Web services have become quite popular over the last few years as they allow easier development and integration of business applications. In this paper, we consider a web service pricing problem where two providers compete through dynamic pricing. Each provider offers access to a web service with different quality classes where users may buy their required web service through a reservation system. They would like to adjust the prices of their web services over a pre-specified time horizon to manage demand and to maximize profit. Users have the right with no obligation to cancel their services as long as they pay a penalty. We consider a dynamic setting where the web service classes share a capacity. We first develop a time continuous model for competitive pricing of a web service and then we provide some insights about the equilibrium condition of the problem using open-loop differential game and propose an algorithm to obtain the optimal pricing policy for providers. Moreover, we conduct numerical analyses to examine the impacts of some parameters on control and state variables.

This paper presents a study to measure the effects of return on investment, sales growth rate, volatility investment, cash flow and structure of institutional shareholders on the ratio of debt to equities. The study selects 102 firms listed on Tehran Stock Exchange and, using regression technique with Panel data, examines five different hypotheses over the period 2008-2012. The results indicate that there was a negative and meaningful relationship between return of investment and the ratio of debt to equities and a positive and meaningful relationship between sales growth and the ratio of debt to equities. Moreover, there were positive and meaningful relationships between volatility of investment as well as cash flow and the ratio of debt to equities. Finally, the survey has indicated that there was a negative and meaningful relationship between the structure of institutional shareholders and the ratio of debt to equities.

This paper presents a study to measure the effects of culture and strategic orientation on service innovation capabilities on selected banks in province of Alborz, Iran. The survey uses a questionnaire consists of 40 questions where 5 questions are associated with service innovation, 11 questions are related to strategic orientation and 24 questions measures organizational culture. Cronbach alpha for service innovation capabilities, strategic orientation and organizational culture were 0.73, 0.84 and 0.91, respectively. Using structural equation modeling as well as regression technique, the study has determined that organizational culture influences positively on structural orientation (B = 0.6, t-value = 13.56), organizational culture influences positively on service innovation capability (B = 0.43, t-value = 8.73) and finally structural orientation influences positively on service innovation capability (B = 0.35, t-value = 7.22).

Liquidity of the stock exchanges plays essential role on investment decisions and it is one of the factors that may influence on stock price. The easier one can buy/sell shares of a firm, the higher liquidity the firm has. In fact, lack of liquidity may lead investors to sell their assets at cheaper prices and it could influence negatively on overall market. The primary objective of this paper is to study the effect of stock liquidity on the risk of falling stock prices. The study chooses historical information of 70 selected firms listed on Tehran Stock Exchange over the period 2006-2012. The results of this survey have indicated that there was a negative and meaningful relationship between stock liquidity and stock price decline.

The aim of this study is to learn the effects of the value at risk (VaR) and the index of 30 largest companies (TEFIX 30) on the index of 30 large firms’ prices listed on Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). This research study is based on analysis of libraries and analytical panel data and proposes a regression function where the index of 30 large companies’ prices is a linear function of VaR and TEFIX 30. The study collects the information of 90 publicly traded TSE firms over the period 2011-2013. The results have indicated that while the index of 30 large companies’ prices had a meaningful relationship with VaR but it had no meaningful relationship with TEFIX 30.

This study presents an empirical investigation to study the post-war tourism in sought west region of Iran. This region is the host of many Iranian who wish remember the events of War between Iran and Iraq. Many high school or university students travel to the region through cultural as well as religious communities. This paper tries to analyze the challenges facing these people when they travel to province of Khozestan, Iran. The study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale and distributes it among some randomly selected people who visited the region. The implementation of Pearson correlation test has determined that “Weakness of tourism infrastructure facilities and services” is to be blamed the most followed by “Underdevelopment of decision making centers”. Moreover, path analysis has been implemented to detect direct and indirect effects of different factors on development of tourism in the region. In our survey, marketing, culture and weakness in infrastructures have been determined the most important factors influencing on development of the region.

Banking industry has significant contribution in development of economies of developing countries. Most banks execute their operations through different branches. Therefore it is important to measure the relative efficiencies of these branches. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is one of the most useful tools in measuring banks’ performance. The present paper aims to extract ranking pattern of banks based on performance evaluation using DEA analysis. In the present research, 120 bank branches of Bank Shahr in city of Tehran were selected and their efficiencies were evaluated using DEA technique. The results are discussed and compared with similar studies.

The primary objective of this paper is to study the present status of organizational adaptability in Iranian broadcasting system against environmental changes and present possible suggestions to empower the organization to cope with future changes. The study uses the method developed by Denison (1990) [Denison, D. R. (1990). Corporate culture and organizational effectiveness. John Wiley & Sons.] to study the organizational changes. Using a sample of 354 randomly selected employees who worked for this organization, the study has determined that the level of organizational adaptability was less than desirable level and the firm needs to make necessary actions to better cope with environmental change.

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the performance of Kiasar cement factory based on EFQM model. The study performs a survey among 26 managers and expertise and the required information is gathered in terms of five perspectives based on 23 questions arranged in Likert spectrum. Cronbakh’s ? coefficient for enabling and results criteria are 0.924 and 0.950, respectively, which confirms the reliability of the questionnaire. In evaluating the data, it is revealed that employees’ scale, maintained the most difference (70.61%) and processes scale, retained the least difference (52.42%) from the ideal circumstances. Next, employees’ performance has maintained the most difference (90.79%) and customer performance, and the customer results’ scale have kept the least difference (58.27%) from the ideal situation. Kiasar cement factory has acquired 198.06 points out of 500 points of empowering scale and 164.08 points out of 500 total points of result scales. Also empowerment scales in Kiasar cement factory have acquired 39.61% of optimal score and differs from ideal circumstances around 60.39%. The results scales has acquired 32.82% of optimal score and approximately is different from ideal situation around 67.18%. The research results show that Kiasar cement factory has acquired 361.9 points out of 500 scores of EFQM.

Measuring customer satisfaction in banking industry plays essential role for increasing market share and profitability. In this paper, we present an empirical investigation to measure the effect of customer relationship management (CRM) on customer loyalty in Iranian banking industry. The study aims to understand whether implementation of a good CRM could increase the quality of services. The study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale and distributes it among 65 selected customers who do their banking activities with Bank Melli Iran in city of Semnan, Iran. Cronbach alpha has been calculated as 0.939, which is well above desirable level. Using t-student test, the study has determined that implementation of CRM could increase customer loyalty and quality of services.