decision making

This article deals with the design of intelligent mind maps to develop creativity in strategy management. Given the complexities of business environments and the need for innovation in strategic decision-making processes, this study identifies the role and importance of mind maps in enhancing organizational creativity. In this study, mind maps are introduced as a tool to facilitate creative thinking and strategic decision-making. The results of the study show that the use of intelligent mind maps can help improve strategic thinking skills and increase creativity productivity in organizations. The study also showed that implementing mind maps in strategic processes helps organizations to better understand their competitive situation and design more effective strategies. Therefore, the use of this tool is recommended especially in organizations that seek to improve and develop their strategies.

This study examines the impact of using quantum intelligence in simulating futures scenarios in strategic management. Given the complexity and uncertainties in business environments, simulation models that leverage quantum intelligence can help managers predict possible futures and make more efficient strategic decisions. The research data was collected from semi-structured interviews with experts in the fields of quantum intelligence and strategic management. The research results show that the use of quantum intelligence algorithms allows organizations to simulate different future scenarios with greater accuracy and design more effective strategies. Also, this research identifies the challenges and opportunities of using this technology in strategic decision-making and provides models for improving the scenario simulation processes.

The fear and hesitancy of managers in making decisions ends up in a phenomenon called decision phobia, which sometimes has dangerous and irreparable consequences for the individual, employees and organization. By identifying this phenomenon, organizations can reduce its consequences. The purpose of this research is to present a model of how the phenomenon of decision-phobia of government agency managers appears and also to identify various solutions to deal with this phenomenon in government organizations.

The current research is descriptive-exploratory in terms of its practical purpose and in terms of the method of data collection, and it is of a qualitative research type that has been used using the foundation data method. Since the current research is qualitative, the data collection method is in-depth interviews with the participants. Based on this, 20 public administrators and management professors were selected as sample members using the purposeful sampling method and based on the principle of theoretical adequacy. In this research, in order to review and analyze the data obtained from the interview, the method of qualitative content analysis with inductive approach has been used.

Based on the textual analysis of the interviews, the understanding and recognition of the phenomenon of decision phobia, causal variables, intervening variables, influencing variables and the consequences of dealing with this phenomenon have been extracted. The results showed that changing organizational culture, creating flexible organizational structures, training and individual development of managers and supporting managers and decision-makers can prevent the phenomenon of decision phobia.

Decision-making is considered the core and essence of entrepreneurial activities, as the growth and progress of businesses depend on the decisions made by entrepreneurs. This research initially identifies the factors influencing entrepreneurial decision-making, then evaluates the impact of each factor on their choices, and finally examines the bidirectional relationships among the variables. The study population consists of entrepreneurs active in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Zahedan City, with a sample randomly selected from these entrepreneurs. Library resources and existing research in this area were utilized to identify the influential factors on entrepreneurial decision-making, ultimately categorizing these factors into four groups: individual characteristics, organizational characteristics, environmental characteristics, and specific decision characteristics. Data collection in the field was conducted using a questionnaire to assess the impact of these factors. Data analysis was performed using SPSS26 and Amos18 software. The findings indicate that individual and organizational factors significantly influence the specific characteristics of a decision, playing a crucial role in entrepreneurial decision-making. Additionally, there is a bidirectional relationship between individual and organizational characteristics, directly influencing each other's decision-making processes. Based on the results, it is recommended that training sessions be organized for entrepreneurs to enhance their skills and reduce errors in selecting the right options, improve interpretation and analytical abilities, enhance instantaneous decision-making capacity, and optimize environmental analysis and information processing.

The present study aims to identify the factors influencing organizational silence and its impact on managerial decision-making.

This applied research was conducted using a sequential exploratory mixed-methods approach. The identification of factors was carried out qualitatively using the thematic analysis method. Participants in this stage included academic faculty members and executive experts from Bank Mellat, whose perspectives were gathered through semi-structured interviews. To validate the identified factors in the quantitative stage, the structural equation modeling (confirmatory factor analysis) method was used. For this purpose, a questionnaire based on the identified factors was designed and purposively distributed among the central managers of Bank Mellat to evaluate the relationships between the indicators and categories. The quantitative data were analyzed using Smart PLS version 3 software.

