Strategic Location Planning:A 'Hard' Approach Supported by 'Semi-Soft' Methods

This paper deals with various methods to support a knowledge-intensive IT company in a strategic relocation of their Scandinavian headquarters in the Oresund Region. Choosing a new location can be regarded as a complex strategic planning problem that calls for a systemic planning approach. This paper considers decision support based on a 'hard' approach supported by 'soft' methods. It describes how 'soft' methods were used by analysts, without direct stakeholder participation, simulating different stakeholders and their probable preferences. Used in this way the 'soft' methods are seen as only ‘semi-soft’. The 'semi-soft' methods were utilised in the customised decision-support system applied in the STMO project (2005-2007). The input from the 'semi-soft' methods comprises the results gained from a 'litmus test'