hashem aghazadeh

In recent years, e-commerce has experienced significant growth. Although the Internet is an important source of information for both search and experiential goods, the type of information that consumers seek and how they make decisions about these two types of goods are different. Therefore, paying attention to such behavioral differences of consumers has important implications for marketing actions. In today's world, understanding consumers' search behavior for different products is critical to comprehending their purchasing behavior and planning marketing communications. Since little research has been done on consumers' search behavior considering the difference between the types of goods, it is necessary to explore this area more thoroughly. Therefore, the current research aims to provide a model for consumers' search behavior regarding search and experiential goods.
 
The research employs a qualitative methodology, wherein the conceptual model is developed through expert interviews. The sampling approach is purposeful and selective, aimed at achieving maximum diversity. Data collection is conducted through unstructured, in-depth interviews with both academic and professional experts, with a total of 10 experts interviewed until theoretical saturation is reached. The main themes or concepts from the participants' responses were extracted, categorized, and summarized. A structured interview format was not utilized due to the absence of a defined research background or specific model in the literature, as well as the broad scope of the research topics. Efforts were made to maximize participant diversity, ensuring a range of demographic characteristics, including age, gender, geographic location, and occupation. Following the interviews, the data was coded, and after conducting 10 interviews, theoretical saturation was reached in the coding process.
 
To analyze the qualitative data obtained from interviews with experts, the structural analysis method was applied. Based on the results of interview coding, 219 codes were extracted from the interview data. These codes were subsequently grouped into nine concepts and seven themes. The concept of "antecedents of search behavior" was grouped with three themes, while the other themes were categorized as follows: "moderators of search behavior," "search behavior," "consequences of search behavior," "moderators of purchase," "moderators of post-purchase behavior," and "post-purchase behavior."
 
The research results indicated that the type of goods (search or experiential) significantly influences consumers' search behavior. Additionally, the data gathered from the interviews revealed that factors such as product complexity, product price, and the frequency of product purchase also impact consumers' search behavior. Regarding the moderating variables that influence the relationship between product type and search behavior, the study found that individual personality, product novelty, brand and site credibility, return policies, loyalty programs, social status, values, lifestyle, place of residence, reference groups, celebrity endorsers, amount of information available, relevant content about the product, reviews from others, and brand perception and associations in the customer's mind all play a role as moderating variables. Further results and details are provided in the article.

This research aims to provide a comprehensive picture of the status of VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) studies in management and its applications. The present research was conducted using the bibliometric method. The required data were extracted from Scopus (1,120 articles) and Web of Science (345 articles) using the keyword VUCA, and after refinement, 1,139 articles were selected for final analysis. The analyses included examining publication trends, identifying leading authors and institutions, keyword co-occurrence analysis, scientific mapping, and citation network analysis. The results showed that scientific publications in the field of VUCA increased from 1 article in 2008 to 244 articles in 2023. Among 3,105 identified keywords, concepts such as leadership and organizational agility (each with 64 citations), innovation (53.5 citations), and digital transformation (46.4 citations) had the most impact. The co-occurrence analysis led to 7 main clusters, with foresight and business development (25% of articles), leadership and strategy (21%), and technology (17%) being the most significant clusters. Success in the VUCA environment requires adopting a comprehensive and multidimensional approach that includes intelligent use of advanced technologies, developing dynamic organizational capabilities, strengthening the culture of creativity and innovation, and nurturing forward-thinking leaders. Companies that can effectively integrate these elements will not only be able to manage VUCA challenges but can also use these conditions for innovation and increasing organizational effectiveness.

In an elevated level of uncertainty and competition typifying international marketing, agility (IMA) has become a necessity. On the other hand, the importance of sustaining healthy buyer–seller relationships is more pronounced when transactions transcend national boundaries. The purpose of this research is to determine the effect of international market orientation on the international business relationships with an emphasis on cooperation, dependence, communication distance, commitment and trust, and the effect of these dimensions on the IMA. This study was a practical study from purpose view and it was a descriptive-correlation one from methodology perspective. The statistical population of this study includes supervisors and experts of international businesses who have been active in the last three years, that 150 people were selected through convenience sampling. In order to collect data questionnaires have been used, that reliability has been checked through Composite reliability and validity has been checked through the Content Validity and Structural validity. Data were analyzed through structural equation modeling with Smart-PLS software. The results showed; International market orientation has a positive effect on cooperation, trust and commitment in business relationships, and it has a negative effect on dependence and communication distance. Cooperation and trust in international business relations have a positive effect on the IMA. The IMA increases with the reduction of dependence in international business relationships. While the effect of communication distance and commitment in business relationships on IMA was not confirmed. Finally, international market orientation has a positive effect on IMA.

