نشریه کاوش های مدیریت بازرگانی
پیاپی 26 (پاییز و زمستان 1400)

In today’s competitive business environment, one of the most important factors in business success is consumer loyalty. Introducing innovative products to the market is a major way of creating consumer loyalty. Since many of these new products are made based on the managers’ perception of innovation and do not consider consumer perspectives, they cannot succeed. In order to ensure that innovations will be more successful in the market, a consumer-centric perspective is essential.  In fact, innovative products lead to a sense of satisfaction and ultimately loyalty in the consumer, in terms of both providing functional and melancholic capabilities and creating a positive and hedonistic emotional experience. Summarizing the studies in this field, it is clear that a study that simultaneously examines the drivers and consequences of perceived innovation and proposes related theoretical structures in the form of a useful model for better understanding of consumer reactions to innovations. Therefore, this study aims to fill the gap in the research literature to examine the drivers of consumer perception of innovation and the way these factors can lead to functional-cognitive and emotional-experimental pathways. This research aims to design a model for the consumer loyalty based on the antecedents of consumer perceived innovativeness (CPI) with an emphasis on functional-cognitive and affective-experiential approaches.

This research is practical in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of methodology. The statistical population of the study is the consumers of LG brand home products in Tehran. The Klein formula is used to estimate the sample size, according to which the sample size is 5 to 10 times the number of indicators. The number of indicators in this research is 45. Therefore, according to Klein's formula, the number of samples can be from 225 to 450 and a non-probabilistic sampling method is available. A total of 310 consumers of “LG brand name” responded to a questionnaire. The data were collected, tested and analyzed by the SPSS and LISREL software programs.

In this study, in order to analyze the collected data, first at the descriptive level, statistical indicators are used to describe and summarize the demographic characteristics of the sample in the study, including gender, marital status, age, last degree, and occupation, The amount of income is paid, and, then at the inferential level, the significance of the "observed variables" versus the "hidden variables" is determined and the fit of measurement models is obtained through a "confirmatory factor analysis". Finally, in order to investigate the accuracy of the hypotheses and the relationships between the research variables, the "structural equation model" and, in particular, the path analysis technique are used.. Fitting the indices show good values. The normal chi-square value is 2.57, which is in the acceptable range of 1 to 5. Therefore, the structural model has a good fit. Also, since the RMSEA fit index is 0.039, which is less than 0.1, the model has a good fit. Other goodness-of-fit indicators have also been accepted in the range. The results indicate that the perceived newness and the perceived relative advantage are the antecedents of consumer perceived innovativeness. Consumer perceived innovativeness affects satisfaction and ultimately the consumer loyalty through two routes including functional-cognitive and affective-experiential routes.

The contribution that this research can make to LG in the field of home products is that, with the help of this model, the company can have a better understanding of the consumer response to innovation, because such products are emotional and cognitions affect the consumer. If the company tries to meet consumer expectations, offer new products with good quality and pay attention to quality, it can only increase functionality for the consumer. In order to strengthen the positive feeling in him, there is a need for symbolism (aesthetics) and uniqueness. Thus, positive feelings are evoked in the consumer. The positive feeling and functionality that an innovative product brings for the consumer can lead to his satisfaction and consequently his loyalty. The company's innovative efforts can focus on the two consumer processing pathways that we have identified. With a clear understanding of consumer perception of innovation, LG senior executives can make their marketing plans. Decision making in this area is also a function of product category and the type of consumer attitude towards innovation.

In recent years, the concept of trade facilitation has received unprecedented attention, so trade facilitation has become an essential part of trade negotiations. The term ‘trade facilitation’ is widely used by institutions seeking to improve and facilitate regulatory relations between governmental agencies and traders. According to the United nation, trade facilitation is one of the main indicators of the development in a country. Policy makers in trade area also emphasize the importance of improving this indicator.The international trade environment is a complex environment; in the process of cross-border trade (export, import and transit), at least 60 different work procedures can be observed. These procedures increase the cost and time of the business and complicate it. In our country, the concept of trade facilitation has long been considered by various stakeholders in public and private institutions. As far as the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade, Customs, Ports and Maritime Organization, and Health and Plant Licensing Organization are concerned, various measures have been taken in the field of trade facilitation. Some of the measures taken in the country include the establishment of integrated and electronic systems such as comprehensive trade system and single window, the elimination of some redundant rules and processes in customs and licensing organizations, and the formation of trade facilitation working groups and deregulation boards. However, despite the efforts of policy makers to improve this index, Iran's rank has been low. No comprehensive model or studies have been presented to improve this index in Iran.

This research aims to achieve a model to facilitate cross-border trade. In other words, it seeks to identify the components of trade facilitation and their relationships and to create a balance among them, which facilitates and increases supervision. Therefore, the questions to answer are ‘What are the main components of improving the business environment and facilitating cross-border trade in the country?’, ‘What is the relationship between the components and the indicators of trade facilitation?’, ‘What is their impact on the business environment?’ and ‘What are the main obstacles to improving the business environment and facilitating the country's trade?’ It can help to establish comprehensive measures in this area.To identify variables and the relationships among them, the research methodology is qualitative and based on the grounded theory. The research also benefits from the expertise of the private, governmental and academic sectors as the main stakeholders of trade facilitation. Accordingly, 21 experts have been interviewed on the issue. The results of the data analysis through open coding,  axial coding  and selective coding have led to the presentation of a trade facilitation model.

In this research, 312 concepts, 25 categories and 7 macro categories have been extracted and examined. The components of determining business and economic development strategies, which can facilitate the trade, are the creation of processes, coordination of regulations and creation of sustainable supply chains. Simplifying and coordinating the model is a desirable outcome in business facilitation. Determining long-term and stable strategies in economic and trade fields is one of the items that, according to the research results, should be emphasized so as to facilitate trade in the country. According to the interviewees, there is no clear and defined model for these strategies in the country. These factors have not been mentioned in other research works as the priorities of business facilitation. Another factor suggested as an obstacle to trade facilitation in the country is the emphasis on the close monitoring of documents and procedures. This has led to the fact that most of the existing laws are strictly codified and the procedures are time-consuming and increase the cost of commercial transactions. In the research model proposed here, an attempt is made to create a balance between monitoring and facilitation. Indeed, trade facilitation is achieved through simplification and coordination while paying attention to regulatory procedures. In the research conducted in other countries, the contrast between these two issues is not very noticeable, but, during the interviews, the stakeholders mentioned this issue in Iran frequently.

The purpose of the research is to provide a model to facilitate cross-border trade in the country.  With a qualitative method based on the grounded theory, various stakeholders were interviewed to determine the components of business facilitation.  In the next step, using axial and selective coding, the relationships among the components were determined, and the research model was presented. In this study, 312 concepts, 25 categories and 7 macro categories were extracted. As the components were identified, there emerged a lot of overlap between them and those in other studies.In addition to interviews for data collection, direct observation and document analysis were done too. The research emphasizes the knowledge and experience of the interviewees. Therefore, it can be expected to provide deeper insights into trade facilitation by using broader sources and making observations over a longer period of time. Like most studies based on the data theory, the findings of this study are based on the views and experiences of individuals and the conditions of the research environment, so the results can be generalized to similar conditions and environments. There are certain suggestions to make for future research. Firstly, due to the fact that the coefficient of influence and the dependence of the components are not determined in the model of this study, it is advisable to determine the relationships among those components using quantitative methods such as interpretive-structural modeling. In addition, considering that a comprehensive model has not been presented in the country to create an effective and efficient model for monitoring cross-border trade processes, conducting research in this regard can contribute to trade facilitation. It should be noted that trade facilitation measures are highly interrelated, although they are often cited as independent elements. So, a systematic, integrated, step-by-step approach must be proposed in order for measures to be effective. In this regard, examining the priority of actions and their order using quantitative research methods can help to develop and implement a proper model.

One of the persistent and basic questions of the organizational research literature is why some organizations outperform others. The answer can be found in supply chain management. Given the new concepts of supply chain management and similar concepts that result in a higher cooperation and closer relationships between a firm and its suppliers, nowadays, suppliers and clients are no longer considered as competitors of the organization, but rather as members of a larger groups known as supply chain. Each member in the chain aims at maximizing the profitability and improving the total performance of the chain (Perez-Franco et al., 2016). Hatamifar et al. (2017) surveyed the effectiveness of integrated supply chains in hotels to achieve competitive advantages. The three factors of internal integrity, product integrity and customer integrity had positive functions. Santajo Mandal et al. (2017) surveyed the role of the capabilities and integrity of supply chains in the improvement of their flexibility. The risks and uncertainty of a supply chain have become important and interesting subjects for research over the past few years. Supply chain risk is a potential incident that might prevent the normal flow of materials and information within the chain. It is, therefore, a disruption in the function of the supply chain. The main feature of a supply chain is connectivity of its members so that the risk of one member can be transmitted to other members. When one supplier declares bankruptcy, for instance, not only its business but also all the other members of the supply chain are affected.

