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This article examines how macro-discourses of internationalisation and excellence shape formal and applied selection criteria for early-career researcher positions at the meso-organisational and micro-individual levels, demonstrating how tensions between the various levels produce inequalities in staff evaluation. In this way, this article contributes to the literature on academic staff evaluation by showing that Selection Committee members do not operate in a vacuum, and that their actions are inextricably linked to the meso- and macro-context. This study draws on qualitative multi-level data that comprise institutional-level policies, recruitment and staff protocols, job postings and individual-level interviews and focus groups with Selection Committee members. Findings show that a majority of Selection Committee members consent to university policies and macro-discourses when evaluating early-career researchers, but a smaller group questions and resists these criteria. Furthermore, the analysis revealed four inequalities that emerge in the application of criteria and reflect on disciplinary differences between the Natural and Social Sciences. The article concludes that with only a few Committee members to critically question and resist formal selection criteria, they limit the pool of acceptable candidates to those who fit the narrow definition of the internationally mobile and excellent early-career researcher, which may exclude talented scholars. (HRK / Abstract übernommen).

Studies applying Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) to evaluate Road Transportation Fuels and Vehicles (RTFV) rely on a wide variety of evaluation criteria and appear to lack a structured and consistent way of criteria selection. This leads to non-transparent and not easily comparable evaluation results. To address this issue, a methodological framework is developed to systematically identify and select relevant MCDA-evaluation criteria for the assessment of RTFV. The methodological framework is based on Life Cycle Sustainability Analysis (LCSA) and considers environmental, economic, and social criteria that are complemented with a technical pillar. The scope of the analysis is further enlarged by considering positive and negative externalities. The first part of the framework follows the LCSA approach and requires the analyst to clearly define the context of the analysis. The second part is to decompose the problem by developing criteria categories along the relevant life cycle for each of the evaluation dimensions. This decomposition process helps decision makers to easily identify and select relevant criteria with clear added value within the context of the analysis. In an exemplary application, the developed methodological framework is used to identify relevant criteria for the evaluation of RTFV alternatives for an island aiming at energy self-sufficiency.

PurposeSmall and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been reported as a credit-constrained sector in the earlier literature. Amidst the available external financing options, SMEs are dependent upon banks for their financial needs, hence they offer an important profitable segment for banks. Commercial banks need to develop effective targeting strategies for this segment and ranking the priorities of SMEs in selecting commercial banks will be of great help to them. The purpose of this paper is to implement a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) multi-criteria decision model for commercial bank’s selection by SMEs.Design/methodology/approachThe research process was carried out in two phases. In Phase I, a self-structured scale was developed to measure bank selection criteria of SMEs after an extensive review of the literature of relevant studies on the topic. A sample of 600 SMEs was selected through non-proportionate quota sampling and only 313 valid responses were received. Phase II was conducted to prioritize the extracted factors through FAHP, a multi-criteria decision-making technique. For this purpose, another questionnaire was designed in the form of pair-wise evaluation and the response was taken on the same from those 313 SMEs again.FindingsThe results showed that SMEs bank selection criteria can be categorized under six heads, namely, bank attributes, accommodation of credit needs (AC), bank personnel, financial factors (FF), service quality (SQ) and business knowledge. The research study produced a reliable and valid instrument for studying the bank selection criteria of SMEs. The results further revealed that AC is the most important factor considered by SMEs followed by FF and SQ. Going further, global weights were also calculated through the FAHP which revealed that the most important consideration (variable) viewed upon by SMEs is willingness to accommodate credit needs followed by flexible collateral requirements and absence of hidden charges.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of the present study offer significant insights as to the factors SMEs consider while making a bank selection decision. It is of utmost importance for banks to identify true determinant factors used by SMEs while making bank choice decisions as they offer ample profit and revenue opportunities to banks. The results of the study provide a practical approach to banks that would help them in framing strategies for SMEs customers.Originality/valueThis is the first study of its kind which has not only focused on the hierarchy of factors measuring bank selection criteria of SMEs rather on the hierarchy of single variables also through the calculation of global weights. As banks cannot focus on all the dimensions of the criteria, they can focus on the spirit of that particular criteria.

This study presents an innovative approach to support educational administration, focusing on the optimization of university admission processes using feature selection algorithms. The research addresses the challenges of concept drift, outlier treatment, and the weighting of key factors in admission criteria. The proposed methodology identifies the optimal set of features and assigns weights to the selection criteria that demonstrate the strongest correlation with academic performance, thereby contributing to improved educational management by optimizing decision-making processes. The approach incorporates concept change management and outlier detection in the preprocessing stage while employing multivariate feature selection techniques in the processing stage. Applied to the admission process of engineering students at a public Chilean university, the methodology considers socioeconomic, academic, and demographic variables, with curricular advancement as the objective. The process generated a subset of attributes and an application score with predictive capabilities of 83% and 84%, respectively. The results show a significantly greater association between the application score and academic performance when the methodology’s weights are used, compared to the actual weights. This highlights the increased predictive power by accounting for concept drift, outliers, and shared information between variables.

