Best-Worst Method
BWM (Best-Worst Method) is a weight subjective multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method introduced by Rezaei, J. in 2015. It turns a decision matrix of alternatives scored on multiple criteria into a structured, reproducible result.
Read the full method
Sign in with a free account to read this section.
Method map
The neighbourhood of related methods — select a node to explore.
+309 more
When to use it
BWM requires only 2n−3 pairwise comparisons (BO and OW vectors) instead of n(n−1)/2 in AHP, greatly reducing cognitive burden. The consistency indicator ξ* ∈ [0,1] measures how well the comparisons satisfy the transitivity requirement — ξ*=0 is perfectly consistent. The reference consistency index (Table 1 in Rezaei 2015) gives maximum acceptable ξ* per n.
Strengths & limitations
- Follows a transparent, reproducible computational procedure that can be audited step by step.
- Handles multiple criteria of differing scales and units within a single decision matrix.
- Results depend on the chosen normalisation, weights, and parameter settings.
Sources
- Rezaei, J. (2015). Best-worst multi-criteria decision-making method. Omega DOI: 10.1016/j.omega.2014.11.009 ↗
How to cite this page
ScholarGate. (2026, June 2). Best-Worst Method. ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/en/decision-making/bwm
Which method?
Set this method beside its closest kin and read them side by side — the library lays the books on the table; the choice is yours.
- AHPSORTDecision-making↔ compare
- APLOCODecision-making↔ compare
- ARASDecision-making↔ compare
- AROMANDecision-making↔ compare
- ARTASIDecision-making↔ compare
- COBRADecision-making↔ compare
- COCOSODecision-making↔ compare
- CODASDecision-making↔ compare