A least deviation method for priority derivation in group decision making with incomplete reciprocal preference relations

• A least deviation method is proposed to obtain the priority vector for incomplete FPR.
• Relevant theorems are investigated and a convergent iterative algorithm about LDM developed.
• Statistical comparative study, complexity of computation of different algorithms are provided.

In this paper, based on the transfer relationship between reciprocal preference relation and multiplicative preference relation, we proposed a least deviation method (LDM) to obtain a priority vector for group decision making (GDM) problems where decision-makers' (DMs') assessments on alternatives are furnished as incomplete reciprocal preference relations with missing values. Relevant theorems are investigated and a convergent iterative algorithm about LDM is developed. Using three numerical examples, the LDM is compared with the other prioritization methods based on two performance evaluation criteria: maximum deviation and maximum absolute deviation. Statistical comparative study, complexity of computation of different algorithms, and comparative analyses are provided to show its advantages over existing approaches.