Measuring the trade performance of countries is one of the important topics in the field of international trade. Regarding the complex and multi-dimensional nature of trade performance, it is necessary to use appropriate criteria for its measurement. However, the literature review indicates that, this topic has received less attention. Previous research, ignoring various dimensions of trade performance, have mainly used one or more limited criteria for its measurement. In addition, there is not enough consistency among different studies in terms of criteria used for trade performance measurement. Also, causal relationships between the criteria and their priority and weights are ignored in previous studies. These issues have made it difficult to achieve a precise, comprehensive measurement of trade performance and also to compare the results of different studies. Thus, the present study, using experts’ opinions and MADM methods, has introduced a reliable framework of appropriate criteria for trade performance measurement, which also considers the causal relationships between the criteria and their priority. Based on the results, fifteen suitable criteria for trade performance measurement are recognized and categorized in three dimensions, namely, general criteria for trade, export-related criteria and import-related criteria. In addition, the most important criteria are introduced as “export value”, “number/type of customers in export market” and “import value”, respectively.

Given the agricultural potential of Iran on one hand, and the shortages in Russia's fruit and vegetable supply, along with its expanding vegetable market on the other, Russia has become a major market for Iranian exporters of fruits and vegetables. The aim of this study was to identify and rank strategies and tactics for the development of fruit and vegetable exports to the Russian market. The research followed a developmental-applied approach in terms of goals, and employed a descriptive survey using an exploratory mixed method. The statistical population consisted of experts and fruit and vegetable exporters to Russia, who were sampled using the purposive snowball technique. The qualitative phase included 20 participants, while the quantitative phase involved 100 individuals. The qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis to derive strategies and tactics, which were then ranked in the quantitative phase using the TOPSIS technique. Two strategies, namely entry and sustainable presence, were identified for the development of fruit and vegetable exports, along with 28 corresponding tactics. Finally, the top ranks were assigned to fixing regulations, establishing incentives, and stabilizing the exchange rate.

Due to the limited study and research in the field of startup branding, the purpose of this research is to investigate the process and factors affecting brand creation in startups. It seeks to examine the importance of branding startups and their strategies.

This research investigates the branding of 10 Iranian startups in different industries through multiple-case studies and conducting interviews with managers. Data gathered from interviews, organizational documents, and meeting notes were analyzed by the MAXQDA software. Data collection in this research was done using semi-structured interviews, and according to the purpose of this research, i.e. to identify the process and factors affecting branding in startups, an interview protocol was used to provide the possibility of gathering information under the guidance of the researcher. In other words, the interview was designed to provide access to three types of information: 1. background regarding the type and activity of the startups, 2. their views and tendency towards branding, and 3. Their branding activities.

This study confirms some of the findings of previous research. However, new findings are presented in this study. In the brand plan section, the findings of this research almost align with the theory. Theoretical and empirical findings show that brand design dimensions play an important role for startups due to their influence on company communication. In particular, empirical findings show that the logo design and name of a startup can be divided into two groups including internal goals and external goals. Based on the findings of this research, common patterns were observed in the branding process in the form of three themes including brand orientation, brand design, and branding activities. The branding process has various elements that should not be ignored to enhance brand equity. The findings show that branding is important to all startups, and they do take measures to improve it. The findings of this research are also different from the extant literature; activities such as public relations and sponsorship, using social media, and partnering with other companies were studied in this research, while they were not mentioned in earlier studies.

The most prominent features of startup companies are the lack of time, knowledge, capital, and human resources. Therefore, branding seems to be an important factor in the growth of a startup. In this study, it was emphasized that a brand is influenced by its visual dimensions. This study emphasizes the role of public relations and social media, participation in events, and partnerships with other companies, the importance of individuals and their personal brand in the company as branding activities.

National competitiveness as an important economic goal in the context of globalization has been considered by many policymakers around the world. In the Iran, national competitiveness has been considered by officials and the government of men, so that achieving Iran's top economic, scientific, and technological position among the countries, especially among the countries of Southwest Asia, is one of the most important goals in the 20-Year Vision Document. Therefore, providing a framework for identifying and prioritizing factors that help improve Iran's competitiveness can be effective in achieving this goal.

Methodolog:

This study intends to provide a new framework based on the Global Competitiveness Index to prioritize the competitiveness pillars to increase the national competitiveness of Iran and determine the benchmark countries. This framework is implemented in three stages. The countries of the world are first clustered on the basis of competitive pillars using the fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm to distinguish the countries that are more similar in terms of national competitiveness. The competitiveness pillars in each cluster are then weighted using the CCSD weighting method. The weights obtained indicate the importance and priority of competitive factors. Finally, the WASPAS method is used to rank the countries in each cluster. These rankings are used to identify benchmark countries in each cluster.

