SWOT-AHP hybrid method for ranking the relaunching strategies of an industrial company

Abstract

Our paper aims to assess the current situation of an industrial company, which is in a difficult situation caused by two factors: the Covid-19 pandemic and the situation created by reducing the production of cars with diesel engines in favour of electric/hybrid, and defining and prioritizing the most efficient strategies for relaunching the company's activity and for reorienting it towards other components instead of those in current production. The company's current situation was determined by identifying the environmental factors (SWOT) and using the TOWS matrix, and the most appropriate strategies were defined. The research is based on a case study using information collected from the company managers and existing annual reports. To quantitatively determine the importance of each factor in the SWOT matrix, classify the defined strategies, and verify the views of the study participants, the AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) method has been used. The calculations were performed with Excel software. The results obtained showed that the top three strategies for developing the company are: investment programs in high-performance equipment, increasing the degree of the processes integration, and attracting new strategic suppliers to develop essential projects.