Comparing a soft and a hard multi-methodology approach: Location of an IT company in the Øresund Region

This paper deals with different ways of supporting a knowledge intensive IT company in a strategic relocation of their Scandinavian headquarter in the Øresund Region. Choosing a new location is a problem situation that can be regarded as a complex strategic planning problem, which calls for a systemic planning approach. Two types of decision support systems are provided. They are both based on a multi-methodology approach, one consisting of soft methods and one of hard methods. This paper addresses a comparison between the soft and the hard approach which were used in the decision support system applied in the STMØ project (2005-2007). The soft approach explores litmus test, CSH, SSM and SWOT analysis, while the hard method approach combines preference analysis, CBA, AHP, SMARTER, MCA and COSIMA. Both approaches are supported by simple soft methods as stakeholder analysis and brainstorming. A major issue examined in the paper is whether or not the soft approach provides important information that the hard approach would not be able to identify. With regard to a complementary use of soft and hard methods findings are finally set out based on the relocation case and the various method results.