
61Decision Analysis with Multiple Attributes
go over some commonly encountered functional forms used for encoding
single-attribute utility functions.
3.4.2.1 Linear Utility Function
The linear utility function is simply a linear transformation on the raw attri-
bute. It is of the form
Ux ax b (3.6)
In single-attribute problems involving no uncertainty, a linear utility func-
tion is generally not required because the decision can be made with raw
attributes directly. Even when uncertainty is present, the decisions will be
based on the expected value of the outcomes and a utility function is not
needed. Linear utility functions are, however