A new hybrid method for selecting the best project manager: TODIM-FSE and Behavioral TOPSIS

This work aims to present the application of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making methods to the process of recruiting candidates for the position of project manager, considering aspects of the decision maker's preferences in uncertain and risk scenarios. Applied, descriptive and experimental, made up of the combined employment TODIM-FSE methods for multi-criteria classification of available candidates, and the method Behavioral TOPSIS, to choose the ideal project manager. The hybrid application of the Multi-Criteria Decision-Making methods TODIM-FSE, method based on Prospect Theory, and Behavioral TOPSIS, which considers the concept of loss aversion of Economic Behavior, is essentially innovative. When using TODIM-FSE and Behavioral TOPSIS, it was verified the explicit incorporation of the risk profile of the decision maker - aggressive, neutral, or conservative - in the context of aversion or propensity to the risks associated with the management of a project. Through the personal recruiting process from a large Brazilian organization, the possibility of adopting the hybrid model resulting from the combination of the two methods in a real situation was validated. Such validation allowed us to conclude that the candidates' classifications and choices, previously normally accepted, were at odds with the profile and risk propensity of the decision makers.

A Cluster Analysis Concerning the Behavior of Enterprises with E-Commerce Activity in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The planning of activities of e-commerce enterprises and their behavior has been influenced by the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The behavior of e-commerce enterprises has been highlighted at the level of EU countries through an analysis elaborated on four variables: the value of e-commerce sales, cloud computing services, enterprises that have provided training to develop/upgrade the ICT skills of their personnel, e-commerce, customer relationship management (CRM) and secure transactions. Using the hierarchical clustering method, analysis was carried out on these variables to identify certain economic and behavioral patterns of e-commerce activity from 2018 and 2020. The study of the relationships involved in the e-commerce activity of these enterprises is reflected in models of the economic behavior of 31 European states in relation to the targeted variables. The results show that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are strongly manifested in the direction of the evolution of each indicator but differ from one country to another. The trends depend on the level of development and the particularities of each country’s economy in adapting to the repercussions reported in relation to the level of impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is highlighted by the significant regrouping of countries in 2020 compared with 2018 in relation to the average values of the indicators. The results show that, in 2020, the most significant percentages of the value of e-commerce sales were recorded in Belgium, Ireland and Czechia, as in 2018. In e-commerce, customer relationship management and secure transactions, Denmark and Sweden were superior in 2020 to the countries mentioned above, which were dominant in 2018. For the other two indicators, Finland and Norway were the top countries included in the analysis in both years. The conclusion supports the continuous model of e-commerce enterprise behavior in order to meet the requirements of online customers.

Opportunities for interdisciplinary studies of the economic behavior fundamentals

The purpose of the study is to identify trends in the economic behavior of the population in the field of consumer, saving, investment, and credit activity. The analysis of human economic actions only for solving scientific problems is divided into the listed types, but in practice, an individual makes a particular decision (chooses a certain strategy) under the impact of simultaneously influencing groups of factors that depend on gender and age, place and living conditions, social affiliation-income group, level of education, psychological and value attitudes, level of development of the financial infrastructure in a certain territory, stage of economic development of a country and / or region. And now another significant factor has been added — the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences. The article presents the results of the first stage of the interdisciplinary research project "Socio-psychological factors of economic behavior of the population: risks and opportunities (cross-country comparisons)" carried out by the authors. On the basis of the data obtained with the help of the sociological tools developed by the authors, the types of economic behavior are investigated in terms of four psychosocial aspects closely related to the features of mentality: trust, risk, stress, responsibility. An interdisciplinary approach to the study of the motives and strategies of economic behavior provides identification of the most realistic picture of all current risks and opportunities for population in the financial and consumer services market. At the second stage, the data obtained by the authors from the results of the survey of the Russian population, will be compared on the basis of a comparative analysis with the outcomes of the forthcoming surveys of respondents from Poland, Belarus, Lithuania and Slovakia.