The findings revealed that the factors influencing organizational silence include individual factors (tendencies and interests, concerns and anxieties, motivations, personal traits, and characteristics), interpersonal factors (communication factors), organizational factors (job-related factors, organizational culture, managerial factors, structural factors), and extra-organizational factors (social, cultural, and economic factors). These factors affect the quality of managerial decision-making, including (accuracy, precision, timeliness, efficiency, reliability, and follow-up of decision-making). The quantitative analyses also confirmed the significance of the relationships between the indicators and the targeted components.

The results of this study can provide useful insights into managing the phenomenon of organizational silence. Simultaneous identification of the factors influencing the occurrence of organizational silence across the four aforementioned levels, as well as the consequences that this phenomenon can have on the quality of managerial decision-making, can offer effective insights for managing this destructive organizational behavior.

To be effective, leaders need flexible access to their whole brain. Understanding how the human brain works and knowing how to best use the logical and social brain can provide a critical course for effective leadership. The present research by investigating 30 people from government and non-government sector managers and simultaneously recording the brain waves and heart wave rhythm of these people while performing the cognitive task of evaluating the response control and risk-taking of decision-making CGT (CANTAB software) with the Procomp 2 coherence evaluation device EEG describes heart wave rhythm (HRV) based on neuroscience and neurocardiology. The findings showed that the correlation coefficient test of brain waves and heart waves in both resting and performing cognitive tasks had significant differences from each other, so that there is no similarity between the coherence of EEG and ECG in the resting state with the time of performing the cognitive task of CGT among government and non-government sector workers. was not observed. These results show that the changes in brain and heart waves of people during rest and decision time are different from each other, so that the changes in brain waves and heart waves and the cooperation of these waves with each other depend on the environmental, mental and emotional conditions of people.

Fear and hesitation of managers in their decision-making may sometimes cause devastating and irreparable consequences for themselves, employees and organizations. The purpose of this research was to discover and understand the phenomenon of decision-making phobia or decidophobia as well as its types among managers of government agencies.

This qualitative research was applied in terms of purpose and was descriptive-exploratory in terms of data gathering technique. Phenomenology method (study of the lived experience of people involved in this phobia) was employed to conduct the research. The data collection method was in-depth interviews with the participants. Therefore, based on the principle of theoretical adequacy and using purposeful sampling method, 20 public administrators and management professors were selected as the sample.

In addition to the recognition and understanding of decision-making phobia, the research findings contain the types of this phobia. There are seven main themes, including: situational decision-making phobia, headquarters-supervisory decision-making phobia, social decision-making phobia, legal decision-making phobia, individual-personality decision-making phobia, Job/organizational decision-making phobia and political decision-making phobia.

Today, the optimal governance paradigm is used on a wide scale from local to international level. According to many experts and experts in this field of research, the most important and effective theory on the way to achieving the desired governance is "decentralization of (political-economic) power" (Chigbu, 2021). Decentralization has been considered as one of the indicators of reducing power distance. Decentralization, means the delegation of power (in political and economic matters), leads to a reduction in the power gap between different levels and the power gap between the government and the people (Rodríguez, 2018). The main problem of this research is that currently there is no firm determination in the country's political and policy-making system to realize the model of decentralization and delegation of authority to local authorities (such as governorates, etc.). On the other hand, it has been found that simply increasing decentralization does not increase welfare; rather, the necessary infrastructure for handing over affairs to the provinces should be evaluated first, and then the realization and improvement of social welfare in the provinces (Khanzadi et al., 1400). From a theoretical point of view, not much effort has been made to provide a political-economic decentralization model, which indicates a major research gap in governance literature. With all the aforementioned, the question of how decentralization helps to realize the desired governance, due to the disagreements and deficiencies that exist in the field of theoretical literature and research background, remains without a firm and definitive answer; Therefore, the main question of this research is: "What is the model of decentralization (political-economic) in Iran's provinces in the direction of good governance?"

