During the past two decades, the consideration of mUltiple objectives in modeling and decision making has grown by leaps and bounds. The nineties in particular have seen the emphasis shift from the dominance of single-objective modeling and optimization toward an emphasis on multiple objectives. The proceedings of this Conference epitomize these evolutionary changes and contribute to the important role that the tield of multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) now plays in planning, design, operational, management, and policy decisions. Of special interest are the contributions of MCDM to manufacturing engineering. For example, it has recently been recognized that optimal, single-objective solutions have often been pursued at the expense of the much broader applicability of designs and solutions that satisfy multiple objectives. In particular, the theme (MCDM and Its Worldwide Role in Risk-Based Decision Making) of the XIVth International Conference on Multiple Criteria Decision Making (Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, June 8-12, 1998) represents the growing importance of risk-cost-benefit analysis in decision making and in engineering design and manufacturing. In such systems, minimizing the of rare and extreme events emerges as an essential objective that risk complements the minimization of the traditional expected value of risk, along with the objectives attached to cost and performance. These proceedings include forty-five papers that were presented at the Conference. A variety of techniques have been proposed for solving multiple criteria decision-making problems. The emphasis and style of the different techniques largely reflect the fields of expertise of their developers.

This Volume contains 41 papers and comprises the refereed proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Multi-Objective Programming and Goal Programming (MOPGP'96) that was held at the Hotel Melia Costa del Sol, Torremolinos (15 km from Malaga), Spain, May 16-18, 1996. The Conference was attended by 86 people from 22 countries and 63 papers were presented. The Conference was the Second in the series of MOPGP conferences devoted to optimization topics in multiple criteria decision making (MCDM), particularly mUltiple objective programming and goal programming. The First conference, MOPGP'94, organized by Mehrdad Tamiz, was held at the University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, England, June 1-3, 1994. The proceedings volume for that conference was also published by Springer-Verlag. Its citation is: Mehrdad Tamiz (Ed.) (1996). "Multi-Objective Programming and Goal Programming: Theories and Applications," Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems, Vol. 432, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 359 pp. As of this writing, MOPGP'98, the Third conference in the series, is scheduled for the University of Laval, Quebec City, Canada, May 31-June 2, 1998. MOPGP'96 was organized by the Departamento de Economia Aplicada (Matematicas) of the University of Malaga, and chaired by Rafael Caballero. Other members of the Local Organizing Committee were Pablo Lara, University of C6rdoba, and Jose M. Cabello, Mercedes Gonzalez, Lourdes Rey and Francisco Ruiz, all also from the Departamento de Economia Aplicada (Matematicas), University of Malaga.