI":"10.1016\/j.knosys.2016.05.046","article-title":"Consensus reaching model in the complex and dynamic MAGDM problem","volume":"106","author":"Dong","year":"2016","journal-title":"Knowl.-Based Syst."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"161","DOI":"10.1037\/0021-9010.77.2.161","article-title":"A disagreement about within-group agreement: Disentangling issues of consistency versus consensus","volume":"77","author":"Kozlowski","year":"1992","journal-title":"J. Appl. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"370","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.108.2.370","article-title":"Multialternative decision field theory: A dynamic connectionst model of decision making","volume":"108","author":"Roe","year":"2001","journal-title":"Psychol. Rev."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"432","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.100.3.432","article-title":"Decision field theory: A dynamic-cognitive approach to decision making in an uncertain environment","volume":"100","author":"Busemeyer","year":"1993","journal-title":"Psychol. Rev."},{"key":"ref_21","first-page":"1","article-title":"A comparison of consensus, consistency, and measurement approaches to estimating interrater reliability","volume":"9","author":"Stemler","year":"2004","journal-title":"Pract. Assess. Res. Eval."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"249","DOI":"10.1007\/s10726-007-9072-z","article-title":"The core of consistency in AHP-group decision making","volume":"17","author":"Escobar","year":"2008","journal-title":"Group Decis. Negot."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"73","DOI":"10.1016\/0895-7177(93)90176-Y","article-title":"A probabilistic study of preference structures in the analytic hierarchy process with interval judgments","volume":"17","author":"Vargas","year":"1993","journal-title":"Math. Comput. Model."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"113","DOI":"10.1016\/S0377-2217(99)00204-0","article-title":"Local stability intervals in the analytic hierarchy process","volume":"125","year":"2000","journal-title":"Eur. J. Oper. Res."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"83","DOI":"10.1016\/j.eswa.2018.01.030","article-title":"Granulating linguistic information in decision making under consensus and consistency","volume":"99","author":"Cabrerizo","year":"2018","journal-title":"Expert Syst. Appl."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"319","DOI":"10.1109\/TFUZZ.2018.2856125","article-title":"Consensus building with individual consistency control in group decision making","volume":"27","author":"Li","year":"2019","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Fuzzy Syst."},{"doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tang, M., and Liao, H. (2019). From conventional group decision making to large-scale group decision making: What are the challenges and how to meet them in big data era? A state-of-the-art survey. Omega, 102141.","key":"ref_27","DOI":"10.1016\/j.omega.2019.102141"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9","DOI":"10.1016\/0377-2217(90)90057-I","article-title":"How to make a decision: The analytic hierarchy process","volume":"48","author":"Saaty","year":"1990","journal-title":"Eur. J. Oper. Res."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"139","DOI":"10.1016\/j.eswa.2012.07.029","article-title":"An attitude-driven web consensus support system for heterogeneous group decision making","volume":"40","author":"Palomares","year":"2013","journal-title":"Expert Syst. Appl."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105","DOI":"10.1080\/19462166.2012.708670","article-title":"Distinctive features of persuasion and deliberation dialogues","volume":"4","author":"Atkinson","year":"2013","journal-title":"Argum. Comput."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"66","DOI":"10.1016\/j.dss.2015.09.001","article-title":"A linguistic mobile decision support system based on fuzzy ontology to facilitate knowledge mobilization","volume":"81","author":"Carlsson","year":"2016","journal-title":"Decis. Support. Syst."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"67","DOI":"10.1016\/S0165-0114(99)00024-X","article-title":"Linguistic decision analysis: Steps for solving decision problems under linguistic information","volume":"115","author":"Herrera","year":"2000","journal-title":"Fuzzy Sets Syst."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"762","DOI":"10.1109\/TFUZZ.2013.2272588","article-title":"A semisupervised multiagent system model to support consensus-reaching processes","volume":"22","author":"Palomares","year":"2013","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Fuzzy Syst."},{"doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Saaty, T.L. (1988). What is the analytic hierarchy process?. Mathematical Models for Decision Support, Springer.","key":"ref_34","DOI":"10.13033\/isahp.y1988.042"},{"key":"ref_35","first-page":"1","article-title":"A sequential selection process in group decision making with a linguistic assessment approach","volume":"80","author":"Herrera","year":"1995","journal-title":"Int. J. Inf."},{"key":"ref_36","first-page":"193","article-title":"A general template to configure multi-criteria problems in ubiquitous GDSS","volume":"9","author":"Carneiro","year":"2015","journal-title":"Int. J. Softw. Eng. Its Appl."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1217","DOI":"10.1037\/0003-066X.55.11.1217","article-title":"Making a good decision: Value from fit","volume":"55","author":"Higgins","year":"2000","journal-title":"Am. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"399","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neucom.2018.05.126","article-title":"Predicting satisfaction: Perceived decision quality by decision-makers in web-based group decision support systems","volume":"338","author":"Carneiro","year":"2019","journal-title":"Neurocomputing"},{"doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Carneiro, J., Alves, P., Marreiros, G., and Novais, P. (2019, January 26\u201328). A Conceptual Group Decision Support System for Current Times: Dispersed Group Decision-Making. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Distributed Computing and Artificial Intelligence, \u00c1vila, Spain.","key":"ref_39","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-030-23887-2_18"},{"unstructured":"Carneiro, J., Andrade, R., Alves, P., Concei\u00e7\u00e3o, L., Novais, P., and Marreiros, G. (2020, January 9\u201313). A Consensus-based Group Decision Support System using a Multi-Agent MicroServices Approach. Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems, Auckland, New Zealand.","key":"ref_40"},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"633","DOI":"10.1007\/s10115-017-1093-6","article-title":"Dynamic argumentation in UbiGDSS","volume":"55","author":"Carneiro","year":"2018","journal-title":"Knowl. Inf. Syst."}],"container-title":["Applied Sciences"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-3417\/10\/13\/4614\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T09:46:45Z","timestamp":1760176005000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-3417\/10\/13\/4614"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,3]]},"references-count":41,"journal-issue":{"issue":"13","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,7]]}},"alternative-id":["app10134614"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/app10134614","relation":{},"ISSN":["2076-3417"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2076-3417"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,3]]}}}