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Purpose: Key performance indicators (KPIs) play a pivotal role in evaluating the level of success of an organization in achieving its business objectives. The objective of the current research is to identify and prioritize effective KPIs in branding products and construction projects, which contribute to the success of construction companies in a competitive environment. Design/methodology/approach: The present research is of an inferential, descriptive and survey nature. In this study, we identified the influential key performance indicators of construction companies in branding products and construction projects for success in a competitive environment through a literature review and expert opinions. The data were collected using a questionnaire, and a combination of the one-sample t-test method with a 95% confidence level and the fuzzy multiple attribute decision-making (FMADM) method was employed for analysis. Findings: The results indicate that the most influential key performance indicators for construction companies in branding products and construction projects for success in a competitive environment are, in order of significance, the following indices: "Marketing and Advertising," "Financial," "Creativity," "Technical and Operational" and "Social and Political." Originality/value: The present research examines the importance of branding construction products and projects for the success of construction companies by improving their business objectives and utilizing key performance indicators throughout the product lifecycle (production and construction). This study provides solutions on how construction companies can increase their competitive advantage through branding and achieve long-term success in the global construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unpredictable natural and man-made disasters highlight importance of humanitarian supply chain (HSC) to serve people and affected areas. The main challenges of applying effective relief operations are creating "swift trust" and "coordination" between aid organizations. Implementation of Industry 4.0 facilitates coordination and swift trust within HSC performance. The study intends to assess the readiness status of swift trust and coordination between stakeholders as well as to recommend the most suitable Industry 4.0 tools for improving relief operations. Firstly, a comprehensive set of critical success factors for implementing Industry 4.0 tools are introduced. The factors are categorized into limited groups using Exploratory Factor Analysis. In the next step, hierarchy fuzzy expert system is designed for assessing the readiness status of swift trust and coordination as well as to suggest the most suitable Industry 4.0 tool for enhancing HSC performance within given case study. The framework was applied for three aid organizations to address the pandemic disease in Iran. The outcome denotes that the organization has the highest readiness in logistic and transparency while information quality received the lowest readiness value. In addition to that, the organization should invest on the development of Industry 4.0 enablers including "Internet of Things and Big Data Analytics". The study extends organizational information process theory within HSC for reaching competitive advantage by information processing. The study suggests theoretical and practical implications by introducing a comprehensive set of critical success factors for implementation of Industry 4.0 and providing practical advice for enhancing HSC performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction In the current educational system, the physical environment is considered less seriously as an educational puzzle. The school, as a component of the neighborhood, will have the possibility of accepting different roles therein and interacting with it due to its potential capacities. In the current educational system of Iran, the school has no interaction with the neighborhood, and these capitals remain unused, while such interaction was established in the traditional architecture of Iran, where the school space was not limited to lessons and discussions but used by the residents of every city and neighborhood on special days and occasions. Since communities are different, their schools are all different; their only common philosophy is to respond to these differences, which are identified with the participation of users and stakeholders. Therefore, the research conducted in other countries is not applicable to Iran. Thus, the present study intends to answer the following main question: what are the architectural requirements for realization of the school as the center of the neighborhood? Theoretical Framework This research is guided by the ecological approach, according to which students’ success is influenced by an interactive process between them and their surroundings on the one hand, and all the components of an ecosystem act as a single whole on the other, where a change in one component can have serious, unpredictable effects on others. In the planning of community schools, therefore, attention should be paid to larger, smaller, and external systems firstly; secondly, one should move from the whole to the parts in order to coordinate them with one another, according to Duerk’s method. The most desirable learning environments will be created with the participation of the educational system hardware (architecture) and software (philosophy of education, learning theories, etc.). To design the architecture of an educational space, therefore, one should start from the educational philosophy, because every educational philosophy considers the physical educational environment in a special way, and the architecture is the result of that philosophy’s view. Although the basic purpose of current school facilities is to provide the students of the community with a sound educational program, the objective of education is not achieved until the school facilities are provided to serve the overall community. Because learning can also happen beyond the school walls, most countries welcome the interaction between the school and the community, so that a learning ecosystem is created, through