Thesis:

Identifying and ranking strategic factors for Sabzevar's industrial development

Industrial development is considered one of the fundamental drivers of economic growth, sustainable job creation, and regional resilience. Sabzevar County, possessing a strategic geographic location and indigenous capabilities in the west of Razavi Khorasan Province, faces numerous challenges in achieving sustainable industrial prosperity. Therefore, this study aims to "Identify and Prioritize the Strategic Factors of Industrial Development in Sabzevar County." In terms of purpose, this research is applied, and methodologically, it adopts a descriptive-survey mixed-methods (qualitative-quantitative) design. The statistical population comprised an expert panel of 15 specialists, including industrial managers, senior administrative authorities (Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, Industrial Parks Company, and Governorate), and academic faculty members. Data collection and analysis were conducted in two main phases: First, based on literature review and the application of the Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) across successive rounds with a stopping convergence threshold (0.1), the strategic criteria were screened and finalized. In the second phase, using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) through pairwise comparisons, the final weights and priorities of the strategic dimensions were determined. The consistency ratio was calculated as CR = 0.06, confirming the acceptable consistency of expert judgments. The research findings revealed that among the seven strategic dimensions, the "Institutional and Governance" dimension ranked first with a definitive weight of 0.314 (31.4%). It was followed by the "Economic" dimension (weight: 0.208), "Cultural" dimension (weight: 0.140), "Infrastructural" dimension (weight: 0.108), "Market and Competition" dimension (weight: 0.099), "Technology and Innovation" dimension (weight: 0.080), and "Human Capital and Education" dimension (weight: 0.051), ranking second to seventh, respectively. The results demonstrate that the essential prerequisite for industrial leap in Sabzevar is reforming administrative and institutional mechanisms, reducing bureaucratic obstacles, and enhancing the business environment to establish a reliable foundation for productive economic investment and regional synergy.

Keywords: Keywords: Industrial Development, Strategic Factors, Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM), Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Sabzevar County, Local Governance.