Management Studies in Development and Evolution

Abstract Nowadays, organizations have concluded that no other resource than knowledge can situate them most desirably in this competitive world. Therefore, more than any other factor, the spotlight has turned
upon employees as the owners of knowledge. Also ‘knowledge management’ as a tool which can accumulate the existing knowledge, organize it, make it dynamic, and disseminate it in the whole
organization, has taken on a new significance. But, what matters is the way other dimensions interact, in terms of influence, with the knowledge management. This article studied the effect as well as the relationship between cybernetics – which includes six main dimensions of ‘variety and constraint,’ ‘entropy and  nformation,’ ‘the
law of requisite variety and the decision rule,’ ‘goal-directedness and control’, ‘feedback and distinctions and relations’ – and knowledge management process – which is comprised of four main dimensions of  ‘knowledge creation,’ ‘conversion and transfer,’ ‘preservation,’ and ‘application’. Our statistical population included the staff of Farassan Company, and questionnaires were deployed for gathering the data . According to the analysis, dimensions of ‘variety and constraint’ as well as ‘knowledge transfer and conversion’ were excluded on account of having poor indicators. In addition, research results confirmed the conceptual model with the data collected and the fact that a significant relationship between knowledge management process and cybernetics existed.

Abstract The purpose of this descriptive - correlational research is to study
the relationship between the salespersons’ personal moral philosophy
and their ethical decision making process. It tries to find answers to
two main questions: 1) what are the surveyed salespersons’ personal
moral philosophy? 2) How this moral philosophy will influence their
decision making process? Our Research population, whose opinions
were collected using a questionnaire, consisted of the salespersons
taking part in the sales training courses offered by the Research Center
of Iran Ministry of Commerce. The statistical population size was 300
and according to Morgan and Krejcie’ table (1970), a sample size of
169 was chosen. 137 questionnaires out of 142 were proper to be
analyzed. Descriptive analysis of the data indicated that the majority
of the respondents were working in industries like food, tourism,
insurance, publications and engineering services, as salespersons. In
addition, Path analysis, employed for the inferential statistics, showed
that the respondents’ main moral principle was idealism, and although
idealism directly influenced their moral judgment, relativism was
more influential on their moral intention (final step in the ethical
decision making process) than idealism.

Abstract In this paper, with usage of translational cost theory and internal
labor market approach, two basic aspects in organizational jobs –
measurability and competence – were defined. Next, by combining
these attributes, four internal organizational structures were identified
as the following: Relational team, primitive team, spot market,
obligational market. Afterwards, the proper human resource practices
were explained for each of these structures. Data were collected from
one of the largest service organizations of Iran. Using checklist, 400
out of 4463 job titles, which were supposed to share more similarities
with the mentioned structures were selected. A group of 156 managers
and HRM specialists of ‘NAJA’ were chosen for explaining the
suitable HRM practices for each of the structures. Analysis of the data
revealed: in ‘primitive teams’ and ‘spot markets,’ job compensation
was only limited to the wage, and human resource planning
encompasses a short period. Conversely, in ‘relational teams’ and
‘obligation markets,’ compensations were various in type and were
not just limited to the wage, also, the HRM planning was for longer
terms. Moreover, HRM control over ‘relational team’ and ‘primitive
teams’ took more internal forms such as socializing and building
commitment, while in ‘spot market’ and ‘obligation markets’ it was
external and formal.
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Abstract Investigating why customers switch their insurance service
providers, leads to valuable information for recognizing the likely
alterations in customers’ needs and expectations. This research is
based on a very fundamental question: why existing customers decide
to switch from one service provider to another? To answer this
question, factors affecting switching intentions were derived from the
literature of current and previous studies. Research data were collected
by means of a questionnaire distributed among a population of
customers of an insurance company for a period of 3 years. From
randomly selected customers, 202 questionnaires were collected and
analyzed using structural equation modeling and SmartPLS software. Results showed a strong association between service quality and annoyance, on the one hand, and intention to switch service provider,
on the other hand. Findings also revealed no evidence for a hypothetical relationship between price unfairness and switching intention. The same result was also found for the moderating effects of
switching cost and alternative attractiveness.

Abstract To remain in the current competitive world as a manufacturing
company, it is vital to use Advanced Manufacturing Systems (AMSs).
AMS selection is now considered a strategic decision for
organizations, due to the effects it has on their future activities. The
process of decision-making involves some complexities which are not
only caused by the varied quantitative and qualitative factors involved,
but also due to the conflictions between these factors, and the diverse
views of stakeholders. Thus, In order to choose AMS type, it is
necessary to take into account both the effective factors and the
stakeholders' viewpoints; and finally, the most suitable system should
be recognized by the management, considering the limitations of the
company’s resources. To date, different approaches have been
developed for AMS evaluation and selection, with their own
advantages and disadvantages - some of them ignoring the qualitative
factors and others being time consuming, for instance. This paper
combines the AHP method with zero-one goal programming
technique, enabling decision - makers to encompass diverse views of
stakeholders, and at the same time assess the conflicting factors. The
proposed method has been applied to a real world situation to further
prove that this combined method can prepare more key information to
decision-makers than the rest of the available technology-evaluating
methods.

Abstract This research was performed to identify and compare the
bureaucracy types of the faculties of management in the University of
Tehran, and Islamic Azad university (Central Tehran branch), based
on Mintzberg model. The research was descriptive-survey both in
objective and nature. Statistical population incorporated management
faculty members of the aforementioned universities. Data were
collected using appropriate documentation and questionnaires, and
subsequently were analyzed by suitable statistical methods. Results
indicated that the structures of the faculties were a combination of
machine and bureaucratic structures with a slight inclination towards
the former; also that, the amounts of structural and contextual factors
in these faculties were the same indicating no significant difference
between them. Moreover, investigation of the structural and
contextual factors revealed a mismatch between the structural design
ruling these faculties and the professional structures of the
universities

Abstract Novel approaches such as "Business Process Management” (BPM)
have been taken seriously nowadays, by most industrial sectors due to
the role they can play in increasing organization productivity.
Accordingly, in order to avoid wasting valuable resources, and even
more importantly, to protect the organization against potential hazards
of BPM implementation, we must make sure of the organization’s
readiness for its successful implementation. The purpose of this study
was to present a framework for the assessment of BPM
implementation readiness in such organizations. This case study,
carried out on Tehran Regional Electric Company (with a statistical
society of managers and experts on different levels of that
organization) was a 'developmental' and 'applied' study since first the
key factors for BPM success were identified, integrated, and
developed; and then on the basis of these factors the final framework
was presented. T-student techniques, ANOVA (Variance analysis),
Chi square, and Friedman tests were used for the hypothesis testing.
Finally, findings demonstrated that the company didn’t have enough
Readiness for BPM implementation.