A SWOT-AHP APPLICATION TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION AT YEDITEPE UNIVERSITY SYSTEMS ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

摘要

SWOT is a well known and commonly used tool for strategic planning and decision support. SWOT analysis can also be used by universities and for a specific department for quality improvement purposes. In SWOT, the internal and external factors most important for the organization's future are grouped as: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. SWOT alone includes no means of assessing the fit between SWOT factors and various decision alternatives, in other words possible strategies to apply. In this study, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is integrated with SWOT analysis and used to improve quality of education at Yeditepe University Systems Engineering Department. In this approach, the objective is to take advantage of the strengths and opportunities, while trying to reinforce the weaknesses and develop the best defense to the threats. Data for the model is obtained by surveys filled by professors, research assistants, and students. The most important strategies for quality improvement are determined by solving the AHP model based on the SWOT.