IRANIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES
Year:2007 | Volume:2 | Issue:5|Papers Count:10

This paper introduces a total of 42 core ICT indicators aimed at filling the gap of existing statistical data and information and overcoming the deficiency of current core ICT indicators. The indicators have reached a high level of consensus among the existing models. Antropy and Screen test methods are used to conduct this study. In the absence of some numerical information, we used 39 international ereadiness assessment models to extract core ICT indicators. The proposed core ICT indicators could be applied to measure the ICT progress in different countries. Contrasting the previous core ICT indicators and the one proposed in this study shows that the conventional core ICT indicators do not consider two important dimensions namely e-learning and world network enablers.

This article studies the role of social capital in developing knowledge management and its five main processes: knowledge attainment, knowledge creation, knowledge storage, knowledge transfer, and knowledge application. In order to conduct the study, a questionnaire was distributed to the employees of Iran Data Analysis Co. measuring social capital and assessing knowledge management practices. Knowledge management practices are divided into two categories: hard and soft practices; based on the nature and type of practices, the effect of social capital on knowledge management differs. Findings show that social capital affects soft practices of knowledge management development in IDA Co. and there exists no meaningful relationship between social capital and the development of hard practices of knowledge management.

This article studies the strategic fit between business and marketing strategies based on the strategic reference points (SRP's) theory. Three fitness models were identified in the management literature: rational, natural and comprehensive. Comparing these three models, comprehensive model was chosen for the establishment of strategic fitness. After reviewing the philosophy and rational principles of SRP's, two reference points were identified as index referent points: control (low or high) and focus (internal or external). Based on strategic reference points, marketing and business strategies were typified and then the relationship between different types of these strategies was studied. The research population was Iranian pharmaceutical companies and the sample was Tamin Pharmaceutical Investment Co.(TPICO). The findings show that there is a fit between entry marketing strategy and prospector, growth marketing strategy and analyzer, mature market strategy and differentiated defender, and decline marketing strategy and low cost defender; the existence of this fit results in a high level of performance.

Spirituality in organization which was once considered a taboo has now found its way to all fields of management and organizations. Lack of a clear definition and measurement of spirituality in organization has lead to discrepancies in interpretations of the concept. In a typology of plural nature, spirituality has been divided into four types: religious, nonreligious, meta-religious and mystical and spirituality in organizations could be based on any of them. This paper seeks to provide a relatively comprehensive and acceptable framework of spirituality including biological, social, psychological and spiritual. As for personal communication, spirituality consists of four types of communication: super personal communication, interpersonal communication, intrapersonal communication and expressional communication all of which relate to humane aspects of human beings. The focus of this article is on a typology of a metareligious nature with a cognitive approach and the conceptual model of the present study has been designed to provide a basis for future researches.

This study intends to develop a model for assessing the employees' quality of work life in an Iranian organization. A questionnaire was distributed to 510 members of IMIRDO Co. (Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization) across three groups out of which a total of 427 questionnaires were returned yielding a response rate of 93%. The first and the second group were supposed to assess the factors of QWL and the third group was meant to assess the situation of QWL in the research population. Using factor analysis, QWL factors were summarized in three factors: structural, psychological and social. Based on research findings, a comprehensive model is presented to show the QWL situation in IMIDRO.