درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Purpose: Flexible working hours can impact employee productivity. Therefore, the current research aimed to present a model for flexible working hours in public organizations, emphasizing increasing the productivity level of knowledge workers. Methodology: The present study was applied in objective and mixed-method (qualitative and quantitative) in execution. The qualitative study population included all academic and organizational experts familiar with the research domain, with a sample size of 25 determined based on theoretical saturation principle and selected through purposive sampling. The quantitative study population comprised all staff members of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, with a sample size of 205 determined by Cochran's formula and selected through simple random sampling. Data for qualitative and quantitative sections were collected respectively using interviews and researcher-made questionnaires and analyzed with thematic analysis and exploratory factor analysis methods in Maxqda and Smart-PLS software, respectively. Findings: Qualitative findings revealed that flexible working hours encompassed 15 sub-themes in 3 main themes: floating work hours, floating work location, and collaborative work; and employee productivity comprised 20 sub-themes in 3 main themes: self-management, self-control, and self-organization. Quantitative findings indicated that all themes of flexible working hours and employee productivity had a factor loading and extracted variance mean higher than 0.50 and Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability higher than 0.80. Other findings showed that the themes of floating work hours, floating work location, and collaborative work had a direct and significant effect on flexible working hours, and the themes of self-management, self-control, and self-organization had a direct and significant effect on employee productivity, and flexible working hours had a direct and significant effect on employee productivity (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that flexible working hours play an effective role in enhancing the level of employee productivity. Therefore, to improve employee productivity, the themes of floating work hours, floating work location, and collaborative work can be utilized.

Purpose: One of the critical issues in addressing migrant students is the improvement of cultural adaptation. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze the drivers for enhancing cultural adaptation in addressing migrant students through education. Methodology: This study was applied in terms of its objective and utilized a mixed-methods approach (qualitative and quantitative) in terms of execution. The study population in both sections consisted of managers and teachers familiar with the research field, from which 18 individuals were selected as samples based on the principle of theoretical saturation using purposive sampling. The research instruments included literature review, semi-structured interviews, and a researcher-made questionnaire. Initially, experts were interviewed, and then 15 of those who expressed willingness evaluated the importance of the extracted drivers. In this study, the coding method was used to identify the drivers for improving cultural adaptation in addressing migrant students through education, the importance and uncertainty method to identify key drivers, and the structural analysis method using MICMAC software to understand the influence of the drivers. Findings: The findings indicated that the most important drivers for enhancing cultural adaptation in addressing migrant students through education were, in order, training managers on how to interact with migrant students, short-term training for teachers, training all students on how to interact with migrant students, training parents on how to teach communication principles with different cultures, training teachers by school managers, short-term training for school managers, training managers on how to deal with errant teachers, training migrant students on how to handle other students' behaviors, in-service training for teachers, training teachers through brochures, and training migrant parents to enhance their children's communication skills. Additionally, the drivers' impact levels were ranked, with the training of parents on communication principles with different cultures, training managers on interacting with migrant students, training managers on dealing with errant teachers, training migrant parents to enhance their children's communication skills, training all students on interacting with migrant students, short-term training for teachers, in-service training for teachers, training teachers by school managers, short-term training for school managers, training teachers through brochures, and training migrant students on handling other students' behaviors being the most influential. Conclusion: Cultural specialists and planners in the country can utilize the identified drivers from the present study, considering their importance and impact, to improve cultural adaptation in addressing migrant students through education.

