A computer-aided decision support system for assessing a contractor's competitiveness

This paper presents a computer-aided decision support system for assessing a contractor's competitiveness. Measures of competitiveness are employed to describe a contractor's strengths and weaknesses, thus to assist project clients in identifying proper contractors at the pre-qualification stage. The identification of a contractor's weakness can also help the contractor adopt proper measures to improve its competitiveness. Based on a competitiveness scoring model, a Windows-standard Decision Support System Contractor's Competitiveness Assessment Scoring System (C-CASS) was developed in this study. Case studies in a simulated environment are used to demonstrate the application of this system. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.