ICIS vs Decision Matrix

Dynamic insight on-the-go Keep your finger on the pulse of global commodities markets. Gain seamless access on your mobile devices to the latest news, pricing data and market analysis. · Stay informed with one-touch, at-a-glance access: Get push notifications and instant updates on the latest essential news, prices and analysis – updated around the clock for your chosen markets. · Get straight to what matters: Customise your view on the app to show pricing data and news tailored to your needs and interests. · Save time: Benefit from seamless cross-device synchronisation between the ICIS home page and the ICIS Mobile App. ABOUT ICIS ICIS is a global source of Independent Commodity Intelligence Services. We connect data, markets and customers to create a comprehensive, trusted view of the global commodities markets, enabling smarter business decisions that optimise the world’s resources. Over the past four decades, we have cultivated deep expertise in downstream petrochemicals supported by our ever-expanding reach in the energy and fertilizer markets. Today we are one of the world's largest and trusted chemicals market intelligence provider. We exist to help businesses make strategic decisions, mitigate risk, improve productivity and capitalise on new opportunities. At ICIS, we make some of the world’s most important markets more trusted and predictable by providing data services, thought leadership and decision tools. As result of our unmatched global presence, we deliver targeted connected intelligence to influence thousands of decisions across supply chains every single day. Drawing upon our legacy, we are also in a unique position to leverage big data and analytics as part of RELX, a FTSE15 data and analytics company with over 30,000 experts across 40 countries. With our intelligence, we shape the world by connecting markets to optimise the world’s valuable resources.

The decision matrix is an easy decision maker for evaluating and selecting the best option between different possibilities. This tool is especially useful when you are deciding between multiple options and need to consider multiple factors to make your final decision. You may have heard other names for a decision matrix - even though they all mean the same thing - easy decision maker. Some other names for decision matrix are: Pugh matrix, grid analysis, multi-attribute utility theory, problem selection matrix, decision grid. Use a decision matrix for this task: compare multiple similar options, narrow down different options to a final decision, weigh a variety of important factors, and hope you approach the decision from a logical standpoint rather than an emotional or intuitive standpoint. A decision matrix can help you determine the best option among several possibilities based on several important factors and their relative importance. Creating a decision matrix consists of three easy decision making steps: 1. Identify your alternatives The decision matrix is a helpful tool for selecting the best option from a set of similar options. Before you can create your matrix, you need to identify the options you need to decide between. For example, let us say you are introducing a new production chain. You need to decide on a contract manufacturer to make the components of your product. Right now, you have identified three companies, each with its advantages and disadvantages. 2. Identify important factors The second step in creating a decision matrix is to identify the important considerations that will play a role in your decision. These criteria will help you find the best decision and avoid subjectivity. Staying with our example, you have decided that the most important criteria when selecting a contractor are the following: Cost, experience, quality and previous customer reviews. 3. Give more weight to one factor Sometimes there are certain considerations that are more important than others. In such a case, use the weighted factors in the decision matrix to determine the best option for you. To continue our example, imagine that there is no way you can go over your budget, so cost is a crucial factor in your decision-making process. Customer reviews are also important as they give you an indication of how effective each agency has been in the past. To change the weighting of a factor in the decision matrix, use a selection wheel to enter your subjective percentage of importance. As the decision process continues, the Decision Matrix application multiplies the weighting factor with each consideration. Use the "Invert" option for factors that worsen the result when growing Finally: provide each option of the created Decision Matrix with the amounts of each factor in the column using a percentage wheel. The Decision Tree application does the rest for you: it calculates the weighted amounts, summarizes the amounts of all factors, and sets the result value of all factors for each option. The bar for the best option has a green color. To check the distribution of factors in your criteria, monitor a pie chart in the lower left corner. Each factor has a corresponding color in the chart. To align the criteria so that the weights of the factors are all equal, use the "Equal" button in the center of the pie chart. The Decision Matrix app supports an unlimited number of decisions. For each decision, you can consider up to four choices and twenty factors.