which all the people and organizations that are involved in the students’ learning can also participate in the school activities. For this reason, the community school or the interaction between the school and the community is explicitly or implicitly mentioned in various parts of the Fundamental Reform Document of Education (FRDE), where it has been stated that the school should function as the educational center of the neighborhood and a place to gain educational experiences. Methodology According to some studies, the learning ecology approach, and the FRDE, the architecture of each period is the product of the philosophy of that period; to design a school, therefore, one must start from its educational philosophy, which is essentially concerned with aligninment of pedagogy and space, and can be referred to as the psychosocial pedagogy of space. This applied research was conducted in the framework of a qualitative approach of document analysis, also using the ecological approach of learning and planning with Durek’s method. Thus, FRDE was first examined to extract the mission, foundations, principles, and relevant goals. The necessary data were then collected through document mining and informal semi-structured interviews with the informants. The informants consisted of 23 teachers who were purposefully selected using the criterion-based snowball sampling strategy with maximum variety to ensure data credibility. The content analysis method was used to analyze the data, and the triangulation and peer debriefing strategies were used to validate the findings. In order to ensure dependability, the data analysis process was described in detail. Results and Discussion After the data were collected using the literature review and interviews, initial coding was performed on them, where 137 initial codes were identified. A number of these codes were removed and combined to reduce them to a final set of 32. Finally, the identified architectural requirements were divided into three themes and nine categories, including the characteristics of the physical environment (functionality, flexibility, diversity, and favorability), satisfaction of user needs (physical and physiological, psychological and social, and participation), and organizational characteristics (cultural and holistic views). Conclusion Although the process adopted in this research (starting from the foundations and principles) is similar to that in the previous studies, there are similarities and differences between the presented and previous architectural requirements since FRDE, forming the foundation of this research, is similar to and different from other frameworks in different respects. According to the source of data collection, these requirements were divided into three groups: those stated only in interviews (due to the influence of the Islamic-Iranian culture and civilization on Iranian architecture), those available only in previous documents (including the needs at the higher levels of Maslow’s Pyramid), and those mentioned in both sources (including the needs at the lower levels of Maslow’s Pyramid). The final aim of school architecture, as the center of the neighborhood, should be to create a suitable physical setting for the realization of various activities to provide and expand justice in all aspects, the most important principle of which is diversity and flexibility in all its dimensions, including architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arthur Millspaugh came to Iran twice as a financial counselor to solve the macroeconomic problems of the country by carrying out reforms in the financial and administrative structures. In his first mission (1301-1306 AH), he was able to achieve relative success and make changes in the financial and tax systems, but in the second mission (1321-1323 AH), according to the supporters and opponents, he was not very successful and finally, she left Iran with frustration and sadness. Many opinions have been raised about the reasons for Millspaugh's failure triggered by his supporters and opponents. The current research tried to investigate the reasons for Millspaugh's failure in reforming Iran's financial affairs in his second mission by relying on documentary and library sources and using a descriptive-analytical method. The results of the research showed that there were traces of truth in the views of both supporters and opponents and various factors, such as Millspaugh's dictatorial ethics, his complete lack of knowledge and understanding of the political, social, and cultural structures of the Iranian society, preference for personal and American interests over the interests of the Iranian nation and government, existence of corruption and disorder in the administrative and economic structures of Iran, instability and discord in the political system of Iran, disruption and obstruction caused by oppositions, critical conditions caused by the World War and the Soviet domination of the northern provinces, and prevention of the transfer of products from these regions to the central parts had an effect on Millspaugh’s failure. Introduction: The occupation of Iran by the Allies in World War II and Reza Shah’s forced resignation created very chaotic conditions. Various political, religious, and tribal groups that were severely suppressed during Reza Shah's time found themselves in an atmosphere to express themselves and revive their lost power and caused hypocrisy and chaos in the society. Dealers and traders took advantage of the situation and caused high prices and inflation in the society by hoarding and smuggling the goods needed by the people. Many government employees, who were unable to support themselves due to the sharp increase in the cost of living, considered the current chaotic conditions and the lack of sufficient supervision as an opportunity to receive bribes and do all kinds of corruption. In such a situation, there was a need for a powerful government and a united and strong parliament that could take control of the situation and save the country from this chaotic condition. However, there was no trace of a strong, coherent, and stable government, nor of independent, knowledgeable, and resourceful representatives in the 13th