1. |
A framework for the formulation of security issues in the field of e-learning using Meta-Synthesis method
, 1899-1906 Abouzar Arabsorkhi , Afshin Khodabandeh and Laleh Tashakori PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: Application development and e-learning services in the context of communication networks and information along with qualitative and quantitative improvements of activities and services can expand some of threats which emergence in the networks of this infrastructure of telecommunications. Consequently, this is an inevitable necessity attention to accuracy and efficiency payment issues and security concerns to managers and decision makers. Based on other researches and effective experiences in the field of e-learning security, this research attempts to define a logical structure to security contents in this field. We have presented a three-dimensional model for security issues and requirements of e-learning, based on the findings of research. Actuarial three-dimensional model are infrastructure-oriented viewpoint; service-oriented viewpoint and customer-oriented viewpoint. Each of these three dimensions in this model has described in the form of model with two fields: e-learning issues and security of e-learning issues. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.037 Keywords: E-learning, Security issues, Formulating requirements |
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2. |
An exploration study on the relationship between social capital and public librarians’ personal characteristics
, Pages: 1907-1912 Zahra Jafarzadeh Kermani and Elham Raoufi PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: Social capital plays essential role for development of strong long-term employee commitment. This paper presents a study to investigate the effects of some employees’ personal characteristics on all components of social capital. The study uses a standard questionnaire developed by Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998) [Nahapiet, J., & Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage. Academy of Management Review, 23(2), 242-266.]. The study has accomplished among all employees who worked as librarian in Astane Quds Razavi main library in city of Mashhad, Iran in 2014. The study has concluded that although age, job experience, marital status and type of employment had no impact on social capital, gender played essential role on this survey. In other words, our survey has indicated that women presented more social capital than men did. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.036 Keywords: Social capital, Librarian, Personal characteristics |
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3. |
The impact of risk management on internal and sustainable growth rate: Evidence from Tehran Stock Exchange
, Pages: 1913-1916 Hamid Reza Vakili Fard, Ali Alizadeh and Karim Ghalmagh PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: Measuring the relative risk of firms has been an open discussion among researchers. There are many studies on learning how leverage may influence on growth of the firms. This article reviews the relationship between risk management, internal and sustainable growth of accepted companies in Tehran stock exchange. The survey considers three types of risks including operating, financial and compound and investigates their relationships with internal growth rate as well as sustainable growth rate. Using some regression techniques, the study has determined negative and meaningful relationships between different types of leverage on side and internal as well as sustainable growth on the other side. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.035 Keywords: Operating leverage, Financial leverage, Combined leverage, Internal growth rate, Sustainable growth rate, Tehran Stock Exchange |
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4. |
An exploration study to detect important factors influencing on development of RFID in after sales services
, Pages: 1917-1920 Gholamreza Hashemzadeh, Ali Namkin and Mohammad Hassani PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is the wireless use of electromagnetic fields to transfer necessary information, for the purposes of automatically identifying and tracking tags attached to various objects. This paper presents a survey to study the role of different factors influencing on RFID implementation in after sales services in auto industry. The study designs a questionnaire and distributes it among 20 managers who work for after sales services in auto industry located in city of Tehran, Iran. Cronbach alpha has been calculated as 0.74, which is well above the minimum acceptable level. Using the existing literature as well as a survey with experts, the study has detected four important factors including management, technical, economic and environmental factors. We also weight all factors and sub-factors using Shannon entropy method. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.034 Keywords: RFID, Factor analysis, Auto industry |
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5. |
An exploration study to detect important factors influencing on learning oriented customers
, Pages: 1921-1928 Naser Azad and Sima Zomorrodian PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: The recent advances in technology have increased learning channels in industry helping organizations remove the middle level management. This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the role of different factors influencing on learning oriented customers. The study designs a questionnaire and distributes it among 200 randomly selected regular customers of a chain store named Shahrvand located in city of Tehran, Iran. Cronbach alpha is equal to 0.935, which is well above the minimum acceptable level. Using principle component analysis, the study has detected six factors including learning management, strategy, learning tools, learning approaches, human related factors and learning spirit. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.033 Keywords: Learning organizations, Learning management, Human resources management |
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6. |
A study of the role of e-commerce implementation on electronic banking development
