Identifying the factors affecting individual development in educational companies: A mixed study

The aim of this study was to identify the factors affecting individual development in knowledge-based companies. The research method used was exploratory. The research population included human resources of selected knowledge-based companies of Pardis Technology Park and 980 network deputies of Telecommunication Company, of whom 276 were selected using Cochran's formula. In order to collect the data in the qualitative phase, a semi-structured interview was used while the quantitative phase involved a researcher-made questionnaire on the factors affecting individual development with a reliability of α = 0.92. The results of the qualitative phase led to the identification of four general factors affecting individual development, including individual factors, organizational factors, management factors, and environmental factors. By examining the ratios of the chi-square to the degree of freedom x2 / df), the goodness of fit index (GFI), the incremental fitness index (IFI), the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), the normalized fitness index (NFI) and the adaptive goodness of fit index (AGFI), structural equation modeling showed that the model of factors influencing individual development has a relatively good fit with the data; therefore, the identified factors in this model were confirmed.