This research is practical in terms of purpose, which was done with a mixed (qualitative-quantitative) approach. The statistical community in the qualitative section includes university experts who have a history of education in the field of public administration and valid scientific articles in this field. To determine the samples of this research and to determine this group of experts, a non-probability and purposeful sampling (Judgmental Sampling) method was used. The criterion for determining the sample size in this research is to reach theoretical saturation, which was achieved after fourteen interviews.The snowball technique was used for sampling. The statistical population of the quantitative stage was the senior and middle managers of the governorate and the program and budget organization and managers of general offices in the provinces of Tehran, Isfahan, Kurdistan, and Khuzestan (N=183). Considering that the number of the studied community is limited, the entire studied community has been used completely and non-randomly as the investigated sample. The main tool of data collection in the qualitative part is the semi-structured in-depth interview. To determine the validity and reliability of the interviews, two methods of retesting and double coder agreement were used.In the quantitative part, to test these research hypotheses, a researcher-made questionnaire including 147 items was used to collect information. The items of the questionnaire were compiled exactly based on the indicators identified in the qualitative phase of the research. In this research, the database theory method has been used to analyze qualitative data. Data analysis in the qualitative section has been done using MAXQDA software version 2020. Inferential statistics and Partial Least Squares (PLS) version 2024 were used to analyze the data and test the research hypotheses.

Based on the results of three stages of coding in the second part of the research, the obtained data are classified into 9 main categories. According to professors and experts, out of all the indicators obtained from the qualitative analysis of 14 interviews, including 9 categories and 30 indicators, have been used to formulate the model of decentralization (political-economic) in the direction of good governance.Figure 1- Research paradigm model.A survey approach was used to validate the obtained model. To check the validity of the questionnaires, two indices Content Validity Index (CVI) and Content Validity Ratio (CVR) have been measured. The results of the content validity index of the questions show that the CVI of all the questions is higher than 0.8, which is the result of the validity of the content of each question. Also, considering that the CVR value of each question is greater than 0.56, the content validity ratio of this questionnaire has been confirmed.The value of Cronbach's alpha reliability and composite reliability for all variables in the research model is more than 0.7. Therefore, the research questionnaire has the necessary reliability. Based on the obtained results, it was found that the conditions of convergent validity are also established. Therefore, convergent validity is also confirmed. The results of the Fornell-Larcker test also confirm the validity of the tool. The coefficient of determination test (R2) and the GOF index (equal to 0.698) also confirm the appropriate fit of the research model. In total, the results of the quantitative part showed that the proposed model in this research has good validity from the point of view of path coefficient and significant value.

Decentralization and formation of local government is a complex and long process that works to increase the participation of all people of a society in the development process based on local capacities, abilities, and resources. In decentralization, the central government hands over decision-making authority to local institutions whose officials are elected by the people of the same place; but their performance is under the control and supervision of the central government. In better words, decentralization refers to the relative authority of local governments in terms of setting goals, providing resources, and managing and implementing public policies. Decentralization facilitates and accelerates decision-making. It increases competition between local governments. It brings regional development and increases transparency and accountability by bringing the government closer to the people. Decentralization is also mentioned in articles of the law of the fifth five-year development plan of the country. In developing countries, there are several categories of main tasks, including "establishing the rule of law and ensuring the implementation of regulations", "creating macroeconomic stability", "and creating and upgrading infrastructure "," providing welfare services "," protecting the environment "and" strengthening the productive capacity of the national economy" can be summarized as the most important activities of the public sector. This research is one of the first studies that provide a comprehensive model related to decentralization in the direction of good governance. The components identified in the model of this research can have management guidelines for policymakers to facilitate the decentralization process and consequently strengthen good governance. Also, the proposed model provides researchers with a new perspective by separating different factors so that they can identify the important areas of decentralization from the perspective of good governance.

This study was conducted with the aim of designing a model of decentralization (political-economic) in Iran's provinces in line with optimal governance. The current research is considered to be a developmental research in terms of its purpose, exploratory in terms of its method, and a qualitative method in terms of its data collection method.