Parliament. Mohammad Reza Shah did not have the authority and influence of his father to take control of the situation. The Allies, who themselves had caused the current situation by occupying the country, were causing the situation to become more critical by buying and transferring part of Iran's grain to the Soviet Union and using Iran's means of communication and transportation. At one time, they considered the presence of a powerful and tyrannical government in Iran to protect their interests and at another time, they preferred to send an advisor to control the situation; at this time, they chose the second option and recommended it to Iran. The Iranian government, parliament, and king, who had the ability neither to oppose the demands of the allies, nor to solve the country's numerous political, economic, and social problems, took their advice as their goal and hoped to improve the situation by hiring Millspaugh as the head of Finance Sector. During his two-year stay in Iran (1321-1323), Millspaugh took measures to reform financial and administrative affairs, but according to his supporters and opponents, he could not improve the country's situation and the desired economic and financial reforms even by his own implicit admission. Regarding the reasons for Millespo's failure, many critical cases were raised by him and his fans on the one hand and his opponents and critics on the other hand. The current research tried to investigate and verify the reasons for Millspaugh’s failure caused by both parties by relying on the available documents and using an analytical approach. Material & Methods: The current research tried to investigate the reasons for Millspaugh's failure in reforming Iran's financial affairs in his second mission by relying on documentary and library sources and using a descriptive-analytical method. Discussion of Results & Conclusions: In the present study, the reasons for Millspaugh's failure in reforming Iran's financial affairs during the occupation of the country in World War II were investigated and the opinions of two groups of supporters and opponents of Millspaugh were presented and validated. Examination of the available documents showed that there were traces of truth in the views of both groups and various factors, such as the interference and disruption caused by oppositions, negligence of the government and parliament in approving Millspaugh’s proposed bills, existence of corrupt administrative and financial structures in Iran. Soviet disruption and obstruction in the transfer of grains from the north of Iran to the central regions and the lack of funds and sufficient facilities on the one hand and Millspaugh's lack of experience and competence for being in charge of an important job, such as the head of Finance Sector in the country, his lack of full knowledge and understanding of the political and administrative structures in Iran, adoption of inappropriate and sometimes conflicting policies and decisions, his arrogance and self-righteousness in many cases, and preference of personal and American interests over the interests of the nation and government of Iran on the other hand were found to have contributed to his failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government policy responses play a significant role in increasing the resilience of small and medium-sized tourism enterprises during crisis periods. Proper selection and implementation of these policies is one of the major challenges facing tourism policy makers. The aim of this article is to propose a systematic framework for selecting government supportive policies that contribute effectively to resilience improvements of tourism SMEs during the COVID-19 disaster. After reading the international reports of the COVID-19 disaster carefully and using similar research findings in past disasters as the preliminary stage of framework development, a comprehensive list of country-based recovery policy responses as well as the critical success factors (CSFs) of tourism SMEs in the crisis recovery phase was extracted and then finalized in an expert-oriented process. In the next stage, the Z-SWARA was applied to weigh the CSFs. Then, four Z-MADM methods were implemented to rank the alternatives, and finally, the results were compounded with BORDA technique. The results of implementing the proposed framework in Iran's tourism industry show that Disaster management planning capability, as well as Marketing management are the most important CSFs. Also, financial support including direct lending and grants and subsidies to SMEs have been identified as the most effective governments' supportive policies to recover tourism SMEs in the post-disaster phase. Generally, these results have valuable implications for different stakeholders such as policymakers, practitioners and researchers in the tourism industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complicated nature of oil and gas projects demands the deployment of integrated and effective project management methodologies to achieve the project objectives including the scope, cost and timing of the project. However, the availability of alternative methods such as PMI/PMBOK, IPMA, and PRINCE2, high rate of project failure, and limited available resources can make decision making a challenge for project managers. Identification and ranking the most important factors in project management could be done through different methods i.e., MCDM, Regression analyse, or Structural equation modelings depends on the nature of data and the purpose of research. The main purpose of this research is to provide insight to project managers and oil and gas companies on the effect of PMBOK's 10 knowledge areas including Integration Management, Scope Management, Time Management, Cost Management, Quality Management, Human Resource Management, Communication Management, Risk Management, Procurement Management, and Stakeholder Management on critical success factors in oil and gas industry in Iran. PMBOK knowledge areas were measured through the Project Management Planning Quality (PMPQ) survey and the dependent variables which are critical success factors were operationalized through the Project Implementation Profile (PIP) questionnaire. A total of 