Decision-making based on the Weighted Scoring method

The weighted scoring method is a strategy or approach to decision-making, where the different criteria or factors are evaluated with different weights depending on their importance for the specified decision. This method allows assigning weight to different factors considering their different meanings or influence on the result.

When to use this method:

1. When making strategic decisions. It may be necessary to choose the optimal strategy to achieve certain goals in business or management.  In this case, different aspects such as financial profit, risks, and market development can be evaluated and scored with different weights.
2. When choosing suppliers or partners. Different criteria such as cost, product quality, and supplier reliability can have different influences on the final decision.
3. In the process of selecting projects to do. When considering different projects for implementation, it might be necessary to take into account various parameters, such as strategic relevance, risks, cost, etc.

The process of applying the weighted scoring method includes assigning the weight for every criterion, then calculations are made based on this weight and the scores to make an informed decision.

An example of applying the weighted scoring method

Suppose there are three different courses and you need to decide which one meets your needs the best. You define several criteria, such as:

1. Quality of teachers (weight = 10): Scoring the teacher's quality will be the most important criterion for you, therefore you need to assign it the highest weight.
2. The relevance of materials (weight = 9): It is also important for you that materials are relevant, this is why you give a significant weight to this parameter.
3. The cost of the course (weight = 7): The cost also plays a significant role, but it is not as critical as the teacher's quality or relevance of the materials.
4. The duration of the course (weight = 6): there is also a need to consider the course duration, however it is a less important factor.

Imagine you always wanted to study with a teacher who has 10 years of professional experience. Let's look at the offers and compare the information. The result is written in the "Teacher quality" line.

• Course 1 is taught by a teacher with 8 years of experience – this is 8 points.
• Course 2 is taught by a teacher with 10 years of experience, so it's 10 points.
• Course 3 is taught by a teacher with 9 years of experience – this is 9 points.

Similarly, you should fill in the rest of the table.

Next, each course is rated according to these criteria, and each score is multiplied by the weight of the corresponding criterion. As a result, the sum of these weighted scores for each course determines which course has the highest rating, taking into account the importance of the different aspects.

So we have:

Course 1: (10*8) + (9*9) + (7*8) + (6*5) = 247

Course 2: (10*10) + (9*6) + (7*6) + (6*7) = 238

Course 3: (10*9) + (9*8) + (7*7) + (6*10) = 271

And the winner is Course 3!

This approach helps make an informed decision taking into account different aspects and the importance of each of them in a certain context. 

Advantages of the weighted scoring method:

1. Taking into account the importance of criteria.

The method expresses the importance of different criteria by taking into account their weight. This helps to better understand the impact of each factor on the final decision.

2. Objectivity.

By using weighting factors, one can create an objective evaluation system based on specific data and criteria.

3. Flexibility.

This method enables easy adaptation of the criteria weights according to changing conditions or requirements.

Disadvantages of the weighted scoring method:

1. Determining the weight is subjective.

Assigning weights to each criterion can be subjective and based on personal preferences or judgment.

2. Difficulty in determining weight.

Some criteria are hard to measure or compare, which makes it difficult to determine the weight for them.

3. Responsiveness to weight changes.

Small changes in weight can greatly affect the final result, which can lead to unstable decision-making.

The method of weighted scoring can also be used in the IT field, for example:

• when choosing between different technologies for project development, based on criteria such as performance, security, development cost, etc;
• when choosing software or hardware suppliers;
• when allocating resources or setting priorities in a project to optimize decision-making.

The weighted scoring method is a powerful decision-making tool that takes into account the importance of various criteria. It can be successfully applied in the IT industry to select projects, suppliers, and risk assessments. However, it is important to determine the weights correctly and be careful with the changes, as this can significantly affect the final results.