The statistical population consists of 14 executive and academic experts who have a history of education in the field of public administration and valid scientific articles in this field. The main tool of data collection in the field section includes semi-structured interviews. The reliability of the interviews was confirmed by the method of intra-subject agreement and retesting. To analyze the data, foundation data theory was used using MaxQD software.

Based on the results of the qualitative analysis of six categories of factors including causal factors (planning, competence, and flexibility), contextual factors (accountability, public empowerment, responsibility), intervening factors (environmental decentralization), central phenomenon (political-economic decentralization), Strategies (social development, economic management, and promotion of public participation), and consequences (decentralization based on governance, efficiency and effectiveness, formation of public consensus for justice) were identified. Based on the identified components, a paradigmatic model of political-economic decentralization was developed.

Based on the obtained results, public empowerment, responsibility and accountability were identified as the basic conditions for the realization of desirable governance. The growth and development of any society and country is dependent on the efficient and favorable performance of government organizations and institutions, and accordingly, the efficient and favorable performance of the people working in these institutions and organizations.

The phenomenon of unreasonable escalation of commitments and decisions, well-known in organizational behavior, is where individuals, particularly managers, persist in investing in failed actions. This study aims to design a model for managing escalation of commitment in the public sector.

Design/Methodology/Approach: 

We employed a qualitative research method based on a data-driven approach. The study population included managers with experience in governmental organizations in Khorasan Razavi Province. Utilizing the saturation principle and snowball sampling method, 12 participants were selected as the sample size. Data collection involved general guidance and semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was conducted using quantitative methods and MaxQDA software.

The study reveals that the escalation model for managers' commitment in the public sector comprises several elements: causal conditions with individual, collective, and organizational factors; a central category featuring the escalation of commitment factor; a strategy with resource absorption, time application, and non-limitation strategy components; consequences including undesirable governance and performance reduction; and context with cultural factors, social factors, and environmental factors as the observer.Implications: The negative connotations of the issue and managers' fear of consequences lead them to avoid responding.

Practical Implications: 

Understanding these factors can help managers recognize and address the impacts of commitment escalation.

Innovation or Value of the Article: 

This research uniquely designs a model for managers' commitment in the public sector, highlighting the originality of this article.Paper Type: Research Paper

The present study explained the issue of decision-making under the influence of the coherence of brain waves and heart waves based on each of the components of emotional intelligence of Mayer and Salovey, how the coherence of EEG and ECG is based on neuroscience and neurocardiology, and the decision-making styles of managers based on based on Scott and Bruce's model and presented its results. The sample of the present study was 30 managers of governmental and non-governmental organizations in the agricultural sector of Gilan province who voluntarily participated in this research and in two situations of relaxation and decision-making with Neurofeedback tool, Biofeedback Procomp 2 while running the CGT decision evaluation test of CANTAB software, brain waves and their heart waves were simultaneously recorded from the CZ area of the brain and the areas around the heart by Biograph version 6 software. The results showed the coherence of EEG and ECG waves. During rest and recognition tasks There were significant differences in different decision-making styles and emotional intelligence components, and none of the decision-making styles had a significant correlation between brain waves and heart waves in two states of relaxation and decision making.

Insisting on commitments means persistently pursuing decisions despite negative feedback and causes a person to hesitate in removing their wrong plans. The current research is of a mixed type and has been compiled with the aim of managers' insistence on initial commitments in government organizations (causes and consequences). The research strategy in the qualitative part is foundational data theorizing and in the quantitative part, survey. The participants of the qualitative part were 12 managers with management experience in government agencies, who were selected as the sample size using the saturation principle and snowball sampling method, and in the quantitative part, all the managers of the government agencies of Khorasan Razavi province were 386. People were selected by stratified random method according to the volume. The findings include causal conditions with three components of individual, group and organizational factors; A central category with a component of insisting on commitment; Strategy with three components of attracting resources, using time and not limiting; Consequences with two components of unfavorable governance, reduced performance; contexts with two components of cultural factors and social factors; The intervention was with the component of environmental factors. The results showed that the mentioned model has the necessary validity.