Project Management

attributes that are meaningful to us: cost, comfort, style, han-
dling, reliability, and resale. We then weight each attribute by
assessing a relative importance to it. The weights must total 1.
To use a decision
matrix, you need to estab-
lish a scale for rating each
alternative for each attrib-
ute. (The example shown
uses a five-point rating
scale.) You must define
the scale so that everyone
has a common under-
standing of what each rat-
ing number—0, 1, 2, 3, 4,
5—represents. Once
you’ve established the relative weighting and the rating scale,
it’s merely a question of filling in the blanks to determine the
best alternative. In our example, using six weighted attributes
and a five-point scale, the Lincoln Town Car was determined to
be the best alternative.
Use of a weighted factor scoring model offers several advan-
tages:

• It allows for using multiple criteria, including financial
  data. The attributes you select could include any combi-

64 Project Management

Weighted Factor

Scoring Model

The weighted factor scoring

model (decision matrix) is a compara-

tive method for selecting the preferred

alternative based upon certain prede-

termined attributes.Although it does

not provide absolute verification of jus-

tification, it offers a method for select-

ing among alternatives.

Mercury

Marquis

3

.45

Cost

(.15)

Comfort

(.25)

Style

(.10)

Handling

(.15)

Reliability

(.20)

Resale

(.10)

2

.50

2

.20

5

.75

4

.80

3

.45

1

.15

4

1.00

2

.20

4

.60

4

.80

3

.45

2

.30

3

.75

4

.40

4

.60

4

.80

4

.60

2

.30

3

.75

1

.10

5

.75

3

.60

3

.45

Total

Score

3.1

3.2

3.4

2.9

Attributes (Realtive Weighting)

Olds 98

Cadillac

deVille

Lincoln

Town Car

Alter-

native

Figure 4-4. Example of decision matrix