JOURNAL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Year:2019 | Volume:11 | Issue:2 |Papers Count:14

Objective Due to the recession in all industries, and in particular in the country's construction industry, almost all construction industry activists including a group of construction companies cannot sell construction units in the usual way and are looking for new ways to sell their goods and services. Therefore, considering that the concept of open innovation-based sales has been a new concept in sales literature and very few sales scholars investigated the issue based on open innovation concepts, the development of this concept will contribute to the enrichment of the literature as well as fill the operational gap for the related research and industry activists, and will provide operational solutions for the sale of building units. Accordingly, this research has two key objectives: helping the sales literature to increase the perception of researchers and academicians of open source sales and its key elements through the development and improvement of this concept, as well as identifying the relationship between open innovation components and sales. Methodology This inductive research is applied in nature based on qualitative methods. This research is a field study conducted on a particular case. Because this study seeks to develop a new theory and enhance the knowledge for open innovation-based sales, it aims to explore the issue through semi-structured interviews. Also, data derived theory has been used by the researchers. The statistical population of this research consists of Atlas Iranian construction companies. Data collection and analysis were carried out simultaneously and the data were analyzed based on constant comparative analysis using Straight-Corbin method. Findings Based on the categorizations made in this study, 260 codes were classified into 55 concepts and 33 main categories. The data analysis procedure led to the creation of a theoretical model which includes the causal conditions, background conditions, intervening conditions, strategies and outcomes that describe the main issue of "open innovation sales". Conclusion The results of this research showed that open innovation sales dimensions can be categorized into thirty four main categories. The present study identifies and introduces new and more comprehensive set of methods that can be used to facilitate sales in the construction industry in conditions of market downturn, as a source of sales based on open innovation. The research addressed the categories related to ideas and technologies within the company, ideas and technology outside the company, knowledge sharing, dividing the sales promotion risk, and redefining the business model. In this research, open innovation categories in the building industry including the use of competitor knowledge, the use of rivals, customization of products based on customers’ preferences, investment in research, and the purchase or sale of licenses that have not been introduced in the sales models so far.

Objective In the event of continued failure to pay attention to domestic products, there will be irreparable damage to the economic structure of the country. Accordingly, the country undoubtedly needs an increase in the tendency among the people to use Iranian goods, which will lead to the growth of domestic industries, the decline of unemployment and, ultimately, the increase of national production. In this regard, the present research tries to focus on two mediating variables of attitudes and mental conflicts, beyond the socio-economic variables studied in other researches and to identify a distinct set of effective variables on consumers’ inclination to buy Iranian goods. Methodology This is a descriptive-survey research and is applied in nature. The statistical population of the present study consists of Yazd University students from which 370 people were randomly selected as the sample. The data collection tool is a standard questionnaire. In this research, the researchers seek to examine the product / markets in the domestic market with similar international counterparts. Therefore, we did not consider only a single product / market. PLS2 and SPSS (version 21) software have been used for data analysis. Findings The findings of the research indicate that the three variables of perceived value, patriotism and consumer trust have a significantly positive effect on consumers’ mental conflict with the consumption of Iranian goods, but the two variables of global openness and perceived risk have a significantly negative effect on that. We can also confirm the significantly positive effects of the two variables of perceived value and patriotism as well as the significantly negative effect of two variables of global openness and perceived risk on consumers’ attitudes toward consumption of Iranian products. Moreover, consumers’ attitudes and consumers’ mental conflicts are shown to have a significantly positive effect on consumers’ willingness to buy and use Iranian goods. Conclusion One of the most powerful strategies to penetrate into a new market is the supply of superior quality products with lower prices. The price advantage will immediately attract the customers’ attention, and those who buy the product will be affected by its quality. Consumers’ beliefs about what's going to happen in the future are one of the key determinants of consumer trust, which reflects consumer optimism or pessimism towards their future. When the consumer is optimistic about his future, he is more closely connected himself to the consumption of Iranian goods and is more involved with these products and commodities. People with higher global openness have higher expectations from Iranian products and because these expectations have not been satisfactorily fulfilled; as a result, no positive attitude has been formed. The consumer will only be willing to buy our product if we can provide a unique competitive advantage over other competitors. Promotional strategies should be implemented intelligently and in line with the product life cycle, promotional strategies of other competitors, the relative advantage of our product, and the target market. Emphasis on patriotism will not be effective without regard to other factors affecting consumers’ attitudes. Obviously, when the consumer has a positive attitude towards Iranian goods and his mental conflict with these commodities is at a level that gives rise to gaining information about these products, such motivational states will trigger behaviors and the intention to purchase will be formed.

