Strategies selection in a coal mining company by a hybrid MCDM method

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to propose and prioritize future strategies for the economic development of a company for underground coal exploitation located in Serbia. Although there are strong tendencies towards the use of renewable energy sources, coal remains the most important source for electricity generation in Serbia and beyond. Considering complex business environment involving a number of influential factors, both internal and external are taken into account when creating a company's strategy. For defining influencing factors, a very useful tool called SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis is used. Four criteria and nineteen sub-criteria are identified. By considering the criteria and sub-criteria of SWOT analysis, six business strategies are proposed. Using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method of multi-criteria decision-making, prioritization is carried out and the obtained results show that the most important proposed strategy that has priority in implementation is the strategy of diversification.