100 questionnaires were distributed among project managers, senior managers and project experts in oil and gas organizations in Iran and 72 acceptable responses were received and analyzed through structural equation modelling (SEM). The model is statistically significant and accounts for 33.7 % of the variation of CSFs. The SRMR value of the modified model is 0.098 and therefore the model fit is appropriate. The overall positive relationship between the variables is observed. The results of SEM analysis indicated that the scope management is the most effective knowledge area with the weight equals to 0.855 followed by communication management and risk management with the weights equal to 0.818 and 0.756 respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides a survey of the development of Manichaean studies over the past 450 years. Since the last few decades in particular, one may speak of "Manichaeology" as a new and rapidly developing new discipline of the human sciences. This survey and critical assessment aims to introduce into the discipline, at the same time stressing the recurrent discussion about the importance of Iranian and/or (Jewish-)Christian elements as the core of Mani's message that became a unique Gnostic world religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the public policy's success is every government concern, some policies are usually more successful than others. However, the policy's success must be evaluated in each country's national context and a public policy domain. The study aims to identify factors contributing to the policy success of Iranian higher education. This study's findings show that the policy content and using the appropriate approach to formulate policies are the critical causes of policy success; also, providing the proper context to policy implementation, developing policies with considering the capacities and constraints of this area and establishing evaluation system to create opportunities for learning and possible changes can play the significant role in HE's policy success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying the factors affecting the success of academic information management and evaluation centers is one of the most important studies on how its results can increase the productivity of these centers. This research attempts to investigate the effect of five critical success factors for three centers of academic information management and evaluation in Iran as a developing country. These centers play a key role in the management and evaluation of theses, research projects, papers, and patents nationally. Semi-structured interviews, studies of literature, and providing questionnaires have been used to collect the material for the research. The research population was selected using purposive sampling and consists of managers and all the employees in the three centers who had at least a master's degree. Their viewpoints were surveyed and the data was analyzed using ANOVA, Scheffe, and Pearson's correlation test. The findings affirm that "management stability" makes it possible to perform long-term plans in these centers. However, "independency" acts as a factor to strike the balance between responsibilities and authorities, "manager's speciality" improves the plans and performances in a specific and professional way, "information technology" reduces the expenses and facilitates the presentation of faster services, and finally "distance from authorities" influences the speed of reporting and providing facilities. The results show each of these five factors, not only independently but also together and as a whole, affects the success of these kinds of centers. Moreover, while confirming the correlation between these factors, it was revealed which of these factors has a greater impact on their success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak strengthened the critical manifestation of the rapid development vs. survival for pharmaceutical companies, deploying strategic conduct worldwide. This study therefore explores the endogenous relationship among pharmaceutical companies' manufacturing strategy and their performance indicators within the ambit of creating a long-lasting competitive advantage in turbulent times. Very often, it is not possible to launch a cause-effect relationship between performance and their drivers. To achieve this end, multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques are employed in a hybrid fashion in this study. The notion has simultaneously ranked critical success factors (CSFs) in the manufacturing strategy and performance indicators in the limelight of managerial perceptions, while controlling the inherent bias concerning the causality direction in the ambit of these two entrenched concepts. A case study on the Iranian pharmaceutical companies is piloted to demonstrate this hybrid-fashion multifarious approach. Overall, the results revealed the most pertinent CSFs that reached superior-performance echelons in the Islamic Republic of Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this research paper to provide a theoretical framework on critical success factors for CRM implementation in the Iranian banking sector. Iran has one of the largest and most representative Islamic banking systems in the world. The banking system is a changing environment and CRM can be an optimal solution for managing change. Generally, banks are interested in increasing their competitiveness, performance and profitability, but also to minimize their costs by implementing CRM practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the emerging drivers of the economy that transforms the business landscape and forms of collaboration and value creation. In this study, we performed a Delphi-based study to explore the digital business ecosystem (DBE) of IoT in emerging economies, focusing on power dynamics among actors, the processes of value co-creation, topologies, and critical success factors affecting the health of the ecosystem. We conducted two panels of a three-round Delphi study from 2017 through 2019 among Iranian IoT experts. This study identifies two types of the digital business ecosystems surrounding IoT in Iran. One type comprises only pseudo-private