Análise multivariada de componentes principais e modelo multicritério aplicados à decisão de localização de empresa

Among the factors of success of a company, the choice of location is preponderant, being one of the relevant decisions of the entrepreneur, with each company, according to its business and specificities, its potential demand. In this article, we seek to have an instrument for decision-making for optimal location of companies using the multivariate analysis of main components applied with a multi-criteria optimization method. The model was structured with the creation of a multidimensional index, the Optimal Company Location Index - ILOE, through the Analysis of the Main Components. The city of Fortaleza was used for empirical investigation, representing the complexity of the economy typical of Brazilian urban centers. In this way, a framework is proposed for the decision of the retail company location decision problem, based on a set of qualitative and quantitative criteria. It is a hybrid decision support method that combines techniques from the MAUT (Multi-Attribute Utility) model with Principal Component Analysis, composed of socioeconomic dimensions present in the urban space. The empirical evidence was verified from the spatial analysis and the congruence of the location of service companies and current trade with ILOE, in a decision process whose preferences of the decision makers were revealed.