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The purpose of this study is to create a methodological approach for identifying priority areas for science and technology (S&T) development and its empirical application within the city of Moscow. This research uncovers a wide range of multicultural and multidisciplinary global trends that will affect the development of major cities in an era of complexity and uncertainty, including the inherent complexity of urban contexts, demographic and socioeconomic trends, as well as scientific and ecological factors.

The methodological approach is based on classic foresight instruments. Its novelty lays in the blending of qualitative and quantitative methods specially selected as the most appropriate for the identification of S&T areas in an era of complexity and uncertainty, including horizon scanning, bibliometric analysis, expert surveys and the construction of composite indexes with respect to the scope and resources of the research and the selected object for empirical application – Moscow, which is one of the world’s largest megacities. The analysis was performed for the period of 2009–2018 and expert procedures took place in 2019.

As a result, 25 global trends were identified, evaluated and discussed over the course of an expert survey and subsequent expert events. Ten priority areas of S&T development were determined, including 62 technological sub-areas within them and the most important market niches for all identified technological sub-areas, which could be useful for the world’s megacities. The results of this study are illustrated using the construction sector. Based on the conducted research and results, a list of recommendations on S&T policy measures and instruments were suggested, including the creation of the Moscow Innovation Cluster, which by the end of 2023 contained more than 6,000 projects and initiatives, selected using the findings of this investigation.

This research contributes to the existing literature and research agenda of setting priorities for S&T development and shows how it can be done for a megacity. The blended foresight methodology that was created within the study satisfies the criteria of scientific originality, is repeatable for any interested researcher, is applicable to any other city in the world and demonstrates its high efficiency in empirical application. It could be used for creating new agenda items in S&T policy, setting S&T priorities for a megacity and integrating the results into decision-making processes. This study provides recommendations on the further implementation of the designed methodology and results into a policymaking system. Moreover, the example of the Moscow Innovation Cluster, which was created based on the results of our research, demonstrates these recommendations’ practical significance in real life, which is quite valuable. The limitation of this study is that it is not devoted to urban planning issues directly or the promotion of R&D areas; it is about setting promising S&T priorities in an era of complexity and uncertainty for megacities.

This study aims to examine the impact and contribution of priority and non-priority sectors, as well as their sub-sectors, on the gross non-performing assets of public, private and foreign sector banks.

The Reserve Bank of India's database on the Indian economy is used to retrieve data over 13 years (2008–2021). Public sector (12), private sector (22) and foreign sector (44) banks are represented in the sample. Two-way ANOVA, multiple regression and panel regression statistical techniques are used in SPSS and EViews to examine the data. Further, the results are also validated by using robustness testing by applying the fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) and dynamic least square (DOLS) regression.

The results showed that, for private and foreign banks, the non-priority sector makes up the majority of the total gross non-performing assets, although both the priority and non-priority sectors are substantial for public sector banks. The largest contributors to the total gross non-performing assets in public, private and foreign banks are industries, agriculture and micro and small businesses. The FMOLS displays robustness results that are qualitatively similar to the baseline result.

Based on the study's findings about the patterns of non-performing assets originating from these specific industries, banks might improve the way in which these advanced loans are managed.

There has not been much research done on the subject of sub-sector-specific non-performing assets and how they affect total gross non-performing assets across the three sector banks. The study's primary focus will be on the issue of non-performing assets in the priority’s and non-priority’s sub-sectors, namely, agricultural, micro and small businesses, food credit, industries, services, retail loans and other priority and non-priority sectors.

The purpose of this paper is to take forward consideration of context in health care priority setting and to offer some practical strategies for priority setters to increase receptiveness to their work.

A number of tools and methods have been devised with the aim of making health care priority setting more robust and evidence based. However, in order to routinely take and implement priority setting decisions, decision makers require the support, or at least the acquiescence, of key external parties. In other words, the priority setting process requires a receptive context if it is to proceed unhindered.

The priority setting process requires a receptive context if it is to proceed unhindered.

This paper develops the concept of legitimacy in the “authorising environment” in priority setting and describes strategies which might help decision makers to create a receptive context, and to manage relationships with external stakeholders.

