Management Research in Iran
Year:2012 | Volume:16 | Issue:3 (76)|Papers Count:10

The contribution of the service sector in the global economy is rising nowadays, and organizations are the key elements of this economical sector. The customer-orientation and attempting to enhance the performance are fundamental role-players in the organizations success and effectiveness. The present study assesses the organizational effectiveness by using the structural equation modeling (SEM) statistical approach. As the main dependent variable, the organizational effectiveness been considered as a function of customer satisfaction and objectives attainment scales. Data were gathered from two customers population and managers population of the public banks of Dezfoul township, using two separate questionnaires. Based on the SEM approach, the 5 and 4 sub-scales of the customer satisfaction and objectives attainment scales were considered as observed variables. The same scales and the main dependent variable, effectiveness, were also defined as unobserved or latent variables and their interrelationship was then analysed through constructing a second-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model. The Results confirmed the fitness and validity of both measurement models for customer satisfaction and objectives attainment scales as well as the second-order CFA for assessment of effectiveness, based on the gathered data. The precedence of the magnitude and significance of direct and indirect effects of the customer satisfaction and its sub-scales were compared to the objectives attainment and its sub-scales on the organizational effectiveness was another part of the results.

One of the important steps to quality improvement of activities and increasing productivity in manufacturing systems is noticing and emphasizing on evaluation of the factors that may cause to personnel’s efficiency reduction. Correct and timely recognition of factors that reduce personnel’s efficiency, especially managers, meets to efficiency improvement. One of the major reasons of managers' efficiency reduction is dawdle.In this. paper, using descriptive statistics, Factor Analysis method and DEMATEL technique have been purposed as a novel model to analyzing existent similarities and diversities between the opinions of different groups' managers. of one company about the reasons of dawdle, specifying and classifying most important areas that need improvement, and specifying cause-and-effect relation between them. The findings of this model showed that the most effective factor of dawdle as well as the managers' efficiency reduction in office is very much visits and sessions with very little results, and the least effective factor is being inordinate social. Also most causal factors are job incentive shortage, expert personnel shortage, mistake or incomplete information, and self-assurance shortage.

The use of system dynamics modeling in supply chain management has only recently re-emerged after a lengthy slack period. The propose of this proper is to use knowledge and techniques in implementation based on recent research. At first, we give an overview of supply chain management and system dynamics and then present a taxonomy of research and development in system dynamics modeling in supply chain management. This research focuses on a supply chain as a case study, which produces and distributes healthy products and its main company is Darugar. System dynamics techniques was used know effective variables in our supply chain and understand how to improve its performance. For this purpose, a simulation model design was applied by explaining dynamic hypothesis and then by creating casual loops, stock & flow diagrams and mathematical formulation. The model was tested by famous dynamics and statistical techniques. Then the causes of supply chain's behavior were investigated by sensitivity analyses. When we understood the main factors and their interactions completely, three policies were suggested according to supply chain indexes to improve its performance: missed sale reduction, inventory reduction and correct information receive; all of which caused improvement in the indexes introduced in this research, What we achieved of this research was our ability of predicting results before any changes in the parameters, relationships or structure of the supply chain, and this is of great importance due to its high degree of complicity.

Today, regarding competition condition and focusing of organizations on their main activities, they prefer to outsource their processes more than any other time. So one of the managers' dilemma is evaluation and control of the activities, which are outsourced. Supplier selection plays an important role in organization achievement. Supplier selection and evaluation is a multi-criteria problem. Since, in the past, relation between criteria and sub-criteria has been less considered, this paper porposes a model based on criteria and sub-criteria interrelationship. In the first step, utilizing ISM method, relations between criteria were extracted. Then based on FANP method and criteria relationship, the weights of criteria and sub-criteria were computed. Finally, through the performance of suppliers evaluated by experts and applying non-additive fuzzy integral method, each supplier was ranked.

Today with growing environmental complexity and dynamism, decision making organizations are forced to consider several issues. Success in issues like evaluating several alternatives and selecting the best depends on full recognition of both criteria and elternatives, While efficient soft operation researchs methods like MADM have been developed in order to evaluate alternatives, less attention is focused on soft modeling in order to recognize variables and criteria. Cognitive mapping is a new method in management science that could meet this need very well. In addition to providing factor identification, by using algebraic relations, fuzzy cognitive mapping enabels decision makers to identify cusual relations and their relative strength. It further provides a model including main decision issues and their relations. In this study, we used cognitive mapping to provide the map of Iranian Statistical Center's operations and then provided a model for performance-based budgeting, For this purpose, we identified the continuum of inputs, processes, outputs and outcomes as well as the process wear ranked by calculating their ndirect effect on different outcomes.

