Evaluating Alternatives for Strategic Planning in Mining and Metallurgy

In the current macroeconomic environment with its high degree of uncertainty, mining and metallurgical companies need to develop such long-term strategies that could both adapt them to the changing external factors and increase their domestic and international competitiveness. As a rule, strategizing depends on the correct choice of alternatives. The article substantiates the importance of strategic choice of long-term development options in mining and metallurgy, as well as reveals the current specifics of strategizing in these industries and defines some relevant development paths. The authors reviewed and compared the modern methods for evaluating alternatives, i.e., multicriteria utility (MAU), verbal decision analysis (VDA), simple method of multicriteria evaluation (SMART), analytical networks (ANP), analytical hierarchy (AHP), ELECTRE, TOPSIS, MAI, etc. These methods are crucial for strategizing in mining and metallurgy, but their limitations should be taken into account, and most of them have to be adapted to the industrial specifics.