Identifying and Validating the Components of Economic Security Affecting the Surge in Production: A Mixed Approach

This study aimed to identify the components of economic security affecting the production surge and validate them based on the exploratory mixed methodology. The statistical population for the qualitative stage consisted of university professors, expert managers of companies in Semnan Industrial Town and officials of relevant organizations. For the quantitative stage, the population consisted of all the managers and senior experts of the said companies. The statistical sample of the qualitative section was determined as 17 people using the purposive judgmental sampling method, while that in the quantitative section was determined as 335 people using the stratified random sampling method. The data collection tools in the first stage included semi-structured interviews conducted with experts, whereas a 67-item questionnaire was employed in the second stage, the validity of which was confirmed by the content validity method and the reliability of which was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha (0.847). Qualitative data were analyzed using the thematic analysis method while quantitative data were analyzed using the confirmatory factor analysis method in Amos 26. The results of the qualitative section showed that the components of economic security affecting the production surge included three behavioral (thematic), structural and contextual (environmental) domains, each of which had sub-factors as well. Moreover, the results of the confirmatory factor analysis section indicated that the measurement model of each of the three mentioned components had a good fit. The indicators which had the highest rates of support for their components were the "production resistance culture" indicator among the behavioral components of economic security with a factor loading of 0.982; the "production underlying systems and institutions" indicator among the structural components of economic security with a factor loading of 0.980; and the "peripheral threats" indicator among the environmental components of economic security with a factor loading of 0.970.