Iranian Journal of Management Studies
Volume:15 Issue: 4, Autumn 2022

Market-orientation capability (MOC) and ambidextrous innovation (AI) as dynamic capabilities have a significant role in the success of SME service innovation. Their co-effect, which has not been studied previously, represents the linking strategy and actions that relate MOC to AI to reconfigure resources based on market insights to balance the exploration-based and exploration-based innovation activities and leads SMEs to seize service innovation opportunities effectively. Thus, this study examined the relationships among these variables and firm performance, considering international environmental hostility (IEH) as a moderator, in a model using data from 154 tourism and travel firms in Iran as an emerging market. The results revealed a significant association between each of MOC and AI with firm performance, in which IEH significantly moderates these relationships. Besides, their co-effect negatively influences the firm performance, which indicates a weak relation between MOC and AI in these SMEs. This research suggests that tourism SME managers should deliberately adjust the linking strategy between their MOC and AI to accurately respond to service innovation opportunities and attempt to turn the threats of environmental hostility into opportunities for the sustainability of their firm performance.

Considering the importance of performance improvement in the third millennium and its dependence on market orientation as a valuable construct, the aim of the present study was to conduct a comprehensive review of the literature on market orientation and to provide an applied model. Thus, a mixed-methods research that involved quantitative and qualitative measures was adopted. To this end, a systematic review was carried out on the international articles about market orientation and performance indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) database during 1900-2020. The quality of the articles was assessed by the CASP checklist. Then, to analyze and map the scientific literature in the field of market orientation, the VOSviewer software was used. In the second stage, through the content analysis with the NVIVO software, the key variables and criteria related to market orientation were extracted from the research articles in the field. Accordingly, a model was developed based on the grounded theory approach. Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) was carried out using the MIC MAC software to assess the constitutive variables of the model and identify the interrelationship of the variables. The results showed that market orientation may be improved in conjunction with learning orientation, entrepreneurship orientation, strategic human resource management, innovation capability, marketing capability, information and communication capability, organizational structure, dynamism of organizational units, total quality management, competitive structure, and business strategy. The results also revealed that increased market knowledge can lead to a better competitive advantage in market, namely competitive and financial performances. Through analyzing the works on market orientation and developing a comprehensive model, the present study provides insights for researchers in the field of marketing and serves as an applied framework for managers and practitioners in various industries.

This study aimed to evaluate the significance and severity of the relationship between market sentiment and the volatility of the Tehran Stock Exchange Price Index (TEPIX). We drew on the principal component analysis (PCA) to provide a composite sentiment index using a set of proxies. In addition, ARIMA-E-GARCH hybrid models were applied to model the volatility of the TEPIX and other control variables. Subsequently, GLS regression was used to measure the impact of market sentiment and the control variables variation on the volatility of the TEPIX. The findings showed that the influences of optimistic and pessimistic sentiment on the volatility of TEPIX were both statistically significant and respectively, negative and positive. However, the severity of these negative and positive effects was slight. Furthermore, we found that the stock exchange volatility was highly affected by the volatility of the inflation and the liquidity much more than the other variables such as optimistic and pessimistic sentiment.

The main purpose of this study is to test the impact of accounting comparability on stock liquidity and firm value. This study uses panel data analysis to test hypotheses for a sample of 108 firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange during 2016-2020. Our empirical results show a positive relationship between accounting comparability with free float ratio and stock turnover ratio. But there is no significant relationship between accounting comparability and the Amihud ratio. The interpretation of this result can be attributed to how the Amihud ratio is calculated. Based on the constraints imposed on the Iranian capital market, the daily return in calculating the Amihud ratio has a certain fluctuation range and is not able to reflect all the dimensions of the market. In addition, our results document a positive relation between accounting comparability and firm value. Finally, accounting comparability does not moderate the association between stock liquidity and firm value. In addition, the cost of capital (CoC) intensifies the relationship between accounting comparability and firm value. We interpret these results as accounting comparability improves transparency, and reduces information asymmetry. These results also show that the capital market is incomplete.

The invention of web 2.0 and the advancement of information and communication technology have provided consumers and businesses with the opportunity to utilise online transactions. The Internet is an essential tool for doing online shopping. Despite the importance and popularity of online shopping, most Nigerian consumers largely depend on conventional shopping rather than online shopping due to their resistance to online shopping habits. In Nigeria, few studies have examined the effect of advertising, social media and online risk on online shopping habit. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the mediating role of advertising in the relationship between social media and online risk and its effect on online shopping habits in Nigeria.  A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 375 respondents using a purposive sampling technique. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse and evaluate the hypotheses (SEM-AMOS). The results show that online risk and advertising had an insignificant direct effect on online shopping habits. Moreover, the study result showed that social media has a statistically significant and direct effect on online shopping. While advertising partially mediates the relationship between online risk and online shopping habits, it fully mediates the relationship between social media and online shopping habits. The findings of this research can contribute to the existing literature. Practically, results obtained from this research can help Nigerian online firms and consumers to understand the effect of advertising, social media and online risk on online shopping habits.

