According to significant challenges of the banks, there is a greater need to assess the existing banking system and implement corrective actions. In this paper, the financial soundness of 11 Iranian private banks is evaluated by using the CAMELS indicators (Capital adequacy, Asset quality, Management, Earning, Liquidity, and Sensitivity to market risk). The weights of indicators are determined using the Best-Worst Method (BWM). Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is consequently used to calculate the efficiency score of the Decision-Making Units (DMUs). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is used to validate the DEA results. Also, several sensitivity analyses are conducted on private banks. The intuitive results of sensitivity analysis prove accurate as demonstrated by statistical tests. The results of sensitivity analysis and statistical tests demonstrate that Iranian private banks have the best performance in terms of the indicators of Management and Capital adequacy, and the poorest performance in terms of Asset quality. Also, using the Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) matrix, the authors present appropriate strategies for improving the performance of the banking system. To the best of our knowledge, the present study for the first time aims to assess and improve financial soundness of private banks by using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods.

The emergency department (ED) is one of the most critical and high-risk sections of the health system. Providing quality services at a fast pace is vital in this ward since it directly affects people’s lives. The COVID-19 pandemic has turned into a serious challenge for physicians and emergency departments (EDs). The growing number of patients who refer to EDs creates congestion, which will reduce the quality of services. Consequently, managing and operating EDs will be more urgent during this pandemic. Considering this problem, we first used data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate the performance of EDs in the central provinces of Iran. Then, sensitivity analysis was used to determine the main factors affecting the efficiency of this ward. Accordingly, the high number of admitted patients, the congestion of the ward, and the long time required to report the COVID-19 test results were found to be the most influential factors. Finally, drawing on the results of sensitivity analysis, we advance a number of measures to improve these three and other related indicators. Furthermore, appropriate strategies were presented for improving health, COVID-19 management, key performance indicators, and safety indicators in accordance with the results of strengths-weaknesses-opportunity-threat (SWOT) analysis.

PurposeConsidering the direct impact of retailers' performance on the economy, this paper aimed to propose a comprehensive framework to evaluate the performance of different branches of a retailer.Design/methodology/approachThrough a case study, the weights of indicators were calculated by the best-worst method (BWM) and the branches' performance was appraised using data envelopment analysis (DEA).FindingsThe branches were ranked in terms of performance, and sensitivity analysis and statistical tests were conducted to realize the weaknesses and strengths of the branches. Then, some strategies were proposed using strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis to improve the performance of the weak branches.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to previous studies on the evaluation of retailers' performance by proposing a triple framework based on resilience, sustainability and sales-marketing indicators. This paper focused on branches' operations and branches' optimization by improving performance in terms of these three indicators. This paper also offers a qualitative and quantitative analysis of retailers' performance, which has received less attention in previous studies.