Based on the results of this study, the countries of the world were first classified into three clusters. Clusters 1, 2 and 3 represent the developing, least developed, and the developed countries, respectively. After clustering the countries, competitive pillars were weighed using the CCSD weighting method. Accordingly, the labor market in cluster 1, the product market in cluster 2, and macroeconomic stability in cluster 3 had the highest weights. The higher the weight of a pillar, the higher its importance and priority in terms of competitiveness. For the Iran, labor market, macroeconomic stability and infrastructures were the most important competitiveness factors, respectively. Finally, the countries of each cluster were ranked using the WASPAS method. Latvia, Thailand, and Cyprus in cluster 1, Namibia, Kenya, and Macedonia in cluster 2, and Singapore, United States and Switzerland were top three ranked countries. Iran, with a rank of 58, is among the last countries in cluster 1 in this ranking. Latvia, Thailand, and Cyprus, which have the highest rankings in Cluster 1, can be used as benchmark countries for Iran.

 National competitiveness has become the main focus of policymakers and governments. Therefore, in this study, a framework based on national competitiveness index was presented to determine the national competitiveness priorities as well as benchmark countries for Iran. In this framework, the countries of the world were first clustered based on competitive pillars using fuzzy c-means algorithm. Competitive columns were then weighed in each cluster using CCSD method. Finally, the countries of each cluster were ranked using the WASPAS method. Based on the proposed framework, competitive factors and priorities as well as benchmark countries for the Iran were determined.

Today, organizations need to enhance their capacities to manage the tensions between exploration and exploitation. The purpose of this research is to study the cognitive microfoundations and supportive dynamic capabilities of innovation ambidexterity. To conduct research, multiple-case study and classic grounded theory methods are used. Five IT companies in Iran are selected as cases in point. Interviews with top executives are conducted and several organizational documents are analyzed. The findings show that successful IT companies, nurture special capabilities within themselves to manage the ambidexterity tensions. These capabilities include the asymmetric balancing of the corporate portfolio, cuddling and admonition of human resources, flexibility of structure, adaptation of performance appraisal, managerial stabilization, physical and professional liveliness, and innovation acceleration. Moreover, the CEOs of successful companies were equipped with the cognitive frames of spectral forecasting, accelerated analytical orientation, Progressive time orientation, and Emotional ambivalence orientation, while using the cognitive mechanisms of preference, sequence, and verification. Therefore, the recruiting and training of cognitively capable CEOs, and developing and reinforcing the organizational capabilities which are supportive of ambidexterity, can facilitate the emergence and continuance of explorative and exploitative innovations in IT companies.

Previous studies related to born globals are dispersed, heterogeneous and unsystematic, and the research in this field has not been done in an integrated way. In spite of the dispersion of findings, different researchers have tried to discover mechanisms (antecedents, moderators and consequences) in the area of born global firms. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of born globals, studies have taken into account various issues. Since born globals are important for the future of business and the findings of previous studies are disorganized, there is a need to develop integrated conceptual models and comprehensive theoretical frameworks. The necessity of investigating born globals is mentioned in previous works too. The dearth of research on born globals and the need for developing a comprehensive framework are the main drivers for conducting this review research. As a result, the aim of this article is to collect and integrate all the empirical studies in the world regarding the driving and preventive factors and the consequences of born global firms in a comprehensive framework.

Since this study is going to integrate previous research findings and finally provide a framework for the comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon, meta-synthesis is a good method to serve the purpose. However, since all empirical studies (through quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods) should be included in this study, it is necessary to use the mixed meta-synthesis method. A six-step process is considered as a methodological framework of this study. These six steps include formulating the research problem and question, reviewing the literature, evaluating the research studies for identification and inclusion, selecting and doing meta-synthesis techniques for integrating and analyzing the qualitative research findings, presenting a combination of the findings of previous studies, and showing the process. As a result, this article summarizes the findings of 85 empirical studies (only studies related to the early success of born globals) by using the mixed meta-synthesis method and integrates them in a comprehensive conceptual framework.

Previous studies have examined the role of global vision as a meditator variable, but there is no research on the moderating role of global vision in different groups of output variables. Distinguishing among the dimensions of experience and the moderating role of experiences is also a research gap. The role of government policies for facilitating the international experiences has not been investigated yet. The role of variables such as managers' global vision or international experience can be studies as a moderator variable. In addition, this study has evaluated the effect of moderators. It has summarized and integrated the empirical results regarding driving and preventive factors and outcomes in the field of born global firms and specifically in the initial stage of their business lifecycle. Based on the developed framework, future opportunities for research and theoretical and practical implications are suggested. According to the adopted theories in the reviewed papers, our first and foremost theoretical suggestion is using the perspective of entrepreneurial financing (and other financial perspectives in the field of born globals) as well as the transformational leadership theory (and other theories in leadership literature). These two theoretical gaps are important in our research because the vital role of management team characteristics in born globals implies the importance of leadership style, and born globals are able to overcome strange costs and resource limitations through selecting the source of financing. This research extends the results of Weerawardena et al. (2007), Gerschewski et al. (2015) and Gerschewski (2011) and adds the results of Knight and Liesch (2016) to this area. Since a large number of research works has been done on the initial stage of formation and success of born globals and this knowledge has been summarized in this study, born global researchers can test this framework in different fields and countries and to create new perspectives and variables for future research. It is useful to reach a general and valid understanding of the advent and the initial success of born globals before going beyond to search the successes and mechanisms of long-term survival.