The purpose of this research is to design a fuzzy inference system through the most significant influential factors and indicators on evaluating the success of ERP implementation. The intention has been to provide a comprehensive set of practical indicators in order to evaluate and improve the success of implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) system through deeply exploring the broad literature, and also to identify the most significance factors and indicators of ERP implmenetation. Through evaluating the identified indicators by domain experts, the most influential indicators have been used in designing the fuzzy inference system for evaluating the success of ERP implementation. Using this approach, the fuzzy system was designed so as to evaluate the success of implementing ERP system. The findings included the identification of the most influential indicators on the success of ERP system implementation as well as to design a fuzzy inference system to evaluate the success rate of enterprise resource planning system in organizations. Following the creation of the fuzzy inference system, organizations could measure their success in implementing enterprise resource planning system and, thereby, reduce their probability of failure in implementing ERP system.

The current study attempted to investigate the effect of organizational culture in knowledge management and its relationship with breeding knowledge workers in governmental organizations. For this purpose, we used general knowledge and Hals models to survey KM. Two types of questionnaire were used to collect data. The statistical population included all the staff of public organizations in west Azerbaijan Province. The public organizations selected as sample units were: Commercial, Housing and Urban Development, Finance and Industry and Mines. The results showed that organizational culture has effect on knowledge management aspects, especially on the use of knowledge. Also this study offers to educate knowledge workers in governmental organizations; they require to consider the storage and distribution of knowledge in the upper limit.

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is an approach to measuring the relative efficiency of a set of decision making units (DMUs) with multiple inputs and multiple outputs using mathematical programming. The traditional DEA, which is based: on the concept of efficiency frontier (output frontier), determines the, best efficiency score that can be assigned to each DMD. Based on these-scores, DMUs are classified into DEA-efficient (optimistic efficient) or DEA non-efficient (optimistic non-efficient) units, and the DEA-efficioot DMUs determine the efficiency frontier. There is a comparable approach, which uses the concept of inefficiency frontier (input frontier) for determining the worst relative efficiency score that can be assigned to each DMU. DMUs on the inefficiency frontier are specified as DEA-inefficient: or pessimistic inefficient, and those DMUs that do not lie on the inefficient froatier are declared to be DEA-non-inefficient or pessimistic non-inefficient. In-this paper, we argue that both relative efficiencies should be considered' simultaneously, and any approach that considers only one of them will tie biased. For measuring the overall performance of the DMUs, we propose. to integrate both efficiencies in the form of an interval, and we call the proposed DEA models for efficiency measurement the bounded DEA models, In this way, the efficiency interval provides the decision maker with all the possible values of efficiency, which reflect various perspectives. A numeric example about Iranian gas companies will be evaluated using the DEA approach' with efficient and inefficient frontiers to show its convenience and-usefulness.

This study is an attempt to setup an Information Technology Strategy for Iran. universities. To this end, Attractiveness-Capability Model has been adopted and adapted to serve the purpose. The first step includes the review of the related literature in which some of the universities’ Information Technology Strategies from different countries such as U.S.A. Canada, etc. were studied, and branches of Information Technology along with the capability and attractiveness factors were exctracted from these documents. Next these branches of Information Technology and the capability and attractiveness factors constituted the questionnaire, which was consulted with a group of experts to check the content and face validity along with its reliability. Then all the questionnaires were sent to the participants and the average of scores given to the questionnaire was regulated by the AHP method. All the data were entered to the Attractiveness-Capability Matrix in which Computer Games was found in Scanning zone while Virtual Laboratories was in Foreign Cooperation. The other seven branches including: Distance learning, Electronic content, Portal, Digital library, Student service, Central database and Management information systems were located in the Internal Development.

Internal branding is a new concept that refers to employees' effects in creating better image of brand in customers' mind. In order to surveying the effect of internal branding in brand citizenship behavior (BCB) in hotel industry, and also presenting an internalized scale for internal branding, four and five stars hotels located in Tehran were studied in a model research. By the way of cluster sampling, Sample of 240 hotel customer interface employees' were selected, and questionnaires with five point Linker’s scale were distributed. 122 out of 136 returned questionnaires were usable (return rate of 56%). Content validity was determined as suitable by the approval of marketing experts and hotel indusry professionals' and AVE method. Cronbach’ s Alpha and CR showed a great reliability for the questionnaire. Conceptual model testing was conducted through partial least square method and correlation test with SMART PLS software V. 1.5. The results showed that internal branding has positive relationship with both brand identification (t= 9.537,  b=0.563) and brand commitment (t= 2.430, b=0.192); brand identification has positive relationship with BCB (t= 5.540, b=0.550) and brand commitment (t= 9.141, b=0.718); brand commitment has positive relationship with brand loyality (t= 11.571, b=0.706); and finally, brand loyalty has positive relationship with BCB (t= 2.555, b=O.295). Correlation test confirmed these results.