Optimization of the Spectrum Splitting and Auction for 5th Generation Mobile Networks to Enhance Quality of Services for IoT from the Perspective of Inclusive Sharing Economy

Fifth generation (5G) mobile networks can accomplish enhanced communication capabilities and desired to connect things in addition to people. By means of optimally splitting the spectrum to integrate more efficient segments, mobile operators can deliver better Quality of Services (QoS) for Internet of Things (IoT), even the nowadays so-called metaverse need broadband mobile communication. Drawing on the Theory of Quality Value Transformation, we developed a 5G ecosystem as a sustainable organic coalition constituted of planners, providers, and users. Most importantly, we put forward the altruism as the ethics drive for the organic cooperative evolution to sustain the inclusive sharing economy to solve the problem of the Theory of Games and Economic Behavior. On the top of the collaboration framework for the coalition game for 5G, we adopted Pareto Optimality as the target situation for the optimization via cooperative evolution and further apply ISO 25000 to define the metrics for the value of 5G corresponding to Pareto Frontier. Based on the collaboration framework as above, we conducted a survey to gather the features and costs for the 5G spectrum in relation to IoT and the financial status of the mobile operators as the constraint for the optimization. Taking Simultaneous Multi-Round Auction (SMRA) as the standard rule for spectrum auction, we developed a novel optimization program of two hybrid metaheuristics with the combination of Simulated Annealing (SA), Genetic Algorithm (GA), and Random Optimization (RO) for the multiple objectives of quality, usability, and costs. The results of the simulation show that the coalition game for 5G spectrum auction is a dynamic group decision in which the government authority and mobile operators can achieve a synergy to maximize the profits, quality score, and usability, and minimize the costs. Last but not least, the hybrid metaheuristic with SA and RO is more efficient and effective than that with GA and BO, from the perspective of inclusive sharing economy. It is the first study of its kind as we know.

The neoclassical and Keynesian standpoint and policy implications regarding the Greek Financial Crisis

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discover the contradistinctions between the neoclassical and Keynesian paradigms of economics regarding the Greek Financial Crisis.Design/methodology/approachThe answers to the questions and policies regarding the Greek Financial Crisis cannot be derived by using economic analysis alone; they also depend on the perception of social reality and ethical issues. Based on the assumptions about economic behavior, the answers and policies inevitably reflect the observer's assessment of each economic and non-economic performance dimension, as well as the significance assigned to those performance dimensions. Different views on “social reality” and “what is a good society?” are associated with distinct paradigms and a particular set of social values, which have implications for economic policy formulae. These give rise to alternative answers and policies to the Greek Financial Crisis, based on different assumptions, different methods of analysis and different goals.FindingsOverall, in contradistinction, the two paradigms recommend quite distinct policies tackling the Greek Financial Crisis, and at the end, both paradigms have different perspectives on ethics and moral fundamentals regarding debt.Originality/valueStudents of the global financial crisis will benefit from this unique approach in testing the two alternative paradigms, between the neoclassical and Keynesian, concerning the Greek Financial Crisis.

Strategies and socio-productive relationships in pig backyard production

Objective: To determine socioeconomic relationships in backyard pig farms. Design/methodology/approximation: The farms studied had 1 to 8 sows. We used semi-structured questionnaires and periodic monitoring to collect data. We determined the cost of production with the general cost formula and calculated the countable effect of family labor. Two groups were established: Group 1) Young married couples; and Group 2) Elderly couples who have been married for a long time and who do not have married children. Social Network Analysis was used to determine the strength of those relationships. Results: Five socio-productive relations were discovered: 1) input supplier-producer; 2) piglet breeder-swineherd-butcher; 3) religious festivities-pigs; 4) season of the year-pig; and 5) producer-boar keeper. Income differed when family work was not counted. Limitations/implications: Results showed that it was possible to combine qualitative data and statistical modelling in studies about social and economic behavior of backyard pig farms and small-scale farms.

