Decision Analysis with Multiple Objectives—Application to a Product Mix Problem in a Public Enterprise

I. Introduction The general manager of a state owned manufacturing plant in a developing country has to decide how to allocate production between two products. The first product is more profitable, but the second is a priority product which the government wants to produce inside the country. Demand for the second product is uncertain, so that producing too much may decrease profits without increasing market satisfaction, while producing too little could result in unfavourable government and public reaction. This problem is typical of many decision‐making situations in the modern world—the dilemma posed by multiple, conflicting objectives in an uncertain environment.