Darko, A; Chan, A P C; Ameyaw, E E; Owusu, E K; Pärn, E and Edwards, D J (2019) Review of application of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in construction. International Journal of Construction Management, 19(5), pp. 436-452. ISSN 1562-3599
Abstract
The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) has gained increasing attention in construction management (CM) domain as a technique to analyse complex situations and make sound decisions. However, AHP per se or its potential applications on CM problems are ill-defined within extant literature. The present paper reviews 77 AHP-based papers published in eight selected peer-reviewed CM journals from 2004 to 2014 to better define and delineate AHP application areas and decision-making problems solved within CM. The findings indicated that risk management and sustainable construction were the most popular AHP application areas in CM. It was also revealed that AHP (1) is flexible and can be used as a stand-alone tool or in conjunction with other tools to resolve construction decision-making problems; and (2) is widely used in Asia. In addition, the most prominent justifications for using AHP were found to be small sample size, high level of consistency, simplicity and availability of user-friendly software. This paper provides a useful reference for researchers and practitioners interested in the application of AHP in CM. Future research is needed to compare and contrast between AHP and other multicriteria decision-making methods; such work could reveal which techniques provide optimized solutions under various decision-making scenarios.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | analytic hierarchy process; application; literature review; multicriteria decision-making |
| Index terms: | sustainable construction, literature review, journal, Asia, decision-making, practitioner, sample size, risk management |
| Subjects: | research design and methodology, research dissemination and communication, risk assessment, practitioner, regions and continents, data analysis and analytics, sustainable construction, decision analysis |
| Topics: | Geographical Context, Research Practice, Sustainability, Roles and Professions, Risk Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here