Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has been one of the most important tools on measuring the relative efficiency of different similar units such as transportation systems using terminals, airports, etc. In this study, we perform an empirical analysis on Iranian airports based on DEA methods to measure the efficiencies of various airports. One of the primary issues on many traditional DEA methods is that the data are almost always contaminated with noise. We use a DEA method which could handle the uncertainty associated with input and output data. The results of this comprehensive study show that most of the active airlines are practically inefficient and the government could significantly increase the efficiencies of the airports by setting new regulations and rules.

Designing distribution centers is normally formulated in a form of set covering where is primary objective is to minimize the number of connected facilities. However, there are other issues affecting our decision on selecting suitable distribution centers such as weather conditions, temperature, infrastructure facilities, etc. In this paper, we propose a multi-objective set covering techniques where different objectives are considered in an integrated model. The proposed model of this paper is implemented for a real-world case study of truck-industry and the results are analyzed.

When a production facility is designed, there are various parameters affecting the number machines such as production capacity and reliability. It is often a tedious task to optimize different objectives, simultaneously. The other issue is the uncertainty in many design parameters which makes it difficult to reach a desirable solution. In this paper, we present a new mathematical model with two objectives. The primary objective function is considered to be the production capacity and the secondary objective function is total reliability. The proposed model is formulated on different units of production which are connected together in serial form and for each unit, we may have various machines. The resulted model is formulated using recent advances of robust optimization and solution procedure is analyzed with some numerical examples.

This article aims to review, identify and prioritize challenge factors of the implementation of knowledge management portals for Iranian organizations. The study determines several important weakness factors affecting the implications of the knowledge management such as the weakness in organizational strategy, information overcrowd, content management, portals project management, and etc. The study also indicates that the factors have different priorities where managerial factors are in the highest priority and financial factors are in the lowest priority. We also perform factor analysis to summarize seventeen factors into six issues: Financial and information security, Technology and management, Senior management support and strategy, Acceptance, User's motivation and culture, Project management, Change management and training.

During the past three decades there have been tremendous efforts on building steel factories on economic scales. The primary question is to find an economic scale for such plants which could also meet domestic demand. In this paper, we perform an empirical survey to find out whether building small steel factories are more suitable or setting up giant steel industries to meet regional demands. The results indicate that in many countries, building small steel plants based on the recent advances of technologies not only reduces the total cost of steel production but also it could significantly reduce the unnecessary transportation cost, providing cheaper labor, etc. This would lead to better competition which would increase the productivity.

Historically, cash dividends are the most important form of payout policy; however, they have been losing popularity relative to share repurchases. This paper examines the signaling effect of the payout decisions namely, cash dividends and share repurchases by BSE 500 index companies. It attempts to uncover the underlying forces behind the firm’s choices of payout policy in the Indian context. Using the standard ‘Event Standard Methodology’, a strong case of positive signaling is reported in case of repurchase announcements vis-a-vis cash dividend announcements. It is observed that cash dividends are not perceived by investors as positive signals as they prefer their earnings to be retained by the companies for growth prospects. In case of share repurchases, the existence of undervaluation, signaling and wealth transfer hypotheses is reported, consistent with the fact the share repurchases are welcomed by the Indian companies. The results would provide insights into the economics of the choice between cash dividends versus share repurchases as payout mechanism adopted by the sample companies. The findings would also be useful to the academia as well as industry in understanding the payout practice and the extent to which the Indian managers use the assumptions, models and decision rules regarding payout.