IRANIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES
Year:2015 | Volume:10 | Issue:37|Papers Count:10

In the last three decades the study on value and ethics has gained momentum in business and public organizations and become an ongoing subject of management studies. In the past, financial capital was a major factor to delineate a corporation standing, but, due to the recent worldwide corporate financial infringements, the value and ethical issues rose to one of the most debated topics in management theory and practice. This study aims to design and originate a corporate value scheme in Mapna Group. The research strategy was an action research. Data was collected during 1391 to 1394 by a vast semi-structured interviews, panel studies, and Delphi method. Because of the nature of the study, participants included the Mapna’s HR managers and experts; a number of university professors and doctoral students concerned with the field. Based on the literature, interviews and panel studies the initial value scheme was developed. Then, the scheme containing of three class of normative, cognitive and regulatory mechanism was validated by the consensus of experts who participated in a three round of Delphi questionnaire.

In recent years, one of the main concerns of knowledge- based firms is turnover of their knowledge workers. The most important capital and competitive advantage of knowledge-based firms is their intellectual capital and the survival and success of these firms depends on their knowledge workers’ performance. Hence, studying this issue and adopting a policy package for keeping them is much vital to maintain a firm’s competitive advantages. Using an Iranian knowledge-based software manufacturer as a sample, we applied a system dynamics approach, to investigate the turnover of knowledge-workers in this firm. Then, the system behavior of proposed model was simulated in Vensim software environment. The model is composed of seven dynamic hypothesis, namely “career path”, “customers temptation”, “official vertical interaction”, “shock in working”, “perceived injustice”, “damage to brand” and “escape from accepting crisis”. After validating the model, some policies such as “job enrichment", “reorganizing to a conglomorate form of structure”, “adapting working conditions with market standards”, “change evaluation intervals”, “keeping far knowledge workers from customers” and “making long term partnership with knowledge workers” were suggested in order to control and prevent the knowledge workers’ turnover from this company.

Due to important role of marketing networks in the process of maturation of industrial clusters, this study aims to design a model of marketing network formation in Iran’s industrial clusters context. Applying a grounded theory approach, we interviewed with the clusters promotion agents and managers involved in the networks, and collected organizational documents, as required by the study. Using open, axial and selective coding technique, a model of marketing network has been formed. Results show that the shared motivation of partners to solve common problems or exploit marketing opportunities is the main cause of the formation of marketing network. Marketing networks include a wide range of formal and informal networks that are formed during five stages; the inception, formation of initial core, tension, organizing and action. The cultural, historical and institutional context of cluster, personality of managers/ owners, characteristics of network promoter agent and firms' structural characteristics affect networking activities. The major advantages of networking are reducing marketing costs and stimulating competitiveness among the network members. The findings also suggest that strengthening networking capabilities, may help the managers to promote their own businesses.

Despite of the importance of career optimism construct that may have positive consequences on the relation between employees and organization, there are not much studies on this subject. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of person- job fit, and person-organization fit, on career optimism. In addition, the mediating role of career optimism in relation between these two constructs has been examined. The population of this study consisted of employees of four top ranking Iranian universities and data was collected using questionnaires. The findings show that both the person-job fit and the person-organization fit have positive impact on career optimism. But, the person-job fit is stronger predictor of career optimism than person-organization fit. Results also indicate a strong combine effect of these two types of fit on career optimism. Furthermore, the findings suggest that, the higher the person-job fit the more expecting the person- organization fit; therefore, we may argue that career optimism can facilitate the relationship between these two variables.

A recent approach to study business organizations is focusing on the dynamics of environments, developing competencies and trying to create knowledge-based and learning organizations. Considering this approach, the creation and enforcement of Assessment Centers is an effective factor for developing capabilities and competencies of employees. Assessment Centers with more than sixty years of practices in the world and about a decade in Iran is a combine way of various exercises that is based on holding different work positions in order to collect accurate and reliable information from candidates of recruitment, selection and promotion processes and evaluate them in a workplace. Assessment Centers with developmental approach, is a process of receiving feedback from the employees who work on a job, followed by individual developmental plans in order to enhance his or her ability, knowledge and skills. The purpose of this study is to identify the challenges faced by the Centers and propose the ways to improve the Centers work processes. We interviewed twenty one business executives, professionals and experts who are involved in carrying out the function of the Centers assessments. Using thematic analysis. we provided a framework that consist the requirements and prerequisites for accomplishing the function of Iranian Assessment Centers. These requirements are grouped into six conceptual categories; the organizational acceptance culture, the process of assessment preparation, the Centers planning processes, the Center implementation processes, The achievements of the ACs and its evaluation processes.