, Pages: 1929-1932 Fatemeh Nehzat Hamid Maleki and Abdollah Naami PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the role of e-commerce implementation of development of electronic banking. The study determines the effects of four factors, management knowledge, technological issues, financial and socio-economic factors on development of e-banking in city of Tehran, Iran. The study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale and distributes it among 96 randomly selected managers who work for Bank Saderat Iran. Cronbach alpha has been calculated as 0.89, which is well above the minimum acceptable level. Using Pearson correlation as well as stepwise regression technique, the study has determined that management, social and economic factors influence the most on electronic banking development. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.032 Keywords: E-business, Electronic banking, Knowledge |
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7. |
A study of the relationship between high school principals and teachers’ multiple-intelligences and strategic thinking skills
, Pages: 1933-1942 Roya Afrassiabi and Masoumeh Mohammadabadi PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: One of the fundamental concerns in education is the management and the improvement of principals and teachers’ performance where selecting intelligent and capable managers can help solve many of present challenges and problems. Various researches conducted so far indicate that commonly the effective principals enjoy some of the essential multiple intelligences. In the present study, the relationship between the three types of Maneh & Semelqan high school principals and teachers’ intelligences, namely, intrapersonal intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, and verbal/linguistic intelligence and the strategic thinking skills was investigated. The research method was descriptive-correlational and the population consisted of 200 subjects of whom 127 were randomly selected. After assigning the subjects to the investigation, 127 questionnaires were distributed among them. Two standard questionnaires of multiple intelligences and strategic thinking skills were administered where Cronbach’s Alpha for the multiple intelligences was 0.893 and that of the strategic thinking skills was 0.944. To analyze the data, the researchers used the SPSS19 package and the EXCELL2013. The frequency distribution tabulation was organized by using descriptive statistics and the Pearson correlation test was based on the inferential statistics employed in the present study. At the end, the findings of study indicated that there was a significant relationship between high school principals and teachers’ multiple intelligences and their strategic thinking skills. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.031 Keywords: Intelligence, Multiple intelligences, Strategic thinking skills |
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8. |
A study on the effects of human resources strategies on the organizational performance: Evidence from Pharmaceutical industry
, Pages: 1943-1950 Mohammadreza Fadavi and Ali Baqi PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: In order to improve the organizational performance, strategies in the human resources are among the elements taken into consideration. On this basis, the present research is aimed at studying the role of human resources strategies in the organizational performance of Barij Essence Kashan Pharmaceutical Company. In terms of goal, the present research is descriptive- correlative and in terms of data collection, the survey method has been used. The main means of research data collection has been questionnaires and the validity and consistency tests have been carried out on the questionnaires. The statistical population is consisted of managers, directors, and experts of the Barij Essence Kashan Pharmaceutical Company during the winter of 2013-2014. Simple random sampling method has been used in the research and the number of people in the statistical population is 48. In research data collection, both library and field (questionnaire) methods have been used. The Pearson correlation coefficient and the multivariate regression have been employed in analysis of the data. By verifying the examined hypothesis, the findings of the research reveal that the human resources strategies generally influence on the organizational performance in five groups of absorption and employment strategy, human resources development strategy, performance management strategy, service compensation strategy, and employees’ relations strategy. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.030 Keywords: Stock liquidity, Strategy, Human resources management, Organizational performance, Barij Essence Pharmaceuticals |
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9. |
A study on relationship between rewarding board of directors and share liquidity
, Pages: 1951-1960 Hassan Ghodrati and Gholamhassan Taghizad PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the relationship between the liquidity and the reward of board of directors on 136 selected firms listed on Tehran Stock Exchange over the period 2007-2011.The study considers nine different factors including return on assets (ROA), return on equities (ROE), Q-Tobin, changes of ROA and ROE, etc. In our study, there is a direct relationship between firm sizes with reward of board's directors. In addition, there is a direct relationship between changes of ROE with reward of board's directors. Moreover, there is a direct relationship between changes of operational cash flow with reward of board's directors. Finally, there is a direct relationship between changes of Q-Tobin ratio with reward of board's directors but the relationship was reverse for some years. These evidences confirm that there was a meaningful relationship between rewarding board of directors and share liquidity. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.029 Keywords: Reward of board of directors, ROA, ROE, Q-Tobin, Operational cash flow |
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10. |
A study on relationship between internal auditing and quality of financial statement
, Pages: 1961-1964 Maryam Abulghasemi Komeleh and Mansour Garkaz PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: The primary objective of most financial statements is to provide a concentrated as well as categorized reports on financial performance and flexibility to help decision makers reach suitable financial decisions. This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the relationship between internal auditing and quality of financial statements on selected firms listed on Tehran Stock Exchange. The proposed study selects 140 firms over the period 2008-2012. Using some regression technique, the study has determined that there was a positive and meaningful relationship between firms with internal auditing in their activities and quality of financial statements. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.028 Keywords: Tehran Stock Exchange, Quality of statement, Internal auditing |
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11. |
