حسن عابدی جعفری

Many companies around the world face corruption and suffer from its negative consequences. Considering the destructive effects of corruption upon private sector enterprises, urges the need for developing a model in this area. Regarding the fact that most researches till now have been in the public sector, adds to this urgency. Thus the purpose of this study is to articulate a model for fighting private sector corruption. The research method used is Grounded Theory. Using a theoretical sampling method, twenty one semi-structured interviews with experts from Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture were conducted. The government departments in charge of fighting private sector corruption were added. Open, axial and selective coding were applied. Based on the findings, the main category was divided into two financial groups: 1) direct and 2) indirect. Also twelve concepts were classified as individual, interpersonal of casual factors. Moreover, seventeen concepts in context platform template and eleven interfering factors concepts were identified. Besides, twenty eight concepts were distinguished in the form of individual, interpersonal, organizational, inter-organizational and environmental of consequences factors. Furthermore, twenty-five concepts in the form of preventive, control and fighting corruption strategies were diagnosed.

The current research tries to offer a conceptual model in order to create trust among people for choosing virtual universities. To this end, the conceptual model of research has been designed with nine factors. The relationship among factors tested by using statistical methods such as factor analysis and path analysis. In the end, five components were established from among the affecting factors of student trust towards these virtual universities. They are: academic reputation, administrative efficacy, size, economical factor of studying and the suitable environmental conditions for virtual universities activity. However, it was established that the role of each of these components in creating trust towards virtual universities were different from those predicted by the researchers. Also, it was established that student's willingness toward choosing virtual universities is being influenced by the trust factor.

Conflict of Interest is a familiar phenomenon among Public Administration experts yet research wise, it has not received much attention. While government officials are accused of corruption and having Conflicts of Interest more than any other individual, research shows that only 1% of Conflict-of-Interest studies has been devoted to investigating the subject in the field of Public Administration. A Conflict of Interest occurs when an official is forced to choose between carrying out his/her administrative duties or following his/her personal interests. These interests include an individual’s financial or non-financial interests as well as the financial and non-financial interests of his/her relatives or friends. The research method of this article is based on citation analysis and drawing a citation network. The findings show that Sah, Moore, Loewenstein, and Cain are key experts in the field. The study of Cain et al (2005) is the key one that has the most relevance to other studies in this field and the study of Miller (2001) is also central which has been cited a lot. American Journal of Bioethics, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology are esteemed scientific journals that have been most benefited from publications, communications, and citations, respectively. Ethics is the concept that has been co-occurrence with the conflict of interest. This means that a conflict of interest is inherently a normative and behavioral concept. Finally, it should be noted that given the results of this research, the concept of Conflict of Interest will remain a foundation for corruption in governments and public organizations if Public Administration experts and scholars remain as inattentive to the issue as before. Research into Conflict of Interest has been mainly focused on normative and behavioral approaches which means that there is a need for new researchers taking new approaches to break out of this cycle.