This paper summarizes and integrates the empirical results regarding the driving and preventive factors and outcomes in the area of born global firms specifically the initial stage of their business lifecycle. However, there are some limitations in this study, including using only two databases and ignoring Google Scholar, EBSCO etc. This questions the comprehensiveness of the research and denotes the likelihood of human error in filtering papers. Hence, there might be some papers in the selected databases or other sources related to the field of this study.

The aim of the present study was to develop the corporate brand management model in Mellat Bank.

This research is mixed metod and it is fundamental in terms of purpose and it is considered field research in terms of data collection method. The qualitative techniques used were meta-synthesis and deep interview and in qualitive part, partial least squares technique was used. The target community in qualitive part was managers and experts in banking with a masterchr(chr(chr('39')39chr('39'))39chr(chr('39')39chr('39')))s degree or higher and a work experience of more than 5 years and in quantity was Mellat Banks’s employees. The method of sampling in qualitive part was snowballs and the number of sample volumes was 8 according to the theoretical saturation of the data and in quantitive part is accidental sampling and 361 people. In the qualitative part, MAXQDA software analyzes the interviews and studies, and in the quantitative part, Smart PLS software analyzes the identified components.

Based on the research results, a total of 13 categories and 41 concepts were identified and extracted. These include brand identity management, brand equity, corporate culture and other concepts.

The research findings can be important for bank managers and marketing experts. It is clear that corporate brand is essential factor in sucsses of organizations.

Given the rapid development of social networks and advances in electronic devices, many businesses have emerged in the context of sharing economy.  Since the sharing economy is a peer-to-peer business model, ethical issues and creating value play a significant role. Most research on value creation in the sharing economy has not addressed how value is created for all actors in the sharing economy. This paper aims to examine all participants in the sharing economy to develop a value creation framework. This research also investigates the role of ethical concepts, including customer empathy, customer and service provider citizenship behaviour, and extra-role value behaviour in this framework.

The method includes a qualitative study with a grounded theory approach. The statistical population consists of three different stakeholders (managers, providers, and customers) in the tourism industry of Iran. This study employed purposive and theoretical sampling. The sample consists of 34 in-depth interviews. The data is analysed with a grounded theory approach using MAXQDA software.

The research findings lead to a value creation model in the sharing economy with respect to ethical issues such as customer empathy, citizenship behaviour, and extra-role behaviour considering all participants in the sharing economy.

Findings have helped to bridge the gaps in the theory. They have supported developing a theoretical framework for value creation concepts in sharing economy, including antecedents and consequences of perceived value. Findings also reveal that customer empathy and customer citizenship behaviour positively affects how customers and service providers perceived value.

Nowadays, the service industry has a fundamental and important role in the economic growth and development of countries. In this regard, the role and position of the insurance industry, as a supporting industry, is quite obvious. Insurance is one of the cornerstones of modern life. The insurance industry is rapidly turning into an essential element in the financial sector that contributes significantly to economic growth. The products of the insurance industry are intangible and have a high perceived risk. So, it requires a high level of mental engagement. In this case, recommendatory advertising helps to reduce uncertainty and risk perception. Due to the nature of the insurance industry, advertising more recommendations than other industries influences the decision of those who tend to be insured. The reputation of insurance companies is one of the important factors affecting people's recommendations. In this research, an attempt has been made to examine this issue. The research is conducted on the purpose of understanding the importance of satisfaction and loyalty of the insured for increasing the influence of the insurance industry and the factors affecting it, such as the trust of the insured and the reputation of insurance companies. The research method, based on the nature and objectives of the study, is a survey method through which the data were collected. The data were analyzed and then put to correlation tests. The statistical population of the study consisted of the clients of Iran Insurance Legal Agencies in Tehran selected by cluster sampling. There was, indeed, the sampling of multi-stage clusters in which several of the legal insurance agencies of Iran were selected as a cluster and then, in the second stage, a questionnaire was distributed among those who referred to the agencies. According to Morgan's table, since the population size was unlimited, the sample size was determined to be 384 people. As a result, according to the researchers' experience, more questionnaires were distributed in the statistical population of the research, and finally 400 questionnaires were used for the analysis. Their content validity was confirmed by experts and university professors. To evaluate the reliability of the instrument used, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used, and the calculations were performed using version 22 of the SPSS software. For this purpose, a pretest was taken with 30 questionnaires, and then, using the data obtained from these questionnaires, the confidence coefficient was calculated by Cronbach's alpha method. The Trust Scale of the Insured was 83%, the Loyalty Scale was 90%, the Recommendation Promotion Scale was 78%, and the overall reliability of the questionnaire was 85%. These figures indicate that the questionnaire was reliable. A conceptual model and the research hypotheses were tested by structural equation modeling using the Smart PLS software. After data analysis, it was shown that the customer’s satisfaction and trust through the reputation of the insurance company leads to loyalty and advertising the company. This induces a positive and significant relationship. As a result, it can be said that one of the requirements of loyalty and word of mouth by the insured in Iran is the existence of trust in and satisfaction with the insurer. These two elements accompany the reputation of the insurance company in the competitive environment of the society. The present study is based on four main hypotheses that were all confirmed. The reputation of insurance companies is the most important issue that top managers and marketers of Iran Insurance Company should pay due attention to. By creating satisfaction in the insured, Iran Insurance Company can establish loyalty in them. Since the insurance industry is closely related to other industries, the existence of loyal customers is necessary for the sustainability of the companies. If Iran Insurance Company cannot provide proper services, the customer satisfaction will be lost. Customers are interested in long-term experiences with the company's products and services. Those who are very happy with the insurance company's reputation tend to share their feelings about the company with others. In Iran Insurance Company, the reputation of a company plays an important role in establishing the relationship between the customer’s trust and loyalty. Therefore, honesty and transparency are necessary to create such a trust. When people trust the services of Iran Insurance Company, their word of mouth advertises more purchase. Satisfaction through the reputation of the insurance company increases recommendations and advertisements. Word-of-mouth advertising takes place when customers  have confidence in the activities of Iran Insurance Company. In fact, one of the important sources of recommending the services of a company to other people is the customer trust. When a company has a good reputation but does not create the necessary trust in its customers, it will not be advertised. The requisite for creating a word of mouth among customers is the simultaneous existence of the insurance company's reputation and the customer’s trust.

