sharing economy

This research explores the concept of the sharing economy as an innovative approach in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), particularly for the automotive industry in Iran. Given the high costs of resource procurement, the sharing economy offers companies a flexible, cost-effective way to access resources and expertise, improving efficiency and resource utilization. The automotive sector, which plays a significant role in Iran's economy, stands to benefit from this model by optimizing processes and boosting productivity. The aim of the study is to identify and address the barriers to implementing a B2B sharing economy in Iran’s automotive industry.

This study identifies the key barriers to implementing a B2B sharing economy in Iran’s automotive industry through a review of existing literature and expert opinions gathered using the fuzzy Delphi technique. The research involved 20 senior managers from major automotive companies, including Iran Khodro, Saipa, Modiran Khodro, Mammut World, and Kerman Motor, all of whom had relevant training on the subject. The Revised DEMATEL technique was used to reassess the relationships between the identified barriers, and Multi-level Interpretive Structural Modeling (M-TISM) was then applied to categorize and interpret these barriers in the context of B2B sharing economy implementation.

Thirteen key barriers were identified from the literature and refined through expert opinions gathered via a survey. Using structural modeling techniques, these barriers were categorized into five levels. Barriers C2 and C6, which relate to low awareness about the B2B sharing economy and legal and regulatory gaps in sharing guidelines, were classified as root-level barriers. Barriers C1, C3, C11, and C13—such as low trust between companies, resistance to adopting new business models, lack of transparency and tracking in resource flows, and risks related to timely delivery scheduling—were identified as layer-level barriers. At the intermediate level, barriers included issues like low data security policies, financial resource management challenges, pricing concerns, disparities in technology levels across organizations, inadequate infrastructure and support, difficulty in selecting suitable sharing partners, and the absence of a comprehensive B2B sharing platform. 

By addressing the root and influential barriers at level 5, managers can effectively manage other obstacles. Additionally, attention should be given to the level 1 barriers, as they are the most highly impacted challenges.

The sharing economy represents a new business model in which individuals share their assets with others. In other words, the sharing economy enables people to grant access to their possessions for others' use. In some cases, this access is temporary and may even serve as a means of selling products and services. Typically, this sharing of assets by consumers occurs through online platforms. Given the rapid growth of sharing economy businesses, trust has emerged as the most critical issue faced by companies operating in this sector. These businesses require extensive trust-based relationships between users and service providers. However, most individuals in these businesses are unfamiliar with one another, which presents challenges for sharing economy enterprises. Accordingly, this study aims to identify the antecedents of trust in the sharing economy.

This research was conducted using an exploratory mixed-method approach in two stages. The first step involved identifying the topic and determining the research problem as part of the qualitative content analysis process. The second step focused on sample selection. A systematic review method was employed to select the articles. Initially, the research question, “What are the antecedents of trust in the sharing economy?” was formulated. In the next stage, articles were searched across scientific journals and various databases, such as ScienceDirect, Emerald, Scopus, and Google Scholar, from 2014 to 2023. This search utilized keywords such as "trust," "sharing economy," and "trust in the sharing economy," resulting in the collection of 730 articles. After reviewing the articles, 438 were excluded based on their titles, 192 based on their abstracts, and 40 based on their full text and content, leaving 60 articles from reputable scientific journals and international conferences for analysis. It is noteworthy that the search and selection of articles continued until it was confirmed that adding more articles would not yield any new antecedents of trust in the sharing economy. After the article selection, the process of qualitative content analysis commenced. In this stage, after selecting words and sentences as meaning units, each article was reviewed twice by the researchers. Once the antecedents were identified, codes with similar concepts were grouped under specific sub-category names to form sub-categories. Sub-categories with common concepts were then grouped and labeled as main categories. Regarding the validity of the categorization, a coding and categorization guide was developed and reviewed by two subject-matter experts. After receiving their feedback, necessary revisions were made. In the second stage, the Best-Worst Method (BWM), a multi-criteria decision-making method, was used to prioritize the categories. Accordingly, a Best-Worst questionnaire was prepared and sent to 10 experts in the field of the sharing economy, selected through the snowball sampling method. Finally, the data from the Best-Worst questionnaire were analyzed using Excel software.

