Ranking indicators affecting the implementation of strategic thinking through fuzzy multi-criteria decision making (FDANP) approach (Case study: Islamic Azad Universities located west of Mazandaran province)

“Strategic thinking” is considered an appropriate organizational leadership approach in nowadays ever-changing and capricious environment. An approach which can advantage the organization in relative to its rivalries and allocate higher market share. Recent studies have revealed that lack of strategic thinking serves as major deficiency in the performance of organizations and this type of thinking actively highlights the profitability for organizations. Creation and development of strategic thinking is among the most highly-demanded deeds in management and this attitude of thinking is crucial in all organizational levels, especially senior management. This research is applied and of descriptive-analytical in terms of purpose and method, respectively. Information collection method was through library studies and the method for field data collection is through questionnaires. The study population consists of 20 of experts in Islamic Azad universities of western Mazandaran province. Following reviewing the theoretical literature, effective indicators of strategic thinking were identified and then they were screened using fuzzy Delphi method and ultimately, 4 main factors with 20 sub-factors were selected. For data analysis, Multi-criteria decision making method, for determining correlations between indicators, DEMATEL, and for weighting and prioritizing the indicators, Network Analysis Process Method (ANP) were employed. The results of the analysis on the data gathered through questionnaires and processed by EXCEL software revealed that the highest weight belongs to strategic intelligence index and sub-index "human resource intelligence".