Objective In general, loyalty and the effects of various customer loyalty programs have always been an important issue for the insurance industry, especially in the present economic condition which is full of recession and inflation in recent years in Iran. Considering the very small contribution of the insurance industry to the GDP of Iran and the ability to increase this amount by improving the customers’ loyalty and development of insurance services, identifying those programs that can lead to more loyalty of current customers of the insurance industry and, on the other hand, attract new customers are of high importance. In this research, the basic issue is the examination of various loyalty programs ranging from immediate to long-term, hard to soft within a multifaceted combination and their impact on customer loyalty. Methodology The present research is applied in terms of purpose and in terms of the method is considered experimental (Salomon four-group design), which is followed by a survey approach. The population under study consists of all the clients of the Ambirkabir Branch of Asia Insurance Company in Shiraz by the end of December 2014 (412 people). Using Cochran formula, 200 individuals were were randomly selected as the sample. Two independent questionnaires were used to collect the data. Research questionnaires were collected before and after recieving financial rewards (granting of discounts, providing free insurance and giving out gifts based on their purchase) and non-financial rewards (contact with the client in person and on the phone for the provision of insurance consulting services and placing the customer within the special customer group and introducing them to the social networks of the company's customers), and also before and after the granting of instant and long-term rewards. Paired t-test and dependent t-test were used to analyze the data. Findings The findings indicate the impact of instantaneous program on customer loyalty. This is associated with the analysis where friendly and cooperative relationships with the company has led to continuous and consistent customer relationship with the company. On the other hand, a better understanding of the needs and expectations of the customer and maintaining a positive relationship with him, influencing the positive emotions and feelings of the client in using the insurance services and building an emotional value to the insurance company have all been effective. Besides, running an instant messenger program gives customers a sense of belonging and specificity. The economic conditions of the Iranian society have been falling dramatically over the past years and it is natural that provision of financial rewards, discounts coupons and free gifts can increase their loyalty to a particular insurance company. Other findings indicated that the instantaneous programs were not effective on customer loyalty. In fact, since the customers may consider such a positive attitude in his first encounter up until the last deal with the insurance company as their right, one should not expect the implementation of long-term programs to have a significant effect on their loyalty. Eventually, hard programs have been effective, to some extent, on customer loyalty. Conclusion In order to design loyalty programs, it is recommended that, in addition to forming a customer club and designing a loyalty card, virtual interaction with the customers will be developed to identify needs, meet their needs and improve loyalty. It is suggested to use greetings, postcards, booklets, ezines, and etc while implementing soft loyalty programs. On the other hand, the provision of personal services such as insurance consulting services, outsourcing services and personalization of the virtual interactive environment with the client can be placed on the agenda of the company. In implementing hard loyalty programs, you can also share with the customer the profit from applying their corrective comments on the provision of services, discounts, free sidelong insurance, and the gifts and rewards in proportion to the volume of purchases, increased customer loyalty and increased trust in company products and services. It should be noted that according to the results of the research, the implementation of soft instantaneous programs was the priority and postponement of such programs is not desirable for the customers. On the other hand, the company can also pay attention to the hard instantaneous and long-term issues along with these measures.

Objective Learning from the experiences of organizational misconceptions and the subsequent failure along with focusing on the key factors of success, can pave the way to make the decision-making process effective for the future of the business. One of the consequences of making non-optimal decisions at the top levels of the organization is a strategic regret. The present study aims to understand the essence of the strategic regret and attempts to answer the two following questions; what constitutes the phenomenon of "strategic regret"? (What is its scope based on the experiences of managers who have experienced this phenomenon? ) and what are the intrinsic and transversal factors of strategic regret based on the experiences of executive managers? Methodology The present phenomenological research is a fundamental research in terms of objectives. In addition, in terms of data collection, this research is a description of the post-event method. The statistical population of this research consists of all managers of organizations and companies active in Tehran province that have made (or have not made) decisions in the moment or the past where their organization has faced toubles (or has been prevented from gaining profit) and are now regretful about their decision at that time. Based on purposeful sampling and in order to reach the theoretical saturation 12 people were selected. Semi-structured deep interviews were used to collect data. In this research, the strategy of "transcendental phenomenology of Mustecas” (based on Husserl descriptive phenomenology) was used to analyze the data. Findings Various themes were extracted regarding the nature of the strategic regret and they were classified into two main themes. (A) emotional experiences (consisting of 8 main themes and 21 sub-themes) and (b) cognitive experiences (which consists of 2 main themes and 6 sub-themes). The emotional experiences of the participants regarding strategic regret were in the forms of sense of regret and remorse, sorrow, fear, disappointment and despair, shame, dissatisfaction, loss, and satisfaction. Besides, their cognitive experiences were classified into two categories of feedback and prediction of the likelihood of regret. Conclusion The results of this research, while introducing the notion of regret into the strategic management literature, have paved the way for the context to be defined, distinguished from similar cases and to set up behavioral strategies at the highest level of the organization.

