Avoiding simplification strategies by introducing multi-objectiveness in real world problems

In business analysis, models are sometimes oversimplified. We pragmatically approach many problems with a single financial objective and include monetary values for non-monetary variables. We enforce constraints which may not be as strict in reality. Based on a case in distributed energy production, we illustrate how we can avoid simplification by modeling multiple objectives, solving it with an NSGA-II algorithm with a novel comparison operator. Advantages include a strengthened focus on the trade-off relation between financial and non-monetary objectives. We conclude that this approach is very applicable in a business analysis setting.