After a thorough examination, 26 indicators were identified as antecedents of trust in the sharing economy. These 26 antecedents were then grouped into six main categories. The identified categories include platform value propositions (social values, cultural values), brand experience (user experience, service personalization), consumers' ethical perceptions (platform security, user protection, transparency), perceived quality (service quality), platform branding (brand personality, brand strength), and platform capabilities (technical capabilities, reliability).

The results of the analysis indicate that platform branding is the most important category among the identified antecedents of trust in the sharing economy. In contrast, consumers' ethical perceptions were found to be the least significant category. After discussing the research limitations and offering suggestions for future research, practical recommendations were provided for businesses operating in the sharing economy sector.

The emergence of industry 4.0 and the globalization of the supply chain has caused the supply chains to be more exposed to crises and disruptions. One of the concepts that can be a solution in this regard is resilience and how to design and implement strategies related to it. In this regard, emerging technologies Industry 4.0 can lead the way. The purpose of this applied and mixed exploratory research is to examine the dimensions of supply chain resilience with a focus on technology in sharing economy businesses.

The participants of the qualitative part of the research were 13 people from sharing economy business experts who were selected by the snowball method. The statistical population of the quantitative part was also 71 managers and experts who were selected in a purposeful and accessible way. In this research, data have been collected with the library method by reviewing articles, books and theses, and then a researcher-made questionnaire. in the qualitative part, using meta-synthesis and Delphi method with Excel and SPSS software, and in the quantitative part, data has been analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis with the method of partial least squares and Smart-PLS software.

Findings of this research include 64 extracted codes that are grouped into 4 factors. Organizational-cultural factor with 14 indicators, environmental-market factor with 17 indicators, technology factor with 13 indicators and supply chain factor with 20 indicators have been obtained. According to the results of the research, the supply chain factor has the greatest impact on the resilience of the supply chain, followed by the cultural-organizational factor and the technology factor, and finally, the environmental-market factor has the least impact. According to these results, it is suggested that increase coordination and cooperation among supply chain factors.

 In today's world, where the distance between the supplier of goods and services and the applicant is becoming more and more complicated; Platforms help make this flow better. The complex issues in government governance and community administration are key roles that government can play among the demanders and providers of government and public services. Also, the government can greatly contribute to the ease, lack of crowding, security and thickness of the market between suppliers and applicants of government services and goods. The leading research seeks to propose a conceptual framework of the idea of a platform government that can answer many of the identified challenges and shortcomings of the modern government. Also, in this research, it has been tried to express a comprehensive definition of this concept that includes all its features by studying and criticizing the many definitions of the idea of platform government.

Design/ methodology/ approach: 

In order to achieve the goals of the current research and analyze the findings of the research, the implication research method has been used. In this method, the contributions of the sharing economy theory as a source of implication, preliminary guidelines to prove the efficiency of this idea (platform government) have been calculated. Also, in order to collect information and contributions from the concept of sharing economy, the method of library and document study has been used. The study sample population of the current research includes all reports, documents, scientific articles and books authored in Persian and Latin, in the field of sharing economy and platform government since 2015.

 The results of the research show that the platform government can be a suitable alternative to the modern government in the whole system of issues that the modern government is facing now. Also, the platform government approach for governments like the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is people-based, can be a suitable format for the growth and evolution of this feature.

Practical Consequences: 

Among the main practical consequences of the ideas of this research, we can mention the expansion of the ability of good governance in the country and the maximum benefit of all members of the society from government services and benefits in an easy and equal way.

Innovation or value of the Article: 

The most important initiative of this research is to identify the concept of sharing economy for the success of platform government; It can also be said that providing new coordinates for the concept of platform government according to the Studies conducted in this field is one of the most important values of the leading article.