A study on the role of influence group in public policy making
, Pages: 1965-1968 Abbas Monavarian, Mojtaba Amiri and Narges Sadat Razavimehr PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: Nowadays, learning more about influence groups on public policy making is one of most important subjects of management science. Governments are the primary sources for public policy making but influenced groups participate indirectly and while they remain out of power, they put pressure on many decisions. Some of participants in public policy making are not influenced groups but mostly, due to their participation in policy public making matter are called influenced groups. This research, from practical research purpose and method view, is a descriptive research and survey branch. The study investigates the effect of university based Iranian Sociological Association on public policy making. The study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale and distributes it among some experts. The results of our survey indicate that that Iranian Sociological Association could influence on public policy making through elite and prominent leaders, self-knowledge and information, elective campaigns, stimulation and connecting with people and other groups. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.027 Keywords: Resilience, Public policy, Influence groups, Sociological association |
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12. |
A study on relationship between market share and cash flow policy
, Pages: 1969-1972 Somayeh Sadeghi Moghaddam and Fateme Zabihi PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the relationship between cash flow and market share on selected firms from Tehran Stock Exchange over the period 2007-2011. Using regression analysis, the study has detected a positive and meaningful relationship between cash flow on one side and three other investment opportunities, firm size and operating cash flow. In addition, there is a negative and meaningful relationship between leverage and cash flow. However, the study does not find any meaningful relationship between cash flow and market share. Finally, the study does not find any meaningful relationship between the cash flows of the previous year as control variable and other cashable assets. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.026 Keywords: Cash flow policy, Market share, Tehran Stock Exchange |
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13. |
Investigating the effect of connectivity of top management team on their resilience
, Pages: 1973-1980 Fariborz Rahimnia, Shamsodin Nazemi and Yashar Moradian PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: Nowadays, organizations are operating in a full of complex, ever changing and unpredictable environment, so that technological changes in providing goods and services, creating new organizational structures, new competitive methods and unique methods of sales indicate the importance of planning of top management team in line with the organizational success. Therefore, an attribute, which is important more than ever is resilience of top management team from two dimensions of its beliefs and adaptive capacity with these environmental events. Therefore, in this paper, the effect of connectivity of top management team on their resilience was investigated amongst 500 industrial active units located in northeast of Iran as the statistical population. Statistical sample was comprised of 139 organizations. Analysis results using structural equation modeling showed that the tested model had a goodness of fit to data. The effect of connectivity of top management team on efficacious beliefs of resilience and adaptive capacity of resilience was confirmed in line with related previous studies. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.025 Keywords: Top management team, Connectivity Efficacious beliefs, Adaptive capacity |
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14. |
A hybrid of fuzzy FMEA-AHP to determine factors affecting alternator failure causes
, Pages: 1981-1984 Reza Kiani Aslani Hamid Reza Feili and Hassan Javanshir PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: This paper presents a method to determine factors influencing alternator failure causes. Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is one of the first systematic techniques for failure analysis based on three factors including Probability (P), Severity (S) and Detection (D). Traditional FMEA method considers equal weights for all three factors, however, in read-world cases; one may wish to consider various weights. The proposed study develops a mathematical model to determine optimal weights based on analytical hierarchy process technique. The implementation of the proposed study has been demonstrated for a read-world case study of alternator failure causes. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.024 Keywords: FMEA, AHP, Alternator failure, Optimal weight |
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15. |
A study on the effect of financial reports on firms’ share value
, Pages: 1985-1994 Hassan Ghodrati and Gholamhassan Taghizad PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: Technology development has influenced various fields, and financial field is one of them. Applying new technologies in financial field has led to the emergence of a new kind of reporting called Internet Financial Reporting, and is used increasingly day by day due to the increasing use of internet. Adopting this kind of reporting has caused changes in the process of informing stockholders and other users. Since increasing and updating information quality can influence on decision makers to buy/sell their stock certificate, and, on the other hand, the demand for buying and selling stock certificate might influence on stock price, we aimed to evaluate the effect of internet financial reporting on the stock price of listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange. For this purpose, a group of companies was selected as the experimental group, and some others as the control group. Then, we investigated stock price changes in both groups, and compared changes. The results indicate that internet financial reporting had no effect on the stock price in the investigated companies. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.023 Keywords: Internet financial reporting, Stock price, Evaluation |
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16. |
A study on relationship between communication models and crisis management in Tehran’s firefighting department