A questionnaire was used for data gathering, and the collected data were analyzed based on partial least squares. Given that the structural equation model was used for the data analysis, the sample group size was determined based on the relevance between the number of the statements and respondents. The relevance was obtained based on the relationship 5 < A < 15. Taking into account that the questionnaire comprised of 83 statements, the sample group size was found to be 793, i.e. nine participants for each statement. A pilot study was also conducted with 20 participants based on which the reliability of the questionnaire was determined using Cronbach’s alpha. The structure of the questionnaire is presented in Table 1. To test the research model, a structural equations model was used based on the partial least square approach. Before interpreting the model, we needed to make sure that the model suited our objectives and its results would be reliable by confirming it generally in terms of measurement and structure. Therefore, Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability, and convergent validity were used (Table 2). By making sure about the suitability of the measurement model, the reliability of the structural model was examined using cv.red and cv.com. Table 1. Structure of the questionnaireVariablesNumber of statementsCronbach’s alphaCompetitive advantage130.824Supply chain risk management320.837Integrity of the whole supply chain320.892Organization performance60.799 Table 2. Total structure reliability and goodness of fitVariablesAVEC.RCronbach’s alphaC.V REDCV. COMCompetitive advantage0.750.9230.8890.750.75Supply chain risk management0.6480.9160.6480.6470.647Integrity of the whole supply chain0.7110.9240.8980.7110.711Organization performance0.8130.9630.9530.1870.802 Finally, since the model was based on partial least square, the total goodness of fit was examined using the GOF index, which was higher than 0.3. So, the general goodness of fit of the model was supported. The index was obtained using the following formula:GOF =  = 0.324(1)Having confirmed the goodness of fit for the model at the three levels of the structural equation model in Smart PLS, the hypotheses were examined.

The results indicated that an improvement in the risk management of a supply chain prepares the ground for the improvement of organizational performance (t = 8.417, β = 0.277). Undoubtedly and as noted, what affects organizational performance is the risk of the supply chain that may deter the improvement of the business performance of the organization and the optimized use of all the resources of the organization toward improved performance. When the risk of the supply chain as a whole increases, the organization fails to make decisions in uncertain situations, which may lead to the inefficiency of the decisions made by the organization and the efforts to steer the organization.

Needless to say, risks may cause loss of performance. On the other hand, the organization can perform more satisfactorily in implementing its decisions when the risk is managed effectively. In this regard, our results are consistent with the findings of Heidari et al. (2016). It was shown that the integrity of a supply chain can be effective in organizational performance (t = 5.966, β = 0.247).The proposed model is a supply chain management model adjusted for the modern environment of the industry in Iran. The features and capabilities of the model make it more flexible and easy to expand so that it can be used in different companies in different industries with different management policies.

One of the weaknesses associated with buying non-textbooks in the field of children is that parents do not trust their contents. At the same time, ethical measures and ethical marketing in book sales companies, and brands active in the field of children's books, including written and illustrated books, can create a suitable culture for Iranian children from an early age by raising the per capita reading rate. In the meantime, because the decision-making power of children in choosing right books is low, the role of parents in choosing books is very important. Therefore, ethical marketing and doing pathology in this field can play important roles in creating a culture of reading at an early age.

The purpose of this study is to focus on a corrective mechanism in the children’s book market and explain the required immoral actions in this area. Lack of a pathological approach in the field of book marketing can reduce trust in brands in the field of written and illustrated books, and the market share of these brands declines over time due to the inability to provide value to the customer. This also degrades the reading culture in childhood. Thus, the main focus of this research is on the pathology of ethical marketing practices and the presentation of a process model in the field of children's book marketing.

The present research is developmental-applied in terms of purpose and qualitative in terms of data collection and nature. The study made use of a data-based theory along with the "Strauss and Corbin systematic approach". Therefore, the phenomenon-centrality of ethical marketing in the field of cultural products, especially in the field of non-textbooks for children, causal conditions, contextual conditions, intervening conditions, and finally reaction measures and ethical marketing consequences were studied through the data theory. Open, axial and selective codings were done to analyze the data in this method. In order to collect the data, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with open-ended interviews along with the views of experts in the field of ethical marketing of children's textbooks.  The participants were selected through purposive and snowball sampling. Open-ended questions asked about the experts' understanding of ethical marketing, the harms of ethical marketing in the non-textbook publishing industry; the consequences of paying attention to ethical marketing in the non-textbook publishing industry and certain other issues. The statistical population of the study included all the senior managers, consultants, managers and marketing experts in the brands active in the field of compiling and selling children's textbooks as well as university professors. The sampling continued until theoretical adequacy was achieved. In total, 20 interviews were conducted, and no new codes were obtained from 15 to 20 people in the interview process.

The results suggest the existence of uncertainty in parents' decision-making as a causal condition, ethical marketing as a central phenomenon, contextual conditions including the broad categories of rules and regulations and ethical culture, intervening conditions including vendor personal characteristics and organizational support, strategies in three major categories of ethical branding, vendor ethical responsibility and ethical attachment. The results of this study reinforce the culture of reading and improve sales performance. In this study, in the section on causal conditions, parents' decision uncertainty was raised. In fact, these conditions refer to the creation of the main phenomenon. It seems that one of the major weaknesses and disadvantages in the field of ethical marketing is the inability of parents to make sure about purchasing non-textbooks for children. The main tenet of this research has been ethical marketing.

Ethical marketing in this study includes normative and descriptive marketing that seeks to explain the ethical characteristics of marketing. In the normative part, the main focus is to explain the principles. Also, in the field of background conditions, the researcher achieved two major categories of rules and regulations as well as moral culture, which shows weaknesses in the country in these two areas. In fact, these two major categories suggest that organizations are not in a stable and supportive position in terms of specific and precise frameworks so as to achieve ethical marketing. Moreover, regarding the interventionist conditions that can affect the identified strategies, the research points to the individual characteristics of the salesperson and organizational support that can affect ethical marketing programs. The fifth dimension concerned strategies and included ethical branding, vendor ethics, and general ethics. Finally, for the target community and the whole Iranian society, it is important to enhance the sales performance for all brands active in the field of publishing non-textbooks and strengthen the culture of reading books, especially non-textbooks among children.

Today, one of the best tools available for value chain engineering is applying the practical lessons of business models. By analyzing a business model, the processes of development, presentation and receipt of value by a company can be improved. Although many companies operating in different industries of the country have increasingly turned to the analysis of their business models, the issue is moving forward at a lower speed in the pharmaceutical industry. Numerous new business models have been developed or renovated in today’s changing business environment. The development and renovation of new business models are not a matter of choice but a necessity in order to survive in an environment whose rules of the game are constantly changing. In such a situation, the greatest challenge posed to organizations is developing a framework through which an accurate understanding of the dimensions and components of their business models can be achieved and a point of reference can be offered to compare their business models with those of the competing companies to enable innovation and outperformance. The main focus of this study is to find a practical framework for pharmaceutical companies so as to identify and compare the key features of their business models with those of active competitors, hence to understand the strengths and positive qualities of other models and overcoming their weaknesses.In this study, the latest scientific findings about the business models of pharmaceutical companies are presented, and the common types of these business models are identified using taxonomy (experimental typology) to achieve a more comprehensive and accurate view of the dynamics of this business model in companies. The statistical population of this study included all the Iranian companies producing human drugs that have had a competitive product in the growth stage. The study was conducted in two phases, content analysis and quantitative phase. Initially, semi-structured interviews during the content analysis phase revealed a comprehensive framework for the dimensions and components of the business model of Iranian pharmaceutical companies, and then, through quantitative surveys and in-person questionnaires, the business model of each pharmaceutical company was identified. The sampling method in the qualitative part of the research was judged after 19 theoretical saturation interviews, and the quantitative research became available. By using the PASS software, an optimal sample of 40 companies was adopted. In this study, the empirical classification (taxonomy) approach, rather than the ideal classification (typology), was used to identify various business models. In clustering methods, since the data are classified irrespective of any presupposition or predetermined framework, the fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering algorithm serves as the most appropriate tool to attain the typological objective of this study. Finally, by fuzzy clustering with the MATLAB software, four distinct variants of the business model were identified for the pharmaceutical companies, each having significant differences in the key features of the business models with the other types. These four types included Diverse Effectiveness, Concentrated Effectiveness, Diverse Effectiveness, Concentrated Effectiveness. The identified types have specific similarities and differences in each business model dimension and component which can be concisely compared as follows based on their key features including concentration on quality rather than on efficiency, extent of relationships in various areas such as sales, marketing, and raw material supply. The competitive pharmaceutical products in Iran can be categorized in four distinct types in terms of the characteristics of their business model. These models have different characteristics in terms of the amount of value proposition, the processes of shaping the value architecture, the mechanisms for interaction with different groups of customers and value acquisition methods. Finally, these types of business models were named based on their proprietary features as: diversified effective, focused effective, diversified efficient and focused efficient. The first business model type was labeled “diversified effective” as it is greatly focused on quality and extensive relationships with various stakeholders of the value chain. Companies such as CinnaGen, Exir, SobhanDarou, DarouPakhsh, Osvah, and Samisaz had the greatest degree of membership in this business model type. The second type was labeled “diversified efficient” as it is highly concentrated on cost control and extensive relationship maintenance with the value chain stakeholders. Companies such as ParsDarou, TehranShimi, AlborzDarou, TehranDarou, and Actoverco had the greatest degree of membership in this business model type. The third type was labeled “focused efficient” and included such pharmaceutical companies as Hakim, CaspianTamin, Sepidaj, Loghman, and Jalinous which had the greatest degree of membership in this business model type. Finally, the fourth type was labeled “focused effective” and involved companies such as Shafa, Ronak, DinehIran, and Modava with the greatest degree of membership therein.

