A multi-methodological approach to structure portfolio investment projects

In situations where managers need to assess and define investment portfolios, three key elements should be taken into consideration while searching of an optimal solution: multiple decision makers with dissimilar and conflictive interests, multiple objectives and decision criteria, and multiple types of managerial constraints. This article presents a multimethodological approach that facilitates the selection of portfolios of investment projects using three different operations research techniques: cognitive mapping (SODA), multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA), and binary linear programming (PLB). The application of the multi-methodological approach takes place within the context of a Colombian business group. The contribution of the paper is to show how to take advantage of the intrinsic complementarities that exist between methodologies, so that their combination facilitates identifying and representing multiple decision criteria and managerial constraints at the same time. Each of the methodologies on its own allows coping with one of the three aspects mentioned above, but not with all at the same time. This is what justifies the need to combine methodologies in order to address the problem comprehensively. © 2012 de Cladea.