In an era of global sourcing, the firm's success often hinges on the most appropriate selection of its suppliers. Supplier selection is sometimes very complicated, owing to a variety of uncontrollable and unpredictable factors which affect the decision. Describes a multiple attribute utility theory based on the use of data envelopment analysis (DEA), aimed at helping purchasing managers to formulate viable sourcing strategies in the changing market place. An application of the methodology using actual data retrieved from a firm operating in the bottling industry is illustrated. DEA has proved to be capable of handling multiple conflicting attributes inherent in supplier selection while simultaneously trading-off key supplier selection criteria.

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SUMMARY Purchasing managers need to periodically evaluate supplier performance in order to retain those suppliers which meet their requirements in terms of several performance criteria. The evaluation element typically consists of identifying the attributes, criteria, or factors relevant to the decision and then measuring or rating each vendor by considering each of the relevant factors. A critical part of the overall supplier selection process is the determination of the relative importance of each of the factors. This article presents an alternative decision model to evaluate the relative performance of suppliers that have multiple outputs and inputs. This approach is based on a multivariate statistical method, principal component analysis, that uses information obtained from eigenvalues to combine different ratio measures defined by every input and every output. The method has been employed to aggregate multiple performance measures for a real‐world data set of suppliers of a medium‐sized firm operating in the bottling machinery industry.

Purpose -Turnover intention is one's behavioural intention to quit. The purpose of this study is to compare the relative influences of organizational socialization and career aspirations on turnover intentions of design engineers and to address the design of more effective development programmes and the reduction of dysfunctional turnover. Design/methodology/approach -A study of 442 engineers staffed within "design and development" units is presented, and a research model is tested using structural equation modelling techniques. Findings -The analysis indicates that design engineers report lower levels of turnover intention when organizational socialization is prominent and an adequate range of opportunities that satisfy career aspirations exist within the organization.Research limitations/implications -The cause-effect relationships among constructs that are empirically derived from the analysis should be further supported by a longitudinal study. Future research should be aimed at exploring the different patterns of turnover intentions of engineers with different career orientations and in organizations with or without rigid formalized career advancement system. Practical implications -Managers of technical staff are advised to put an effort to develop and encourage lateral career moves of research and development staff members, particularly for newcomers, by offering a variety of experiences, that is likely to speed up their prompt creation of a better defined self-concept. Originality/value -The originality of the research lies in that it addresses an explanation of engineers' turnover based on a theoretical framework that jointly combines internal career anchors as well as external career opportunities and socialization, thus striving to fill a gap in existing literature.