Relationship quality is recognized as the key concept of buyer-supplier relationships in the supply chain. The purpose of this study is to review and analyze the buyer-supplier relationship quality and prioritize its components.

Using a Meta-Synthesis Method, existing research on the buyer-supplier relationship quality from 1998 to the spring of 2020 was collected using relevant search terms. Then, due to the title, inclusion criteria, abstract, exclusion criteria and critical appraisal skills program checklist, irrelevant articles were removed and final articles were selected. By coding and synthesizing the findings of selected articles in MAXQDA, key components and categories of relationship quality were identified. Finally, by using an analytic hierarchy process, the components of relationship quality were prioritized by gathering the opinions of industry and academic experts and using Expert Choice software.

According to the research findings, the buyer-supplier relationship quality consists of three dimensions: social, technical and relational. The social dimension includes trust, commitment and satisfaction. The technical dimension consists of cooperation, knowledge management and adaptation, and the relational dimension includes interaction and the nature of the relationship.

The results show that trust is the most important component of relationship quality and then, respectively, cooperation, interaction, commitment, satisfaction, knowledge management, adaptation and the nature of the relationship are recognized as the most important components of relationship quality. In order to improve the quality of their relationship and get its benefits, the parties to the relationship should focus on strengthening and upgrading the mentioned components.

Coopetition strategy is a relationship in which collaboration and competition co-exist, to create value in cooperation with their competitors and to appropriate a share of that value themselves in an all-win scenario. The focus of this study is to investigate the concept of competitive collaboration in the engineering services industry. In this regard, one of the innovations of the present study is to try to design a conceptual model for this strategy and then to modify it based on the Iranian engineering services. Using grounded theory, methodology as a qualitative method based on primary data of 12 in-depth interviews with experts in the field, a theoretical framework was formulated regarding the systematic view of Strauss and Corbin. The research data were analyzed in three stages: open coding (650 descriptive codes), axial coding and selective coding. The findings show that the final model consists of 6 main categories, 14 subcategories, and 98 abstract concepts. By gathering the data and evidence from analysis of inter-firm level, a conceptual model relationship for coopetition strategy in the field of engineering services. The research findings show that engineering services managers and policymakers need to pay attention to all categories of causal conditions, intervening conditions, contextual conditions, strategies and outcomes of competitive collaboration.

Boards are mainly concerned with communication issues as well as how to overcome the uncertainty associated with the strategic decision-making process rather than simply the old challenge of "conflict of interests" and their legal and structural solutions. In fact, although structural and legal issues are important in corporate governance, they are not sufficient for a comprehensive understanding of the process of corporate governance from a theoretical point of view and implementation of good governance in practice. That is because the interactions between the board members as well as the interactions between them and other stakeholders of the organization can play a more important role in this regard and should be the focus of attention. Therefore, this study aims to conduct a systematic review on all the articles published in the field of corporate governance using a behavioral approach in order to create a big imge for the researchers to design an appropriate conceptual model and conduct empirical research accordingly. The main question of this research is: “what concepts have been studied by the researchers in the field of corporate governance using a behavioral approach”.