The sharing economy is defined as a socio-economic model based on the common use of unused and unnecessary goods. Now, this concept in economic sciences has grown rapidly and with the development of business models in recent years, it has shown its role even more. The purpose of this research is to design a framework for the determinants of the intention to continuously use sharing economy systems and, on a case-by-case basis, internet taxis. In order to conduct this research, the method of meta-composite studies, which is a kind of systematic study method, was used. Four hundred and eighty scientific documents were obtained by searching the Scopus database, and after removing the articles, finally 49 articles were selected for the final review. In this research, open coding method and MAXQDA2018 software were used for data extraction and coding. The results of the research indicate the existence of twenty-seven sub-fields in the form of six main fields including platform features, customer factors, trust, social context, individual and functional context among the articles.

The purpose of this research is to design a framework for the continuous use of Internet taxis as an example of a shared economy and a technology-oriented model based on the theory of technology acceptance and use. In order to conduct this research, the method of meta-composite studies, which is a kind of systematic study method, was used. Four hundred and eighty scientific documents were obtained by searching the Scopus database and after removing the articles based on Sandusky and Barroso (2006) model, finally 49 articles were selected for final review. In this research, open coding method of Strauss and Corbin (1990) and MAXQDA2018 software were used for data extraction and coding. The results of the research indicate the existence of twenty-eight sub-fields (one field was rejected in the validation of experts' opinion) in the form of four main fields including expected performance, expected effort, social impact, facilitating conditions among the articles. Finally, the model resulting from this research has been presented.

The primary aim of this research is to explore and analyze the profound and extensive impacts of sharing economy platforms on new entrepreneurial models within smart cities. This study seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of how these platforms facilitate innovation and urban economic development. This study employs a qualitative approach through semi-structured interviews with 28 entrepreneurs, city managers, and ICT experts. Participants were selected using purposive sampling, and data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The results indicate that sharing economy platforms serve as powerful facilitators for promoting innovation, creating new job opportunities, and improving access to services in smart cities. These platforms effectively reduce entry barriers for new entrepreneurs and strengthen dynamic and creative entrepreneurial ecosystems. This study underscores that sharing economy platforms play a crucial role in the sustainable development of smart cities. They not only aid in stimulating economic growth and innovation but can also act as catalysts for change in traditional business models and promote a culture of collaborative entrepreneurship.

The present study aimed to find the reasons for consumers behavior change in ride-hailing innovation ecosystem in Iran.

This research is applied in terms of purpose and used a qualitative approach. The present study has used causal layered analysis. This research has tried to study the phenomenon by using a library research and Delphi technique consisting of 18 academic and business experts.

There are several reasons for consumers behavior change in ride-hailing innovation ecosystem at four levels of litany, system, worldview and metaphor and myth. The most important findings were at the systemic level and metaphors and myths. System-level findings include the use of information technology tools, new mega trends, sharing economy and increasing productivity. Findings at the level of metaphors and myths also include the innate human tendency for maximum ease, the innate human tendency for the least uncertainty, the need for transparency, the tendency to save the most resources and time.

Consumers' expectation of continuous improvement is likely to lead to more innovations in this ecosystem., the emergence of new actors to achieve greater ease, greater transparency, reduce uncertainty and save more resources and time is expected.

With the growth of shared businesses and increasing trust in them, it is important to examine the drivers of its reuse. This study aimed to investigate the factors affecting satisfaction and re-use intention in an online business based on sharing economy model - the Tap30, an online taxi startup. The research method is descriptive-correlational. The statistical sample of the study consisted of 329 members of the statistical population who were collected using the convenience sampling method. The primary tool for data collection was a questionnaire. Data were analyzed using structural equation method in AMOS software. The results of the data analysis of this study indicate that cost saving, service quality, smart-phone capability, trust to service provider, and trust to app affecting satisfaction and trust in customer re-use of Tap30 services are significant. Also, two hypotheses that the effect of alignment with trends on customer satisfaction and the impact of host behavior on re-use intention were not confirmed.

