Critical Success Factors For Supplier Selection: An Update

For many organizations effective supplier evaluation and purchasing processes are of vital importance. As the pace of market globalization quickens, the number of potential suppliers and the number of factors to consider when selecting suppliers increases. In this paper we present the critical success factors (CSFs) for supplier selection reported in the literature emanating from the seminal work of Dickson and provide an update based on reviewing more than 110 research papers. Our study indicates significant change in the relative importance of various critical success factors in the research reported during 1966-1990 versus 1990-2001. Increased competition and globalization of markets facilitated by Internet-based technologies have combined to dramatically change the ranking of factors while introducing new criteria to the supplier selection process. Based on the results of this study, we conclude that supplier selection criteria will continue to change based on an expanded definition of excellence to include traditional aspects of performance (quality, delivery, price, service) in addition to non-traditional, evolving ones (just-in-time communication, process improvement, supply chain management)

Revenue Management In Manufacturing: A Research Landscape

Revenue management is the science of using past history and current levels of order activity to forecast demand as accurately as possible in order to set and update pricing and product availability decisions across various sales channels to maximize profitability. In much the same way that revenue management has transformed the airline industry in selling tickets for the same flight at markedly different rates based upon product restrictions, time to departure, and the number of unsold seats, many manufacturing companies have started exploring innovative revenue management strategies in an effort to improve their operations and profitability. These strategies employ sophisticated demand forecasting and optimization models that are based on research from many areas, including management science and economics, and that can take advantage of the vast amount of data available through customer relationship management systems in order to calibrate the models. In this paper, we present an overview of revenue management systems and provide an extensive survey of published research along a landscape delineated by three fundamental dimensions of capacity management, pricing, and market segmentation

Comparative Analysis Of Production Control Systems Through Simulation

This paper presents a comparative analysis of seven different production control systems in a complex factory setup through computer simulation. Batch size, arrival rate, inter-arrival time, and maintenance type are the input parameters to the model. Work-in-process (WIP) and throughput (TH) are the system performance measurement output parameters. The study shows that a pull-based system does not outperform a push-based system with respect to WIP under all conditions. Pull-based systems prefer a smaller batch size to better control WIP. Each of the seven production control systems performs best at a specific inter-arrival time, although it is different for each system. Preventive maintenance is preferred over repair maintenance in a pull system and in a just-in-time (JIT) system. The computer simulation confirms that no single production control system is best under all conditions. The performance of a production control system depends not only on the type of manufacturing strategy chosen, but also on the values of the input parameters. This research shows that it makes no sense to comment on the superiority of one strategy over another without regard to the value of input parameters and the type of factory setup

Schema modes in cluster B personality disorders

Summary Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the role of schema modes in cluster B personality disorders. Materials and methods: The participants were 220 individuals -38 men and 137 women -selected from psychiatric and psychological clinics in Tabriz, Iran. Among the participants, 153 individuals were diagnosed with cluster B personality disorder (44 with borderline disorder, 16 with antisocial disorder, 56 with histrionic disorder and 37 with narcissistic personality disorder). The remaining 67 participants had no personality disorder. The diagnosis was based on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II disorders (SCID-II). All participants (with or without personality disorder) were assessed with Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MC-MI-III) and Schema Mode Inventory (SMI). Results: Vulnerable, angry and impulsive child modes are predictors of borderline personality disorder, and angry child, self-soother and healthy adult modes are predictors of antisocial personality disorder. The impulsive and happy child, the attack-bully and healthy adult schema modes predict histrionic personality disorder. Finally, the angry child, happy child, self-soother and self-aggrandizer schema modes could predict narcissistic personality disorder. Conclusions: Special schema modes have a role in explaining cluster B personality disorders, and yet these disorders may overlap with regard to some dimensions, especially in terms of cognitions and beliefs. This can be interpreted as a lack of specificity in categorical classification systems such as the DSM. personality disorder/cluster B/schema modes/cognitive theory of personality disorde

The relationship between attachment styles and autistic traits: considering the mediating role of empathy

Introduction: This purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between autistic traits and attachment styles, and also the mediating role of empathy. Materials and Methods: 254 students of Tehran’s universities were chosen by using cluster-sampling method. After that, the demographic questionnaire, Close Relationship-Revised Questionnaire (ECR-R), Autism Spectrum Quotient–Short (AQ-S), and The Empathy Quotient-Short (EQ-S) forms were distributed amongst them in order to be filled. Results: Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient indicated that there is a significant relationship between the components of autistic traits with empathy, and avoidance and anxiety attachment. Also, there was a significant relationship between empathy and avoidance and anxiety attachment. Chi-square, SRMR, and other indexes indicate that empathy mediates the relationship between the autistic traits with the anxiety and avoidance attachment styles. Conclusion: According to the results, it can be concluded in the way that individuals with high autistic traits have lower empathy. Individuals, who report more anxiety and avoidance attachment, are less likely to have empathy in their relationships. As a final point, the high autistic traits are correlated with anxiety and avoidance attachment through their association with low empathy. &nbsp

Studying the Effect of Sertraline in Reducing Aggressive Behavior in Patients with Major Depression

