Proceso De Análisis Jerarquico

Summary: SWOT is a widely applied tool in strategic decision support. In SWOT, the internal and external factors most important for the enterprise’s future are grouped into four categories: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. By applying SWOT in a strategic planning process, the aim usually is to develop and adopt a strategy resulting in a good fit between these internal and external factors. However, SWOT includes no means of analytically determining the importance of factors or of assessing the fit between SWOT factors and decision alternatives. In A'WOT, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and its eigenvalue calculation framework are integrated with SWOT analysis. The aim in applying the hybrid method is to improve the quantitative information basis of strategic planning processes. AHP’s connection to SWOT yields analytically–determined priorities for the factors included in SWOT analysis and makes them commensurable. In addition, decision alternatives can be evaluated with respect to each SWOT factor by applying the AHP. So, SWOT provides the basic frame within which to perform an analysis of the decision situation, and the AHP assists in carrying out SWOT more analytically and in elaborating the analysis so that alternative strategic decisions can be prioritised.

1. Introduction

SWOT (the acronym standing for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) is a widely applied tool in the analysis of internal and external environments in order to achieve a systematic approach and support for strategic decision situations (see, e.g., Wheelen and Hunger, 1995, Hill and Westbrook, 1997). The internal and external factors most important for the enterprise’s future are referred to as strategic factors. In SWOT these factors (called SWOT factors) are grouped into four categories called SWOT groups: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. By applying SWOT in a strategic planning process, the aim usually is to develop and adopt a strategy resulting in a good fit between the internal and external factors. SWOT can also be used when a strategy alternative suddenly emerges and the decision context relevant to it has to be analysed.

When used properly, SWOT can provide a good basis for strategy formulation. However, SWOT could be used more efficiently than normally has been the case in its applications (McDonald, 1993). When using SWOT, analysis lacks the possibility of comprehensively appraising the strategic decision making situation. It easily remains at the level of only pinpointing the factors. In addition, the expression of individual factors is often of a very general nature and brief (Hill and Westbrook, 1997). Furthermore, SWOT includes no means of analytically determining the importance of the factors or of assessing the decision alternatives with respect to the factors. The further utilisation of SWOT alone is, thus, mainly based on the qualitative analysis made in the planning process, and on the capabilities and expertise of the persons participating in the process. All

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