Objective In this research, we will examine the various dimensions of the brand, to identify the necessary background for the formation of brand talkability and thereby provide a solution for developing and increasing the power of talkability among Iranian brands, especially in the automotive industry. Given the fact that the automotive industry is considered to be the key to industrial communication in a chain of industries and has a high potential for job creation and economic development, this issue is of great importance to study. On the other hand, the lack of sufficient studies in the field of marketing and branding in the automotive industry has made it necessary to address this issue, remove the existing gap and develop the business in this industry. It can also answer the following questions: What are the factors affecting brand talkability in the automotive industry? What is the relationship between the factors and concepts associated with brand talkability in the automotive industry? Methodology The present research is a mixed method of quantitative-qualitative approach. It is considered to be a developmental and descriptive-analytic in nature. This research was carried out in two main stages. First, using theme analysis based on the collected data through semi-structured interviews, the factors related to the brand talkability power were identified and then, using structural-interpretation method, through determining the interactions between the components, the leveling and identification of the key factors of the first phase of the model, the ultimate conceptual model of the research was presented. Data analysis was carried out using two methods of topic analysis (theme) and interpretive structural modeling. Findings Based on the analysis, 142 unique codes were identified as initial codes. Among the identified codes, some were more abundant than other codes, indicating the importance of these codes and their greater impact on brand talkability power from the interviewees’ viewpoint. These codes include: brand credibility; proud ownership; the creation of a sense of pride; feedback from others' experience; the impact of social networking; the importance of customers to the brand; the sense of consumer leading; the sense of brand image; communication and the context for brand engagement; brand trust; honesty; luxury products; the desire to use a brand; brand standing; the feeling of distinctiveness and the exchange of thoughts. After categorizing the codes, 14 final themes were identified and a conceptual model of brand talkability power was presented. The factors associated with brand talkability power presented in the conceptual model are: Brand Benefits; Experience; Consumer Support; Brand Relationship; Brand Social Benefits; Brand Intrinsic Value; Brand Marketing Communications (Traditional); Brand Marketing Communications (Modern); Reference Groups; Brand Psychological Behavior; Brand Equity; Consumer Support; Product Features and Brand Controversy. Based on the analysis of influence-dependency power in the interpretive structural model of brand talkability power, three groups of factors (independent, dependent, and linked) were identified. Conclusion A product with more benefits will be more likely to talk and advise to the others. The experience of the brand by others, followed by advising others, makes the feedback pass to others in the form of sharing comments. Providing a product that is priced in line with its perceived quality as well as being accountable and responsive are among the most prominent examples of brand support. Brand communication provides the basis for brand talkability by creating and developing communications and providing the groundwork for brand engagement. Based on the interpretive structural model, we can conclude that the factors associated with brand talkability are complex and tightly interconnected. Also, the inherent value of the brand is the most important underlying factor affecting other factors.

Objective Creating a job for women with regard to the capabilities of social networking is a solution for societies with a low employment rate for women. With the development of social networks (in particular, Instagram) in Iran, various pages aimed at marketing and revenue in the field of women's needs (make up and accessories, childcare, sports and fitness, etc. ). Considering the creative marketing methods in social networks, the creative industries sector has made it possible for women to participate in content marketing without limitations of the Iranian society. The purpose of this research is to identify the features of female-related content marketing system on social media, particularly Instagram. Methodology This research uses a qualitative approach and theme analysis. Based on non-incidental sampling, in this research, 30 samples of audio and video files have been selected from three successful pages in marketing on Instagram. Using theme analysis and through coding, the data were analyzed. Findings Based on the findings of the present research, the online marketing within the under-study Instagram pages cannot replace real world marketing; in other words, they cannot replace gyms, stores, beauty salons, exhibitions and etc. Meanwhile, because social media users can enjoy more freedom compared to real world, they can sell their products with lower prices which lead to a great number of customers. Hence, focusing on social networks can be considered as a solution to employment crises in Iran. In this research, focusing on concepts such as creative industries, creative marketing and content marketing in the form of cultural industries, the specific elements of this field of female content marketing in the social network of Instagram in Iran have been identified. Conclusion It can be concluded that applying strategies like building mutual relationships, experience-orientation, adventure and etc. can lead to successful marketing within social media. Besides, as women are more sensitive to identifying and distinguishing the quality of the products, they can provide great potentials for economic and financial transaction which need a more accurate planning. The results show that categories such as intimacy, assertiveness, the use of family members in the production of content, transparency in describing the distribution system of products and identity to other members of the group, are the features of content marketing system in this part of the creative industries.