, Pages: 1995-2000 Saeed Emamqoli Zade Amir Nasserian and Ali Akbar Aghaei PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: This research presents an empirical investigation to study the relationship between communication models and crisis management in city of Tehran municipal firefighting department. The study develops a questionnaire with 21 questions, distributes it among 400 people who worked for firefighting department associated with municipality of Tehran, Iran. Crobnach alphas for all components of the survey were well above the minimum acceptable level of 0.7. Kolmogorov–Smirnov test has indicated that all components of the survey were normally distributed. Using a t-student test, the study determined that there were meaningful relationships between communication models and crisis management (sig: 0.000), between vertical model and crisis management (sig: 0.000), between ring model and crisis management (sig: 0.000), between star model and crisis management (sig: 0.000) and between Y model and crisis management (sig: 0.000) in Tehran municipal fire department. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.022 Keywords: Crisis management, Municipality, Firefighting, Ring model |
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17. |
A study on relationship among free cash flow, firm value and investors’ cautiousness: Evidence from Tehran Stock Exchange
, Pages: 2001-2010 Hassan Ghodrati and Abbas Hashemi PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: Financial statements as well as financial standards are always considered as primary sources for getting rich information of firms. The standards are normally divided in two categories of economic and accounting and each of these standards shows one of the specifications of the company and has its own advantageous and disadvantageous. There are different standards, which are used for firm assessment. Therefore, a company with more gained prominences has more change to succeed in attracting credits and financing from the capital market. Under such circumstances, such a company can attract more finance and it can be sold sooner on the stock exchange. This paper tries to investigate on the free cash flow as an effective factor in specifying the real value of the business enterprises on 56 selected firms from Tehran Stock Exchange. The results of this study have disclosed that, there was a direct and meaningful relationship between free cash flow of the business enterprises and their real values. Second, the real values of the business enterprises are more than their predicted values. Finally, the predicted value of the business enterprises on the basis of the free cash flow is more than their market value. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.021 Keywords: Free Cash Flow, Real Firm Value, Predicted Firm Value, Capital Cost |
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18. |
An executable software architecture model for response time and reliability assessment
, Pages: 2011-2020 Zahra Norouzi and Ali Harounabadi PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: With the increasing use of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagrams to describe the software’s architecture and the importance of evaluating nonfunctional requirements at the level of software architecture, creating an executable model from these diagrams is essential. On the other hand, the UML diagrams do not directly provide features to evaluate nonfunctional system requirements. Thus, these capabilities can be added to UML diagrams by applying efficiency and reliability stereotypes. Because the techniques used in the UML is able to deal with certain matters, we develop uncertain UML, stereotypes and tags. In this paper, the architecture of a software system is described by using use case diagram, sequence and deployment of unified modeling language diagrams with annotations fuzzy stereotypes related to response time and reliability. The proposed method for calculating the response time and reliability based on fuzzy rules are introduced, and the algorithm is implemented for an executable model based on colored fuzzy Petri net. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.020 Keywords: Key Software Architecture, Performance Evaluation Reliability, Fuzzy stereotypes, Fuzzy colored Petri net |
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19. |
Key indicators for organizational performance measurement
, Pages: 2021-2030 Firoozeh Haddadi and Tahere Yaghoobi PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: Each organization for assessing the amount of utility and desirability of their activities, especially in complex and dynamic environments, requires determining and ranking the vital performance indicators. Indicators provide essential links among strategy, execution and ultimate value creation. The aim of this paper is to develop a framework, which identifies and prioritizes Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that a company should focus on them to define and measure progress towards organizational objectives. For this purpose, an applied research was conducted in 2013 in an Iranian telecommunication company. We first determined the objectives of the company with respect to four perspectives of BSC (Balanced Scorecard) framework. Next, performance indicators were listed and paired wise comparisons were accomplished by company's high-ranked employees through standard Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) questionnaires. This helped us establish the weight of each indicator and to rank them, accordingly. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.019 Keywords: Turnover intentions, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), BSC, AHP, Telecom Company |
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20. |
Relationship between perceived organizational politics, organizational trust, human resource management practices and turnover intention among Nigerian nurses
, Pages: 2031-2048 Ramatu Abdulkareem Abubakar Ajay Chauhan and Kabiru Maitama Kura PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: Prior research has indicated that employee turnover is detrimental to both individuals and organisations. Because a turnover intention in the workplace is detrimental, several factors have been suggested to better understand the reasons why employees may decide to leave their organisations. Some of the organizational-related factors that have been considered by previous research include perceived organizational justice, job satisfaction, perceived psychological contract breach, and perceived organizational support, among others. Despite these empirical studies, literatures indicate that less attention has been paid to the influence of perceived organisational politics, organizational trust, and perceived human resource practices management (HRM) practices on employee turnover. Hence, the present study fills in the gap by examining the relationship between perceived organisational politics, organizational trust, perceived human resource management practices and employee turnover among Registered Nurses in Nigerian public hospitals using multiple regression analysis technique. One hundred and seventy five Registered Nurses participated in the study. Result indicated that perceived organisational politics was significantly and positively related to turnover intentions. The result also showed that both organizational trust and perceived human resource practices were significantly and negatively related to turnover intentions. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.018 Keywords: Organizational politics, Organizational trust, Human resource practices, Nigerian hospitals |
