نشریه مدیریت و پژوهش های دفاعی
پیاپی 101 (پاییز 1402)

Border crises and wars, such as the crisis of the potential resumption of war following the passing away of Imam Khomeini and the enemies' hope for the end of the Iranian Revolution, the First and Second Gulf Wars, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban's control over the country, and the military movements and conflicts between Azerbaijan and Armenia along the Iranian border, could have caused irreparable damage to the country if it were not for Commander-in-Chief's prudent leadership and his emphasis on strengthening defense preparedness. In some instances, declaring neutrality and refraining from military intervention prevented possible harm from external powers. This article seeks to answer the question: How has the Supreme Leader successfully managed the prevention of the occurrence of border crises and wars during his tenure (1401-1368)? The research method is descriptive and content analysis conducted in a qualitative manner. In the course of the article, after reviewing the concepts and characteristics of crises and crisis management, the studied crises were revisited. Subsequently, content analysis was performed on nine speeches, positions, and statements made by the Supreme Leader as the Commander-in-Chief during the crisis period. The findings indicate that among the 78 extracted concepts and themes, 38 fundamental themes, 34 organizing themes, and 6 comprehensive themes were identified. Based on data interpretation, it can be stated that the Commander-in-Chief, relying on some managerial components of hos own such as Enemyology (understanding of the strategies to deal successfully with the enemy), vigilance and awareness, anti-arrogance stance, spirituality, and executive and military structures, was able to prevent border crises and wars during their leadership period. This preventive approach aimed to protect the country and its people from potential harm.

Border and foreign crises such as the crisis of the risk of re-starting the war after the departure of Imam Khomeini and the hope of the enemies for the end of the revolution, the first and second Persian Gulf wars, the withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan, and the rule of the Taliban in the country of Afghanistan, and the military movements of Azerbaijan in the border strip of Iran, if it was not prevented by the tact of the leadership and commander-in-chief to strengthening defense preparations and declaring neutrality and non-military intervention in some cases, irreparable damage could be inflicted on the country by arrogance. This article seeks to answer that: How did the Supreme Leader prevent border crises and war during his leadership period (1989-2022)? The research method is a descriptive and thematic analysis and qualitative research. In the process of the article, after examining the concepts and characteristics of crisis and crisis management, the studied crises were reread, then the content analysis of nine speeches, positions, and statements of the Supreme Leader and Commander-in-Chief in this regard was discussed. The findings indicate that, among the 78 extracted concepts and themes, 38 basic themes, 34 organizing themes, and 6 overarching themes were identified, and based on the data analysis, it can be said that the Commander-in-Chief, relying on his management components such as: enemy recognition, awareness raising, people-centricity, anti-arrogance, spiritualism executive and military elements, were able to prevent border crises and war during his leadership period.

One of the most significant issues raised in wars, which plays a crucial role in strategy and achieving victory, is the understanding of the principles of war. The principles of war consist of a set of general rules that govern the conduct of battle. Due to differences in assigned missions, the nature of what specialized forces do, the specific equipment pattern that is related to the nature of its activities and how it executes its missions , etc., the implementation of these principles may vary between forces. Effective and efficient air defense, along with leading of forces, requires actions, responses, and general principles to counter threats, which can be achieved by observing and abiding by the principles of war. For this reason, explaining the principles of war in air defense, which is based on establishing a precise, purposeful, and intelligent strategy for air defense operations and the proper deployment of operational and combat systems and personnel, is essential and should be well addressed. The aim of the current research is to “explain the principles of war in air defense operations”. This research has been applied in terms of its objectives, employing a descriptive and qualitative methodology. The approach utilized tools such as interviews and first-hand documents and records that were available. Sampling has been purposeful using the theoretical saturation method, and content analysis has been employed to obtain the research results. The findings of this research indicate that adherence to the principles of war ensures victory on the battlefield, and the principles of war applied in air defense operations are somewhat in line with generally accepted principles of war.