Much research has been reported on the possibilities of using various heuristic priority rules to sequence batches through a job shop. The SPT (Shortest Priority Time) heuristic, or modifications to it, has been proved useful in many studies. This paper reports on the results obtained when simulating the work flow through a real machine shop. The simulation model has been used to test the effect on well known priority rules of releasing batches into the shop in order of decreasing expected throughput time. The important effect of this “phased release” of batches was to increase the percentage of batches delivered in finished parts stores on time, particularly in the case where priority rules were in use which might otherwise have resulted in poor delivery. This has important repercussions for management because it implies that by “phased” release of batches in the manner discussed, a large proportion of batches will be delivered on time whatever priority rule is in operation in the shop.

This study aims to investigate and test the impact of competitive priorities, in terms of quality, speed, dependability, flexibility, cost and patient engagement, on patient satisfaction with healthcare services. It considers patients’ rather than managers’ points of view to collect responses about competitive priorities.

This research employed a cross-sectional survey design to analyze a sample of customers through an empirical study of 488 patients in Qatar’s healthcare service context.

The confirmatory factor analysis results show that competitive priorities and engagement positively and significantly impact patient satisfaction.

Researchers can use this methodology to explore the role of competitive priorities in different service contexts and sectors. The researchers conducted the study in Qatar; therefore, the results are not generalizable to all healthcare sectors. However, regardless of geographic location, the research approach can be used in healthcare.

Managers can employ the developed scales to diagnose competitive priorities and improve customer service experiences.

The paper is original as it suggests using competitive priorities as a measurement tool for predicting patient satisfaction compared to prior research that mostly measured competitive priorities based on internal perspectives (managers’ perspectives). Further, this paper is original because it depends on the external perspective (customers’ perspective) for the competitive priorities for measuring patient satisfaction.

This paper aims to explore and analyse stakeholders’ perceptions of the development priorities and suggests more effective strategies to assist sustainable economic growth in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The authors use the World Bank data set, which collects various stakeholders’ opinions on the UAE development. First, the exploratory factor analysis has been applied to detect the main groups of development priorities. Second, the fuzzy cluster analysis has been conducted to detect the groups of stakeholders with different attitudes towards the importance of extracted groups of priorities. Third, clusters have been compared according to demographics, media usage and shared prosperity goals.

The two main groups of development priorities have been extracted by the exploratory factor analysis: economic priorities and sustainability priorities. Four clusters have been detected according to the level of motivation when it comes to the economic and sustainability priorities: Cluster 1 (High economic – High sustainability), Cluster 2 (High economic – Medium sustainability), Cluster 3 (High economic – Low sustainability) and Cluster 4 (Low economic – Low sustainability). Members of the cluster that prefer a high level of economic and sustainability priorities (Cluster 1) also prefer more diversified economic growth providing better employment opportunities and better education and training for young people in the UAE.

Limitations stem from the survey being conducted on a relatively small sample using the data collected by the World Bank; however, this data set allowed a comparison of various stakeholders. Future research should consider a broader sample approach, e.g. exploring and comparing all of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries; investigating the opinions of the expatriate managers living in the UAE that are not from GCC countries; and/or including other various groups that are lagging, such as female entrepreneurs.

Several practical implications were identified regarding education and media coverage. Since respondents prioritize the economic development factors over sustainability factors, a media campaign could be developed and executed to increase sustainability awareness. A campaign could target especially male citizens since the analysis indicates that males are more likely to affirm high economic and low sustainability priorities than females. There is no need for further diversification of media campaigns according to age since the analysis did not reveal relevant differences in age groups, implying there is no inter-generational gap between respondents.

This paper contributes to the literature by comparing the perceived importance of various development goals in the UAE, such as development priorities and shared prosperity indicators. The fuzzy cluster analysis has been used as a novel approach to detect the relevant groups of stakeholders in the UAE and their developmental priorities. The issue of media usage and demographic characteristics in this context has also been discussed.

Motivated by recent research indicating that the operational performance of an enterprise can be enhanced by building a supporting data-driven environment in which to operate, this paper presents a simulation framework that enables an examination of the effects of applying smart manufacturing principles to conventional production systems, intending to transition to digital platforms.