Intensified competitiveness in global markets has directed most organizations toward retaining their employees as their most important intangible assets, because losing such individuals can impose huge costs to them. Therefore, managers do their best to keep employee satisfaction. For this purpose, they need to understand the needs of their employees and the organization’s conditions. In such a situation, employees’ positive voice behavior is of utmost importance for managers as it helps enhance their awareness. Therefore, it is essential to identify the factors inducing this behavior. Given that workplace comfort might shape employee voice behavior (EVB) and managers with leadership psychological skills (LPSs) can create a state of calmness for these individuals, as highlighted in previous research, the present study reflected on the relationship between the effects of LPSs on EVB. As employee work engagement (EWE) can be also influenced by LPSs and consequently shape EVB, the mediating role of this variable in the relationship between LPSs and EVB was further discussed. To meet the research goals, a total number of 310 employees working in Iranian food industry companies were employed as the study sample. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and the LISREL software were used for data analysis purposes. The study results ultimately demonstrated that LPSs could affect EVB when mediated by EWE.

Idea generators and investors are always interested in advancing innovative ideas and generating wealth from them. One of the gaps in previous research in this field is the failure to pay attention to different criteria and strategic paths in advancing innovative ideas from various fields. This research introduced a strategy for advancing innovative ideas and identifying the strategic drivers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in various technological fields. The indicators were derived from the literature review and expert interviews, and they were chosen using a checklist and interviews to determine their relationships. The fuzzy cognitive map in question was then created using the FCMapper software. Strategic driver indicators related to the advancement of innovative ideas were identified. Thus, it is recommended that idea developers consider these indicators when presenting ideas and that experts and investors consider them when evaluating innovative ideas. According to the findings, the Persian Gulf Science and Technology Park and its ten active fields each have their own strategic paths for advancing innovative ideas.

One of the important strategies to build powerful consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) for products is to connect them to celebrities. The use of this key marketing strategy is growing around the world. The present study aimed to explore the effects of endorser credibility and endorser congruence on CBBE while considering the mediating role of congruence and the moderating role of brand type (strong/weak). The statistical population of the study was comprised of the buyers of megamalls in Tehran, from among whom 186 completed questionnaires were gathered using the simple random sampling method. Structural equation modeling in SmartPLS software was used to test the hypotheses. The results of the hypothesis tests showed that celebrity endorser’s credibility had a significant positive effect on endorser congruence and CBBE. In addition, endorser congruence had a positive impact on CBBE. The findings revealed that in the statistical sample of the present study, the effect of the variable celebrity endorser on congruence and CBBE did not differ from the perspective of brand type (strong/weak) and that this variable had a positive and significant effect on paths between ‘celebrity credibility-celebrity congruence’ and ‘celebrity credibility-CBBE’. Important theoretical and managerial implications have been derived from these findings.

Learning in collaboration projects with universities is one of the common methods in recent decades. Some of these projects have led to learning for industries, while others have suffered from a lack of learning. Most of the studies that have examined the dimensions and factors affecting the performance of these projects have been done in developed countries. However, considering the different nature of learning in developing countries, this issue needs more attention. This paper addresses two basic issues, namely the factors that affect the learning of companies in collaboration projects with universities in developing countries and the things that industries in these countries learn from universities. To answer these questions, 9 collaboration projects with universities in Iranian oil, gas, and petrochemical industries were selected, 15 experts active in the industry, academia, and government related to these projects were interviewed, and the data was analyzed by thematic analysis. Twenty five factors affecting learning were classified into 6 groups, the most important of which were collaboration control mechanisms, rules and procedures, university business model, degree of partnership between the parties, fitness of the content of the collaboration to the industry features, trust between the parties, and competence of the university team leader. The results also showed that companies in developing countries usually pursue exploitative learning in collaboration projects with universities. In these countries, mature industries active in older technologies typically pursue exploitative learning, and new technology-based firms seek explorative learning in collaborations.

