Concept-based Integration of project management and strategic management of rubber dam projects using the SWOT–AHP method

Abstract

The utilization of rubber dams for water supply and irrigated agriculture is becoming an emerging practice in developing countries. In this study, based on the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis, a variety of standards and processes in project management (PM) are integrated within the framework of the strategic management (SM) of an organization responsible for the management of new small-scale hydraulic infrastructures, e.g., rubber dam projects. The most important internal and external factors in PM and organizational SM of rubber dam projects in Iran are initially identified, adapted, and integrated. Thereafter, the factors are weighted, evaluated, and analyzed using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and combined SWOT–AHP methods. Based on the results, the total weighted scores of the internal and external factors are 2.353 and 2.718, respectively. Hence, the derived main strategy of the organization is WO. This means that the weakness factors can be reduced through the opportunities available for projects. Finally, a new methodology called “strategy matrix” resulting from “priority matrix” is proposed to prioritize and determine the organization’s possible strategies. The outputs demonstrate the first three priorities as a mix of the main strategy alternatives, e.g., W1O1, W7O1, and W9O1. The organization, hence, is proposed to use the economic benefits of rubber dam projects to further monitor organizational units, the project’s resource management, and the project’s stakeholder management (not the project’s stakeholders). The proposed research could be conceived as a pilot for sustainable management in developing countries, where strategic project management can produce important operational benefits.