POLICY OPTIMIZATION ON A MANUFACTURING COMPANY IN RAPID GROWTH: A CASE STUDY

Decision making and policy development is an important process for organizations, since the consequences of given decisions were identified among the major risk factors for organizations’ future. This study aims to prove the importance of using combined decision making methods for a successful and strong decision making for managers. We integrate the multi-criteria decision making methods into a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis framework to show the applicability of the proposed method in a ceramic manufacturing firm in Kayseri, Turkey. Multi-criteria decision making processes were applied for taking quick action for future policies. SWOT analysis is used to optimize potential policies. Then, multi-criteria decision making methods: Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), The Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) are used in order to determine the importance of each potential policy. Determining the importance of the policies also gives the best solution for each method. This study shows the potential policies ranked by different multi-criteria decision-making methods for simplifying the decision-making process.

___

  • [1] Aich A, Ghosh S K, (2016) Application of SWOT Analysis for the Selection of Technology for Processing and Disposal of MSW. Procedia Environmental Sciences 35, 209 – 228.
  • [2] Balamuralikrishna R, Dugger J, (1995) SWOT analysis: A management tool for initiating new programs in vocational schools. Journal of Vocational and Technical Education, 12.
  • [3] Chang H, Huang W, (2006) Application of a quantification SWOT analytical method. Mathematical and Computer Modelling, Vol. 43, Issues 1-2, Pages 158-159.
  • [4] Duan Q, Liao T W, (2013) Optimization of replenishment policies for decentralized and centralized capacitated supply chains under various demands. International Journal of Production Economics 142, 194–204.
  • [5] Figuera J, Greco S, Ehrgott M, (2005) Multiple-criteria decision analysis: state of the art surveys. Springer, Berlin.
  • [6] Gürbüz F., (2017), Strategy development with SWOT analysis on manufacturing Companies in rapid growth: a ceramic industry application, 4th World Conference on Business, Economics and Management, WCBEM.
  • [7] Ho W, (2008) Integrated analytic hierarchy process and its applications – a literature review. European Journal of Operational Research. 186(1): 211-228.
  • [8] Houben G, Lenie K, Vanhoof K, (1999) A knowledge-based SWOT-analysis as an instrument for strategic planning in small and medium sized enterprises. Decision Support Systems. 26, 125-135.
  • [9] Kaczmarek M J, (2016) SWOT analysis for Planned Maintenance strategy – a case study. IFAC papers online 49-12, 674-679.
  • [10] Lizarraga M L, Baquedano M T, Cardelle-Elawar M, (2007) Factors that affect decision making: gender and age differences. International Journal of psychology and psychological therapy. Vol. 3 (7). 381-391.
  • [11] Mynttinen I, Hoffmann A, Runge E, Li P, (2015) Smoothing and regularization strategies for optimization of hybrid dynamic systems. Optimization and Engineering 16:541–569.
  • [12] Opricovic S, Tzeng G H, (2004) Compromise solution by MCDM methods: A comparative analysis of VIKOR and TOPSIS. European Journal of Operational Research 156, 445–455.
  • [13] Pickton D W, Wright S, (1998) What's SWOT in strategic analysis?. Strategic Change, 7 (2), pp. 101-109.
  • [14] Polotski V, Jean-Pierre Kenne J-P, Gharbi A, (2016) Production Policy Optimization in Flexible Manufacturing-Remanufacturing Systems. IFAC-Papers on Line 49-12, 295–300.
  • [15] Polotski V, Kenne J-P, Gharbi A, (2017) Production and set up policy optimization for hybrid manufacturing– remanufacturing systems. International Journal of Production Economics 183, 322–333.
  • [16] Saaty T L, (2008) Decision making with the analytic hierarchy process. International Journal of Services Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp.83–98.
  • [17] Sen P, Yang J-B, (1998) Multiple Criteria Decision Support in Engineering Design. Springer, London.
  • [18] Shahba S, Arjmandi R, Monavari M, Ghodusi J, (2017) Application of multi-attribute decision-making methods in SWOT analysis of mine waste management (case study: Sirjan's Golgohar iron mine, Iran). Resources Policy 51, 67–76.
  • [19] Shakerian H, Dehnavi H D, Ghanad S B, (2016) The implementation of the hybrid model SWOT-TOPSIS by fuzzy approach to evaluate and rank the human resources and business strategies in organizations (case study: road and urban development organization in Yazd). Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 230, 307 – 316.
  • [20] Szuleckaa J, Zalazara E M, (2017) Forest plantations in Paraguay: Historical developments and a critical diagnosis in a SWOT-AHP framework. Land Use Policy 60, 384–394.
  • [21] Tavana M, Zareinejad M, Capriod D, Kaviani M A, (2016) An integrated intuitionistic fuzzy AHP and SWOT method for out sourcing reverse logistics. Applied Soft Computing 40, 544–557.
  • [22] Tosun N, (2006) Determination of optimum parameters for multi-performance characteristics in drilling by using grey relational analysis. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 28(5-6), 450-455.
  • [23] Triantaphyllou E, Mann S H, (1995) Using the analytic hierarchy process for decision making in engineering applications: Some challenges. International Journal of Industrial Engineering: Applications and Practice, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 35-44.
  • [24] Tsaur R C, (2011) Decision risk analysis for an interval TOPSIS method. Applied Mathematics and Computation 218, 4295–4304.
  • [25] Tseng M L, (2010) Using linguistic preferences and grey relational analysis to evaluate the environmental knowledge management capacity. Expert Systems with Applications 37, 70–81.
  • [26] Uçar D, Doğru A Ö, (2005) Strategic Planning of GIS Projects and the Place of SWOT Analysis, CD, 10. Scientific and Technical Congress of Turkey Map, Ankara.
  • [27] Wu H H, (2002) A Comparative Study of Using Grey Relational Analysis in Multiple Attribute Decision Making Problems. Quality Engineering, Vol 15, No 2, 209-217.
  • [28] Wurm A, Bestle D, (2016) Robust design optimization for improving automotive shift quality. Optimization and Engineering 17:421–436.
  • [29] Zhang M, Janic M, Tavasszy L A, (2015) A freight transport optimization model for integrated network, service, and policy design. Transportation Research Part E 77, 61–76.