The present research is based on a meta-synthesis approach. It is a qualitative appraoch to present a combination of research findings with the aim of creating a conceptual framework and summarizing the concepts in order to provide easier access for exploitation in future experimental research. The study population included all the articles related to corporate governance which have been published in the reliable international journals such as JSTORE, Emerald, Science Direct (Elsevier), Scopus, Springer, Proquest, and Wiley until the end of 2018. In the preliminary stage, 140 articles were extracted. Then, the respective abstracts were studied and those articles that did not comply with at least one of the characteristics of the behavioral approach to corporate governance were eliminated. These characteristics include: 1- they should be 1- about the service duties of the board of directors, 2- about the interactions or decisions of the board of directors and the senior management team as well as dealing with the issues such as power, trust, feelings, participation, and etc, 3- using a theoretical basis other than theory of representation, 4- about the demographic characteristics or competencies of the board members, and 5- about the board processes and their dynamics using the raw data. The Journal Impact Factor and SiteScore indicators were used in the last stage of the article screening process.

After identifying 140 related articles and coding 78 selected articles with the average journal impact factor (JIF) of 4.34, 1722 content codes were registered to identify the concepts in this field. 139 concepts were identified as a result of open coding process, which were categorized into 25 subcategories and 9 main categories. Then, by performing axial and selective coding according to the grounded theory principles, the conceptual framework of "corporate governance based on a behavioral approach" was developed. The category of duties and outcomes of the board of directors including the control and service delivery task, was considered as the central category. Accordingly, the board should support and direct CEOs while keeping their distance and challenging them. The stakeholders, on the other hand, are regarded as the main trigger for the board duties. In fact, the external stakeholders as well as the internal stakeholders expect the board to be accountable and create value that can lead them to perform control or service tasks. On the other hand, the structure of the board as well as the demographic characteristics and competencies of the board members are considered as the intervening variables. In other words, there is a relationship between the structure of the board as well as the demographic characteristics and competencies of the individuals. In addition, the underlying conditions, depending on the contextual factors of corporate governance, can cause distinct changes in research variables in different research environments and are different from the intervening factors. In a conceptual framework, the underlying factors are divided into three levels of: company, industry, and macro (national). These factors affect the board processes. Moreover, the action and reaction strategies are the events that are performed by the actors during performing the board tasks. These strategies begin from the first moment the board performs its duties and continue until the organizational goals are achieved. Finally, the board tasks will result in organizational consequences including financial consequences, strategic changes of the organization, as well as social performance consequences for the organization, which is considered as the result within the conceptual framework.

The researchers should move away from the control tasks of the board of directors and pay more attention to the service tasks including the participation in the organizations strategies. They should also investigate the impact of underlying factors such as corporate ownership structure as well as environmental uncertainty on power relations. In addition to demographic factors, it can highlight the competencies of the board as well as human and communication capital and their role in the quality of the decisions. They should also develop contingency models that provide a more comprehensive explanation of the dynamics of the boards through studying cognitive, emotional, and behavioral processes as well as paying attention to different factors such as power, trust, and feelings.

Coopetition strategy is a relationship in which collaboration and competition co-exist. The goal of cooperation is to create value for competitors and to appropriate a share of that value in an all-win scenario. The focus of this study is to investigate the concept of competitive collaboration in the engineering services industry. In this regard, one of the innovations of the present study is to try to design a conceptual model for this strategy and then to modify it based on the Iranian engineering services in the construction industry. Using grounded theory methodology as a qualitative method based on primary data of 12 in-depth interviews with experts of the field, a theoretical framework was formulated based on the systematic view of Strauss and Corbin. By gathering data and evidence from analysis of inter-firm level, our findings indicate the processes of formation, development, and management of coopetition in the engineering services in Iran. The conceptual model relationship for coopetition strategy in the field of engineering services includes the conditions, contexts, management, tensions, and outcomes of competitive collaboration.

Since born globals are important for the future of business and because the findings of previous studies are scattered, there is a need to develop an integrated conceptual models and comprehensive theoretical frameworks. Also, the necessity of investigating the research on born globals is mentioned in previous works. These problems in born global literature and the need for developing a comprehensive framework is a main driver for conducting this review research. As a result, the aim of this article is to collect and integrate all the empirical studies in the world regarding the success key factors of born global firms in a comprehensive framework. Therefore, this article summarizes the findings of 85 empirical studies (only studies related to early success of born globals) by using systematic review method through identifying research questions, identifying inclusion and exclusion criteria, searching by using related keywords and extracting and synthesizing data and integrates them in a comprehensive conceptual framework. Based on the developed framework, future opportunities for research, theoretical and practical implications and theoretical and contextual gaps are suggested.