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21. |
Investigating the effect of information on mobile banking acceptance barriers
, Pages: 2049-2056 Hossein Vazifehdoost, Shirin Khosrozadeh and Mahtab Mirzaee far PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: This paper presents an empirical investigation on how information and guidance offered by the bank influence on the barriers to adoption of mobile banking. Data were collected from a questionnaire from college students who attend Islamic Azad university in city of Tehran, Iran. Structural equation modeling of data from 425 respondents was used to test 5 hypotheses. The results show the information and instructions offered by bank have negative effect on 5 evaluated barriers including usage, value, risk, tradition and image to adoption of mobile banking. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.017 Keywords: Mobile banking, Usage barrier, Value barrier, Risk barrier, Tradition barrier, Image barrier |
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22. |
Predicting product life cycle using fuzzy neural network
, Pages: 2057-2064 Ali Mohammadi, Aazam Tavakoli and Abolghasem Ebrahimi PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: One of the most important tasks of science in different fields is to find the relationships among various phenomena in order to predict future. Production and service organizations are not exceptions and they should predict future to survive. Predicting the life cycle of the organization's products is one of the most important prediction cases in an organization. Predicting the product life cycle provides an opportunity to identify the product position and help to get a better insight about competitors. This paper deals with the predictability of the product life cycle with Adaptive Network-Based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS). The Population of this study was Pegah Fars products and the sample was this company's cheese products. In this regard, this paper attempts to model and predict the product life cycle of cheese products in Pegah Fars Company. In this due, a designed questionnaire was distributed among some experts, distributors and retailers and seven independent variables were selected. In this survey, ANFIS sales forecasting technique was employed and MATLAB software was used for data analysis. The results confirmed ANFIS as a good method to predict the product life cycle. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.016 Keywords: Product Life Cycle (PLC), Adaptive Network-Based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), Neural network |
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23. |
A study on the effects of banks’ cash management on their share value
, Pages: 2065-2070 Syed Behzad Zakaria PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: Banking industry, which is closely associated with the invention and spread of the money, influences on economic growth and development. The main role of the banking system is to create a saving of deposits and using it in beneficial investments or lending it to different people with various investment purposes. Accordingly, banks play essential role as financial intermediaries and provide necessary funds from investors to borrowers and users. In this regard, appropriate management of cash flows is essential for banks. Cash management is a trade-off between risk and return like what happens in other kinds of managements meaning that improving cash management increases the cash considering the limited amount of resources and eventually increases the share of the financial institution. In this paper, the impact of cash management in Iranian banks on their value of stock in 2011 was examined based on the econometrics model and least-square technique. The results indicate a significant and positive impact of the increase in the cash management index on the banks’ stock value, meaning that a one percent increase in this index will increase 1.1 percent of the banks’ stock value. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.015 Keywords: Stock value, Cash management, Econometric, Ordinary least-squares |
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24. |
A DEA-TOPSIS approach for ranking credit institutions
, Pages: 2071-2076 Mohammad Ehsani and Abolfazl Danaei PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: Measuring the relative efficiency of financial units plays essential role for making strategic decisions such as business development, downsizing, etc. This paper presents an empirical investigation to rank different branches of a credit institution named Samen in city of Semnan, Iran. The proposed study uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) for measuring the relative efficiency of 17 units. The results indicate that five units were efficient and using Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), the efficient units are ranked based on some inputs/outputs. The results of this study indicate that most branches of this financial unit performed poorly and a restructure in their businesses is necessary. In addition, the study has provided some evidences that considering employee wage, bank deposit and administration expenses as inputs for DEA implementation seems to provide better results than using total assets and equities. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.014 Keywords: Data envelopment analysis, DEA, TOPSIS, Credit institution |
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25. |
The effects of online shopping on the customer loyalty