The reduction of primary resources and the advancement of technology in the world, tempt the people around the world to share their unused assets through online platforms. Internet has provided an opportunity for users to share their experiences of using these platforms in the form of comments that create brand image in the minds of other users. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of user experience on their tendency to create online content and the impact of this content on creating a brand image of the shared economy platform. In terms of purpose, this study is applied and survey in terms of method. In order to do confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling with Amous 22 software is used. Accordingly, 394 people who used the SNAP platform and have shared their experiences on Instagram were selected randomly and standard questionnaire distributed among them. Research shows that customer experience is an important motivating factor for producing content on Instagram, which leads to creating brand image about a sharing-economy platform.

To connect and share resources between industrial units with unused resources on the one hand, and production systems in need on the other, a concept called “sharing economy " can be used. If sharing economy is sufficiently explained, and its theoretical aspects strengthened, more actions perform to make this concept practical. Therefore, in the present study, after studying the literature and previous studies, the components of sharing economy are identified and generalized to production systems. Utilizing a sharing economy will have a significant impact on increasing the productivity of production systems through resources sharing.  

In the first phase of this research, the library study method used to collect data and information. Content analysis method used to analyze the data and identify the dimensions and components of the sharing economy. Then, in the second phase of the research, the interview process and expert opinions were used to determine the dimensions, elements, and examples of sharing economy in production systems. After extracting questions from the concepts extracted from the first phase of the research and after conducting the interview process and summarizing it, the components and dimensions of the sharing economy in production systems validated and their examples identified.  

In this study, the components of sharing economy in production systems identified as follows: resource sharing, shared parties, forms of sharing, information and communication exchange system, ownership and access conditions, surplus capacity, exchange benefits for sharing parties and others, and social issues in sharing. These elements categorized into four dimensions: sharing mechanism, sharing requirements and conditions, sharing purpose, and sharing consequences.  

Considering the wide range and levels of coverage of the concept of sharing economy and its various operational areas, summarizing the definitions and extracting the components is highly complicated. It also seems hard to reach experts who work in the field of production systems and sharing economy or those who are familiar with its concepts. The following study subjects suggested to develop sharing economy in production systems: i) counting and examining the challenges facing the sharing economy, such as legal issues, building trust, ethical issues, insurance and taxes, and providing solutions to solve it; ii) the role of resource sharing and sharing economy in lean, agile, sustainable, green, and resilience of production systems; iii) the role of social issues regarding the sharing economy in production systems or designing a socio-economic model for it; and iv) determining the type of relationship between the dimensions and components of the sharing economy and how they affect and intensify each other with the help of methods such as structural equation modelling.  

The use of sharing economy leads to better use of resources and reduced cost of using it, reduced product cost, increased competitiveness and ultimately improved efficiency and productivity of the production system. For the supplier of resources, resource sharing in production systems leads to the prevention of stock death, earned profit and strengthened financial resources; and for the recipient of resources, it leads to reduced cost of access to resources and investment, and thus saved liquidity. In addition to the sharing parties, intermediaries and service providers, government and government agencies, the country's economic market, the working community, society, consumers and even scientific and research centres benefit.  

Resource sharing in production systems can affect or be affected by social issues. The attitude of rulers and politicians in governing society and passing laws, and overseeing their implementation can affect the concept of a sharing economy. Sharing helps in increasing social capital in the areas of education and public awareness, building trust, increasing interactions, and connecting production systems with social participation, and increasing the general level of community culture. Sharing strengthens a sense of social responsibility and can also be significant in the field of social justice and reducing social harm.  

If the concept of sharing economy explained sufficiently and its theoretical aspects strengthened, it can be operational in the next steps. In this regard, in this study, the dimensions and elements of the sharing economy in production systems identified. These dimensions and components can provide the basis for designing a practical and operational model for implementing a sharing economy in production systems, can reduce the gap between practice and theory, and can guide managers and business activists and those involved in the field.