To investigate the extent to which conventional production systems can be transformed into novel data-driven environments, the well-known constant work-in-process (CONWIP) production systems and considered production sequencing assignments in flowshops were studied. As a result, a novel data-driven priority heuristic, Net-CONWIP was designed and studied, based on the ability to collect real-time information about customer demand and work-in-process inventory, which was applied as part of a distributed and decentralised production sequencing analysis. Application of heuristics like the Net-CONWIP is only possible through the ability to collect and use real-time data offered by a data-driven system. A four-stage application framework to assist practitioners in applying the proposed model was created.

To assess the robustness of the Net-CONWIP heuristic under the simultaneous effects of different levels of demand, its different levels of variability and the presence of bottlenecks, the performance of Net-CONWIP with conventional CONWIP systems that use first come, first served priority rule was compared. The results show that the Net-CONWIP priority rule significantly reduced customer wait time in all cases relative to FCFS.

Previous research suggests there is considerable value in creating data-driven environments. This study provides a simulation framework that guides the construction of a digital transformation environment. The suggested framework facilitates the inclusion and analysis of relevant smart manufacturing principles in production systems and enables the design and testing of new heuristics that employ real-time data to improve operational performance. An approach that can guide the structuring of data-driven environments in production systems is currently lacking. This paper bridges this gap by proposing a framework to facilitate the design of digital transformation activities, explore their impact on production systems and improve their operational performance.

The purpose of this study is to explain the components of competitive priorities of Indian service firms, to find out the competitive priorities of different service industries in India and to find out how these competitive priorities change across low- and high-performing service firms.

An empirical study of 166 firms from five different service industries is undertaken in New Delhi and its surroundings.

The results reveal the presence of three competitive priorities in the services sector in India: cost, flexibility and quality/delivery, with quality/delivery being the most distinctive competitive priority. Hotel and auto-repair industries are found to be focused on controlling costs, while hospitals, banks and private colleges prioritized quality/delivery. For high-performing firms, cost is the top most competitive priority, followed by quality/delivery and flexibility, while for low-performing firms, quality/delivery remains the top most competitive priority, followed by flexibility and cost.

The paper enhances the understanding of competitive priorities in the Indian services sector. The identification of competitive priorities of different service industries in India and their dynamics across different industries add value to the current literature and fill an important research gap. Additionally, surveying diverse industries in this paper reveals a holistic picture of the Indian service industry and helps achieve some degree of cross-industry perspective.

Joint commissioning is an important part of the current health and social care context and will continue to be crucial in the future. An essential component of any commissioning process is priority setting, and this paper begins to explore the idea of integrated priority setting as a key element of health and social care commissioning. After setting out the key terminology in this area and the main priority‐setting processes for health and social care, the paper describes a number of barriers that might be encountered in integrated priority setting. We argue that there are significant barriers in financing, accessibility, evidence and politics, and it is important that such barriers are acknowledged if priority setting is to become a component of joint commissioning. While these barriers are not insurmountable, the solution lies in engagement with a range of stakeholders, rather than simply a technical process.

The purpose of this paper is to derive the user‐perceived availability of M‐for‐N shared protection systems composed of multiple user groups, each with a protection‐switching priority.

The paper assumes a shared protection system with M protection units and N working units. The memoryless state transition diagram viewed from the system administrator, combined with combinatorial analysis of state probabilities on protection switching, yields a generic formula of the availability viewed from an arbitrary end user.

The numerical examples of availability reveal the effect of prioritized protection switching. It is observed that the total protection capacity is constant regardless of the ways of priority grouping. The shared protection system with multiple protection units enables more flexible availability allocation compared with the case of a single protection unit.

User‐perceived reliability is still an unexplored research area. Many variations of the system treated in this paper can be applied to various applications.

The analysis provides useful information for the design and operation of, for example, telecommunication network devices. The analysis is applicable to general shared protection systems that are subject to service level agreement (SLA) involving user‐perceived reliability measures.

This paper establishes the model of the priority shared protection systems for the first time and shows a practical computation method of prioritized user‐perceived availability.