In the competitive atmosphere of today's world, selling more means success for producers and marketers. Sales are no longer possible without knowing consumer behavior. Impulse buying is one of the most important aspects of consumer behavior which involves a large amount of purchase by individuals. While there is intense competition in most markets, customers are exposed to many similar offers to choose a product, so they often cannot be sure of achieving all of their purchasing goals and, therefore, a risk is felt in most of their purchasing decisions. Companies and organizations may be eliminated from the competition without trusting customers and realizing the high quality of the products they offer. Considering the great influence of seller behavior on the buyer's decision, this research was conducted to investigate the role of adaptive sales behavior on impulse buying with an emphasis on the moderating roles of trust and perceived quality. This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of data collection and analysis. In this regard, a sample of 400 customers from Mashhad Proma shopping mall was selected through an available sampling method, and a research questionnaire was distributed among them.The questionnaire included four categories of questions related to adaptive sales behavior, store brand trust, perceived quality of store products, and impulse buying. It was prepared in the form of 23 items. After its validity and reliability were confirmed, it was distributed among the participants. Also, after collecting data, structural equation modeling was used to test the research hypotheses using the PLS software.Results and A t-test was used to confirm or disprove the research hypotheses. Through the examining of the effect of adaptive sales behavior on customers and impulse buying behaviors, it was found that the direct effect was not significant. Also, the perceived quality of store brands did not have a direct effect on customers' purchases without a plan. The other research results included the significance of the effect of adaptive sales on perceived quality. Another task was the analysis of the effect of customer trust on impulse buying behavior, which was confirmed due to the significance of its path coefficient. The results of indirect relationships also showed that the adaptive sales relationship was significant in relation to the perceived quality through the variable of trust in unplanned purchases. But customer trust waa found not to play a moderating role in the relationship between adaptive seller behavior and unplanned purchases.According to the results, customer trust plays an effective mediating role in the relationship between research variables to determine the customer's impulse buying due to the adaptive sales behavior of sellers and the perceived quality of customers. However, its moderating effect was not proved. The direct effects of the adaptive sales behavior of sellers and the perceived quality of customers on impulse buying were not significant without considering the role of customer trust. The results of the research have explicit suggestions and hints for the managers and custodians of in-store shopping centers. The analytical findings of the research refer to the significant regression coefficients of the research model, the importance of the emergence of adaptive sales behavior of sellers in the perceived quality of customers and the role of customer trust with respect to its significant coefficients in direct relationship with impulse buying behavior. In a fitted model, sellers should focus on customer satisfaction by adapting to their tastes, needs, interests and conditions so as to attract customers and build relationship with them in the long run. To achieve the effectiveness of their marketing measures, especially their impact on customer buying behavior in large shopping malls, most marketers can focus on unplanned customer purchases because customers pay more attention to situational factors than to any other situation. Therefore, in this regard, they should improve those factors that are effective in creating and strengthening the effectiveness of unplanned shopping marketing. Sellers can, thus, present their marketing plans to meet the needs and wants of the target market based on appropriate marketing strategies. In order to gain intelligence and increase the ability and readiness to choose an appropriate manner to deal with customers, sellers should oblige themselves to gather the required information about customer characteristics. In this situation, sellers will be more willing to enter into negotiation, and their understanding of customer-oriented sales events will be higher.

The existence of different groups of stakeholders and the commitment of companies to their interests has highlighted the role of corporate social responsibility in today's world. Corporate social responsibility is the company's commitment to maximize long-term economic, social and environmental well-being through its performance, policies and resources. It is a valuable and irreplaceable resource that has changed the paradigm of organizational performance. Research has shown that companies' performance is influenced by corporate social responsibility. Due to the effect of different factors on the relationship between corporate social responsibility and company performance, in various studies have aimed at the moderating role of different variables in this relationship. One of the effective variables is business strategy because it represents a unique and fundamental element of a company's identity. Thus, business strategy can potentially affect the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate performance. In terms of purpose, the present study is an applied type. From the point of view of data collection, it is descriptive, and, in terms of nature, it is based on the post-event approach. It is also quantitative because accounting and capital market information is used for calculating the variables. The data related to 104 companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange during 2011-2018 have been analyzed. Five years of information is required to calculate some variables; therefore, the data required by the sample companies should be available for a period of 12 years (2007-2018). To test the research hypotheses, the multivariate linear regression model and the panel data method were used as well. A combined index based on accounting variables and the average decimal ranking method are used to determine the value of the economic, ethical and legal dimensions of corporate social responsibility. To measure the economic performance of companies, the indicators of economic value added and market value added have been used. The theoretical business strategy framework of Miles and Snow (1978, 2003) has also been used. It classifies business strategies into prospectors, analyzers and defenders based on a composite measure to proxy for a firm’s business strategy. This composite measure strategy involves six firm attributes including ratio of R&D expenses to sales, ratio of employees to sales, one-year percentage change in total sales, ratio of SG&A expenses to sales, standard deviation of the total number of employees, and net property, plant and equipment scaled by total assets. The effect of strategy has been investigated in from the viewpoints of strategy and strategy type.  Results and The first to sixth hypotheses investigate the effects of economic, ethical and legal dimensions of corporate social responsibility on economic performance (i.e., economic value added and market value added).  The positive coefficient of variables indicates that increasing the economic, ethical and legal dimensions of corporate social responsibility increases the companies’ economic performance and the hypotheses are confirmed. The seventh to twelfth hypotheses investigate the moderating effects of the business strategy on the relationship between corporate social responsibility and the economic performance of companies. The moderating effect of the business strategy has been studied in two ways, strategy and strategy type. In both methods, the moderator role of the strategy on the relationship between corporate social responsibility and economic value added is positive and significant, and the hypotheses are confirmed. Also, the impact of strategy on the relationship between the economic and ethical aspects of corporate social responsibility and market value added is positive and significant. But the significance of the legal dimension has not been confirmed. The results indicate that, regardless of the presented method and the corresponding calculations, aggressive strategy has a greater impact on the relationship between corporate social responsibility and the economic performance of companies. Based on the statistical results, the positive effect of economic, ethical and legal dimensions of corporate social responsibility on economic performance is confirmed. The results are in accordance with the instrumental theory in which the purpose of corporate social responsibility is earning profit and acquisition of economic benefits for the shareholders. The stakeholder and legitimacy theories support the research findings too. According to the stakeholder theory, the value of the firm is increased by respecting the rights of all the stakeholders. Therefore, paying attention to their various demands by the management will lead to the survival of the organization. Respecting the social norms and the observance of rules and regulations to confirm the legitimacy by the government and general public can also lead the company to achieve its goals. Firms that follow a prospective strategy compete together to produce products and find new markets. They are always looking for innovation in product and market development. On the other hand, firms following a defensive strategy focus on a limited product market, and their efforts are to increase production efficiency. Taken together, the results suggest that business strategy is an important determinant of corporate social responsibility performance. The performance of defenders is similar to the strategy of cost leadership, and the performance of prospectors is similar to the strategy of differentiation. Hence, prospectors take advantage of corporate social responsibility, as their innovation-oriented strategy, and enjoy the benefits of corporate social responsibility more than other companies.

