Transformations  in
Business & Economics

THE FORMULATION OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIES THROUGH INTEGRATION OF FREEMAN MODEL, SWOT, AND FUZZY MCDM METHODS: A CASE STUDY OF OIL INDUSTRY
Ahmad Esmaeili, Reza Ahmadi Kahnali, Reza Rostamzadeh, Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas, Akbar Sepahvand

ABSTRACT.Due to perpetual novelty in technology and change, increasing consumption of oil products and also a tendency toward privatization in Iran, it seems necessary to formulate a strategic plan for the oil industry. This research takes a quantitative approach to analytically determine the best strategies for the given industry. In order to respond accurately to the needs of organization, key stakeholders of an oil refining company was identified through the use of the Freeman's model. After developing a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) matrix, the critical factors were determined, according to which the effective practical strategies were identified. Based on the literature review, the main criteria for the strategy prioritization were extracted. Then, utilizing a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP), the importance weights of the strategies were obtained regarding to above mentioned criteria. Finally, the priority ranks of selected strategies were defined by the use of technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) under fuzzy environment. The results shows that the organizational restructuring and implementation of change management through re-engineering ranks in the first place .

KEYWORDS: strategy formulation, SWOT, fuzzy sets, MCDM, FAHP, oil industry.

JEL classification: L71, L1, L2, L16, C6, Q400.