DEMATEL

A method for analyzing the causal relationships and degree of influence among criteria, using precise numerical judgments to identify which factors act as causes and which act as effects within a system.

Try DEMATEL Free

Fuzzy DEMATEL cause and effect network diagram

Understanding DEMATEL

What is DEMATEL?

DEMATEL (Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) is a multi-criteria decision-making method used to identify and visualize the cause-and-effect relationships among a set of criteria. It uses crisp numerical judgments — direct scores rather than linguistic terms — to build a clear map of how each factor influences the others within a system.

When to Use DEMATEL

DEMATEL is especially useful when you need to understand how criteria interact with one another, not just rank them — for example, when analyzing the drivers behind operational risks, identifying root causes in a quality management system, or mapping interdependencies among strategic objectives. By quantifying direct influence scores between every pair of criteria, the method reveals both direct and indirect relationships that would be difficult to see otherwise.

Why Choose DEMATEL

Choose DEMATEL when your experts can provide clear, numerical assessments of influence and you need a structured way to separate "cause" factors from "effect" factors — this is common in well-defined systems where relationships between criteria are measurable and consensus among evaluators is relatively high.

Where DEMATEL Is Applied

DEMATEL is widely applied in engineering, supply chain management, quality management, and policy analysis, where understanding the structural relationships between criteria is essential for effective decision-making.

How to Calculate DEMATEL — Step by Step

Step 1: Define the Criteria

List all the criteria or factors you want to analyze for cause-and-effect relationships.

Step 2: Collect Expert Judgments

Ask experts to rate the direct influence of each criterion on every other criterion using a numerical scale (e.g., 0 = no influence, 1 = low, 2 = medium, 3 = high, 4 = very high influence).

Step 3: Build the Direct-Relation Matrix

Combine all expert responses (typically by averaging) into a single matrix showing the influence score between every pair of criteria.

Step 4: Normalize the Matrix

Normalize the direct-relation matrix so all values fall within a consistent scale, making the criteria comparable.

Step 5: Calculate the Total-Relation Matrix

Use matrix algebra to compute how much each criterion influences — and is influenced by — the entire system, not just its direct neighbors.

Step 6: Determine Cause-and-Effect Groups

Calculate two key values for each criterion: (D+R), showing overall importance, and (D−R), showing whether it's a net "cause" or "effect" factor.

Step 7: Visualize the Causal Diagram

Plot the results on a cause-and-effect diagram to clearly see which criteria drive the system and which ones are driven by others.

See It in Action

Curious how DEMATEL works? Walk through a solved example — or skip straight to analyzing your own criteria with our free online tool.

View Examples

Try DEMATEL Free

No installation required

Advantages and Limitations of DEMATEL

Advantages	Limitations
✓ Reveals both direct and indirect relationships between criteria	! Relies on subjective expert scoring, even though values are numerical
✓ Distinguishes "cause" factors from "effect" factors	! Results depend heavily on expert selection and consistency
✓ Produces a clear visual causal diagram	! Not designed for ranking alternatives — only for analyzing criteria relationships
✓ Simpler and faster to apply than fuzzy-based variants	! Less suitable when expert judgments are vague or hard to express numerically

How DEMATEL Compares to Other Methods

DEMATEL vs. Fuzzy DEMATEL

DEMATEL uses crisp numerical judgments, while Fuzzy DEMATEL captures uncertainty through fuzzy numbers — making the classical version faster and simpler when expert opinions are already clear and consistent.

DEMATEL vs. AHP

AHP is used to weight and prioritize criteria based on pairwise comparisons, while DEMATEL focuses on identifying cause-and-effect relationships between criteria rather than ranking them.

DEMATEL vs. ANP

ANP builds on network relationships between criteria and alternatives, and is often combined with DEMATEL results to build a more accurate network structure.