A conceptual model of decision-making support of the volunteer team in conditions of dynamic changes

Abstract

The paper examines the problem of decision-making by a team of volunteers in transport logistics tasks under conditions of
dynamic changes in the external environment. Transport logistics is a system of organizing cargo delivery to the place of need along a
certain route. The task of transport logistics, during dynamic changes in the external environment, is a task of multi-criteria selection
due to consideration of various criteria. Solving the problems of transport logistics requires the construction of a conceptual model of
decision-making support, regarding the choice of the best route, taking into account all the factors that influence decision-making, and
the choice of the decision-making method. The multi-criteria decision-making methods which are used in the transport sector are
analyzed. A conceptual model of decision-making support for choosing the optimal route in the transport logistics problem is proposed.
Verification of the proposed model was carried out, for which the task of choosing the best route of cargo transportation in the transport
logistics problem was set and solved. When finding a solution, the multi-criteria decision-making methods were used: Analytic
Hierarchy Process method, Multiplicative Analytic Hierarchy Process method, Simple Multi-Attribute Rating Technique method,
improved Simple Multi-Attribute Rating Technique method. The criteria used to evaluate alternative routes for cargo transportation
were identified based on volunteer surveys. In order to evaluate the alternatives according to the established criteria, volunteer experts
were involved, since during dynamic changes in the conditions of cargo transportation, the involvement of professional experts is a
difficult task. To establish the reliability of the evaluations of alternatives according to the criteria obtained from volunteer experts, the
Kendall and Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated. Analytic Hierarchy Process method, Multiplicative Analytic Hierarchy
Process method, and the improved Simple Multi-Attribute Rating Technique method are found to provide the most reliable results, but
the Analytic Hierarchy Process method and Multiplicative Analytic Hierarchy Process methods are more time-consuming during data
input than the improved Smart method.