Objective In this paper, we try to examine a sample of Internet users to determine the impact of electroniccenteredness of the users’ lifestyle, the users’ previous experience of admitting or dealing with advertisement, and the number and the manner of advertising on one webpage on their avoidance of online advertisement. By being involved in the Internet environment, we refer to the use of all pages of websites, blogs, computer software and mobile phones. The study of the effectiveness of these factors on users’ avoidance of internet advertising provides some solutions to strengthen the effectiveness of internet advertising and reduce its avoidance. Methodology The present descriptive survey research is applied in nature. In order to analyze the data, the Structural Equation Modeling based on partial least squares method has been explioted using Smart PLS software. The statistical population of this research consists of all the students of Islamic Azad University of Rasht in Guilan province. A randomized simple sampling method was used to select the statistical sample. Using Cochran sampling formula (5% error), the number of sample members was calculated to be 385 people. In addition, data collection was done through field survey using a questionnaire. Findings The results of the hypotheses and the significant coefficients show that all the hypotheses were confirmed at 95% confidence level. The results of analysis of research hypotheses showed that ITbased lifestyle of individuals has a significant negative effect on the avoidance of internet advertising. That is, the more people are affected by the Internet and the so-called Internet user involvement, the less their avoidance of advertising. The congestion of ads on the WebPages affects the level of avoidance of those advertisements and the users avoid advertising messages on the Internet because of such bustle and clutter. Moreover, the users’ previous negative experience of online advertising was found to be effective in avoiding advertising within the Internet. Conclusion The results of this study showed that the users’ perceived congestion of advertising is effective on avoiding Internet advertising. The high number of ads on a single webpage makes the visitor frustrated by such clutter and bustle. If the user has adopted an Internet-based lifestyle that makes him/her spend more hours using the Internet, then this situation will annoy him/her more than the others. An IT-based lifestyle user will probably do a lot of the work related to his job with the Internet for example he uses the Internet in banking, as well as for many entertainment, shopping or accessing the information. Therefore, the existence of an element that circumvents or disturbs them from these goals affects the relationship between IT-based lifestyle and the avoidance of advertising, and exacerbates that relationship which leads to an increase in avoiding advertising. Based on the results of the research, the previous negative experience can also affect the relationship between the user and the internetbased lifestyle and avoidance of internet advertising. Having a negative experience makes it possible for a user with an Internet-based lifestyle to feel that he does not consider advertisement improve his performance on the Internet, or even lower the attractiveness of advertising for him. Accordingly, advertisers and marketers must be aware of all these prevailing conditions in digital environment and they should be moving toward purposeful advertising by building trust and understanding of their customers’ IT-based lifestyles.

Objective This research aims to investigate whether the commitment of the executive managers team to the knowledge management infrastructures and organizational learning, the attention and allocation of resources to them can help Iranian companies, including the companies that supply auto parts, to gain capital? And the peripheral questions of this research are as follows: whether the commitment of executive managers of Saipa Construction Company is effective on the knowledge management and organizational learning processes in the company? Is Saipa knowledge management process effective on the organizational learning? Are knowledge management and organizational learning processes of Saipa company effective on corporate capital of the company? Methodology The present field survey research is applied in terms of purpose. The research is descriptive. The statistical population of the study consists of 700 employees of Saipa Construction Company as a supplier of spare parts in Tehran, and then a sample size of 248 employees were selected based on random sampling. Findings The results of the fitting of the measured model in the test of the hypothesis of the research indicated that the executive managers’ commitment (with indicators emphasizing on strategicity, interorganizational and outsourcing interactions) can only affect client’ s capital (market intelligence, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty) provided that the variables of its knowledge management and organizational learning are taken into account. Otherwise, the executive managers’ commitment will not lead to the formation of customer capital. According to the general fitting indices of the model, the fitting of the model is approved; therefore, the existing indicators in the measurement models are valid for measuring the relevant attribute in the structure. Conclusion The effect of executive managers’ commitment on organizational learning is positive suggesting that Saipa Company, with its knowledge management and organizational learning infrastructure, still cares about such concepts. The company also tries to improve these processes by focusing strategically and allocating the necessary resources and the interactions that make it happen. The effect of executive managers’ commitment on knowledge management is positive. In other words, knowledge management is not independent from the support of executive management and is seriously affected by it. The impact of knowledge management on organizational learning is positive. Organizational learning is not independent from knowledge management and is seriously affected by it. Findings from the path analysis model showed that the effect of organizational learning on customer capital is positive. Moreover knowledge management has a significantly positive effect on customer capital. Automobile particle supply chain managers should be able to plan and design to improve external communication with customers, suppliers and investors.

