Journal of Improvement management
Year:2012 | Volume:5 | Issue:3 (14)|Papers Count:7

This research has examined the ability of Aviation Innovation System to apply science, technology and industrial potentials at national and international levels using Bergek et al. (2008) framework. This research with reviewing Innovation Systems literature and emphasising on sectoral Innovation System by Malerba about Open Innovation Approach introduced by Chesbrough, tries to combine them in Iran’s Aviation Innovation System.Research question is “to what extent Iran’s contextual situation supports the application of open innovation approach in the aviation sector?” To examine this, contextual situation affecting aviation sector has been surveyed in the framework of an STEEP Analysis. Ultimately, by concluding that Iran’s contextual situation supports the application of open innovation approach in aviation sector in a high rate, it approved that Open Innovation approach can enhance effectiveness of Innovation in Aviation Sector. Some policies and solutions has been offered to enhance contextual situation for facilitating applying Open Innovation approach in Iran’s Aviation Innovation System.

Technology is a foundation for developing products & services and therefore it is considered as an infrastructure for achieving organizational objectives and strategies. Technology portfolio is a rather recent and popular approach in the literature of technology management. The problem of technology portfolio management is to find the appropriate distribution of capital & resources among a set of technologies, provides the highest effectiveness in accessing the organizational goals. In recent years various factors & criteria are proposed by experts for selection and management of technology portfolios. This paper, while providing a brief overview on common factors and criteria for technology portfolio selection and by introducing a set of tailored criteria for technology portfolio selection in a subsector of Iranian oil & gas industry, develops a new model based on the very well-known “Value at Risk” model. VaR originates from the literature of financial management and we have applied it in technology portfolio selection by redefining the concepts of risk and return of investments in alignment with technology management and in the general framework of portfolio theorem. The introduced model enables decision makers of technological investments to calculate the capability of technology portfolios in supporting the organizational objectives.

Successful marketing and setting of electronic insurance industry, is an intersectional activity that need lots of infrastructures and IT instruments such as business intelligence. This study aims to develop a combined model to improve BI level in e-insurance industry and to appear the main critical factors of business intelligence in Novin insurance Co. Statistical population of this study were top managers and staff of 35 branches of Novin insurance company in Tehran. The research was conducted using a questionnaire comprised of 20 items in 4 dimensions (IT, Staff, Knowledge, Culture and Innovation).Mann-Whitney Test results show a significant gap between perception and expectation in our sample. In the next step, we categorized our indicators in three Kano’s groups and found 5 indicators in (Must be) group with a priority in improvement. Using comprehensive interviews, we illustrate 10 Key Process operations but unfortunately, Novin Co has a better situation compared with competitors only in 4 KPO. Our results suggest new strategies toward a better competitive situation and core competencies.

Due to limited organizational budget, priority and performance of suitable technology strategies to eliminate or reduce technology gaps has got high importance. Ranking and proper choice of present and newfangled technologies needed by an organization for performance will elevate competitive privileges of the organization. In common methods first specific strategies, then all are ranked and executed according to the limitations of organization resources. In that case it is possible to choose homogeneous strategies which will raise unbalanced growth of the organization. In this paper, firstly the condition of present technology of organization is evaluated through CAPTECH method and proper strategies are defined. Contrary to common methods, introducing and using a novel heuristic method, strategies are classified in several clusters. Secondly, strategies within each cluster are ranked by TOPSIS method and at the time of execution a top strategy is chosen from each cluster. Thereupon, the efficiency of applying the strategies and possibility of balanced growth of organization will dramatically increase. To evaluate the proposed method, a case study has been done in a cold storage facility and the positive results have been demonstrated.

Competition is not a force to be taken lightly in the business world. In fact, companies face competition every day. The need for information about this force has been named “competitive information, ” “corporate intelligence, ” “corporate information” and “business intelligence.” Recently, most business people refer to this gathering of information as “competitive intelligence”. The purpose of CI includes enhancing a firm’s competitiveness while eroding the competitive advantage of its rivals. CI seeks information about the competition while protecting the firm’s proprietary information from outsiders. This study aims to appear the situation of CI factors in auto industries of Iran and improve these indicators using quality function deployment model. We found that there are seven dimension of CI in auto industries and it can improved using 10 key elements as out put of QFD model. In addition a competitive matrix was developed in this case.

The purpose of this study is investigation of employee's workplace learning predictability through workplace learning culture, and mediation of psychological empowerment and managerial effectiveness. A written questionnaire including 33 items was designed using standard measures. 90 questionnaires were distributed in 15 branches of Eghtesad-e-Novin bank of Khorasan-e-Shomali, Jonoobi and Razavi provinces, and 83 cases were collected. The final response rate after eliminating of 2 non-eligible questionnaires was 90 percent. Construct validity was evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis, and calculated Cronbach's alpha oversize 0.70 for various constructs of questionnaire confirmed its reliability. Pearson correlation analysis, structural equation modeling and mediation analysis techniques were applied to test research hypotheses. Research results indicated that psychological empowerment is a strong mediator variable for predicting the impact of workplace learning culture on employee's workplace learning.

To meet the ever changing demand of today’s environment, firms need to be flexible, adaptive, entrepreneurial and innovative. In addition, there must be an appropriate style of leadership to master these changes. Yet, there is little empirical evidence to simultaneously study the relationship among the key elements of transformational leadership, adaptability culture and organizational innovation. Hence this study attempts to investigate the impact of transformational leadership and adaptability culture upon organizational innovation in the context of selected firms in supply chain of defense technologies. Using the structural equation modeling technique, results from the analysis of data from 217 collected questionnaires indicate that transformational leadership, beyond its direct influence, exerts indirect impact upon organizational innovation through the mediation of adaptability culture and that the extent of indirect effect is significantly higher than that of direct one. There are also some discussions about the results of the study and some suggestions for improving the organizational innovation in target units.