Scenario-Based Robust Decision-Making in Health Tourism Service Supply Chains

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Management and Accounting, College of Farabi, University of Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Management and Accounting, College of Farabi, University of Tehran, Iran

3 Assistant Professor of Industrial Management, Shiraz University of Technology-Lamerd Higher Education Center, Fars, Iran

10.22091/jemsc.2026.14971.1334

Abstract

Health tourism is a dynamic sector of Iran’s economy with strong potential in the religious city of Qom. This study develops plausible future scenarios for the health tourism service supply chain and identifies suitable strategies using Robustness Analysis (RA). A mixed qualitative–quantitative design is employed. First, key influencing factors are identified through expert interviews and a literature review. Next, alternative scenarios are constructed and evaluated using a weighted decision-matrix that simultaneously accounts for system complexity and environmental uncertainty in a participatory decision-making setting. The analysis yields seven distinct scenarios derived from eight key factors, ranging from an ideal future characterized by sustainable development and attraction of religious markets to a pessimistic future marked by sanctions-driven stagnation and multiple crises. The RA results indicate that vertical integration and market development perform best under favorable conditions, whereas retrenchment and heterogeneous diversification are more effective under crisis conditions. The proposed weighted RA decision matrix provides a practical decision-support tool for policymakers and healthcare managers in Qom to select resilient strategies across diverse environmental futures.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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