Objective This study examines the relationship between character and emotional-social competencies among management students. Emotional and social competencies are two types of competencies that have a significant impact on individual's performance. Character is an underlying element that can influence the development of emotional and social competencies. In addition, both character and competencies are the building blocks of successful performance among individuals in personal and organizational settings. Considering the importance of character in competence building and development and the shortage of relied studies in the literature, in this study we examined the relationship between these two constructs. Methodology The present quantitative research was carried out through questionnaires. Based on random sampling using email, 165 M. A students of management were selected. We also used self-reported surveys to measure character and emotional and social competencies among those students. The validity of the instruments was sought based on the literature review, interviews with experts, and the translation of the questionnaire into Farsi within several steps. Chronbach Alpha was also used to determine the reliability of the instrument. And finally, the data were analyzed using linear regression. Findings Results of our study matches the predictions of character-competence entanglement theory. Character dimensions had significantly positive influence on the formation of emotional and social competencies. In total, for emotional awareness competencies: temperance, accountability, and integrity; for emotional self-management competencies: temperance, motivation, transcendence, collaboration, and courage; for social awareness competencies: humility, humanity, and courage; and for social relationship management competencies: judgment, transcendence, collaboration, courage, and integrity had significantly positive effects on different dimensions. Conclusion This study highlights the important role of character in emotional-social competency building and development. Based on the results, character dimensions including temperance, humanity, humility, and transcendence have an important effect on building competencies. Organizational strategies including humble leadership, motivational mechanisms that foster respect, humility, temperance, and refusal of overconfident behavior are discussed for promoting such character dimensions in organizations.

Objective This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of “ total quality management practice” on “ innovation performance” through “ organizational learning capability” in bunkering (marine refueling) industry; therefore, the researcher tends to explore the key dimensions in defining “ total quality management practice” , “ organizational learning capability” and “ innovation performance” and the nature of the relationship among their related particles and to analyze the following hypotheses. To do so, Vanich, Chinchai & Igel (2011) and Eagle’ s model was used to analyze total quality management practices. Through this model, total quality management practice are categorized into four classes of “ commitment and strategy” , “ customer-centeredness” , “ human resources management” , and “ data analysis” . In addition, Gomes et. al model was used to analyze organizational learning capability where total quality management practices were classified into four groups of “ management commitment” , “ systemic perspective” , “ openness and trial and error” , and “ knowledge transfer and integration” . Finally, Hong et. al model was used to investigate innovation performance. Within their model, innovation performance was categorized into three classes of “ product/service performance” , “ process performance” , and “ organizational performance” . Methodology This non-experimental – descriptive study is applied in nature and is considered correlational. The present study uses “ structural equation modeling” to respond to the research questions; therefore, it is categorized as “ correlation matrix or covariance analysis” study. Based on simple random sampling, the experts in the target industry were given questionnaires and, at the end, 151 valid questionnaires were collected. Finally, the proposed conceptual model was investigated using factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The main data collection methods used in the present study were library survey and field study. The required data, regarding theoretical and empirical concepts in the literature, were collected using library resources, articles, books, journals and the internet. Findings The results showed that “ total quality management practices” have significant effects on “ organizational learning capability” (15. 59) and also “ organizational learning capability” has significant effects on “ innovation performance” (2. 27). We can also claim that there is no significant relationship between “ total quality management practices” and “ innovation performance” (0. 7); therefore, no direct relationship between these two variables is accepted at 95%. However, there would be an indirect relationship between “ total quality management practices” and “ innovation performance” through the mediating role of “ organizational learning capability” . As a result, H1 is rejected, but H2 is accepted. Finally, we can state that the main hypothesis of the present study – the effectiveness of “ total quality management practices” on “ innovation performance” through the mediating role of “ organizational learning capability” in bunkering industry-was accepted at 95%. Conclusion Based on the findings, we can conclude that “ total quality management practices” affect “ organizational learning capability” within bunkering firms; in fact, “ total quality management practices” can predict around 85% of the changes in “ organizational learning capability” . According to the results of the ultimate model in this study, it can be inferred that “ organizational learning capability” plays the role of an intervening variable and indirectly paves the way for “ total quality management practices” to have effects on “ innovation performance” . In other words, based on the standard prediction path analysis, “ total quality management practices” can predict 46% of the changes in “ innovation performance” considering the mediating role of “ organizational learning capability” .

