structural equation modeling (sem)

A review of the research literature shows that a similar structure can not be observed for the models presented in the field of innovation ecosystem in the conducted researches; Therefore, in order to increase innovation in companies, an appropriate model of innovation ecosystem should be designed based on local characteristics and constraints. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to design a conceptual model of innovation ecosystem in small and medium enterprises using ISM-SEM. The method of work was descriptive-causal. The statistical population of this study included two sections of experts and managers of small and medium companies in East Azerbaijan province. In this research, 11 experts participated in the first part and 335 managers of small and medium companies in the second part of the research answered the questionnaires. Two questionnaires were used to collect data, which were distributed among the members of the statistical sample after determining their validity and reliability. For data analysis, interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and structural path modeling (SEM) have been used. The findings of the structural-interpretive modeling section show that the dimensions of the innovation ecosystem in small and medium industries are in five levels, each of which has direct and indirect relations with other levels. Also, the test of the developed model among companies has shown the appropriate validity and reliability of the developed model and the confirmation of direct and indirect relationships between the dimensions of the innovation ecosystem in small and medium enterprises.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of open innovation antecedents on its consequences in higher education institutions. The identified consequences and antecedents in higher education institutions have been studied and the influence of open innovation antecedents on its consequences has been analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and factor analysis. For this purpose, the selected universities of Isfahan province have been considered as the case study. The statistical population of this research was 1,490 people. 306 people were also determined as sample, from which, 306 questionnaires were ultimately collected. The content validity of the questionnaire was investigated through the opinions of seven experts. In addition to content validity, structural validity method and factor analysis technique were also used to assess the validity of the research tool. Considering that the significance value of ‘T’ in the relationship between open innovation antecedents and open innovation consequences was obtained higher than 1.96, it was concluded that the effect coefficient of 0.791 was significant at 95% confidence level, and the effect of independent variable on dependent variable in the main research model was confirmed. This finding indicated the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable of the open innovation consequences as well as the very good fitness of the model with the data. The strengths and weaknesses, situation and position of each university were investigated and the gaps between internal skills and resources needed to establish joint development relations were identified. Appropriate and clear communication between the university and industry was established and the needs of employees and students were assessed to achieve success in universities. As a result of this need assessment, the participation of employees and students was used and the, the needs were met.

Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a powerful multivariate statistical approach for assessing complex relationships between latent variables in many human and behavioral sciences. A common challenge in estimating structural equation models, which is based on hypothesis testing, is the presence of missing data. Deleting subjects with missing values on each of items is the usual way of handling missing data, which leads to biased estimators and lose a considerable amount of sample information as the percentage of missing values increases. In estimating SEM with missing values, one can apply the full information maximum likelihood (FIML) approach that makes maximal use of all available data from every subject in the sample. In this paper, the performance of FIML is investigated under three missing value mechanisms, missing completely at random, missing at random, and missing not at random, in a simulation study. Two confirmatory factor analysis models are considered, where the data is generated under three mechanisms and the impact of two indexes, sample size (100, 500) and percentage of missing values (2%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%), are evaluated based on the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) index. Results show that the performance of SEM using FIML approach is generally better than the performance of SEM without using this approach in terms of some goodness of fit index.

Nowadays، supply of appropriate and sustainable job opportunities for graduates are one of the main concerns of higher educational systems in any country. The issue of employ ability has been proposed in this regard as a new mechanism in policy making and guiding related processes. The purpose of this study was to rank the key skills delivered thought curriculum content for employability formation among agriculture students. Statistical sample included 1491 agricultural students at University of Tehran that of whom 310 students were randomly selected. To measure the research constructs a questionnaire was employed. Its face validity confirmed by expert panel and its reliability estimated at 0. 81 by Cronbach''s alpha coefficient. For data processing، second order confirmatory factor analysis and Structural Equation Modeling method was employed. The empirical results indicated that employability is depended on three dimensions including business development skills، personal development skills and academic skills. A comparison among three dimensions showed that business development skills role was more important. As a result، paying attention to the curriculum content، in a way that will lead to further business development skills، is the most important priorities in developing agricultural higher education in Iran.