The company needs to select the top three outstanding employees from 15 employees. How many selection methods are there?

The number of ways to select the top three outstanding employees from 15 employees is a combination problem.

In mathematics, a combination is a selection of items without regard to the order. The formula for combinations is:

C(n, k) = n! / [k!(n-k)!]

where: n is the total number of items, k is the number of items to select, "!" denotes factorial, which is the product of all positive integers up to that number.

Substituting the given values into the formula, we get:

C(15, 3) = 15! / [3!(15-3)!]

= 15! / [3! * 12!]

= (15 * 14 * 13) / (3 * 2 * 1)

= 455

So, there are 455 ways to select the top three outstanding employees from 15 employees.