This article attempts to empirically investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on average returns and investment risk of the 33 leading industries, categorized in nine groups of industries indexes, in Tehran Stock Exchange. Using an event-study methodology, our data sample (from 2018/12/15 to 2021/04/24) was partitioned into three sub-samples, namely estimated, event, and future windows. To address the main objectives of this study, variations in actual, abnormal, and cumulative abnormal returns of the estimated (pre-event) and future (post-event) windows were analyzed for all industries. The results confirmed that the “Retail except for Vehicles” and “Real State and Housing” industries have had the highest decrease in their average returns and, conversely, the “Telecommunication and Technology,” “Financial,” and “Pharmaceutical and Health” industries have experienced the most considerable increase in the average returns. Furthermore, the analysis of the time required for the effectiveness of the pandemic impacts on the stock returns showed that a 14-day lag (after the exposure) is needed for various industries to respond to the event. Ultimately, our empirical evidence confirmed that the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 outbreak has negatively affected almost all industries active in the TSE.

The importance of human resources is an inescapable issue that lack of proper management will reduce productivity in project-based organizations. human resources assessment is one of the complex processes in organizations that require explicit analysis by strategic, key, and operational jobs in order to periodically monitor, recruit and hire it according to the organizational position of employees. In recent years, various models for measuring human resources in project-based organizations have been proposed, but the important issue is to provide an expert system that can provide results with high reliability. To this end, the fuzzy inference system is felt like a response to this need. Due to the identified study gap, the present study seeks to design an expert system consistent with Mamdani fuzzy inference to measure manpower in a project-based organization in Iran. This system shows the final status of human resource assessment in the Iranian project-oriented organization and the status of each of its main dimensions. In order to show the potential and practical benefits of this system was implemented in a case study. Finally, by analyzing the system outputs, the optimal performance of the designed system is analyzed and finalized with the relevant information of the organization.

Drawing insight from social network and internationalization theory perspectives, our study develops a conceptual model and test hypothesis using structural equation modeling by Smart PLS software, relying on a sample of 145 Iranian exporter SMEs obtained using a constructed questionnaire. Firstly, firms were placed in 5 categories, based on the classification of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (ITPO), to categorize the field of export activity. Then, the sample was selected via simple random sampling method. Values of the research model fitness fit the data well and the model exhibited an acceptable fit. Concerning the research results, the first hypothesis (which predicted that the greater the level of social networks, the higher the internationalization) was not supported by data. Nonetheless, our findings confirmed that social networks have a significant effect on both market knowledge and opportunity recognition in international markets. In addition, the study results confirmed the mediating role of opportunity recognition in the relationship between social networks and internationalization. Finally, we might recommend government institutions and SMEs managers to pay particular attention to the structures and relationships in social networks for developing international business.

Transformational leaders are accepted as part of the most influential leaders on the employee favorable outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the relationship of transformational leadership with employee performance and citizenship behaviors. Further, it examined the correlation between the sub-dimensions of transformational leadership (TL) and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB). To achieve this, 399 participants were selected through convenience sampling method, and data was collected from them using a survey questionnaire. According to the findings, inspirational motivation had significant and positive effects on employee performance (EP). Furthermore, OCB affected EP partially, while courtesy and conscientiousness had significant positive impacts on EP. Concerning the relationship between TL and OCB, individual consideration was found to have significant and positive effects on courtesy and civic virtue, but not on sportsmanship and conscientiousness, while idealized influence was not found to have any significant relationship with OCB dimensions. Finally, in terms of the OCB’s mediation, individual consideration was shown to have an indirect effect on EP via conscientiousness.

Drawing on the Social Exchange Theory (SET), the present study aimed to determine the factors underlying the association between workplace social support and female bankers’ intention to quit. To this end, the study adopted a moderating-mediating model to measure the turnover intentions of 361 female employees of private commercial banks (PCBs) using time-lagged data. The findings revealed that affective commitment fully mediated the association between coworker support and turnover intentions, while it partially mediated the relationship between supervisory support and the intention to leave. Further, passion for work moderated the relationship between affective commitment and turnover intentions. This study contributes to the literature by exploring the role of workplace social support, affective commitment, and passion for work on the turnover intentions of female bankers. The results may help policymakers and practitioners formulate effective policies to retain and promote women in the banking sector.

With the rapid commercialisation of higher education (HE) and universities’ growing competition over recruiting students, branding is becoming increasingly important for HE institutes. Despite the continuous emphasis on its significance, understanding university branding has received little scholarly attention. Therefore, in order to address this gap, this study examined the impact of a positive visualisation course in brand identity on students’ perceptions of university brand image. Employing grounded theory along with an experimental design, qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 42 freshmen students of the European University Cyprus. The research findings indicated that the positive visualisation course in brand identity can enhance students’ perceptions of their university’s brand image. This study contributes to the existing literature by presenting an inductively generated theoretical model that can guide future research on the associations between a positive visualisation course in brand identity and (prospective) students’ perceptions of a university’s brand image.