In today’s competitive environment, the development of new products becomes increasingly vital for firms to gain a competitive advantage. Due to a number of factors such as technological advances, increasing risk in global trades and, most importantly, rapidly changing customer needs and preferences, new product development (NPD) is considered as a complex process in the literature. Firms continually endeavor to find effective ways to cope with the complexity of the NPD process and improve its performance. Lean management practices with the aim of reducing wastes and improving product quality is suggested to be used to enhance the development performance of new products. Following the literature, this research examines the relationships between lean management practices and new products development performance. The literature shows that lean management factors alone are not able to have direct positive effects on the innovative performance of firms. To fill the gap, this study considers continuous improvement as the mediating role of this relationship so that companies can take the advantage of lean management. This study aims to show that lean management is composed of two dimensions inside and outside the organization by examining examples of manufacturing companies in Iran. It also addresses the influence of the components of lean management on NPD performance; continuous improvement can be an important interface in this regard. A review of previous research suggests that, despite the great bulk of research on new product development and lean management separately, the impact of lean management as a set of different dimensions on NPD performance has not been investigated. In other words, many studies in the field consider only one pure dimension (Samson & Terziovski, 1999; Tsai & Hsu, 2014; Felekoglu & Moultrie, 2014), while the methods and different techniques of lean management complement one another and their simultaneous implementation can have a positive effect on NPD. Instead of targeting a certain level of purity, the philosophy of lean manufacturing focuses on the continuous improvement of processes (Longoni et al., 2013). According to this concept, continuous improvement is one of the key outcomes of lean components. For this reason, this study seeks to measure the impact of lean management on NPD performance with the mediating role of continuous improvement. The data were collected in a survey of 301 Iranian manufacturing firms to test the hypotheses by structural equation modeling. Personal hardcopy questionnaires were distributed among those companies that had more than three years of product development activities as well as more than 20 employees. As a result, 800 manufacturing companies were recognized to participate in the survey. It is worth noting that the questionnaires were completed by executives (such as CEOs, production managers, marketing managers, sales managers, and sales research and development authorities) or their deputies. Finally, 301 acceptable and valid questionnaires were collected. There was a response rate of 37.6%. Prior to testing the hypotheses using structural equation modeling through Lisrel the 8.8 software, the questionnaire items taken from valid English research works were translated once from English to Persian and again from Persian to English, and their original copy was compared  to ensure the correct translation and transfer of the content (Tsai & Hsu, 2014; Yang et al., 2011). In order to confirm the validity of the content and the form, the questionnaires were distributed among seven experienced faculty members in the fields of innovation and business to express their expert opinions on them. The findings show that lean management (including total quality management, cross-functional teams, customer participation) has a positive impact on the new product development performance, financially and non-financially, through continuous improvement. Moreover, regarding the dimensions of lean management, while cross-functional team and customer involvement are found to have positive impacts on NPD performance, the relationships between supplier and employee involvement and NPD performance did not attain significant levels. According to the research results, beyond external factors, there are factors such as total quality management and the formation of cross functional teams that are able to integrate scattered knowledge in an organization and extend it to improve the organization’s innovation. In fact, cross-functional teams and total quality management enable people from diverse areas within the organization or even between organizations to exchange information, develop new ideas, and solve complex problems. By contrast, in terms of the external factors, managers in a business environment like Iran should focus on customer participation, not suppliers. The results show that companies cannot expect positive results in Iran by strengthening inter-organizational partnership (such as partnership with suppliers). The weakness of supply chains and the lack of sufficient information are some of the factors that hinder the acquisition of knowledge in this way. According to the results, with the participation of customers, companies come closer to the demands of customers, and this can be very critical to the sales and satisfaction of new products.

A knowledge-based economy develops when knowledge-based companies have innovation, and whatever has a positive impact on the innovation is valuable for technology owners and policymakers. Due to the business development in Iran in recent years, discourse for the knowledge-based economy has increased, and many knowledge-based companies have been established. Iranian knowledge-based companies should usually compete with other companies, especially reputable old companies and organizations in the traditional sector (Arman and Shafiei, 2017). Innovation is essential for the survival, profitability and development of companies, and knowledge-based companies will certainly fail to survive without innovation. Therefore, one of the most important tasks of managers in knowledge-based companies is to create innovation and encourage the man force to innovate.Many studies on business management have considered the lack of strategic thinking of top managers as a reason for not achieving the desired level of performance in all aspects, including innovation. Strategic thinking is essential for managers at different levels of an organization (Goldman and Casey, 2010; Moon, 2013). It improves the quality of decision-making (Goldman, 2012). In addition to strategic thinking, organizational learning has a great impact on improving organizational performance in all aspects, including innovation (Karimi and Abbasi, 2017). Although many believe that strategic thinking is an inherent capability, new studies indicate that strategic thinking can be improved using some principles and tools (Lashkarblooki and Jalali, 2018). The present research aims to study the innovativeness of knowledge-based companies from the lens of strategic thinking. It also investigates the impact of strategic learning as a mediating variable to provide more accurate explanation. This empirical study is a descriptive research rooted in the positivist philosophy of research. The statistical population compromised of the knowledge-based companies that, in 2018, used the services of Iran National Innovation Fund to implement their innovative plans. Since 168 knowledge-based companies were qualified to use the services, a random sampling method was used for sampling, and Cochran's formula was used to determine the required number of the cases in the samples. The data were randomly collected from 117 knowledge-based companies. A 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was used to collect the data. The reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated by measuring Cronbach's alpha and estimating composite reliability. Experts' opinions and standard questionnaires were also used to ensure the content validity. Confirmatory factor analysis, convergent validation and diagnostic validation were done to ensure the construct validity. In this research, the SPSS and Smart PLS software programs were used to analyze the data, and the results were presented as statistical models. The findings confirm the fit of the research model and reveal that the tendency of the knowledge-based companies to innovate is directly influenced by the level of strategic thinking and strategic learning. In addition, strategic learning can increase the impact of strategic thinking on the tendency to innovate. Therefore, the managers of knowledge-based companies can use the concepts and tools of strategic thinking and strategic learning to promote innovation. Knowledge-based companies are formed based on innovation and create a new market by innovative changes. Given the dependence of these companies on innovation, the lack of innovation reduces their profitability and endangers their survival. Studying the innovation of such companies should be in the different aspects, and it should not include only the barriers to innovation such as insufficient human resources, inappropriate business environment conditions, limited access to required resources and technologies. Another aspect that should be discussed is the tendency for innovation. Assuming that there are no obstacles in the way of innovation, the tendency for it is necessary to continuously innovate products, processes, and business models. Emphasizing this key point, the present study investigates the relationship between strategic thinking and strategic learning for innovativeness in knowledge-based companies. The data analysis shows that strategic thinking directly affects the tendency of knowledge-based companies to innovate. Strategic thinking improves the tendency to innovate by increasing the company's ability to recognize good opportunities, be creative, promote systemic thinking (a holistic approach to analysis that focuses on the system as a whole, not a series of parts, and how systems work overtime within the context of larger systems), and establish  vision (or aspiration) and strategic communication. In addition to the direct impact of strategic thinking on innovation, the data show that strategic thinking would increase the tendency of knowledge-based companies to innovate indirectly through strategic learning. Promoting strategic thinking capabilities in knowledge-based companies would make companies increase their strategic knowledge at the organizational level and apply their experiences to innovate.

The biopharmaceutical industry has several notable characteristics such as high R&D costs of $ 125 million to $ 250 million per drug, long-term commercialization cycles, and very complex and often long-term legislative procedures. All of these are associated with a high level of inherent uncertainty in the innovation process. Another characteristic of the biotechnology industry is the division of the innovative workforce between biotechnology R&D firms and pharmaceutical firms (customers) according to their capabilities. Dynamic knowledge bases such as genomes, molecular biology and proteomics as well as the novelty and fluidity of the biotechnology industry's scientific and technical knowledge needed to develop new products. This shows that the collaboration between companies is beneficial. Because the biotechnology industry includes a population of relatively young companies (e.g., proprietary biotechnology companies), there exists research partnership among these venture entrepreneurs, established and sustainable companies, and / or universities (Sorrentino and Garaffo, 2012) As mentioned above, adopting a strategy of participatory commercialization in today's changing environment is one of the vital business strategies of the firm (Standing et al., 2008). The increasing trend of coalition building since the 1980s and the increasing share of revenue from the implementation of this strategy in firms indicate the growing importance of their use (Kanzanilo et al., 2017). The output of the participatory approach has received much attention as a commercialization strategy in the form of performance, and many researchers have looked at the issue from different dimensions and angles. However, the lack of a comprehensive view of all the dimensions and constructs that determine performance is felt in the research literature. Thus, the present study seeks to identify the determinants of the performance of the participatory commercialization strategy (strategic alliance) in the bio-pharmaceutical industry (biosimilar). The study helps to develop the theoretical foundations of commercialization strategies by reviewing the latest articles in the reputable scientific databases. Then, a model extracted from the research literature is validated through the group modeling technique by 20 industry experts and 10 academic experts. The results are presented as the final model in the research. In general, the design of the present study is based on the five-step approach presented by McKenzie et al. (1999). Accordingly, the research stages include 1) research design: explaining the problem and reviewing the theoretical background, 2) conducting research and model construction: developing a conceptual framework and determining the relevant structures, 3) research validation: general validation of research and data collection, 4) data analysis: analysis of the results using descriptive-analytical statistical methods and partial least squares, and 5) reporting the research summarizing the research findings and documenting the research analyses. The present study is in the field of combined research (qualitative-quantitative) in terms of the purpose and developmental in terms of data nature and analysis style. This research in the qualitative part is done through interviews and in the quantitative part through surveys. According to the objectives and type of the research, in terms of the methodology, survey is the most appropriate method. It is a method in which measurement tools are used to obtain data about the statistical sample with high accuracy, speed and efficiency, and its results can be generalized to a larger community. The sampling method in this research in the qualitative part is theoretical sampling, and the statistical population of the research is all the research published in valid domestic and foreign scientific databases until 2020. The studies have been scoured in order to obtain a sample that causes theoretical saturation. Theoretical validity was the basis of the validity of this study. In order to achieve it, extensive field studies, theoretical pluralism, and experts’ opinions were used. In addition, the model for performance prediction by the Biopharma's participatory commercialization strategy in Iran has been done through the validation steps of Lavache (1975). In this study, a group of 30 people was selected as the focus group. Based on the criterion of action and the structure of the conceptual model, the value of content validity ratio (CVR) was calculated. The demographic characteristics of respondents included age, level of education, gender, history of activity in the field of medicine, history of activity in the field of biosimilars, and research background in the field of biosimilars commercialization strategies. Most experts (more than 70%) were in the age range of 36 to 51 years. More than 83% of the responding experts had PhD degrees. Only one female respondent was present in the panel of experts. More than 75% of the experts had at least six years of experience in the pharmaceutical field. More than 46% of them had more than 10 years of experience in the field of biosimilars. In addition to the history of practical activities in the field of biopharma, the panel of research experts had research backgrounds. There were also master's theses, doctoral dissertations, books, dissertation consultations, articles, and research projects. The quorum required for the content validity ratio for each of the indicators waa 0.33. This study addresses a set of underlying factors including dynamic management of coalition capability, social capital, learning, ownership regimes, productive resource composition, coalition governance, opportunistic behavior, trust, conflict management, relational capital, partner appropriateness and environmental dynamics. The study aims at the formation of strategic alliances for the commercialization of biopharmaceuticals. In previous studies, however, these factors were not examined simultaneously and comprehensively. Currently, the dominant commercialization in the Iranian biosimilar industry is based on an independent and individualized strategy.

