Developing the maturity model of strategic alliances using the weighted fuzzy inference system

Maturity models are valuable ways to help manufacturing organizations develop their collaboration. However, there is a lack of empirical work on developing a strategic alliance maturity model with clear guidelines. So, there is no model to measure the maturity of a strategic alliance with an evaluation tool that can deal with the inaccuracy caused by human judgment and the inherent uncertainty of the evaluation. This research created a strategic alliance maturity model based on a weighted Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) through a clear and precise procedure and developed a multi-method approach, including literature review, interviews, focus groups, and case studies, from model design to model evaluation.  In this research, to obtain the weight of the model’s dimensions, the Fuzzy Data Envelopment Analysis (FDEA) technique has been used, which has suitable capabilities for this purpose. The proposed model has been evaluated and validated through a case study. The results of the present study show that this approach provides a strong and practical diagnostic tool based on a set of strategic alliance maturity indicators. By using the results of this model and analyzing the gaps for the first time, an action plan can be prescribed to increase the maturity level of the strategic alliance.