With increasing competition in the field of marketing, exports and the efforts of export companies to capture the market is constantly changing, identifying the factors that affect export performance increases the benefits of export companies. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of effective organizational factors (market-oriented, competitor-centered, customer-centric and quality of relationships) on export performance mediated by companies' export commitment. The research is descriptive-causal in terms of method. The research community is 80 active export companies in Khorramshahr. Census method and standard questionnaires were used to collect data. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by content method and convergent and divergent validity and the reliability of the questionnaire was based on Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability. The test of research hypotheses is based on structural equation modeling. The results of data analysis indicate the confirmation of the relationship and correlation between the three factors of market-oriented, customer-oriented and competitor-oriented with export performance and non-confirmation of the quality of relationships on export performance. Also, the mediating role of organizational commitment in the relationship between 4 internal factors on export performance in relationships (except the relationship between relationship quality and performance) was confirmed.

Harnessing the intellectual power of the organization is a key to success in today's changing business world. It is important to create or acquire competitive advantage through the effective integration of environmental and organizational resources using mental and intellectual capabilities in the organizations which is called organizational intelligence. As a result, it is necessary to accurately describe the status of competitive intelligence in Iranian SMEs in cyberspace and identify and explain the dimensions of competitive intelligence in social networks, and also to identify and provide solutions to improve competitive intelligence and ultimately enhance competitiveness.

The research is applied in terms of purpose and employs a descriptive approach. The present study uses online ethnography methodology. Considering the evaluation of different social networks and the low activity of companies and brands in non-alchoholic beverage industry in most of these networks, Instagram was selected for data collection during the spring and summer 2018 (depending on the time of publication of the messages). And then, the cyber pages of the active Iranian companies in the non-alchoholic beverage industry were monitored. Qualitative analysis was performed on the messages of the customers and followers. Eventually 293 comments were selected for this study. Selected comments were meaningful, authentic, and relevant to the topic. Grounded theory strategy awas used to analyze the data. Besides, manual analyses were used to increase the accuracy of the analyses.

In this study, after collecting the data, coding and analyzing the semantic interpretation and content of the comments, six main dimensions were identified as the competitive intelligence that can describe the information related to existing competitive intelligence in the selected social networks. These dimensions include: marketing intelligence; competitor intelligence; social and health intelligence; technological intelligence; and strategic intelligence. Because of the repetition ofcomments on health and wellbeing (some companies' products) as well as social responsibility (some companies), the word health has been added to the social intelligence dimension, which has been rarely observed in previous research. Interacting with consumers clearly provides valuable information about their views and attitudes.

The present study identified the descriptive characterstics of competitive intelligence in the non-alchoholic beverage industry as a problem in the social networks due to the intensity of competition in this sector. Surveys show that SMEs are much less active in social media than international companies, and there is a significant gap between the existing and the desired status. The results show that the highest frequency was related to marketing and competitor intelligence and the lowest frequency was related to technological and strategic intelligence. In other words, some of the dimensions undermined. However, "social responsibility" and "health" are among the new components identified in the present study. Besides, in the classification of the dimensions and components of this study, the “human resources” was classified as a component of social and health dimension, which has been classified within other dimensions in other studies. Due to the lack of comments on the “structural and organizational” dimension, it was not included in the identified results of this study.

The purpose of this study is distinguishing shared value activities from corporate social responsibility activities in Iranian enterprises. Through examining the social activities experiences of Iranian enterprises, focusing on activities which have characteristics of creating shared value, we identified several types of social activities of Iranian enterprises.

Due to the lack of a similar model, we used Grounded Theory until we could explore the traveled path of social activities of Iranian companies, using practical experiences of 37 interviews with managers and other related experts. 

The final model suggests 6 types of social activities in Iranian enterprises, displaying Iranian creating shared values in a spectrum. The first two types didn’t have the capability of creating shared value, but on the other hand, the other four categories can create shared value with different intensity and effectiveness.

Conclution:

 Results suggest that Iranian companies created shared value through four ways (enhancing reputation and legitimacy through social activities, decreasing risks and costs through environmental protection activities, increase in revenue through creating economic opportunities due to solving social issues, and increase in revenue through enhancing transmitted benefits of stakeholders).

The keys to long-term economic survival in today's dynamic and competitive working environment are organizations’ adaptability and environmental compatibility viably through in-service learning. In this state of flux, organizational survival, competition and growth depends more than ever on improving organizational learning capacity. The purpose of the present enquiry, thus, was to explain the employee organizational learning model based on improving employees’ productivity and reducing their burnout at Payam-e Noor University, Tabriz Branch. The research population comprised the employees at Payam-e Noor University, Tabriz Branch and the research data were accumulated using three questionnaires. Learning was operationalized based on Gomez et al. (2005), productivity was quantified employing the Harry and Goldsmith model (1980) and job burnout was measured using David Gold model (1989). The research data were analyzed via SPSS software; Descriptive statistics of the data were calculated and the research hypotheses were tested via Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with Partial Least Squares (PLS). The results of the data analyses revealed that organizational learning has a significant and positive relationship with productivity and a significant and inverse relationship with burnout.