Objective Although the demand for local food is increasing, there is little research on the preferences of local food consumption in developing countries. In addition, the behavior of local food consumers has not been well understood in these countries. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the factors affecting the intention to purchase local food. In this research, a model of planned behavior was used as the theoretical framework. Moreover, the scientific literature suggests that other peripheral factors can be added to the main model of planned behavior. Therefore, the variables of ethnicity, self-transformation and price sensitivity were added as moderators to the main model. This research particularly examines the factors affecting the intention to buy local honey in Qazvin. Methodology The present descriptive (analytical study type) survey research is applied in nature. The population of the research consists of all the citizens of Qazvin. The target sample size was calculated 384 according to the Cochrane formula. In this study, a standard questionnaire with the Likert scale of seven was used. To assess the fitting of the research model, the coefficient of determination (R2) and predictive power factor (Q2) were used. In order to determine the effect of moderating variables, with the help of Smart PLS, a multiplicative approach has been used and to determine the modulatory effect, the effect scale indicator was utilized. Findings In this research, the effect of attitude on the intention to buy local food; the effect of mental norms on consumer’ s intention to buy; the influence of controlled perceived behavior on consumer’ s intention to buy; and the effect of the price sensitivity moderating role on the relationship between attitude and intention to buy were all approved. However, the effect of ethnicity moderating role on the relationship between mental norm and intention to buy; the effect of self-reliant moderating role on the relationship between controlled perceived behavior and intention to buy; the effect of the price sensitivity moderating role on the relationship between mental norm and intention to buy and finally the effect of price sensitivity moderating role on the relationship between controlled perceived behavior and intention to buy were not confirmed. Conclusion The higher the attitude of local food consumers, the more their intention to buy will be. The research findings showed that consumers consider local honey as healthy, high quality, delicious and confident; therefore, producers, marketers and retailers can pay more attention to these benefits in advertising. Reference groups such as family members and friends can be influential on consumers’ mental norms. Therefore, some marketing plans are needed to target such groups of people. Lack of access is considered as one of the main obstacles. Therefore, local honey producers and sellers need to take some steps to reduce this barrier including participating in seasonal exhibitions and placing the address of local honey supply stores at the disposal of consumers. For consumers who are highly sensitive to price, the likelihood of local food purchases will increase with a higher positive attitude. Conversely, when price sensitivity is low it is only consumers’ attitudes that are a guide to buying. Therefore, local producers and marketers and local honey sellers should make good use of this group of consumers. Given the fact that Iran is a developing country and the quality of honey is important for the consumers, the effect of the moderation role of ethnicity has diminished. The findings of this study have also indicated that access is an important criterion for consumers. Accordingly, considering the importance of availability and other criteria, the impact of the aggregation characteristics of consumers has decreased. Social pressures have not made the price-conscious consumers unwilling to pay more for local honey. By the way, the tendency to pay higher prices has reduced the sensitivity of consumer toward prices.

Objective Developing diversification is a corporate level strategy. Due to growth strategies at the corporate level strategy, managers should take into account financial performance relative to selected strategies in order to determine the type and the procedure to develop a firm. According to the literature, diversification as a growth strategy has various influences on performance at different stages of diversification. Therefore, in this study we aim to investigate the effectiveness of Business Portfolio Diversification Strategy on Financial Performance. Methodology In the present study, the sample population consists of 37 Iranian parent companies listed in Tehran stock exchange within 5-year period from 2012 to 2016. We analyzed the diversification degree and performance using Herfindahl– Hirschman Index and ROA. Size, growth and debt of companies are also used as control variables. Findings Based on the results of the t-test, there is a significant relationship between diversification and ROA (F= 0. 00000 and R= 0. 889855). Conclusion As the findings showed, there is a nonlinear relationship between diversification and financial performance. In addition, diversification causes destruction of values and reduction in profibilty.