JOURNAL OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION RESEARCH
Year:2020 | Volume:11 | Issue:22|Papers Count:16

The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of petroleum products distribution in the gray multi-criteria supply chain for the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company in the Fars region. In the present study, considering the uncertainty conditions and green performance indices, first, by applying gray group decision-making method, the causal relationships between the points of view of the improved balanced scorecard are improved, their effectiveness and finally the weight of the perspectives have been studied. Then, using the network analysis process method, the importance of the sub-indices of each perspective was determined, and with the help of the VIKOR gray method, the products of the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company in the Fars region were evaluated and ranked. Therefore, the results show that the furnace is in the first place and kerosene is in the last place. The research findings help company executives and other organizations improve their strengths and reduce their weaknesses in order to increase performance.

With the improvement of technology and the need for promptitude in communication and transactions, social commerce has been taken into consideration in this regard. Social trust has particular importance for maintaining more and more customers in online spaces. The purpose of the present research is to present a social trust model by examining the impact of social websites quality. The research is practical in terms of purpose and descriptive-correlation in terms of method. The statistical population includes the social network users who have bought social tourism websites. They were selected by a non-random sampling method. The results of the structural equation modeling method show that the dimensions of the social websites quality such as information quality, communication, virtual communities, and customization of tourism services have a positive and significant effect on social presence. Also, all the dimensions of social websites quality except communication and virtual communities with social presence have positive and significant effects on the perceived enjoyment. Social presence and perceived enjoyment have positive effects on the perceived usefulness. Finally, the relationship between perceived usefulness and social trust is positive.

The goal of green marketing as a subset of marketing science is to identify and satisfy human needs and wants through the methods that cause the least harm to the environment, which partly relieves public environmental concerns. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of consumer innovativeness on the green consumption behavior of air conditioner buyers in Mashhad. The type of research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of method. It is based on correlations. The statistical population of the study consists of the buyers of green air conditioning devices in Mashhad. Because of the unlimited statistical society available, a two-stage cluster sampling method was used to select a sample size of 384. The data were collected using a standard questionnaire and analyzed using the LISREL software and the structural equation modeling test. The research findings show that consumer innovativeness has a positive and significant effect on the attitude of green consumption, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. Also, according to the results, it can be argued that consumer novelty is a predictor of the green consumption behavior in the use of air conditioner devices.

One of the major industries to meet the goals of development is the industry of herbal medicines. As the scholars of the field argue, the share of the herbal medicine market in Iran is less than four percent. This might be due to the executive negligence of targeted marketing. The present research was conducted through interviews and questionnaires. The participants in the study includes all the people going to pharmacies to purchase herbal medicines. The sample size was determined to be 460. Purposeful and classified sampling methods were used in qualitative and quantitative sections respectively. The qualitative phase was based on the grounded theory, while k-means and neural network algorithms were used for quantitative analysis. The qualitative findings point to nine essential categories. Based on DB، RS and RMSSTD indexes, a neural network proved to have a higher accuracy than K-Means. Therefore, the findings were presented based on it. As the results suggest, the best mode is the classification of this market (i. e., herbal medicine) into five segments. The results can contribute to the presentation of an appropriate strategy for each segment in order to simultaneously create values for both customers and market, in particular, and create facilities for the expansion of herbal medicine industry, in general.

Integrating is one of the steps that creates cooperation among supply chain members and improves the performance of the chain of custody to reduce the impact of whipping. Knowledge sharing among the members of a chain level is one of the strategic level partnerships that strengthen the integration in the chain. For this purpose, the most important step is to find the best knowledge sharing network among the members of the chain, so that the minimum cost can be incurred for the collaboration of members and the exchange of knowledge among them will be maximized. This paper presents a new mixed integer programming model on the basis of which a certain problem was formulated and implemented for the level of producers in a dairy supply chain. By sensitivity analysis, the parameters affecting the knowledge sharing network were identified. One of these important parameters is the distance between companies. Another one is the ability to exchange knowledge of companies that affects the duration of the sharing process. The findings of the study provide managers with the necessary insight regarding the resource constraints, market conditions, and the objectives of the companies. This helps them make the best decisions regarding the integration of the supply chain through knowledge sharing.

Customer participation in service delivery processes gives companies a feedback and helps them provide better services. Such a participatory behavior leads to a competitive advantage for companies. The present study aims to investigate social support and affective commitment in customer citizenship behavior and its effect on customer turnover intention. The research is a descriptive-survey study in which a questionnaire was used to collect the data. The research population was the customers of fitness centers in Tehran in the spring and summer of 2017. A samples size of 384 clients was used for the study. The SPSS and SmartPLS software programs were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that social support and affective commitment have positive and significant effects on customer citizenship behavior with the coefficients of 0. 4, 0. 15 and 0. 61. Furthermore, customer citizenship behavior has a significant and reverse effect on the turnover intention of customers with the coefficient of 0. 28. The results also showed that supportive sources differently affect the customer satisfaction in terms of social supports. Customers who had perceived less time pressure were more eager for citizenship behavior.