Entrepreneurship serves as the engine of economic growth and the most important source of innovation and job creation. It is one of the factors considered along with labor and capital (Kiajouri et al., 2012). Entrepreneurs, by properly using economic opportunities and creating new business opportunities, improve the performance of production and service activities, play an important role in the development of the global economy and increase employment rates (Farrokh et al., 2014). Entrepreneurship is a set of activities that contribute to the sustainability and stimulation of economic and social progress, lead to the creation of new values, and provide new employment opportunities through the effective use of resources and facilities. Nowadays, entrepreneurial orientation is known as the most widespread predictor of entrepreneurial behavior and performance and a widely used constructs of behavior recognition. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of social networks in the entrepreneurial orientation of students. A glance at the global state of our economy leads us to believe that the growth of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial culture is a way to improve the disease of the country's economy and prevent its deterioration, which has received little attention from the government and researchers. In this regard, due to the small number of studies in this field and through the study experience of developed countries, the present research shows the high power of information and communication technology in creating fundamental changes in industry and trade and the transformation of production and trade foundations in the present time. The present study is a quantitative in terms of purpose and applied in terms of data collection. It is conducted with a descriptive-survey method to examine the relationships among the variables based on the purpose of the research. The statistical population of the study included the students at the faculties of economics and entrepreneurship (625 people) and engineering (2156) of Razi University. According to the published statistics of the employment monitoring plan of universities and also the employment status registered in the Ministry of Alumni Cooperation, due to training and acquisition of job skills, it is possible to achieve more employment opportunities in technical and applied fields than in other fields. To have the desired sample size, the Cochran's formula was used with a maximum variance and the confidence level of 0.05. Finally, as many as 386 were selected by the proportional stratified random sampling method. In order to collect the data, the standard questionnaire of entrepreneurial orientation of Lampkin and Des (1996) and the structured questionnaire of social networks derived from the Jahanbani social networks (1397) were used. To assess the validity of the questionnaires, as they had previously been repeatedly validated by various researchers, the Committee of Researchers and Experts in the field of entrepreneurship was asked to comment on their validity. Their points of view on modifying and adjusting the final form of the questionnaire were implemented. Also, to determine the reliability, 30 questionnaires were completed by respondents outside the study sample, and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated for them. In the study of a sample of 368 students at the Faculty of Economics, Entrepreneurship and Engineering of Razi University, it was observed that there is a proper and significant relationship between the studied variables. Through structural equation modeling, a general model was provided to predict entrepreneurial orientation. As it was observed, social networks have the greatest effect on risk-taking (r = 0.21) among the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation. In general, social networks have an effect on entrepreneurial orientation (r = 0.33) and explain 39 percent of the variance of the entrepreneurial orientation variable. The results indicate that the social network variable has a positive and significant effect on entrepreneurial orientation and is able to explain 39% of the variance of entrepreneurial orientation. Given that entrepreneurial orientation is a process of adopting a strategy and a style of engaging in entrepreneurial activities and evaluates the desire to create opportunities and take advantage of it, it is influenced by social networks. In addition, virtual social networking services over the past few years has been able to attract a significant audience in various areas such as business, entrepreneurship, enterprise competitiveness to provide valuable potentials to individuals and to create opportunities and create business. In this case, new networks are suggested to the authorities, considering the important fact that the effective use of these networks can affect the formation of businesses by students and educated people through training, culture and continuous expert monitoring of the space. Virtual communities and planners can use this capacity for the future.

Recently, human resource risk management has attracted the attention of risk researchers. Risk is the uncertainty in the distribution of the consequences of an event, the probability of its occurrence, and its mental value. The environment has no independent role, and uncertainty is a characteristic of the manager who wants to make decisions. All the behaviors and decisions of individuals also depend on their cognitive frameworks and mental models. So, human resource risk management is a concept that manifests itself under the influence of managers’ mental model. In the present study, with a cognitive view of human resource risk management in knowledge-based companies, we try to gain a better understanding of a manager’s frame of mind. The cognitive aspect and mental framework of managers have widely been studied by management researchers in recent years. The present study aims at the cognitive analysis of human resource risk management strategies based on managers' mental models and risk assessment matrix to improve business performance.

The present research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of method. The data are collected through library and field studies. The statistical population of the study included 77 managers of knowledge-based companies in East Azerbaijan Province where human resource risk management was relevant. It was studied by the census sampling method. Questionnaires and scenarios were used for data collection. The validity of the questionnaire was assessed for its content. Its reliability was also calculated in terms of Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.887). For the statistical analysis, descriptive statistics were used to describe the research variables. Then, the inferential statistics section was answered using chi-square, Tukey and one-way ANOVA tests.

In the present study, we cognitively analyzed human resource risk management strategies based on managers' mental models and a risk assessment matrix. The cognitive approach has developed significantly in recent years and, through the knowledge of the brain, mind and its functions, has been able to obtain valuable information about the origins of human behavior.The findings showed the type of managers' interpretation of real events, their attitude of risk, their choice of a particular type of human resource risk management strategy, and their interpretation of real events. There was a significant relationship between these parameters and human resource risk management. In addition, a significant difference was found between the choice of a particular type of risk management strategy in managers' estimation of risk outcomes and the probability of risk occurrence. The results were consistent with the risk assessment matrix. The risk is high, and, in the maintenance strategy, the average managers' assessment of the risk outcomes and the probability of risk occurring are low. In the risk reduction strategy, the average of managers 'assessment of low risk outcomes and the probability of occurrence of high risk and, in the risk transfer strategy, the average of managers' assessment of high risk outcomes and the probability of occurrence of risk are low.

In this study, it was found that most managers in knowledge-based companies are risk-takers, consider human resource risk management attractive, and, in the face of risks, choose risk reduction and maintenance strategies. There is also a significant relationship between managers' mental models and strategy selection. The more managers value the company's opportunities and strengths and find human resource risk management attractive, the more risk-averse they are, and the more they value weaknesses and threats. They consider human resource risk management as a necessity (determinism), and risk aversion is obvious in their management. In fact, instead of waiting for opportunities, risk-taking managers hunt for opportunities. In addition, it was found that the more risk-taking managers are, the more they tend to choose risk reduction and maintenance strategies, and the more risk-averse they are. The more prominent managers are more inclined to choose reduction and avoidance strategies. In fact, the differences in managers' interpretations and perceptions of risk make them act differently in their decisions and behave differently. In other words, the mental models of managers in knowledge-based companies in East Azerbaijan Province is a determining factor in interpreting the environmental events and identifying the opportunities and threats that affect the decision-making process. Therefore, it is better for these managers to increase their awareness of human resource risks, the source of risks, their control methods as well as the status and position of their company and competitors.