, Pages: 2077-2086 Hamideh Afrashteh, Naser Azad Seyed Vali Tabatabaei Hanzayy PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: This paper investigates the use of Online Shopping as one of electronic marketing techniques as well as the effect of applying this shopping method and marketing on customer loyalty in Iran. The variables are extracted according to the review of literature and studies conducted in the field of shopping through cyberspace. A questionnaire is designed by applying these variables and distributed among a sample of service providers and users after testing its reliability and validity. Performing the statistical tests on the results of investigation led to the identification of effective factors. In addition, another questionnaire is distributed according to the obtained components in order to achieve a structural model for the impact of components on the customer loyalty. The structural equation modeling (SEM) is designed to learn the impact of obtained components on customer loyalty as a basis influencing on the survival of business space using SEM method. The study identified different components affected by utilization of online shopping websites including comprehensive information system, system development, choice power, viability and system optimization. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.013 Keywords: Online shopping, E-commerce, Customer loyalty |
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26. |
An optimization technique for cropping patterns and land consolidation: A case study for irrigation network
, Pages: 2087-2092 Azim Shirdeli and Somayeh Dastvar PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: During the past few decades, there has been growing interest in water resources management. Presently, there are many areas in middle east facing with shortage of water for agricultural activities. Therefore, there is a growing concern to have efficient usage of water through optimization techniques. This paper presents a study to maximize famers’ revenue by developing a mathematical model subject to some land and water constraints. The proposed study has been applied for a case study of agricultural program in city of Abhar, Iran and the preliminary results indicate that it could increase the efficiency of agricultural program, significantly. In our survey, the optimal cultivation yields for four five-year programs have increased the income by 20.81, 44.698, 87.18 and 250.34 percent, respectively. In addition, 7.27% development land is added to agricultural lands, there is a 17% increase in water utilization and the productivity is increased from 50% to well above 77% after four 5-year programs have been implemented. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.012 Keywords: Irrigation, Agriculture, Irrigation |
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27. |
A mathematical model for facility location in banking industry
, Pages: 2093-2096 Amir Ehsani, Abolfazl Danaei and Mohammad Hemmati PDF (288 K) |
Abstract: This paper presents an empirical investigation to determine the efficient locations of bank branch as well as automated banking machine. The study develops a mathematical model to minimize the cost of facility establishment subject to some constraints, which are associated with the population, accessibility of facilities, etc. All input parameters are considered in terms of triangular fuzzy numbers and using some methods, they numbers are converted into crisp values. The method has been applied for four cities in province of Seman, Iran and using WinQSB, the efficient locations of the facilities for a private bank named Samen have been determined. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.011 Keywords: Facility location, ATM, Banking industry |
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28. |
Intellectual capital: Evidence from banking industry
, Pages: 2097-2100 Somayeh Boostani, Shabnam Fotovvat and Karam Safari PDF (296 K) |
Abstract: This paper investigates different components on intellectual capital including human capital, structural capital and customer capital in banking industry in city of Salmas, Iran. The study uses the questionnaire developed by Bontis (1998) [Bontis, N. (1998). Intellectual capital: an exploratory study that develops measures and models. Management Decision, 36(2), 63-76.] to measure the effects of human capital. The questionnaire consists of 42 questions and all of them are designed in Likert scale. Cronbach alphas for human capital, structural capital and relationship capital were calculated as 0.79, 0.76 and 0.72, respectively. The implementation of Kolmogorov-Smirnov test has indicated that the data were normally distributed. Using t-student test, the study determined that while management team did not pay enough attention on human capital, there were some statistically significant evidence that social and relationship capitals gained good attention. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.010 Keywords: Human capital, Structural capital, Intellectual capital, Salmas |
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29. |
The effect of occupational stress, psychological stress and burnout on employee performance: Evidence from banking industry
, Pages: 2101-2106 Shahram Hashemnia, Somayeh Abadiyan and Behnam Ghorbani Fard PDF (296 K) |
Abstract: This paper presents an empirical investigation on the effects of occupational stress, psychological stress as well as job burnout on women’s employee performance in city of Karaj, Iran. The proposed study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale and distributes it among all female employees who worked for Bank Maskan in this city. In our survey, employee performance consists of three parts of interpersonal performance, job performance as well as organizational performance. Cronbach alpha has been used to verify the overall questionnaire, all components were within acceptable levels, and the implementation of Kolmogorov-Smirnov test has indicated that the data were not normally distributed. Using Spearman correlation ratio as well as regression techniques, the study has determined that while psychological stress influenced significantly on all three components of employee performance including interpersonal performance, job performance as well as organizational performance, the effect on job performance was greater than the other components. In addition, occupational stress only influences on organizational as well as interpersonal performance. Finally, employee burnout has no impact on any components of employee performance. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.009 Keywords: Occupational stress, Psychological stress, Burnout, Employee performance, Occupational stress, Interpersonal performance, Organizational performance |
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30. |
The effect of sales promotions characteristics on brand equity
, Pages: 2107-2116 Bahram Jabarzadeh Karbasi and Ali Jafari Rad PDF (296 K) |