companies that have strong interactions with government organizations and state-owned banks. The other type of digital business ecosystem surrounding IoT technology comprises start-ups and private small and medium companies that have no interaction with pseudo-private companies. The interaction of start-ups and Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is mainly with universities. The study shows that pseudo-private companies play a dominant role in the Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Government (B2G) markets while SMEs and start-ups have a dominant role in the B2C market and promote creativity and innovation in the Business to Customer (B2C) market. This study extends the literature on digital business ecosystems with a focus on the health of the DBEs of IoT technologies and the potential for future innovation in the digital economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of trust, privacy, service quality and customer satisfaction on the success of electronic customer relationship management (E-CRM) systems. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, a new model for determining the critical factors in the success of E-CRM systems is presented. The suggested model is verified using partial least squares with structural equation modeling. A questionnaire is designed and collected from 378 taxpayers in East Azerbaijan province of Iran. Findings: The outcomes reveal that customer satisfaction is significantly influenced by the perceived quality of service. Customer satisfaction, in turn, is significantly impacted by the trust. Therefore, the quality of service, trust and privacy, through customer satisfaction, significantly affects the success of E-CRM systems. Research limitations/implications: The main limitation can be referred to the clients that would not cooperate well as they were avoiding to give much information about the financial issue. Also, the study was conducted only in the context of Iran and a limit sample was utilized. Practical implications: The research results help service providers improve E-CRM. Originality/value: This study sheds light on identifying the antecedents of trust, privacy and quality of service that affect customer satisfaction; it may contribute to the theoretical framework for customer satisfaction in the context of the E-CRM. The results of the research offer practical implications for marketing managers and practitioners who prepare strategic plans and implement tools to improve the productivity or performance of the E-CRM systems. Moreover, customer satisfaction is related to the success of E-CRM systems as a result of trust, privacy and service quality. This research offers new insights into E-CRM intentions from a taxpayer in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to assess and prioritize manufacturing companies in the healthcare industry based on critical success factors (CSFs) of their reverse logistics (RL). The research involves seven medical device companies located in the Tehran Province, Iran. Design/methodology/approach: To identify and prioritize companies based on CSFs of RL, the study proposes a three-phase decision-making framework that integrates the Delphi method, the best-worst method (BWM) and the Additive Ratio Assessment (ARAS) method with Z-numbers. The weights required for this method are obtained by a variant of the BWM based on Z-numbers, denoted as Z-numbers Best-Worst Method, or ZBWM. Since decision-makers face an uncertain environment, Z-numbers, which are a kind of fuzzy numbers, are applied. Findings: First, after customizing CSFs by the Delphi method and obtaining 15 CSFs of RL, these are ranked by the hybrid BWM-ARAS method with Z-numbers. Results reveal which company appears to perform best with respect to their RL implementations. Based on this result, healthcare device companies should choose the highest priority company based on the selected RL CSFs and results from using the BWM-ARAS method with Z-numbers. Originality/value: The contribution of this paper is using a hybrid ARAS-BWM method based on Z-numbers. Each of these methods has some merits compared to other similar methods. The combination of these methods contributes a new approach for prioritizing companies based on RL CSFs with high accuracy and reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a gradual paradigm shift from fossil fuels to clean and renewable energies, many countries seek to make use of these energies in their pursuit of sustainable development. Given the importance of sustainable development, use and expansion of renewable energy sector in developing countries such as Iran, this study identified the critical factors of success and failure in sustainable development of this sector. The effective factors were positioned in a business model canvas. After model validation, factors were partitioned into different levels, the relationships between model dimensions were investigated by interpretive structural modeling and fuzzy cognitive mapping, and finally, the scenarios of development of solar energy sector were analyzed. This study was a survey research based on questionnaires and interviews. The surveyed population consisted of experts in the field of renewable energies in Iran. After positioning the factors in the business model canvas, they were divided into two groups, influenced factors and influencing factors. The scenario analyzed based on the outputs of the software FCMapper indicate that the ability of the renewable energy sector to grow and reach stable revenues depends on due attention to customer segments, establishing strong relationships with targeted customer, and the supportive actions of the government. • The road map of renewable energies in Iran are formulated. • Key factors of development of renewable energies are presented in form of BMC. • A comprehensive and dynamic interactive model of business canvas is presented. • The scenario that leads to earnings flows is built. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Public-Private Partnership (PPP) has been promoted as an alternative procurement method to provide public services. In recent years, several studies have been carried out in order to identify and assess the critical success factors (CSFs) of PPP projects. However, the interrelation between success criteria (SC) and CSFs in PPP projects has not received attention from researchers. To fill this gap, this paper intended to evaluate the effects of CSFs on the success of PPP projects using PLS-SEM. To this end, SC were monitored throughout construction, operation, and final transfer stages, whereas CSFs were taken into account during the procurement stage of the PPP project. Then, based on an opinion survey in Iran, the effects of CSFs on the success of PPP projects were evaluated based on the developed PLS-SEM model. Moreover, in order to validate the proposed model, two national highway projects in Iran were studied in detail. The results confirmed the effect of CSF on project success and showed that private sector capability has a direct effect on project success during the construction period and government capability is very effective during the project operation stage. In addition, investigating the case studies with respect to the introduced model indicated that a transparent bidding process, risk allocation, and good partnering are among the CSFs in PPP projects in developing countries. Highlights • The interrelation between success criteria (SC) and critical success factors (CSFs) in PPP highway projects is investigated. • This study develops a CSFs-SC framework using PLS-SEM. • The proposed model is validated by two case study of PPP highway projects in Iran. • "Transparent bidding process", "risk allocation", and "good partnering" are major CSFs in PPP highway projects. • "Government capability" is very effective throughout project operation stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the obstacles and challenges of talent management as well as its success factors in Iranian automotive industries.Design/methodology/approach This research is a kind of discoverer research done by qualitative approach. The methodology to data collection was interview and research sample was 15 manager in automotive industries. Data analysis was carried out by the coding method, and concepts, minor and major contexts were extracted and lastly the conceptual framework was formed.Findings Based on the findings of the research, framework of obstacles and challenges in talent management was classified into four categories that are structural challenges and barriers, environmental challenges and barriers, behavioral challenges and barriers and lastly managerial challenges and barriers. In addition, the framework of talent management success factors were categorized into three main sections that are structural success factors, environmental success factors and finally managerial success factors.Originality/value Problem finding of talent management in automotive industry and identifying obstacles, challenges and success factors in talent management with qualitative approach through interviews with experts from the Iranian industries is the research value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A review of published studies on risk management in developing countries reveals that critical success factors for implementing risk management has remained an under-researched area of investigation. This paper is aimed at investigating the perceptions of construction professionals concerning the critical success factors (CSFs) for implementation of risk management systems (IRMS). Survey data was collected from 87 construction professionals from the Iranian construction industry as a developing country. The results indicate that four factors are regarded as highly critical: 'support from managers', 'inclusion of risk management in construction education and training courses for construction practitioners', 'attempting to deliver projects systematically', and 'awareness and knowledge of the process for implementing risk management'. Assessing the associations among CSFs also highlighted the crucial role of enhancing the effectiveness of knowledge management practices in construction organisations. Study also revealed that parties involved in projects do not agree on the level of importance of CSFs for implementing risk management in developing countries. This study contributes to practice and research in several ways. For practice, it increases understanding of how closely knowledge management is associated with the implementation of risk management systems in developing countries. For research, the findings would encourage construction practitioners to support effective knowledge management as a precursor to higher levels of risk management implementation on construction projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, many organizations adopt Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) best practices to enhance their IT service related processes. Although many organizations have adopted ITSM frameworks such as Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), not all have been successful. Keeping this in mind, this paper seeks to identify Critical Success Factors (CSFs) that impact on successful implementation of ITSMframeworks with a focus on ITIL in Iranian organizations as a case of a developing country. Hence, based on a mixed method, atfirst, with the semi-structured interviews and literature review, 22 success factors were identified. Following that, a questionnaire was developed and sent out to domain experts. Next, robust Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was runfor analyzing data and establishing construct validity which finally classified critical success factors into five groups named as " organizational", "human resources", "project management", "managerial'' and "process". The findings of this study have provided a very useful reference for IT standardization scholars and practitioners to identify the important issues of ITSM frameworks implementation projects in their research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) plays an important role in today's enterprise management and is beginning to be the backbone of organizations and started working on the next-phase in the enterprise system life-cycle, referred to as ERPII . Implementation of ERPII projects takes a considerable time and resources from the organization. Therefore, it