Diagram 1 AHP hierarchy for this study
 
The model is presented in diagram 2:

Decide upon Critical Decision Criteria

Decide upon Alternatives

Collect Information of the Alternatives according to Decision Criteria

AHP Hierarchy

Overall Priority for Each Alternative

Priority for Each Criteria

Priority for Each Candidate with Respect to Each Criteria

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Diagram 2 Management Decision Model

 

2. Model Explanation

Before starting explaining the Management Decision Model in Diagram 2, the AHP hierarchy is introduced briefly. The top layer in Diagram 1 is the Goal layer, which in this case is choosing the most suitable university to attend. The middle layer is the Criteria Layer which accounts for the factors to be considered when making decision according to the goal node. The bottom layer is the Alternative layer which provides the options to choose from, which in the case are the universities to be chosen. Pair-wise comparisons are made between the alternatives according to each of the criteria in the middle layer and priorities for the alternatives according to each criterion are given based on some matrix computation. Also pair-wise comparisons are made between the criteria according to their importance to the decision making process and priorities for the criteria are also given based on some matrix computation. These two sets of priorities are combined to the final priorities for the alternatives. The one with the highest priority is chosen as the university to attend. And the ratio between the priorities of the alternatives indicates the relative advantage of that alternative compared with another one.