نشریه پژوهش های نوین در ارزیابی عملکرد
سال سوم شماره 4 (زمستان 1403)

This study aims to identify and rank effective digital solutions in managing supply chain disruptions in the Iranian steel industry. The importance of the subject lies in the ability of these technologies to reduce the effects of disruptions and increase the resilience of the supply chain.

This study used multi-criteria decision-making methods, including best-worst fuzzy for weighting criteria and TOPSIS for ranking solutions. Data was collected through a questionnaire and the opinions of five steel industry experts, including university professors and R&D managers.

The study shows that digital twin models ranked first, followed by predictive analytics with artificial intelligence and real-time warning systems based on LoT. These solutions were prioritized due to their ability to improve response time, transparency, and flexibility.

Originality/Value: 

This research presents a quantitative and comprehensive approach to identifying and prioritizing digital solutions and proposes an operational framework for steel industry managers to make more accurate strategic decisions in managing disruptions.

Ranking professors as an effective tool for evaluating their performance quality helps educational group managers identify each professor’s strengths and weaknesses and make strategic decisions to improve performance and enhance the quality of education and research. Accordingly, this study aims to evaluate professors’ performance and rank them based on imprecise judgments in a neutrosophic environment.

First, evaluation criteria were identified through collaboration with several department heads and a review of the research literature. Then, for each professor and each criterion, the department head determined the degree of truth, falsity, and indeterminacy using neutrosophic sets. Next, by defining an ideal option and calculating the similarity measure of each alternative to this ideal option, professors were ranked. Subsequently, the criteria were weighted by research experts, and a weighted ranking was performed by recalculating the similarity of alternatives to the ideal option.

The proposed approach was implemented in a case study related to one of the academic departments at a university in Mazandaran province. The findings indicated that using neutrosophic sets for evaluating professors’ performance yields better results compared to classical qualitative approaches. Additionally, weighting the criteria revealed that the results differ between weighted and non-weighted cases.

Originality/Value:

 Since most studies in this field have been conducted using classical qualitative methods, uncertainty and ambiguities in these evaluations have not been considered. This study, for the first time, ranks professors from the perspective of the department head using neutrosophic sets.

Project management maturity is recognized as a key factor in improving the performance of project-oriented organizations. This research aims to identify, categorize, and prioritize the enablers of project management maturity within Arena Company. These enablers have been comprehensively examined based on established standards and organizational needs.

This study utilizes the PMI standard to examine 18 enablers of project management maturity. The Importance-Performance Analysis model is employed to assess and analyze performance gaps. Data were collected through the design and distribution of questionnaires among project managers and experts. Subsequently, the mean scores of importance and performance for each factor were calculated and analyzed using appropriate statistical methods.

The results indicate that the enablers "human resources," "resource allocation," and "financial support" exhibit the largest gaps between importance and performance and are identified as priorities for improvement. Conversely, factors such as "strategic alignment" and "governance," which demonstrate high levels of both performance and importance, are recognized as organizational strengths. Additionally, it was revealed that addressing the identified performance gaps could significantly enhance organizational productivity.

Originality/Value:

 This study provides a practical framework for identifying and prioritizing performance gaps, enabling project-oriented organizations to focus more effectively on key enablers. The findings demonstrate that this approach can substantially improve project management maturity and, ultimately, organizational effectiveness.

Materials Engineering and Metallurgy is the broadest engineering branch in terms of application scope among other engineering sciences. The main difference between it and other engineering branches is its intermediary role between basic sciences and engineering sciences. This field plays an undeniable role in the advancement of modern industries such as nuclear, energy, medical, optics, electronics, computer, military, aerospace industries, and more. Without progress in materials engineering and metallurgy, there is no conceivable potential for the growth of these industries.

This study is applied and developmental. Since the job market in both private and public industries for this field is highly limited, and often there are no opportunities to make full use of the potential of graduates, efforts have been made to discuss the foundational history of this field, its current conditions, and ultimately to clearly state its main horizons.

The findings of this research align with qualitative and field research methods. Given that Iran has rich mineral and non-oil resources compared to countries such as the United States, the importance of producing mineral products and the application of this field from the end of exploration and the beginning of mining to the processing of mineral materials, producing raw materials for factories, research and development, product production, supply, maintenance, and recycling of consumable products can be highlighted. Therefore, the wide application of this field and the significant decrease in the number of students in this field at universities, along with the lack of employment opportunities for its graduates, are among the key issues of this study.

Originality/Value: 

Materials Engineering and Metallurgy, or Materials Science, is a branch of science that works extensively with various engineering materials such as metals, ceramics, electronic materials, and biomaterials. This field examines the relationship between the structure of materials, their manufacturing methods, and their properties and performance. A metallurgist investigates the behavior of materials under different conditions or thermodynamic states. In other words, materials engineering and metallurgy serve as a bridge between basic sciences and engineering. For this reason, most engineering fields (electrical, mechanical, civil, automotive, computer) rely on the results of research activities in materials engineering and metallurgy.

In recent years, with the development of management concepts, including organizational performance evaluation, various methods and indicators have been introduced to measure organizational performance. On the other hand, since 2003, with the National Productivity and Organizational Excellence Award being held in Iran, various economic enterprises have participated in this award and are evaluated based on the EFQM Organizational Excellence Model, one of the newest indicators that measures the productivity and performance of organizations in two financial and non-financial dimensions.

In this study, an attempt has been made to examine the Malmquist index to examine the performance of six organizations and compare it with similar units and the same industry in four consecutive years. The Malmquist index is based on a numerical index. The case of this index was calculated using the data coverage analysis technique and its application to total performance and productivity was calculated.

The results show that out of the six organizations studied, two organizations have productivity growth and the other four units show the trend of this index. The source of the progress trend in total productivity is the efficiency index and the source of the increase in it is the technological change index.

Originality/Value: 

The Malmquist productivity index is one of the newest methods of measuring productivity. In this study, this index has been used to measure productivity.

Organisations are now recognised as essential elements of a nation's social and economic growth. As one of the most significant organisational assets, human resources are crucial to an organization's performance and success in the interim. High-performance work systems will take a strategic approach by impacting the organization's performance and human resources accomplishments, among other macro-level variables. Thus, the effects of high-performance work systems on job satisfaction at Sepeh Bank branches in the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan were examined in the current study.

The present study is descriptive-correlative in nature and applied in terms of goal. because it aims to describe the current state of affairs and look into the relationships between various variables. Morgan's table was used to randomly choose 245 employees from Sepeh Bank branches in the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan for this purpose. The job satisfaction questionnaire and the Shi et al. in 2010 questionnaire was utilised to gather data for this study, and their content validity has been verified. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha, which came out to be 0.84 for the work systems questionnaire and 0.78 for the job satisfaction one. Descriptive and inferential tests were employed in the data analysis process using SPSS software.

The study's findings demonstrated that high-performance work systems and its constituent parts significantly and favourably impact Sepeh Bank employees' job satisfaction in the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan.

Originality/Value: 

Accordingly, the current study examined how Sepeh Bank branches in Sistan and Baluchestan province's job satisfaction was affected by high-performance work systems.