Branding is something not only driven by companies but also induced by the customer needs. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of consumer experience and perception on brand experience and brand equity. The research is an applied study in terms of purpose. It was conducted through a descriptive-survey method, and the data gathering tool was a standardized questionnaire that was localized and verified for its validity and reliability. The statistical population was the customers of famous smartphone brands in the city of Zanjan. The questionnaires were distributed among 392 people selected through simple random sampling and using variance deviation. The primary sample was pre-tested based on Cochran formula. The conceptual model of the research was fitted using the structural equation model in the PLS software. The results of the research indicated that consumers' perception of usability has an effect on their relationship with brands, perceived brand value and enjoyment of use. Also, enjoyment has more effect on the use of a product, brand relationship, perceived value, and brand trust. However, it has no effect on the loyalty to brands. Meanwhile, an increase in the social value increases the enjoyment of use. This creates a strong relationship between he consumer and the brand, which affects the brand perceived value. The brand perceived value also affects brand trust, which, in turn, affects brand loyalty.

Nowadays, offering the best performance for the development of a new product has become the most important concern of the managers in knowledge-based companies. They try to achieve a superior performance by using different techniques. Organizational memory is a knowledge representation and an accumulated organizational experience that can have adverse or unfavorable consequences for the development of new products in turbulent technological markets. Understanding the mechanisms and underlying factors that shape the role of organizational memory is important to improve the performance of new product development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of organizational memory on new product development performance in knowledge-based companies. The investigation is conducted by explaining the role of organizational ambidexterity, technological turbulence and organizational Innovation. The managers and vice presidents of the knowledge-based companies located in the science and technology parks of Tehran University constituted the research population. A random sampling method and Cochran formula were used to obtain the research sample. A standardized questionnaire was used as a tool for collecting the required data whose validity and reliability were examined through the content validity and Cronbach's alpha respectively. The PLS software and structural equation modeling were used for the data analysis. The findings show that organizational memory has a significant effect on the new product development performance through organizational ambidexterity, and organizational innovation and technological turbulence proved to have a moderating role in the relationship between organizational memory and organizational ambidexterity. The results also show that exploration and exploitation will help to better utilize organizational memory to increase the new product development performance.

Little is known about consumers' behavior especially when purchasing and consuming utilitarian products in developing countries. Hence, the aim of the present work is to introduce a modern and native model of consumer behavior in the selection of utilitarian products with a focus on discount chain stores. The model helps to understand and select practical marketing strategy. The data were gathered from semi-structured interviews and a review of the literature in the qualitative section of the research. A grounded theory including open coding, axial coding and selective coding was used to analyze the data. In the quantitative section of the research, the data were gathered through a questionnaire. Modeling of structural equations was also done to analyze the model. For the proposed model of consumer purchasing behavior, we found 22 factors in seven main categories including utilitarian motivations, hedonic motivations, store attributes, individual factors, functional marketing strategies, promotion and customer loyalty. The quantitative results showed that buying motivations, store attributes and marketing strategies have positive impacts on purchase intention, but gender and age have no positive impact in this regard.

Customers not only buy products from a company but also create values for it in other ways. Nowadays, customer engagement is in the center of the attention of corporate executives so as to create value for their company. By motivating the customer and gaining customer engagement, companies increase customer life cycle, attract new customers, and improve their products and services with the least investment. In this research, using a dynamic model, the components of customer engagement value (i. e. CLV, CRV, CIV and CKV) were investigated during the customer lifecycle. The data were collected from 328 subscribers of Hiweb Company. To test the hypotheses, analysis of variance was done using the SPSS v. 23 software. According to the findings of the research, the customer engagement value does not remain the same during the customer lifecycle; at each stage of the life cycle (i. e. acquisition, development, retention and attrition), different values are created for the company. This value at the stages of the acquisition and attrition of the relationship is the lowest, while it is the highest at the stages of development and retention of the relationship.

Marketers use different pricing strategies to receive a market value. One of these strategies is discount strategy that is applicable to different frames. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of increasing and decreasing discounts, quantity limitation, and time pressure on the purchase intention of customers. The study is based on a descriptive-survey method. In terms of purpose, it is a developmental-applied piece of research. It is conducted based on a pilot factorial design with eight different role playing scenarios distributed in the form of a questionnaire among the customers of Shahrvand chain stores. The data were collected from 320 questionnaires (i. e. 40 questionnaires for each scenario). The SPSS software was used for the data analysis. In this research, independent t-tests were used to evaluate the effects of several variables including discount strategy (incremental and decreasing), limited quantitative strategy (presenting two products together or presenting one product) and the existence of time pressure and the absence of time pressure. To evaluate the validity of the questionnaire and the reliability, content validity and Cronbach's alpha methods were used respectively. The results of the research show that there is no significant difference between the impact of increasing and decreasing discounts strategies on the purchase intention of customers. But there is a significant difference between the impacts of limited quantity and limited time on the purchase intention of customers.