Abstract: In the recent years, retail industry in Iran has faced an increasing competition and this has encouraged the managers of chain stores to find ways to differentiate their own companies. One of the influential factors in this field is brand equity. Concerning this issue, the aim of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of sale promotions on the brand equity of ETKA chain stores. Therefore, a sample of 500 people among the customers of these stores in Tehran was examined. The achieved information obtained from the questionnaire was analyzed through structural equation modeling. The results showed that monetary and non-monetary promotions could influence on brand association, brand awareness and the perceived quality. On the other hand, it came out that brand association and the perceived quality are influential on brand loyalty. At last, a few suggestions were presented based on the results of this research. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.008 Keywords: Sale Promotions, Brand Equity, ETKA, Chain Stores, Iran |
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31. |
A study on relationship between social capital and sustainable development
, Pages: 2117-2120 Shabnam Fotovvat, karam Safari, Karamollah Zayyari and Somayeh boostani PDF (296 K) |
Abstract: This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the relationship between social capital components, social trust, social cohesion, social participation and social security, and sustainable development in city of Salmas, Iran. The study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale, distributes it among 384 randomly selected people who live in this city. Cronbach alpha has been calculated as 0.92, which is well above the minimum acceptable level. Using regression technique, the study has determined a positive and meaningful relationship between three components of social capital and sustainable development including social cohesion, social participation and social security. However, the study does not confirm the relationship between social trust and sustainable development. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.007 Keywords: Social capital, Sustainable development, Salmas |
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32. |
A study on ranking the effects of transformational leadership style on organizational agility and mediating role of organizational creativity
, Pages: 2121-2128 Seidmehdi Veiseh, Ardshir shiri and Neeman Eghbali PDF (296 K) |
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the components of transformational leadership style on organizational agility and mediating role of organizational creativity in Ilam Gas Refinery located in province of Ilam, Iran. The method of the present study was descriptive and correlational-structural equation modeling. The population of this research included all 400 workers of Ilam gas refinery and the study chose a sample of196 employees. The questionnaire was standardized using Cronbach's alpha; the obtained reliability was 0.90, which indicated the reliability of the questionnaire. At the end, the data was analyzed by LISREL software and structural equation modeling analysis was conducted. The findings showed that transformational leadership style had an effect on organizational agility. In addition, organizational creativity maintained a mediator role on influencing the transformational leadership on organizational agility. The four dimensions of transformational leadership, hopeful influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual encouragement as well as personal considerations also influenced on the agility of organizations. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.006 Keywords: Transformational leadership, Organizational agility, Organizational creativity, Ilam Gas Refinery |
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33. |
The effects of book value, net earnings and cash flow on stock price
, Pages: 2129-2132 Khosro Faghani Makrani and Mohammad Reza Abdi PDF (296 K) |
Abstract: During the past few years, there have been tremendous studies on measuring the effects of various factors on stock prices. This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the effects of book value, net earnings and cash flow on stock prices of 129 selected firms listed on Tehran Stock Exchange over the period 2007-2012. Using some regression techniques, the study has determined that the effects of book value, net earnings as well as cash flow decreases over the time although the effects of book value is bigger than net earnings and cash flow. However, as time passes on, there is no change on trend of the effects of these components on stock price. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.005 Keywords: Cash flow, Book value, Net earnings, Stock price |
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34. |
The effects of media on the level of accountability of public organization
, Pages: 2133-2138 Mehrdad Matani and Mahshid Hassanpour PDF (296 K) |
Abstract: One of the features of democratic political systems is the accountability against their own performances. Media, one of the powerful elements of civil society and effectual on public thought, plays an important role in making the government responsive. To achieve this goal, the present study tries to investigate the effect of media on the improvement of the accountability level of the government agencies. The statistical society of this research includes all male students of Azad Ghaemshahr University where 320 students were selected through purposive sampling method based on Kerjesy and Morgan table. Applied research method is used in this survey. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect the required data. In order to validate the instrument, appropriate questions related to each variable were extracted from valid sources and finally approved by authorities. In order to calculate the reliability of the questionnaire, Cronbach’s alpha was calculated to be 89. Since the distribution of the data was normal, parametric statistical tests were used to testify the hypotheses. The findings of the study show that the media could be effective in terms of making public organizations responsive, through leading and training the public, unifying demands, and monitoring and broadcasting. However, the findings reveal that if the media were free and independent, they would better perform their responsibilities. Finally, the study at hand concludes that in comparison to other media, television is much more powerful in terms of pushing the public sector to be responsive. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.004 Keywords: Media, Public organization, Accountability, Effectiveness |
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35. |