Purpose: The efficacy of postmethod pedagogy (PMP) in Iran remains undetermined despite the growing attention being paid to it. A multitude of factors may contribute to differing levels of motivation among teachers in effectively implementing postmethod principles. The Achievement Goal Theory (AGT), rooted in a socio-cognitive perspective, provides a framework for understanding the types of goals individuals tend to pursue in achievement situations. Hence, this study aims to investigate the goal orientations of experienced English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers who are practicing postmethod tenets. Methodology: The current study employed an applied qualitative approach to explore the goal orientations of 18 experienced EFL teachers from various language institutes in Kermanshah, Iran. Participants were selected in two phases: first, a postmethod questionnaire was administered to identify respondents familiar with Postmethod Pedagogy (PMP) principles. Next, a semi-structured interview was conducted to elicit their goal orientations while adopting PMP conditions. Field notes were also used to document the researcher’s reflections and opinions, facilitating data analysis. The researchers utilized a three-stage approach for data analysis, following the inductive data coding method of open, axial, and selective coding. Findings: After analyzing the interview transcripts, it became apparent that the implementation of postmethod pedagogy tenets in teachers' teaching practice was influenced by their achievement goal orientations. This included learning, relational, and performance-approach goal orientations. The findings revealed that expert teachers predominantly exhibited learning goal orientations. In contrast, performance-approach goal orientations were the least prevalent among these educators. Conclusion: Examining teachers’ goal orientations through the socio-cognitive lens of postmethod language teaching can benefit the growth and development of teacher training programs, curriculum planning, and policymakers.

Purpose: The education system plays a crucial role in the growth and progress of any society and, as one of the main institutions developing intellectual capital and specialized human resources, it holds a sensitive responsibility in achieving sustainable development. Therefore, it should focus on improving the quality of its service delivery to meet people's expectations and increase their satisfaction. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to design a superior service delivery model in the field of education to enhance public satisfaction. Methodology: This research is applied in purpose, exploratory in nature due to its qualitative research approach, and descriptive-survey in terms of data collection and implementation. In the first phase, the population consisted of scientific documents and records, from which 38 studies were selected as the research sample based on inclusion criteria and purposive sampling method. In the second phase, academic and organizational experts were chosen based on the principle of theoretical saturation and purposive sampling technique, totaling 16 individuals. The data collection tool in the first phase was a systematic review of scientific documents and records through meta-synthesis, and in the second phase, semi-structured interviews with experts through thematic analysis. Validity through the CASP tool and reliability through Cohen's kappa coefficient were obtained at 0.56. The validity and reliability of the interview tool were also examined based on criteria of accuracy, credibility, dependability, transferability, and confirmability, which were ultimately confirmed. Finally, the data were analyzed using thematic analysis in MAXQDA software. Findings: The findings of this research identified 69 indicators, 13 components, and 3 dimensions for superior service delivery in the field of education to enhance public satisfaction. The dimensions of superior service delivery included: quality of educational services (with 9 components: tangibles, accountability, assurance, empathy, courtesy, dynamism, diversity, citizen-centricity, and monitoring and control), productivity of educational services (with 2 components: service efficiency and effectiveness), and intelligence of educational services (with 2 components: digitalization and the use of modern technologies). Ultimately, considering these dimensions, components, and identified indicators, the final model of the study was presented, which was found to be of suitable validity. Conclusion: Considering the results obtained from the current study, it is possible to create conditions for the realization of superior service delivery in the field of education to enhance the level of public satisfaction.

In the post-2020 security environment of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, marked by the easing of Iranian-Saudi tensions, intra-Sunni reconciliation, the resolution of the Qatar blockade, and the signing of the Abraham Accords, the European Union (EU) sought to capitalize on the détente to advance its strategic interests. Compared to the other members of the so-called Western camp, the EU, which appears particularly vulnerable to its neighbouring region's instability, responded poorly to the emerging challenges and opportunities. Which factors explain the inefficiency of the EU to benefit from a permissive strategic environment and become more impactful in its broader neighbourhood? This article attempts to promote our understanding of EU’s foreign policy towards the MENA region through a Neoclassical Realist theoretical approach. Structural changes alone cannot explain the EU's failure to have a more prominent role in the region. Intervening variables, such as the role of institutions, state-society relations, and strategic culture, can shed light on the lack of policy cohesiveness and the overall inability of the EU to promote its influence abroad.