A comprehensive study of consumer behavior is the prerequisite for the formulation of effective marketing strategies. The destination image and behavioral intentions, along with the relationship between them, are still attractive topics for academics and nonacademics involved in the tourism marketing sector. The purpose of this study is to explain behavioral intentions based on the cognitive structure of the destination image. In this study, for the first time, the cognitive dimension of the destination image was used with more abstract levels of attribute, consequence, and value. The statistical population of the study consisted of the senior tourists living in Shiraz. As many as 305 people were selected by random cluster sampling, and they responded to a researcher-made questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The research findings confirmed the significant relationship between the cognitive structure of the destination image and behavioral intention and its dimensions. The results of the research can be used to create a better understanding of the behavior of senior tourists in Iran and to formulate effective marketing strategies for the emerging market of Iran's senior tourism.

In the challenging world today, with companies increasingly competing together, competition is not possible using old marketing philosophies. With the emergence and development of communication technologies, social networks serve as an important type of tools for effective participation in the field of competition. There is an ongoing debate over the activities of brands and companies in social media. Researchers believe that social media offer a unique opportunity for brands. Our goal in this study is to show how brand acceptability is based on social media and how it influences the elements of a customer-centered model (i. e., the relationships among focal customer and brand, product, company, and other customers) and brand loyalty. The statistical population of this research consisted of the customers of Tejarat Bank in Tehran using social networks. A survey-based empirical study was conducted with 386 respondents sampled through Cochran formula and cluster random sampling method. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for each of the variables was over 0. 7. The results of structural equation modeling showed that brand acceptability established on social media has positive effects on customer/product, customer/brand, customer/company and customer/other customers relationships, which, in turn, have positive effects on brand trust, and trust and commitment have positive effects on brand loyalty. The purpose of this study is to help banks to provide better-quality services using new marketing methods and increase customer loyalty by attracting them and providing their satisfaction at a low cost.

The present study aims to develop a Customer Relationship Management Process Maturity Model based on the specific capabilities of organic products supply chains. Such an approach, being a new theoretical subject, is perfectly fitted to the value chain concept that refers to the generation of values through supply chain stages for the end customer. The data were collected using a questionnaire including 31 items answered by the consumers of organic agricultural products. Then, the obtained data were analyzed through Exploratory Factor Analysis to extract the main factors affecting the customer's purchase decision. Next, the overall capabilities of the supply chain were ranked according to the consumers’ needs in the organic agricultural supply chain using House of Quality Matrix. Then, the maturity levels of CRM sub-processes were defined according to the GSCF framework, and a maturity assessment framework was developed. Finally, the organic agricultural supply chain was evaluated using the proposed model. According to the customer preferences in an organic agricultural supply chain, credibility is the most important factor, followed by quality, accountability and collaboration. Also, maturity assessment using the model showed that the implementation of product / service contracts is most in need for improvement. Therefore, some suggestions on making improvements are proposed by experts.

The purpose of this study is to identify the potential customers to address in direct marketing programs, which has been regarded as one of the most important issues for direct marketers. The most important matter is the customer’ s data set, which is always highly imbalanced. In this study, by combining the random under-sampling and over-sampling of the majority and minority classes that have been used frequently in past studies, we have designed and developed a dynamic and effective algorithm to identify and predict potential customers by clustering customers and extracting more balanced samples. For this purpose, a travel agency database (of over 10, 000 records) has been used. The results indicate that customer's raw data cannot make a reliable prediction. On the other hand, Re-sampling methods using customer clustering and combining of minority and majority classes according to the proposed algorithm dramatically increases the prediction power of the decision tree and can be used in different situations and markets. Finally, by combining the results of the extracted XML codes and "multiple" criterion in each step, we can identify and rank potential customers and target them in an efficient way.

The family plays an important role in decision making, and who plays the most important role in family purchasing decisions depends on the personality, gender, interests and attitudes of the family. So, it is important to accept the perspective of every member of family in decision making. The purpose of this research is to examine the role of family members (parents and children) in purchase decisions. The research is descriptive in terms of method and functional in terms of purpose. The statistical population of the study consisted of all the families living in Shiraz. There were 323 families from ten districts of Shiraz selected through stratified (classified) sampling. The data were collected by means of a questionnaire. Using Kolmogorof, MannWhitney and Kruskal test, the data were analyzed, and, using structural equations, the hypotheses were evaluated. To measure the reliability of the questionnaire, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used, and the results were calculated by the SPSS software. Since Cronbach's alpha was more than 0. 7 for each indicator, the indexes proved to have a good reliability. To evaluate the validity of the questionnaire, the content validity was used. The results showed a positive and significant relationship between the demographic variables and purchase decision making’ s. There was also a significant relationship between the variables of the parents’ characteristics and product type on one hand and family purchase decision making on the other. However, there was no significant relationship between family characteristics and purchase decision making. Therefore, this hypothesis was rejected.