In digital shopping, numerous factors influence the consumers’ purchase decision. Among them, information literacy plays a key role. In this regard, the current study aims to develop a model of how information literacy affects the consumers’ purchase decision in digital shopping in a local clothing business. In The purchase decisions on brand choice, place of purchase, amount of purchase, and time of purchase are examined through Kotler’s model.The concepts examined to conceptualize information literacy include the skill of using polling forums, awareness of inserting questions about the goods on the websites, ability to organize information in electronic environment, ability to gain access to information in electrical environment, ability to categorize information, skill of using different types of hardware such as laptop/computer, ability to examine accurate information, ability to establish communication between current and previous data, and skill of using information in decision-making. According to the conceptual framework presented in the current study, the major hypotheses are as follows:Information literacy influences the consumer’s brand choice in digital shopping.Information literacy influences the consumer’s place of purchase in digital shopping.Information literacy influences the consumer’s amount of purchase in digital shopping.Information literacy influences the consumer’s time of purchase.Information literacy influences the consumer’s payment choice in digital shopping.Information literacy influences the consumers’ purchase decision in digital shopping. The current study aims to examine the goods which undergo a short choice duration and the purchase decision of which is not complicated. To this end, examinations were conducted of touristic goods and products, particularly SARBINEH brand products. The statistical population consisted of all the consumers of SARBINEH local clothes (costumes) in the country. Due to the limited number of SARBINEH brand consumers, a convenience procedure was used for sampling. The participants included friends, colleagues, relatives, etc., based on the relative ease of access. A total number of 150 questionnaires were distributed but 98 were completed and returned. Then, a regression analysis was done to analyze the collected data. The results demonstrated that SARBINEH brand consumers did not prioritize the clothes brands in digital shopping (when buying goods on the Internet), and this was not related to their information literacy. In other words, the low or high degree of information literacy had no influence on their decision in brand purchase. In this sense, it might be inferred that the consumer’s attitude towards the brand makes no change in digital environments and makes no difference where they see their desired brand to purchase. Accordingly, SARBINEH brand consumers pay particular attention to the place of purchase on the Internet in digital shopping, which is linked to their information literacy. So, a low or high degree of information literacy matters and changes their decision about the place of purchase (i.e., the website on which they make purchase).Additionally, information literacy influenced the consumer’s purchase decision (amount of purchase) in digital shopping. In other words, a low or high degree of information literacy would change their amount of purchase (e.g, the number of clothes they bought). Also, SARBINEH local clothes consumers paid no attention to the time spent on their purchase in digital shopping; they could register their purchase at any time during 24 hours of a day. Moreover, the results indicated that SARBINEH local clothes (costumes) consumers paid attention to the payment methods (in-person or online payment) in digital shopping, which seemed to be related to their information literacy. Their low or high degree of information literacy led to a change in their payment methods. According to the findings, two variables, including information literacy and purchase decision, made no factorial impact in the sample under the study. Thus, the dependent variables of purchase decision were influenced by a certain percentage, and two variables including brand choice and time were not influenced by the information literacy. However, information literacy significantly impacted the place of purchase, amount of purchase, and payment method. The study is significant in that digital environments are increasingly growing in most developing countries like Iran. Such an environment is considered as a prominent opportunity for enhancing digital markets. As a result, increasing the samples similar to the one in the current study, which sought to highlight the significance of the consumers’ purchase decision, information skills and their instrumental attraction in the virtual environment, can pave the way for the development of small businesses in virtual settings and, thereby, accelerate the development of the most important economic cycle, that is SMEs. The major innovation of in this study is the juxtaposition of two fields of marketing (a sub-discipline of management) and information literacy (a sub-discipline of information sciences) to make practical recommendations for improving the purchase rate in digital marketing. The findings were in line with those of previously conducted studies. It is worth noting that the entire model was not confirmed since Iranian customers disregard the importance of a particular level of awareness for purchasing clothes. This implies that their information literacy might be based on a specific one-to-one corresponding model of purchase decision constructs. It is also to be noted that the research model was assessed with regard to SARBINEH brand local clothing business, and a change in the studied goods would lead to different results.

Nowadays, the business environment has become a complex and competitive environment and has caused managers to face many operational challenges such as access to global resources, long supply chains and the need for customized production of products. Thus, communication with suppliers has become a strategic asset for the survival of organizations. Firms strive to build partnerships with suppliers in order to gain operational efficiency and effectiveness in the supply chain. The empowerment of suppliers is a business process for managing all the communication between organizations and suppliers. According to many researchers, the empowerment of suppliers can help to design, develop or re-engineer a product or process. In fact, when suppliers are involved in product designing, their sense of ownership is enhanced and they are more likely to add value to their interaction with the company. Therefore, empowering and involving suppliers when designing a product is one of the most important strategies of innovative companies in today's business environment.

The present research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-correlative in terms of data collection. In this study, 468 managers and experts at the central offices of beverage companies based in Tehran were selected as the statistical population, of whom 214 were selected as a random class according to Morgan table. In addition, library studies and field methods including the use of questionnaires served to collect the data. In order to measure the Supplier Empowerment variable, Lee and Koo questionnaire (2016), Falconnier innovative co-design questionnaire (2017) and Heppes & Toit market intelligence questionnaire (2009) were used. The data analysis was performed by the SPSS and Smart Pls software programs and structural equations.

In this study, four hypotheses were proposed to examine the relationships among the variables. Since the value of the t-statistics for the first hypothesis (5.301) was more than 1.96 and the significance level (0.001) was less than 0.05, the suppliers empowerment with a coefficient of 0.211 had a positive and significant effect on the innovative co-design. In other words, sharing knowledge and information, partnership in product designs, signing long-term contracts and creating an atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence can synergize innovative efforts to design new products and increase the competitiveness of companies.The second hypothesis was confirmed because the value of the t-statistic (10.262) was more than 1.96 and the significance level (0.000) was less than 0.05. It can be concluded that supplier empowerment with a coefficient of 0.506 has a positive and significant effect on market intelligence. In other words, participation in product designing, sharing knowledge and information and consulting for the selection of raw materials lead to the continuous monitoring of the business environment and the awareness of market trends and brings more market intelligence to the company.The third hypothesis was also confirmed with the t-statistic of 9.479 which was more than 1.96 and the significance level of 0.000 which was less than 0.05. It can, thus, be concluded that market intelligence with a coefficient of 0.525 has a positive and significant effect on innovative co-design. In other words, variables such as awareness of customers’ tastes, competitors' strategies and government policies in the field of business lead to the increased market intelligence of organizations and the convergence of efforts to design new products and services.The fourth hypothesis, which examined the mediating role of market intelligence in suppliers’ empowerment and innovative co-design, was confirmed in Baron and Kenny's terms. In other words, those beverage companies that establish strong relationships with reliable suppliers through long-term contracts, participate in the design of products and services, join ventures in the purchase and transfer of technology and share knowledge and information permanently can monitor market trends, competitors, customers and government policies in the field of business and thus turn to innovative designs in response to environmental variables.

In the highly competitive non-alcoholic beverage industry, those manufacturers who share knowledge and information with suppliers, consult them in the selection of raw materials, and participate in product design and technology investment with suppliers can achieve competitive advantage in the market through joint and innovative designs. In fact, innovative co-designing between suppliers and manufacturers, which leads to synergistic efforts, requires an intelligent approach to the market and the monitoring of the variables affecting it. Also, empowered suppliers can present their products according to the wishes of manufacturers. In fact, well-known brands in the beverage industry create value by fixing efficient contracts with a range of suppliers and empower them to produce according to parent company standards.

In today's world economy, companies must focus all their activities and capabilities on customer satisfaction because customers are the only source of return on investment. Besides, customer satisfaction in supplying and distributing short-lived commodities especially food, due to their special and perishable properties, has doubled the importance of the issue. When a vehicle carries the demand of a number of customers in one shipment, due to the long travel time and the frequent opening of the refrigerator door, the quality of the remaining products in the vehicle decreases and, as a result, the satisfaction of customers reduces. The main purpose of this article is to maximize customer satisfaction in the food supply chain network. The study integrates the decisions of the different parts of a food supply chain under uncertainty. The first part includes food suppliers. Because the studied supply chain is multi-commodity, one supplier is not able to supply all the food. Therefore, it can supply part of the customer needs according to its conditions and expertise. The second part includes the heterogeneous transport fleet, which serves as a VRP problem. Thus, a vehicle can receive food from a supplier and deliver it to customers located in different geographical locations. In addition, the preparation time of vehicles is also considered as a constraint. The transport fleet consists of several refrigerated vehicles with different carrying capacities and speeds. Since one vehicle is not able to carry all the orders, each product, according to the required temperature and storage conditions, must be transported by vehicles specific to that product. Also, due to weather and traffic conditions, the vehicle travel time is not definite. So, in this study, the uncertainty of vehicle travel time (triangular fuzzy) is taken into account too. The third part of this supply chain includes end users, whose geographical location and the amount of demand of each is definite and specific. There is a time window like (x,y) for each user. If the orders are delivered to the customer before time x, it will cause earliness. If it is delivered after time y, it will cause tardiness. The objectives of this study are minimizing the sum of tardiness and earliness of deliveries to customers and maximizing the quality of products delivered to them. A mathematical model of the problem is presented, and the augmented ε constraint method is used to solve the model. It has been shown that the exact solution method cannot solve large-scale problems within a reasonable time. Therefore, meta-heuristic algorithms should be used. This research has presented the MOTTH meta-heuristic algorithm, which is a new development of the genetic algorithm and is inspired by the long-standing human desire to travel throughout history. In this algorithm, the best solutions of the current generation replace the worst solutions of R generations, and, thus, the algorithm’s premature convergence is prevented and more solutions are searched in the solution area. As the mathematical model was solved through the augmented ε constraint method, the relationship between the two objective functions was explained. It was also shown that an increase in the quality of the products delivered to customers leads to a rise in the sum of the tardiness and earliness of deliveries to customers. Therefore, considering the importance of each of the objective functions, every company should establish a balance between the two objective functions.For validation, the results of the NSGA-II and MOTTH algorithms were compared with those of the exact solution of the augmented  constraint method. The results of the algorithms were also compared. It was shown that the MOTTH meta-heuristic algorithm performs better. For the mathematical modeling of this research and for solving the model, the resources available in the literature and the GAMS and MATLAB software programs were used respectively. According to the results of this study, a practical suggestion for frozen food supply chain managers is to use the MOTTH algorithm. This algorithm offers better solutions than the NSGA-II algorithm, the sum of tardiness and earliness of deliveries to customers is less, and the quality of the products delivered to customers remains higher. Moreover, the use of frozen food trucks partitioned with separate doors and equipped with cooling systems is another practical suggestion of this research; if the door of a partition is opened and the products are emptied, the other products in the other partitions will not receive a heat shock and their quality does not decline.