Purpose: Depression causes dysfunction in various spheres of individual and social life, which is now considered as the fourth-leading cause of the global disease burden. Given that violence and aggression associated with depression in the community cause serious damage to the family, the prediction, early detection and effective treatment of aggressive and violent behavior are essential. The present study compared the severity of aggression before and after treatment with sertraline in patients with major depression. Methods: This is an intervention type study and the study population consisted of patients with depression and aggression. The sampling included 23 eligible patients. Data were obtained by SCID-I, SCID-II, STAXI-II, BDI-II and was also analyzed using SPSS 23 software. Results: The results showed that depression, anger mood, desire to verbally express anger, controlling anger and anger control before treatment was reduced but the desire for physical expression of anger increased. Conclusion: Obtained results in this research support the effect of Sertraline on reduction of severity of depression, reduction of severity of symptoms of aggression and anger (state of anger, anger feeling, and the tendency to express anger verbally), increased controlling external anger and significantly controlling internal anger. Hence, Sertraline can be found effective in the treatment of patients with depression and aggressive behaviors. Also Sertraline increases tend to cause physical representation of anger, then this issue supports the increase in the euthanasia behavior in primary days of treatment with SSRI that requires more assessments

Understanding User Intent Modeling for Conversational Recommender Systems: A Systematic Literature Review

Context: User intent modeling is a crucial process in Natural Language Processing that aims to identify the underlying purpose behind a user's request, enabling personalized responses. With a vast array of approaches introduced in the literature (over 13,000 papers in the last decade), understanding the related concepts and commonly used models in AI-based systems is essential. Method: We conducted a systematic literature review to gather data on models typically employed in designing conversational recommender systems. From the collected data, we developed a decision model to assist researchers in selecting the most suitable models for their systems. Additionally, we performed two case studies to evaluate the effectiveness of our proposed decision model. Results: Our study analyzed 59 distinct models and identified 74 commonly used features. We provided insights into potential model combinations, trends in model selection, quality concerns, evaluation measures, and frequently used datasets for training and evaluating these models. Contribution: Our study contributes practical insights and a comprehensive understanding of user intent modeling, empowering the development of more effective and personalized conversational recommender systems. With the Conversational Recommender System, researchers can perform a more systematic and efficient assessment of fitting intent modeling frameworks

Cigarette and hookah smoking and their relationship with self-esteem and communication skills among high school students

Background: Tobacco smoking is one of the most important public health problems that may be prevented. There is limited information about its relationship with communication skills. Findings on the relationships between self-esteem and cigarette/hookah smoking are inconsistent. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between cigarette and hookah smoking,self-esteem and communication skills among a representative sample of high school students. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a sample of 1321 tenth-grade students (14-17 years) was selected through multi-stage proportionally cluster sampling in Tabriz, 2017. The participants completed a self–administered multiple choice questionnaire including questions about cigarette smoking, hookah smoking, self-esteem, and communication skills. Results: After controlling for potential confounders, the results demonstrated that higher score of self-esteem protects students against being in advanced stages of cigarette smoking (odds ratio [OR] = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.92-0.99, P=0.012). However, there was no significant association between self-esteem score and the hookah smoking. Also, there was no significant association between communication skills score and cigarette and hookah smoking. Conclusion: According to our findings, self-esteem was associated with cigarette smoking,but not with hookah smoking. Furthermore, there was no statistically significant association between communication skills score and cigarette and hookah smoking

Attachment styles of patients with major depressive, obsessive-compulsive, and generalized anxiety disorders

Introduction: This study was conducted in order to compare the attachment styles of the patients suffering from major depression disorder (MDD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) with those of the healthy people. Methods: In this case-control study, a total number of 60 male/female patients with MDD and OCD were categorized into three 20-subject groups, then 20 healthy people were included in one control group. The study instruments were Hazan and Shaver's Attachment Style Questionnaire (version 1993), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI), Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). The data were analyzed using chi-square test. Results: There was a significant difference between the attachment styles of the healthy people and the patients suffering from MDD (P < 0.001), OCD (P = 0.013) and GAD (P = 0.013). Moreover, a significant difference was observed between the attachment styles of patients with MDD, OCD (P = 0.012) and GAD (P = 0.010). These findings indicated that patients with MDD were more insecurely attached in comparison to patients with OCD and GAD. However, there was no significant difference between the attachment styles of patients with OCD and GAD (P = 0.089). Conclusion: This study indicated that there was a significant difference between the attachment styles of patients with MDD, OCD, and GAD, and the healthy people. This finding indicates that in the etiology of mental disorders, the effects of attachment styles should not be disregarded

Personality Profile of Parents of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Objectives. The present study was carried out aiming to identify the personality profile of parents of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Methods. This study is of a descriptive, analytic, cross-sectional type in which parents of 6–12-year-old children with ADHD who were referred to the Bozorgmehr Psychiatric Clinic, affiliated with Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, were enrolled. ADHD was diagnosed according to the criteria of DSM-IV-TR and a quasi-structured diagnostic interview (K-SADS-PL). The personality profile of the parents was assessed with the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III). Results. According to the findings of this study, the most common personality problems based on the assessment scales in the MCMI-III belonged to the clinical patterns of depressive personality in 43 persons (25.3%), histrionic personality in 34 persons (20%), and compulsive personality in 29 persons (17.1%). According to discriminant analysis, four scales of somatoform, sadistic, dependence, and though disorder were direct and antisocial scale was reverse significant predictors of membership in the women group. Conclusion. According to the findings of this pilot study, personality disorders are prevalent in parents of ADHD children and mothers suffer from personality disorders more than fathers