An Interactive Decision Support System Framework For Social Project Portfolio Selection

In this paper, we present the development of a Decision Support System (DSS) for the project portfolio selection problem, financed with public funds. The selection of the portfolio is a complex optimization problem with multiple subjective criteria, which are difficult to compare. The Decision Maker (DM) has to find a manageable and most preferred set among many non-dominated (efficient) solutions. There is a vast variety of techniques and software for multi-criteria decision making. However, the portfolio selection is an area that requires more and better software. An interactive "Framework" is presented; it is designed to help the DM to select the best portfolio in a flexible way. The Framework is based on the classic decision process of Simon, the SMART method and a friendly man-machine interface. The SMART method was adapted to allow the DM the discovery of his preferences and to express them on the terms of the objective weights and budget constraints. The graphic user interface assist the DM through the visualization of the impact on the change of preferences and also on the projects within a reference portfolio, this way he can make a decision or adjust the necessary changes.