Analytic network process

The analytic network process (ANP) is a more general form of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) used in multi-criteria decision analysis. Both processes have been widely used on a practical level, and both are the subject of numerous academic publications. Both are discussed biennially at the International Symposium on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (ISAHP).

AHP structures a decision problem into levels forming a hierarchy, while the ANP structures it as a network. Both then use a system of pairwise comparisons to measure the weights of the items in the hierarchy, and finally to rank the alternatives in the decision.

In the AHP, each element in the hierarchy is considered to be independent of all the others, but in many real-world cases, there is interdependence among the items and the alternatives. ANP does not require independence among elements, so it can be used as an effective tool in these cases. For example, ANP allows for decision elements to "control" or "be controlled" by the varying levels, decision criteria or alternatives.

References

• Thomas Saaty, Theory and Applications of the Analytical Network Process: Decision Making with Benefits, Opportunities, Costs and Risks. Published 2005 by RWS Publications.