Strategic site location: A managerial approach

Decisions regarding the specific location of sites include the evaluation of various elements in different research fields such as, e.g., logistics, mathematics and operational research, marketing, strategic analysis, corporate financing, engineering and human resources management. All background research is usually delegated to specialists in the different areas, each of whom prepares a detailed report for the decision maker(s). It is the difficult task of management or public policy makers to integrate all these results into a final decision on the location or re-location of activities, or the allocation of resources to specific sites. From the perspective of management, the dominant objective is to sustain and/or improve the firm’s competitive position in the market. This paper analyses a number of elements which influence the decision process and develops a conceptual model that includes these elements.