Due to the recession in all industries, and in particular in the country's construction industry, almost all construction industry activists including a group of construction companies cannot sell construction units in the usual way and are looking for new ways to sell their goods and services. Therefore, considering that the concept of open innovation-based sales has been a new concept in sales literature and very few sales scholars investigated the issue based on open innovation concepts, the development of this concept will contribute to the enrichment of the literature as well as fill the operational gap for the related research and industry activists, and will provide operational solutions for the sale of building units. Accordingly, this research has two key objectives helping the sales literature to increase the perception of researchers and academicians of open source sales and its key elements through the development and improvement of this concept, as well as identifying the relationship between open innovation components and sales. This inductive research is applied in nature based on qualitative methods. This research is a field study conducted on a particular case. Because this study seeks to develop a new theory and enhance the knowledge for open innovation-based sales, it aims to explore the issue through semi-structured interviews. Also, data derived theory has been used by the researchers. The statistical population of this research consists of Atlas Iranian construction companies. Data collection and analysis were carried out simultaneously and the data were analyzed based on constant comparative analysis using Straight-Corbin method. Based on the categorizations made in this study, 260 codes were classified into 55 concepts and 33 main categories. The data analysis procedure led to the creation of a theoretical model which includes the causal conditions, background conditions, intervening conditions, strategies and outcomes that describe the main issue of "open innovation sales". The results of this research showed that open innovation sales dimensions can be categorized into thirty four main categories. The present study identifies and introduces new and more comprehensive set of methods that can be used to facilitate sales in the construction industry in conditions of market downturn, as a source of sales based on open innovation. The research addressed the categories related to ideas and technologies within the company, ideas and technology outside the company, knowledge sharing, dividing the sales promotion risk, and redefining the business model. In this research, open innovation categories in the building industry including the use of competitor knowledge, the use of rivals, customization of products based on customers’ preferences, investment in research, and the purchase or sale of licenses that have not been introduced in the sales models so far.

Nowadays, parent companies play a strong role in the economy of countries. They are characterized by a portfolio of businesses managed and coordinated by a corporate headquarters (HQ). For success of a parent company, HQ should create value for whole firm. But the question is that which roles and interventions a HQ must do to create value-added. Thus, this paper aims to develop a theoretical framework of HQ’s roles and interventions, as well as of situational factors that affect these roles and interventions. This paper applied the systematic review; thus, 31 articles (from 1962 to 2017) associated with HQ and corporate strategy in two databases (EBSCO and WOS) were systematically analyzed. After examining the articles, 3 roles and 21 interventions for HQ were identified. Moreover, 2 groups of situational factors namely “business characteristics” and “HQ characteristics” which have significant impact on HQ’s roles and interventions were determined. All roles do not result in value-added. Sometimes HQ’s interventions prevent value destruction and occasionally destruct value in subsidiaries.

Providing commercialization services in science and technology parks and other institutions facilitating the development of knowledge-based companies has a very important role in the success or failure of the companies based there. The aim of this study was to identify and compare the priority of commercialization services required by growth and development companies based in Science and Technology Park in Tehran University. Commercialization services have been identified through the use of library studies and commercialization services of science and technology parks in Iran and elsewhere in the world. This research was carried out with the help of 227 employees of 93 companies based in the park and employees of the park's commercialization department. Subsequently, these categories and services were ranked using the gradual weighting analysis method (SWARA). According to the findings of this research, growth companies have given the highest priority to marketing, financing and investment and educational services respectively, while for development companies, financing and investment services, marketing, contracts and guarantee issues have been ranked as the highest priorities respectively. In this research, a two-level model for planning and decision making on the combination of commercialization services offered with regard to the constraints, conditions, capabilities, and objectives of science and technology parks is provided. At the first level, there is the decision making about the priorities within the category of services and at the second level, there is decision making in relation to the priority of each category of services. This model can be used in policy making and planning of science and technology parks in order to improve the provision of commercialization services to growth and development companies.

Strategic alliances stand among the most prominent collaborations between businesses. In service businesses such as tourism, due to heterogeneity in key elements, dominance of SMEs and high sensitivity of the industry regarding the environmental changes, strategic alliances experienced more referrals. There seems to be no comprehensive study on how strategic alliances form in niche areas of tourism, like medical tourism, in Iran. This study focused on identifying the formation of strategic alliances among Iranian medical tourism businesses. Using snowball sampling, 17 experts in medical tourism were selected. Through semi-structured interviews, the data was gathered, and it was analyzed with MAXQDA10 software using theme analysis. Results showed that the goals behind the formation of medical tourism businesses could be categorized in eight key themes: 1) lifting legal barriers; 2) the contingencies of industry; 3) personal interests; 4) organizational goals; 5) customer-related goals; 6) strategic goals; 7) economic goals; 8) securing national interests.