is essential that critical success factors (CSFs) of ERPII implementation are identified and Prioritized. According to what was said, the main purpose of this paper is: Identification and Prioritization of CSFs in the ERPII implementation in Iran. According to this objective, The authors initially use a related topic of CSFs in ERPII systems implementation, which aims at identifying and investigating factors that result in more successful ERPII systems implementation that generate higher levels of value for organizations. Then this factors will be prioritized by Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Islamic banking, as a major center for financial transactions in Islamic societies, plays a key role in the development of Islamic economics. The fundamental essence of Islamic banking system is based on the fact that although, Islam has forbidden the interest in transactions, but trade and profit is encouraged and supported. The actual implementation of the Islamic banking system due to its unique features can be the source of many benefits and advantages for Islamic countries; and it is more significant when we recognize that the banking sector is the largest body of Iranian service sector of economy. However, a significant proportion of the banking system has been Islamized in Iran. Therefore, this study seeks to use empirical evidence to conceptualize and examine the critical success factors for the implementation of Islamic banking system in the banking sector of Iran. To achieve this purpose using mixed method approach, the research framework has been designed and examined. The required data in the qualitative part of the study were collected after detailed literature review and research background - through in-depth interviews with banking executives and academic experts; then the quantitative part of the study for framework examination was conducted using survey. Based on this study's findings, the fitted model of critical success factors (CSFs) for successful implementation of Islamic banking in the banking sector of Iran is proposed. Finally, both applied and theoretical recommendations and directions are shown in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Given the ever-increasing importance and value of information, providing the management with a reliable information system, which can facilitate decision-making regarding planning, organization and control, is vitally important. This study aimed to analyze and evaluate the information needs of medical equipment offices. Methods: This descriptive applied cross-sectional study was carried out in 2010. The population of the study included the managers of statistic and medical records at the offices of vice-chancellor for treatment in 39 medical universities in Iran. Data were collected by using structured questioners. With regard to different kinds of designing information systems, sampling was done by two methods, BSP (based on processes of job description) and CSF method (based on critical success factors). The data were analyzed by SPSS-16. Results: Our study showed that 41% of information needs were found to be critical success factors of managers of office. The first priority of managers was "the number of bed and bed occupancy in hospitals". Of 29 identified information needs, 62% were initial information needs of managers (from the viewpoints of managers). Of all, 4% of the information needs were obtained through the form, 14% through both the form and database, 11% through the web site, and 71% had no sources (forms, databases, web site). Conclusion: Since 71% of the information needs of medical equipment offices managers had no information sources, the development of information system in these offices seems to be necessary. Despite the important role of users in designing the information systems (identifying 62% of information needs), other scientific methods is also needed to be utilized in designing the information systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this paper is on selecting suppliers in the Oil and Gas (O&G) industry by developing a comprehensive approach for Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) based on alternative methods capable of assessing different aspects of supplier selection uncertainty in terms of utility functions and criteria related to efficiency. The O&G industry has a key role in the public sector of various countries such as Iran with its revenues being of prime importance to develop infrastructure facilities such as for healthcare, education, and transportation. This comprehensive approach walks through various stages for selecting Critical Success Factors (CSFs), ranking suppliers, and for setting partial weighting alternatives. While CSFs are selected using a traditional Delphi approach, the partial supplier rankings are defined based on Complex Proportional Assessment (COPRAS) utility functions together with criteria weights derived from Step-wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) for each CSF. As it concerns information reliability of utility and efficiency functions of both methods obtained via expert preferences or perceptions, Z-numbers are used to address the intrinsic fuzziness level inherent to each analytical stage. Iran's economy depends on revenues from oil and other related production, which means that by earning more income from this industry, most of its economic indicators such as GDP and employment rate should increase significantly, thus leading to economic growth. Various countries put plans in place related to production for increasing their social economics. One of these plans is focused on suppliers since they have a high impact on providing essential items such as equipment, HR, and transportation, so by choosing the best suppliers in all fields, costs will decrease and consequently revenue will increase. This research points out how to rank O&G industry suppliers using MCDA methods in an uncertain environment. An example based on actual data from an Iranian O&G company is provided to show the applicability of the approach proposed. Results suggest that the complexity of O&G operations on selecting suppliers can be adequately handled by information reliability techniques