A multi-objective multi-stage stochastic model for project team formation under uncertainty in time requirements

Abstract

Team formation is one of the key stages in project management. The cost associated with the individuals who form a team and the quality of the tasks completed by the team are two of the main concerns in team formation problems. In this study, we consider simultaneous optimization of cost and quality in a team formation problem. Because these problems in a project usually arise in multi-period planning with uncertain parameters, a multi-objective multi-stage stochastic programming (MOMSP) model is developed and presented. Having sufficient scenarios to realistically represent real-world environments often leads to high computational complexity. Thus, we have adopted scenario cluster decomposition methods in our modeling and developed a heuristic algorithm. It is shown that the model can be solved for problems with practical size. The presented model and its solution methodology can be applied to different types of projects. In this study, a project that involves an overhaul of a set of aircraft is presented as a case study in which the goals are to minimize staffing costs and maximize the reliability of the aircraft by staffing workforce with high competency.