Abstract
This article proposes a quantified SWOT framework which integrates fuzzy linguistic preference relation to evaluate the competitive position of Abidjan container terminal in West Africa. The integration of fuzzy linguistic preference relation in the quantified SWOT framework circumvents the difficulties in terms of data collection and consistency of judgment matrices prevailing in the conventional AHP and Fuzzy AHP. Moreover, the study provides relevant evidences about the key internal and external attributes shipping lines considered as important and hence the attributes that ports/ terminals most need to enhance in order to improve their attractiveness and be well positioned in the market. On the other hand, the change in terminals competitive position between 2010 and 2013 highlights that the difficulties of West African ports in attracting customers in the sub-region are not only related to internal problems such as inadequate infrastructures, facilities or inefficiency, but significant political and economic constraint outside the ports constraints their competitiveness.
Highlights
Containerization and the ever-increasing size of ships have facilitated the movement and increased the volume of goods transported worldwide and put more pressures on port authorities limited in their ability to expand and fast their infrastructures
This article proposes a quantified SWOT framework which integrates fuzzy linguistic preference relation to evaluate the competitive position of Abidjan container terminal in West Africa
The integration of fuzzy linguistic preference relation in the quantified SWOT framework circumvents the difficulties in terms of data collection and consistency of judgment matrices prevailing in the conventional Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and Fuzzy AHP
Summary
Containerization and the ever-increasing size of ships have facilitated the movement and increased the volume of goods transported worldwide and put more pressures on port authorities limited in their ability to expand and fast their infrastructures. Unlike the conventional SWOT and the others hybrid method based on SWOT, the quantified method proposed by researchers [5], rather than just providing an analytical mean to either determine the weight of the factors or prioritize factors or strategies for organization, offers a framework to carry out SWOT comparison on several enterprises simultaneously. The authors developed a hybrid AHP SWOT method based on the grand strategy matrix (GSM) model, to assess the competitive position of container ports in East Asia. To the best of our knowledge, a study integrating fuzzy linguistic preference relation to SWOT method has not been found in the literature Against this background, this research suggests a quantified SWOT method which integrates the fuzzy linguistic preference relation to evaluate the competitive position of major container terminals in West Africa sub-region.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