applied to traditional economic concepts such as utility- and efficiency-related factors, particularly in business environments characterized by a trade embargo. • The paper focuses on selecting O&G suppliers using a comprehensive MCDM. • Alternative ranks are defined by COPRAS and criteria weights are defined by SWARA. • Z-numbers are used to address the intrinsic reliability level of each analytical stage. • Results suggest that information reliability of alternative suppliers and weights can represent complex environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The main purpose of this paper is to identify the critical success factors of corporate social responsibility (CSR). By illustrating the CSFs of CSR implementation, policy- and decision-makers can handle the business at a higher level of effectiveness and efficiency and will achieve sustainable development in a turbulent business environment. To achieve this purpose and to identify the CSFs of CSR implementation, evidence from the banking sector of Iran will be gathered. By using the experts in this field, the CSFs identified will be validated and then ranked.Design/methodology/approach – To achieve this purpose and to identify the CSFs of CSR implementation, evidence from the banking sector in Iran will be gathered. By using the experts in this field, the CSFs identified will be validated and then ranked. This research, implemented in the banking sector, is an innovative study that can contribute valuable insights for both academicians and professionals in the field. In the final section of this work, applied and theoretical recommendations will be presented.Findings – In this research the critical success factors for CSR implementation are identified and presented. For gathering data and sampling, the banking sector of Iran was selected as the case study of this research. Based on the viewpoint of the experts of this research, 23 CSFs for CSR implementation were identified and then the importance of these CSFs was determined. This is an innovative study in the field of CSR in the banking sector that presents a new category for critical success factors for CSR implementation. All the identified CSFs are categorized into the five main sections of the organizational functional areas. These functional areas include financial, marketing, environmental, strategic and human resources.Originality/value – This study first provides a framework for CSR implementation in the banking sector. Also the main CSFs are identified and ranked. By means of the results of this study, decision makers in the field will be more familiar with CSR and can make higher decisions for the chief departments of the organization. Finally academicians in the field can use the framework of this research and develop CSR for other organizations and sectors of business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs) is a complex and costly process, which usually results in serious failures. The majority of previous studies and research projects have been conducted in identifying ERP Critical Success Factors (CSFs) rather than Critical Failure Factors (CFFs). On the other hand, most studies have been devoted to developed countries, while in developing countries, many companies have moved towards using such systems. The majority of IT/IS management standards and guidelines have been developed by technologically-leading countries. But developing countries, which mostly confront with especial challenges, have a different condition from the implicit assumptions of leading countries. Iran is one of these countries that many of its ERP implementation projects led to failure. There is no comprehensive study that identifies ERP CFFs in Iranian industries. The main purpose of this study is to identify such factors and classify them to help other industries, consultants and implementers to prevent failures in the implementation of ERP projects. So, at first, with the semi structured interviews and literature reviews, 47 failure factors were identified. After that a questionnaire developed and sent to ERP project team members in Iranian industries that failed in their ERP projects. Robust Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) has been used for data analysis, which finally classified critical failure factors in seven groups named as vendor and consultant, human resources, managerial, project management, processes, organizational and technical. The results of this study have provided a very useful reference for scholars and managers to identify the relevant issues of ERP projects failure in developing countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Information system success has been widely discussed in the past two decades. As systems and technologies are being improved and developed, discussions on their effectiveness and evaluation on their success have been continuously debated by researchers, scholars and practitioners throughout the years. Besides the major concern of IS effectiveness, factors influencing IS effectiveness are also important. One of these factors is the organizational factor. Using perceptual measures, this study aims to investigate the influence of organizational factors on MIS success. Survey questionnaires were gathered from 132 Extension Managers from Iran's Agricultural Extension Providers. Seven items were identified to influence MIS success. They are IS department structure, top management support, management style, managerial IT knowledge, goal alignment, resources allocation and IS infrastructure. The study also identified five MIS success dimensions; systems quality, information quality, perceived Ease of use, organizational impact and individual impact. The study found that the MIS success variables are significantly and highly correlated. The study also found all the organizational factors are significantly correlated to the five IS success factors investigated; the system quality, information quality, perceived ease of use, organizational impact and individual impact. Multiple regression analyses also found goal alignment as the highest predictor of IS success, followed by IS department structure, IS infrastructure and management style. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]