The purpose of this research is to design a process for increasing the sales and market share of dairy companies based on the sensory marketing model. The competition in the dairy industry is high, and the industry uses different methods to strive for bigger market shares. In a globalizing world, increasingly competitive environment impels the companies to search for different marketing methods beside the traditional ones. Sensory marketing which is one of the comprising methods is a technique that aims to seduce the consumer by using his senses and influencing his feelings and behavior. In sensory marketing, with various stimuli that are sent to the five senses, consumer's emotional and behavioral orientations are studied to be affected. Sensory marketing is a useful because it gives companies a real opportunity to maximize product profitability . In today’s research, sensory stimuli, or sensory inputs, are addressed in connection with a place, a brand, or an environment where a service is offered and how it looks, sounds, smells, feels, and tastes influences consumers. It may relate to the impact on both consumers’ product evaluation and choice of a product or as consumers’ affections, cognitions, and actual behaviors regarding, for example, how much time is spent in a store or how much money is spent on the purchase of a certain brand. The starting point in this research is to first understand how businesses, using the five senses, develop sensory experiences for consumers based on various sensory strategies and sensory stimuli. The role of sensory experiences in judgment and decision making has raised a surge of interest in marketing as well as psychology. In marketing, scattered research on the role of the senses in consumer behavior has been brought together under the rubric of sensory marketing, that is, “marketing that engages the consumers' senses and affects their perception, judgment, and behavior”. Over the past few years, research in sensory marketing has expanded and spread on a global scale in a most significant way. From previously unknown topics at large annual scientific marketing conferences, such as the European Marketing Academy (EMAC), the Academy of Marketing Science, and the American Marketing Association (AMA), sensory marketing has come to be recognized as an independent, scientific research area, compared with areas such as advertising, relationship marketing, or branding. Many researchers believe that sensory marketing will become more significant in the future and will establish itself as an important area for both academics and practitioners.

This study is developmental in terms of purpose.  It is conducted through the Grounded Theory. The research is a case study, and the statistical population includes two groups of experts, academics and industry experts. The sampling is done by the snowball method. The data collection tool is interviews. By the use of a qualitative approach based on the Grounded Theory, the factors affecting sensory marketing are identified, and an appropriate model is designed.

The final model of the research was formed with six main categories including intervening conditions (i.e., type of company-customer interaction, brand awareness, word-of-mouth advertising), contextual conditions (economic and social-cultural factors), causal conditions (organizational factors, customer and competitive environment), pivotal phenomenon (taste, olfactory, visual, auditory and tactile marketing), strategies (brand satisfaction and experience and perceived individual value) and outcomes (financial, competitive and branding outcomes). There were also micro-categories and indicators to consider in the dairy industry.

In order to see the responses of consumers to sensory marketing practices, according to the research conducted on the dairy industry, it is observed that organizational, customer, and competitive factors affect sensory marketing. The implications of sensory marketing include financial, competitive and branding implications. Sensory marketing is regarded as a new way of making an organizational profit. More and more manufacturers in the dairy products apply scent, sound, texture, vision and taste as stimuli to build stronger emotional connections with the customer and drive preference to their brand. The results showed the powerful and tremendous effect of the concept of sensory marketing which is inevitable for the success of a firm in this highly competitive market. This study provides practical and theoretical implications in the dairy industry, which can help marketers in the industry to excel. The contributions of this study include not only bridging the aforementioned gap in the literature but also offering significant managerial implications.

The globalization of industries and the emergence of an open international economy are forcing companies to continuously increase their competitiveness and pay more attention to their customers in order to develop their competitiveness. Target customers are exposed to and selected by foreign brands in the wider global markets than before. Behavioral variables are very important nowadays in social science topics such as marketing. Customer citizenship behavior actually emphasizes the non-purchasing behavior of customers. Constructive and positive customer behavior can help organizations achieve their goals. Negative and destructive behaviors can, however, disrupt the work of the organization, which indicates the undeniable position of customers in the performance of organizations. The purpose of this study is to provide a model for the citizenship behavior in customers of foreign home appliances. The researchers intend to provide a comprehensive model to explain this behavior. Therefore, the study seeks to identify the categories that lead to appropriate customer citizenship behavior as well as the strategies needed to achieve this behavior.

This research was done by the Ground Theory (data theory). The sampling was continued until theoretical saturation is reached and the required data are collected through interviews. The statistical population of the study was the industry experts in the field of selling household appliances sales and university professors in the field of marketing. The expertise criterion was at least ten years of experience in the field of household appliances or at least five years of experience in teaching in the field of marketing with a history of research in the field of consumer behavior. In total, 13 interviews were conducted with the appliance industry experts and the university professors. The data analysis was performed through open, participatory and selective coding. In order to evaluate the reliability, "pluralism in method" and "pluralism in the researcher" were used. The MAXQDA software was also used to achieve the research model.

After the description of the categories in the selective coding step and the statement of the main variable or underlying process in the data, the corresponding procedure and the outcomes were plotted. In this model, the central category was introduced along with the customer citizenship behavior and the concepts of "tolerance", "verbal advertising", "loyalty", "presence at the time of acquaintances 'purchase", and "helping the seller in recognizing customers' needs". Discussions were also made of the categories of "buying experience", "incentives to buy foreign products", "incentives to buy domestic products", "customer characteristics", "barriers to buying domestic product", "barriers to buying foreign product", "manufacturer’s characteristics" and "product features" as causal factors underlying citizenship behavior, "producer behavior" and "seller behavior" as interfering factors, "economic, social, cultural and political" factors, " westernization" and "customer characteristics" as context factors and "the role of government" and "the role of companies" as strategies. "purchase", "repurchase", "profitability", "purchase intention" and "competitive advantage" are some of the outcomes achieved in this research.

The results indicate that the above-mentioned "buying experience", "incentives to buy foreign products", "incentives to buy domestic products", "customer characteristics", "barriers to buying domestic product", "barriers to buying foreign product", "manufacturer’s characteristics" and "product Features" are causal conditions causing customer citizenship behavior. When customers show this behavior, research strategies, i.e., the role and position of companies and governments, can be effective in perpetuating this behavior as well as the intention to buy. Through value creation and providing additional value and services to customers, organizations can create the conditions for customers to understand added value, and lay the grounds for the emergence of customer citizenship behavior. As the findings indicate, service providers not only benefit from customer citizenship behavior but also customers hope to benefit more from the implementation of citizenship behavior. Using this understanding is useful to develop a strategy for service providers to disseminate customer citizenship behavior. In the marketing and sales of products, the behavior of producers and sellers can also be the basis of customer citizenship behavior. Customer satisfaction has the greatest impact on the intention to repurchase. Therefore, customers make the organization profitable by repurchasing. The concept of competitive advantage is directly related to the customer's desired values. Successful organizations always focus on their competitive advantage. Creating a sustainable competitive advantage is valuable to customers. This feature, which includes a category of competencies, has a strategic value, requires a lot of knowledge and skills, and is based on knowing the customer, understanding the customer's needs and focus on him as well as improving processes from the customer's point of view.

Nowadays, the manufacturing and supply of beautiful products is an important factor which can attract customers and motivate their purchase intention through point of sale (POS) marketing. Thus, there is a challenge for manufacturers and stores to attract customers. According to research in this field, the level of customers' trust and the perceived risk that they have when buying from manufacturers and stores has a significant impact on the relationship between their mental image and their purchase intention. Consumers have the ability to develop strong emotional attachments as well as deep relationships with brands to meet their functional, materialistic and emotional needs, which occurs through features such as designing a beautiful product. Great coordination between beautifully designed products and consumer tastes increases the ability of products to convey this special value to brands. Products with a high aesthetic value create a sense of emotional belonging among customers and consumers. In other words, there is a close relationship between the aesthetic features of a product and the emotional responses of consumers. In general, choosing a product with a high aesthetic value, a suitable design and a nice color as well as good performance lead to a sense of excitement and satisfaction among customers. The present study was carried out with the aim of increasing knowledge in the field of consumer behavior, especially to stimulate and induce responses in buyers with beautiful products at the point of sale. The study also seeks to investigate the aesthetic effect of products on purchase intention at the point of sale with the mediating role of emotional attachment and the moderating role of consumer goals. 

This is a cross-sectional descriptive-survey study. The statistical population of the research included the customers of Iranian and foreign home appliances in Tehran. In total, 400 customers were selected by a random sampling method. The data collection tool was a standard questionnaire and the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique. The Partial Least Squares approach (Smart PLS) was employed to test the hypotheses and the conceptual model.

