Strategic Planing
Zahra Joorbonyan; Ali Sorourkhah; Seyyed Ahmad Edalatpanah
Abstract
In a competitive environment , various ways to maintain, survive, or grow the organization are conceivable. Among these, marketing experts believe that customer loyalty is one of the most effective tools in facing this challenge. To achieve customer loyalty, various and diverse strategies have been mentioned ...
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In a competitive environment , various ways to maintain, survive, or grow the organization are conceivable. Among these, marketing experts believe that customer loyalty is one of the most effective tools in facing this challenge. To achieve customer loyalty, various and diverse strategies have been mentioned in the literature by researchers and experts, which organizations can use, depending on the conditions, one or a combination of them. In such circumstances, managers usually have several strategies at their disposal and must choose the most appropriate one(s) from among them. The present study aims to provide a combined approach for prioritizing customer loyalty strategies.
This research uses a matrix-based approach to robustness analysis, which can deal with both complexity and uncertainty. The proposed algorithm combines it with strategic planning tools (strategies derived from strategic objectives and SWOT analysis) for prioritizing and selecting strategies. The proposed approach was implemented in a case study on prioritizing customer loyalty strategies for a women's clothing boutique in Ramsar City. Available strategies, influential environmental variables, definitions of future scenarios, and the performance of strategies in different environmental conditions were determined based on the judgments of the problem owner.
The results showed that considering influential environmental variables (national currency value, market access and raw materials, lifestyle changes, investment security, government-private sector relations, and the speed of technological change), supplier selection, contractor selection, and attracting a sponsor have the highest priority strategies. Afterward, environmental advertising, collaborative production, and customer relationship management were placed in subsequent rankings. The outputs of the proposed approach indicate that considering the country's foreseeable future conditions, higher-priority strategies minimize environmental risks and their impact on the business.
The literature suggests that classical strategic planning approaches (QSPM) or multi-criteria decision-making approaches (MCDM) are used in most cases of such decision-making. Despite their capabilities and features, these approaches face challenges in dealing with variable and evolving conditions (future uncertainty). An alternative approach, robustness analysis, can consider alternative futures but cannot define available strategies. Based on this, combining the matrix approach to robustness analysis with classical strategic planning approaches will be a response to the above problem.
Multi-Attribute Decision Making
Seyyed Ali Delbari; Alireza Davoodi; Niloofar Firozeh
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this research is to identify and prioritize international markets entry strategies in plastics industry.Methodology: The research method of the study is explorative-descriptive and its statistical population includes managers and officers working in small and medium-sized enterprises ...
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Purpose: The purpose of this research is to identify and prioritize international markets entry strategies in plastics industry.Methodology: The research method of the study is explorative-descriptive and its statistical population includes managers and officers working in small and medium-sized enterprises in the plastic industry, which are the members of the Bojnord Chamber of Commerce, Industries, and Mines. The sampling method of the study consists of snowballing sampling and purposive sampling, and the sample size is equal to 19 experts. Data collection instrument was questionnaire, which its validity and reliability were confirmed using content validity ratio and inconsistency ratio mechanism, respectively. To analyze data, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique was used.Findings: The findings indicate that international markets entry strategies in plastics industry consists of seven strategies, including export, license, management contract, contract manufacturing, turnkey operation, foreign direct investment and strategic alliances, and criteria to select these strategies include four categories of factors related to host country, factors related to product, factors related to company, and factors related to home country. Furthermore, the research findings indicate that the most important criterion to select international markets entry strategies is factors related to company and the best international markets entry strategy is export.Originality/Value: The findings of this research help managers to evaluate, prioritize, and select international markets entry strategies using AHP technique in an effective and efficient manner.