Analysis of the trends and determinants of credit and saving behavior of households in the Russian regions

Objective: to identify the current trends and factors of credit and savings behavior of the Russian households.Methods: graphical method, logit model, probit model, maximum likelihood method.Results: the development of digital services, the acceleration of inflation and the increase in debt burden resulting from the pandemic have changed the model of economic behavior of households. The need to analyze credit and savings behavior has become more acute in order to empirically substantiate the measures of economic, legal and financial support of households by state institutions. The analysis showed an increase in the average loan amount and the proportion of families whose members took a loan; a decrease in the proportion of families who borrowed from individuals, lent money and made savings; a sharp increase in the variation of the amount of credit and savings in 2019; a decrease in the number of commodity loans and an increase in the number of consumer and mortgage loans. A positive effect of the number of people in the household, place of residence, income, availability of a computer, laptop and high-speed Internet access in the household on the probability of attracting credit funds was found; a negative influence of the number of people in the household and place of residence (village) on the probability of savings was confirmed; the impact of having a computer and high-speed Internet access on the probability of savings in the household was not found.Scientific novelty: the article uses data from the Russian Monitoring of the economic situation and public health of the HSE University for the period from 2010 to 2019 to identify the current trends and factors of credit and savings behavior of the Russian households.Practical significance: the main conclusions of the article can be used in scientific and practical activities in the development of financial literacy programs, policies and online products to motivate and encourage credit and savings behavior and attract investment.

Analysis of Buying and Selling Practices Online in Islamic Law Perspective

Economic behavior has been formed since humans began to need other individuals who have goods or services that they do not have. The form of buying and selling has developed following society and social changes. Advancements in communication and information have impacted progress in the business world. Long-distance buying and selling have become a prevailing habit in today's business world. Feel disadvantaged because the goods received do not match the picture or the goods received also turn out to be defective or the goods do not arrive at the buyer, and many other cases. Islamic law itself has regulated this buying and selling activity quite strictly, both in the arguments of Al -Qur'an, Hadith, Ijma', and also Qiyas. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the practice of buying and selling online is according to Islamic Law. This study uses descriptive qualitative research methods. The results found that buying and selling online is allowed as long as the goods or products being traded follow the specifications or characteristics of the goods that have been determined. Moreover, the type and nature of the goods to be bought are known. Islam is consensual. There is no coercion from any party to buy an item. If the buying and selling transaction online does not follow the provisions of Islamic law, which has established the terms of the contract and buying and selling, the online buying and selling transaction is unlawful or invalid.

The Place of Modernity: German Entrepreneurship in Western Siberia in the late 19th – early 20th Centuries

The study focuses on the issues related to the process of adaptation and economic behavior of German entrepreneurship in Western Siberia in the late 19th – early 20th centuries. The construction of the Siberian Railway and migration processes changed the economy, social structure and cultural practices of “old” Siberia. The “yesterday’s outskirts” became a “place of modernity”. The paper aims at presenting economic practices and strategies of German entrepreneurship adaptation in the conditions when the socio-spatial structures of the imperial periphery. were experiencing transformation. On the basis of representative resources, the mechanisms and methods of German entrepreneurs’ adaptation to the local community are shown. The structure of the market space and its segmentation as well as economic niches and economic strategies of German entrepreneurship are defined. The author comes to the conclusion that German entrepreneurs acted in the region as a “market ferment” changing Siberian society, and they could be regarded as actors of socio-economic, cultural modernization of the Siberian space. At the same time, the German merchants themselves experienced external influence from the host society. The research is based on the combination of macroanalytical strategies and microhistorical approach. The concept of “entrepreneurial minority” is a methodological basis for the study presented in the paper. The materials of the paper are addressed to the experts in the field of the history of Siberia as well as to the professional corporation of the researchers interested in the history of ethnic entrepreneurship and in the issues of various ethnic groups’ adaptation to the conditions of a non-ethnic host environment.