The choice of suppliers of material and technical resources is one of the most important decisions in procurement marketing. Effective decisions on the selection of suppliers are the basis for creating a database of sources of supply. The aim of the study is to analyse approaches to the selection of suppliers of material and technical resources in procurement marketing and substantiate the directions of increasing its efficiency under conditions of uncertainty.In order to make a balanced selection of suppliers, the authors propose an algorithm for organising procurement activities and criteria for evaluating potential suppliers, substantiating the use of a multi-criteria approach that allows a balanced approach to the selection of a supplier. The main criteria and scale for evaluating suppliers of material resources for the SE \"Arena Lviv\" are determined, and the results of their expert evaluation are presented.The algorithm for organising procurement activities and the multi-criteria approach to selecting suppliers, developed by the authors, can be recommended for enterprises and organisations engaged in procurement activities.

This study aimed to achieve two primary goals. First, we identify the best competing models that predict consumers' intention to use non-plastic reusable shopping bags from six available alternative models based on five theories: the theory of planned behavior, theory of consumption value, religiosity theory, ethics theory, and deterrence theory. Second, the study aimed to identify factors affecting users' non-plastic reusable bag usage intention in Pakistan. The study used a survey method to collect data. A non-probability purposive sampling technique was used for data collection. PLS model selection criteria were used to identify the best competing models. Partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to identify the different factors affecting users' intention to use non-plastic reusable shopping bags in Pakistan. This study found that the integrated model (based on five theories) better explains consumers' intentions and has more predictive power than other theoretical models. Moreover, the empirical findings suggest that 12 out of the 14 variables influence consumers' intentions. The results of this study can serve as a foundation for policy makers to deal with plastic problems by adopting non-plastic reusable shopping bags.

The LGBTQ hotel selection criteria are considered one of the most important determinants to improve and maintain global hotel room occupancy. However, the existing literature has failed to offer a holistic taxonomy of such phenomenon because the current researchers have concentrated primarily on Western locations and overlooked Asian contexts. Gaining insights from the Asian context, Cambodia in particular, may provide a better picture of such a phenomenon. LGBTQ online comments on the TripAdvisor website were analyzed, and the findings suggest that six dimensions of customer value (condition, function, emotion, reputation, epistemic, and social value) are accountable for LGBTQ hotel selection criteria. The findings are important because they guide hoteliers in building their marketing strategies to attract this target market.

Whether or not conditions should be included in publicly funded newborn screening (NBS) programs should be discussed according to objective and transparent criteria. Certain criteria have been developed for the introduction of NBS programs in the context of individual countries; however, there are no standard selection criteria for NBS programs in Japan. This study aimed to develop a quantitative scoring model to assess newborn screening that incorporates the views of a variety of stakeholders in Japan. The five recommended eligibility criteria for NBS were stratified based on previous studies and expert opinions, using the analytic hierarchy process. We conducted a cross-sectional, web-based questionnaire targeting a wide range of people involved in NBS to investigate pairwise comparisons of the evaluation items between February and April of 2022. There were 143 respondents. Most of our respondents (44.1%) were physicians. Fifty-eight respondents (40.6%) had been engaged in NBS-related research or work for more than 10 years. The distribution of allocation points was the highest for ‘intervention’, ‘screening test’, ‘follow-up setting’, ’economic evaluation’, and ’disease/condition’, in that order. The algorithm in this study will guide decision makers in collecting and evaluating objective data, thus enabling transparent discussions to occur.

Purpose: This paper proposes a new model for further research on how to select criteria in supplier selection, through a literature review and analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of previously used methods.Design/methodology/approach: The methods used to select criteria in supplier selection were extracted from various online academic databases.  The weaknesses and advantages of these methods were then analyzed. Based on these findings, several opportunities for improvement are proposed for further research. Finally, criteria design methods for the selection of suppliers are proposed using statistical multi-criteria decision making (S-MCDM) methods.Findings: Direction and guidance for subsequent research to select the criteria used in supplier selection, based on the advantages and disadvantages of the decision methods used.Research limitations/implications: Limitations of this study are that it is focused on the methods of criteria design in supplier selection.Practical implications: This study can provide a research direction on the selection of criteria for supplier selection.Social implications: This study provides ongoing guidance and avenues for further research.Originality/value: New ideas for working out the developmental strategy for criteria selection are provided by statistical MCDM methods in supplier selection.

This article discusses the importance of making available in classrooms a range of children's literature offering authentic and meaningful representations of characters with disabilities. The focus is not only on reading inclusive literature with typically developing students but also on the importance of making inclusive literature available to students who could identify with characters with disabilities. An annotated selection of current books, along with a list of criteria for evaluating children's books for respectful portrayals of disability, is presented to help educators choose inclusive literature that celebrates diverse abilities.