Measuring financial performance using new liquidity indices
, Pages: 2139-2144 Fatemeh Sharifi and Elham Taghipour PDF (296 K) |
Abstract: Performance measurement has been considered as one of the most important subjects in accounting through separating management from ownership as well as emergence of the agency theory. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of new liquidity indices in evaluating of the financial performance. In the direction of realizing the research’s purposes, 4 hypotheses examine the relationships between new liquidity indices and firm’s financial performance. Using some linear regression techniques with some panel data, the study examines various hypotheses of this survey. The research’s statistical sample includes 67 firms over the period 2006-2011. Analysis of the hypotheses shows that hypotheses associated with comprehensive liquidity index have been supported. In addition, there are significant differences in financial performance in different industries. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.003 Keywords: New liquidity indices, Comprehensive liquidity index, Cash conversion cycle index, Net liquidity balance index, Financial performance |
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36. |
Pedagogy framework design in social networked-based learning: Focus on children with learning difficulties
, Pages: 2145-2154 Samira Sadat Sajadi and Tariq M Khan PDF (296 K) |
Abstract: This paper presents an investigation on the theory of constructivism applicable for learners with learning difficulties, specifically learners with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The primary objective of this paper is to determine whether a constructivist technology enhanced learning pedagogy could be used to help ADHD learners cope with their educational needs within a social-media learning environment. Preliminary work is stated here, in which we are seeking evidence to determine the viability of a constructivist approach for learners with ADHD. The novelty of this research lies in the proposals to support ADHD learners to overcome their weaknesses with appropriate pedagogically sound interventions. As a result, a framework has been designed to illuminate areas in which constructivist pedagogies require to address the limitations of ADHD learners. An analytical framework addressing the suitability of a constructivist learning for ADHD is developed from a combination of literature and expert advice from those involved in the education of learners with ADHD. This analytical framework is married to a new model of pedagogy, which the authors have derived from literature analysis. Future work will expand this model to develop a constructivist social network-based learning and eventually test it in specialist schools with ADHD learners. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.8.002 Keywords: Constructivist Approach Pedagogy, Technology Enhanced Learning Social Network, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder |
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37. |
An approach for solving multi-objective assignment problem with interval parameters
, Pages: 2155-2160 Kayvan Salehi PDF (296 K) |
Abstract: This paper presents a multi-objective assignment problem (MAP) with interval parameters. Here, the model concentrates on three criteria: total cost, total profit and total operation time of assignment. The proposed model is classified as a nonlinear programming, in which it is difficult to solve. Hence, the model is converted into crisp linear programming problem by applying a substitution variables approach. In addition, a weighted min-max method is applied to transform the multi-objective problem into a single objective optimization problem. Finally, several numerical examples are provided to illustrate the implementation of the proposed approach. The results clearly provide some evidences that the proposed approach was easier to contrast compared with other approaches. The results also indicate that decision makers’ preferences over various objectives could influence on solutions. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.7.031 Keywords: Assignment problem, Interval number, Weighted min-max method, Integer programming |
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38. |
The impact of leadership styles on organizational culture in Mapsa company
, Pages: 2161-2170 Dariush Gholamzadeh, Azadeh Tahvildar Khazaneh and Manijeh Salimi Nabi PDF (296 K) |
Abstract: This paper examines the effect of leadership styles on organizational culture by testing a hypothesized model. A quantitative survey using questionnaire was conducted among 93 employees from diverse work units of Mapsa Company in October 2012. They filled out multifactor leadership questionnaire and the Denison organizational culture survey. Results of structural equation modeling (SEM) showed that Transformational and Transactional leadership styles could positively influence on organizational culture. Laissez-fair leadership has a negative effect on organizational culture. In conclusion, transformational leadership style was recommended to balance all four traits of Denison’s organizational culture. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.7.030 Keywords: Leadership Styles, Transformational Leadership, Transactional Leadership, Laissez-faire Leadership, Organizational Culture |
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39. |
Improved AODV route recovery in mobile ad-hoc networks using a genetic algorithm
, Pages: 2171-2176 Ahmad Maleki and Mehdi Sadeghzadeh PDF (296 K) |
Abstract: An important issue in ad-hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV) routing protocols is route failure caused by node mobility in the MANETs. The AODV requires a new route discovery procedure whenever a route breaks and these frequent route discoveries increase transmission delays and routing overhead. The present study proposes a new method for AODVs using a genetic algorithm to improve the route recovery mechanism. When failure occurs in a route, the proposed method (GAAODV) makes decisions regarding the QOS parameter to select source or local repair. The task of the genetic algorithm is to find an appropriate combination of weights to optimize end-to-end delay. This paper evaluates the metrics of routing overhead, average end-to-end delay, and packet delivery ratio. Comparison of the new algorithm and AODV (RFC 3561) using a NS-2 simulator shows that GAAODV obtains better results for the QOS parameters. DOI: 10.5267/j.msl.2014.7.029 Keywords: Mobile ad-hoc networks, AODV, Route recovery mechanisms, Genetic algorithm, NS-2 simulator |
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