The research findings reveal that aesthetic products have significant effects on purchase intention as well as purchase commitment. The indirect effect of these products is through the mediating variable of emotional attachment is significant. Purchase commitment has a significant effect on purchase intention. Functional goals positively and significantly affect the relationship between emotional attachment and purchase intention; however, the relationship between emotional attachment and purchase commitment is not significant. Moreover, materialistic goals positively and significantly affect the relationship between emotional attachment and purchase commitment, but they are not significant in the relationship between emotional attachment and purchase intention. The results of the Mann-Whitney U test suggest that the mean ratings of foreign products are higher than those of domestic products and that foreign brands are in a better position than the Iranian brands.

According to the results of this study, people who experience higher emotional responses with beautiful products tend to maintain a relationship with those brands and return to buy them again. It can be concluded that the attention of household appliance manufacturers to the beauty of products has a significant effect on the sensory evaluation of customers and encourages them to buy those brands. Also, satisfaction with the purchased product can lead to repurchase or purchase commitment. According to the findings of this study, consumers who purchase foreign brands have more emotional attachment than those who buy domestic brands. The purchase commitment and purchase intention among the consumers of foreign household appliance brands are higher than in those who buy domestic appliance brands. Therefore, household appliance manufacturers and sellers should consider sensory evaluation in product design and color selection, persuade customers to buy using point-of-sale marketing and make them experience an exciting purchase that satisfies them. The products designed based on aesthetic principles are able to create positive feelings or instinctive reactions that motivate consumers to buy, so appliance manufacturers should consider aesthetics for their products. There is a close relationship between the aesthetic characteristics of a product and the emotional responses of consumers, and scientific evidence shows how the aesthetic characteristics of a product stimulate and create an emotional response. According to the results of this study, aesthetic products stimulate the emotions of consumers; a product with higher aesthetics is more likely to have a significant impact on consumers' positive emotions. Aesthetic values, as a mediator, play an important role to stimulate emotions. Furthermore, the results suggest that designing a product with high aesthetics stimulates consumers' emotions, which can lead to consumer purchase intention (CPI). Also, consumers believe that the purpose of their purchase is their favorite quality and features. They believe that beautiful and efficient products have a significant impact on achieving their purposes. They stated that they purchase household appliances to meet their functional and materialistic needs. Given that those products are classified as durable ones, most consumers believe that their purpose is to have good function of the products. Manufacturing companies can pay more attention to this issue.

Previous studies related to born globals are dispersed, heterogeneous and unsystematic, and the research in this field has not been done in an integrated way. In spite of the dispersion of findings, different researchers have tried to discover mechanisms (antecedents, moderators and consequences) in the area of born global firms. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of born globals, studies have taken into account various issues. Since born globals are important for the future of business and the findings of previous studies are disorganized, there is a need to develop integrated conceptual models and comprehensive theoretical frameworks. The necessity of investigating born globals is mentioned in previous works too. The dearth of research on born globals and the need for developing a comprehensive framework are the main drivers for conducting this review research. As a result, the aim of this article is to collect and integrate all the empirical studies in the world regarding the driving and preventive factors and the consequences of born global firms in a comprehensive framework.

Since this study is going to integrate previous research findings and finally provide a framework for the comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon, meta-synthesis is a good method to serve the purpose. However, since all empirical studies (through quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods) should be included in this study, it is necessary to use the mixed meta-synthesis method. A six-step process is considered as a methodological framework of this study. These six steps include formulating the research problem and question, reviewing the literature, evaluating the research studies for identification and inclusion, selecting and doing meta-synthesis techniques for integrating and analyzing the qualitative research findings, presenting a combination of the findings of previous studies, and showing the process. As a result, this article summarizes the findings of 85 empirical studies (only studies related to the early success of born globals) by using the mixed meta-synthesis method and integrates them in a comprehensive conceptual framework.

Previous studies have examined the role of global vision as a meditator variable, but there is no research on the moderating role of global vision in different groups of output variables. Distinguishing among the dimensions of experience and the moderating role of experiences is also a research gap. The role of government policies for facilitating the international experiences has not been investigated yet. The role of variables such as managers' global vision or international experience can be studies as a moderator variable. In addition, this study has evaluated the effect of moderators. It has summarized and integrated the empirical results regarding driving and preventive factors and outcomes in the field of born global firms and specifically in the initial stage of their business lifecycle. Based on the developed framework, future opportunities for research and theoretical and practical implications are suggested. According to the adopted theories in the reviewed papers, our first and foremost theoretical suggestion is using the perspective of entrepreneurial financing (and other financial perspectives in the field of born globals) as well as the transformational leadership theory (and other theories in leadership literature). These two theoretical gaps are important in our research because the vital role of management team characteristics in born globals implies the importance of leadership style, and born globals are able to overcome strange costs and resource limitations through selecting the source of financing. This research extends the results of Weerawardena et al. (2007), Gerschewski et al. (2015) and Gerschewski (2011) and adds the results of Knight and Liesch (2016) to this area. Since a large number of research works has been done on the initial stage of formation and success of born globals and this knowledge has been summarized in this study, born global researchers can test this framework in different fields and countries and to create new perspectives and variables for future research. It is useful to reach a general and valid understanding of the advent and the initial success of born globals before going beyond to search the successes and mechanisms of long-term survival.

This paper summarizes and integrates the empirical results regarding the driving and preventive factors and outcomes in the area of born global firms specifically the initial stage of their business lifecycle. However, there are some limitations in this study, including using only two databases and ignoring Google Scholar, EBSCO etc. This questions the comprehensiveness of the research and denotes the likelihood of human error in filtering papers. Hence, there might be some papers in the selected databases or other sources related to the field of this study.

The main purpose of social media marketing is to create a business based on the customer orientation and reputation of a company and, thus, to develop and manage business. Understanding the role of social media is critical for researchers and managers in marketing. Social media marketing is, therefore, an integral part of business in the 21st century. Social media marketing is used in various fields and refers to the use of social media technologies, channels and software to create, communicate, present and exchange suggestions that are valuable to the organization's stakeholders. Social media are one of the latest achievements of information technology and new approaches to marketing. Marketing through social media has been highly noticed due to the advancement of technology, the need to high-speed communication, and transactions. With the expansion of cyberspace and the Internet users, many marketing experts have introduced virtual communities as an opportunity to introduce the products and services of companies. The aim of this research is to explore the effects of social media marketing on customer intention with regard to the mediator roles of perceived value and customer satisfaction.

The present research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-correlative in terms of method. The statistic population of the research was the managers of the plaster and cement industry. Using the simple random sampling, 107 users were selected as the research sample. They took a questionnaire based on the Likert scale from 1 (I strongly disagree) to 5 (I strongly agree). The random sampling method was used for this research. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS 24.0 software with regard to the demographic characteristics of customers and Smart Pls3 for testing the hypotheses based on a structural equations model (SEM). The determination coefficient (R2) was the criterion used to connect the measurement part to the structural part of the structural equation modeling. It was shown that an exogenous variable has an effect on an endogenous variable. The larger the amount of R2 related to the endogenous structures of a model, the better the fitting of the model. According to the results, the R2 value for this model was 0.839. Also, according to the PLS path modeling, the researcher had to check the fitting of the general part after examining the fitting of the measurement and structural parts of the research model. On the other hand, the PLS path modeling did not have a generalized optimization criterion, i.e. there was no general function to assess the fitting of the model. Therefore, at this stage, the Goodness of Fit Index (GOF) was used to examine the overall fitting of the model. According to the results, the GOF value for this model was 0.72.

The results of the structural equation modeling method show that there is a significant relationship between social media marketing activities and customer intention directly and indirectly, through raised customer satisfaction and perceived value. Thus, the social media marketing activities is a prominent, influential factor in consolidating the customer intention. The presence of business in various social media platforms increases the chances of reaching new customers and creates more interaction with the existing customers, which affects customer awareness of the product and his or her satisfaction. In addition, companies can gain cooperation and support by identifying opinion leaders on social media. Due to the large number of followers of these people, this leads to the identification of the brand on social media and its recommendation to others. Therefore, the power of word of mouth in cyberspace should not be underestimated. It can be argued that creating a value for customers is an important factor because creating more customer satisfaction and value leads businesses to greater loyalty, stronger competitiveness and thus greater market share. In fact, the perceived value of the customer specifically influences behavioral tendencies and commitment. It is clear that the evaluation of the perceived value in the customer's mind takes place before shopping. Therefore, it can be a factor influencing the consumer's intention to buy.

Online marketing activities generate information among users, and, by changing the content produced, enable managers to make predictions about the future of their business and to consider their customers' buying behavior more accurately. This makes it possible to attract new customers, create awareness, increase sales and build customer loyalty, and use it quickly and save time. Social media marketing is an internet marketing strategy that makes a business in the organization through internet sites, videos and interaction with the target community. Joining social media and connecting with people meets the need to belong, which explains the desire for social interaction, one of the motivations of consumers to participate in content production activities in online environments. Finally, social media has a tremendous impact on our world, and such effects are not limited to the individual level; they can also be seen at organizational and social levels. In fact, nowadays, the private lives of many people are linked to social media.