Determining the Strategies on Turkish Automotive Sector Using Fuzzy AHP Based on the SWOT Analysis

Abstract

In order to outmaneuver increasing competition, organizations must plan their strategies for managing the future. Yet, planning is not solely adequate. It is important to ensure the sustainability of feasible plans which are supported by performance evaluations, and to focus on strategies that which pay attention to demands and expectations of stakeholders.    The most prominent features of the real-life problems are multiple criteria, complexity and uncertainty. Benefiting from expert and stakeholder views help to reach optimal solutions of those problems. Taking advantage of artificial intelligence techniques would also contribute to the achievement of optimal results. Strategy Focused Model (SFM) aims to provide the most optimal possible solutions to real-life problems that require multi-criteria decision making. In SFM, the views of stakeholders and strategists are input into the decision making process. The main criteria of a problem establish the mainframe of the model, and these criteria are utilized in SWOT analysis. Hence, SWOT analysis is developed to Sectional SWOT analysis (SSWOT) and become more effective in determining strategies. SFM suggests the use of SSWOT analysis. The model requires to determine the weights of criteria and sub-criteria as well as the weights of stakeholders’ and strategists’ views. Thereafter, those weights enter into the decision making process. Although there are various methods to calculate those weights, Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) is the one used in this study. For Turkish branded automobile production, SFM is applied and results are obtained and discussed.