Utilization of the Artificial Neural Networks in Financial Management of Research Processes on Defensive Studies (Case Study: Theoretical Researches of Iranian Army)

Due to the limitations imposed on financial resource allocation to research projects and also prioritization done in research processes, financial management of theoretical research processes not only presents challenges to the decision makers at defensive studies centers, but also received a lot of attention and have a wider significance for all experts. This study was an attempt to identify the appropriate criteria for financial management at Iranian army defensive centers and is also aimed at proposing a model for allocating resources to financial management through utilizing artificial neural networks. For this purpose and also in an attempt to conduct this study, at the early stages of investigation, criteria for allocating financial resources were emerged as a result of investigating the guidelines and instructions on financial resource allocation in Iranian army. To prove the selected criteria, the study was also conducted through administering a questionnaire among experts affiliated to the Iranian army research centers. Having collected the data, an appropriate model for allocating financial resources was designed in Matlab environment through applying hapfield neural networks. Having investigated the inputs and the outputs of the proposed models for financial resources allocation, three models were emerged through running artificial neural networks. The findings revealed that from among 25 identified criteria for allocating financial resources, 3 criteria were rejected and the criteria including book publication, research innovation and theory development stood at the top of prioritization. The findings also revealed that from among 3 models designed through ANN, the first model stood at the top of ranking with emphasis on military knowledge enhancement.