The soft technologies encompass capacities such as leveraging verses and narratives, culture, values, rituals, and more to influence the components like the spirit, psyche, mind, and others within individuals. The ritual of the Arbaeen March is considered a soft technology, as highlighted in the statements made by the Supreme Leader as a destiny-shaping technology within this domain. This research focuses on identifying and prioritizing acquirable soft technologies derived from the Arbaeen pilgrimage ritual for defense organizations, with a specific emphasis on the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army. Soft technologies, classified based on their applications and drawn from historical contexts, have been subjected to exploration to elucidate the potential acquirable capabilities of soft technology derived from the Arbaeen March. The objective is to enhance the defense capabilities of  the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army. By conducting a survey among experts in this field, acquirable soft technologies and prioritization criteria for these technologies have been encoded. A questionnaire, structured based on multi-criteria decision-making techniques (pairwise comparisons in the analytic network process and TOPSIS), was designed and presented to these experts. Taking into consideration the data obtained from the completed questionnaires by experts and stakeholders involved in the Arbaeen pilgrimage, the priority and importance of each dimension of soft technologies that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army should address have been determined. The results indicate that the primary acquirable benefits of strategic agility (آجا) from the Arbaeen pilgrimage ritual are expressed through: 1) Technologies of religion and life, 2) Cultural and social technologies, and 3) Military and Security Technologies. Intriguing analyses and noteworthy results have been derived in this regard, offering valuable insights that can serve as a guiding framework for defense organizations.

In recent years, various attacks and intrusions against critical infrastructure have taken place, that have been somehow related to the cyber domain. Despite conducting periodic cyber exercises in these infrastructures, unfortunately, vulnerabilities and diverse threats still persist. Research focusing on examining the influential factors for enhancing cyber exercises has not yet materialized. For this reason, the examination of foundational factors has been positioned as one of the most critical sets of elements that have had an effect on the improving of cyber exercises. The central question of this research is, “To what extent do foundational factors contribute to the improvement of cyber exercises? ” This article employed a data collection method using both library and field research, focusing on published experiences from the United States Department of Homeland Security and the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity. The outcome of this research led to the identification of 24 influential factors. Subsequently, a questionnaire was prepared, and its validity and reliability were confirmed, with 2 statements removed and a Cronbach's alpha value of 0.61 accepted with caution. The questionnaire was distributed among a statistical sample of 29 individuals. According to the results and findings, in response to the main question of the research and based on the Friedman test, the influential factors for enhancing cyber exercises were ranked as follows: The factor of “effective leadership and command by creating a supportive environment and mutual trust” with an average of 13.50 in the first rank. The factor of “Communication with technology companies and equipment manufacturers by attackers” with an average of 13.26 in the second rank. The factor of “Understanding the interdependence and mutual impact of cyber threats and security” with an average of 13.19 in the third rank.

The goal of the current study is to design a model for evaluating the effectiveness of e-learning based on multiple generations of employees.

This research is considered applied in terms of its objective and falls under the category of mixed research in terms of typology of research with a qualitative and quantitative approach within inductive comparative paradigm. Identification of components through semi-structured interviews based on theoretical saturation was conducted with 14 professors using MAXQDA software. The validity and reliability of the interviews were confirmed, respectively, through the method of relative content validity and Cohen's Kappa index. Also, in the quantitative section, in order to model human capital development, the opinions of 28 human resources managers from the studied organization were initially examined using a non-probability convenience sampling method. Subsequently, the findings were made available to the statistical population.

The coding of interviews led to the identification of 20 key variables, all of which have one or more relationships with other model variables. Furthermore, modeling the identified factors through interpretative structural modeling and Micmac analysis resulted in the formation of eleven levels.

The results of this research indicated that effective training courses through electronic learning can be conducted for various generations of employees. Additionally, these results can be utilized by the managers and senior experts of the studied organization who are seeking more effective ways of electronic learning based on the perspectives of different generations of employees.