Using different pair-wise comparison scales for developing industrial strategies

We suggest a new approach to conducting individual pair‐wise comparisons during individual and group multi‐criteria decision‐making. Under the approach, every expert can use the most convenient scale for every single pair‐wise comparison. By 'convenient scale' we mean the scale, in which the degree of detail most adequately reflects this expert's competence in the issue under consideration. All scales are assigned respective weights. Then all expert judgments are brought to a unified scale, checked for consistency and aggregated. Software for pair‐wise comparison conduction has been developed, and an experiment has been organised. The experiment statistically proved that usage of the suggested approach increased the adequacy of expert examination results. The approach is especially relevant for strategic planning in industries, representing weakly structured domains, where one cannot rely only on quantitative data and tangible criteria. As an example of the approach's practical usage we consider its application for evaluation of space projects.