A multilevel programming approach to decentralized (or hierarchical) resource allocation systems

Abstract In many decision processes there is a hierarchy of decision‐makers and decisions are taken at different levels in this hierarchy. In business (and many other practical activities) decision making has changed over the last decades. From a single person (the boss!) and a single criterion (e.g. profit), decision environments have developed increasingly to become multi‐person and multi‐criteria and even multi‐level (or hierarchical) situations. In organization with hierarchical decision systems, the sequential and preemptive nature of the decision process makes the problem of selecting an optimum strategy and action very different from the usual operations research methods. Therefore, a multilevel programming approach is considered in modeling such problems. In particular a three‐level mathematical programming model has been proposed for an optimal resource allocation problem in Ethiopian universities. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)