۱.
Most of the time, Groups/Communities are involved in negotiations and disputations due to their various interests. They are always trying to pursuit their aspiration to embrace changes and influence on events. Although sometimes these groups are not completely opposed to each other and their intention is just to get the desired results, almost always their conditions are in contrast with each other. These conflicts prevent negotiators from approaching desired acceptable solutions. For improving the negotiations, resolving the conflicts and reaching satisfactory decisions, Drama theory is applied. This theory is based on game theory. In this paper, Iran Nuclear talks with 5+1 Group will be discussed as an applicable case for drama theory.
۲.
Mathematical models have the potential to provide a cost-effective, objective, and flexible approach to assessing management decisions, particularly when these decisions are strategic alternatives. In some instances, mathematical model is the only means available for evaluating and testing alternatives. However, in order for this potential to be realized, models must be valid for the application and must provide results that are credible and reliable. The process of ensuring validity, credibility, and reliability typically consists of three elements: verification, validation, and calibration. Model verification, validation and calibration are essential tasks for the development of the models that can be used to make predictions with quantified confidence. Quantifying the confidence and predictive accuracy of model provides the decision-maker with the information necessary for making high-consequence decisions. There appears to be little uniformity in the definition of each of these three process elements. There also appears to be a lack of consensus among model developers and model users, regarding the actions required to carry out each process element and the division of responsibilities between the two groups. This paper attempts to provide mathematical model developers and users with a framework for verification, validation and calibration of these models. Furthermore, each process element is clearly defined as is the role of model developers and model users. In view of the increasingly important role that models play in the evaluation of alternatives, and in view of the significant levels of effort required to conduct these evaluations, it is important that a systematic procedure for the verification, validation and calibration of mathematical models be clearly defined and understood by both model developers and model users.
۳.
Information Systems (IS) and the process of distinguishing Information Systems ontology have been the center of challenge during the 50 years of IS development. The importance of this challenge is emergent in direct link between knowledge development process in IS and the IS ontology. In other words, theorizing and efforts to falsify theories, which have been developed, is influenced by the way IS ontology is approached. Critical realism enjoying the unique approach to the IS ontology based on transcendental realism and critical naturalism can be a useful basis to establish the transdisciplinary view in the process of IS knowledge development. This point of view is important regarding the role of human agent in different layers of the IS ontology as a result of its transcendental ontology. Critical realism develops human role during next stages of knowledge and the methodology development based on the transdisciplinary view to IS. The explanation of a transdisciplinary view to the IS ontology regarding the unique role of human agent in the process of theorizing and knowledge development in Information Systems is presented in this article.
۴.
The term paradigm has become a central issue in philosophy of science. Increasing attention to paradigm in public administration, as a branch of social science, is also highlighted. This paper attempts to analysis seven paradigms in public administration research and to study ontological, epistemological, methodological, rhetorical and axiological assumptions of the each paradigm. Finally, we briefly offer some potential areas of public administration that can be informed by seven research paradigm.
۵.
Auditors play a critical role in any company. The managers of such departments should manage subordinates so well in order to obtain good results. For this condition to happen, at first the managers’ motivations should be recognized and be satisfied, otherwise neither managers, nor subordinates practice auditing in prefect condition. The results of this study show some high rating areas of internal audit department managers’ motivation that have a strong effect on the clients. Furthermore, the results of this study reveal some motivational weakness in internal audit departments in Iran. The authors believe that from any aspect, internal audit departments should satisfy different motivation
۶.
The hub location decision is a long term investment and any changes in it take considerable time and money. In real situations, some parameters are uncertain hence, deterministic models cannot be more efficient. The ability of two-stage stochastic programming is to make a long-term decision by considering effects of it in short term decisions simultaneously. In the two-stage stochastic programming for hub location problems, the location is decided in the first stage and optimal flow allocations are determined in the second stage. In this paper, the two-stage stochastic programming is described and then a practical stochastic model is employed for determining hub locations in the Iranian aviation. Also, a survey of the model under fuel subsidy omission is conducted using extended two-stage stochastic programming. Demand and the cost of resources (fuel) are considered uncertain in this study. The results show Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Shiraz and Yazd can be hubs in the air network of Iran.
۷.
This paper examines the historical development of Operations Research (OR) and represents different OR methods (methodologies) developed during its lifetime. Then, considering Thomas Kuhn’s paradigm model of scientific development as a basis for our work, the former and current status of OR are analyzed and the future trend is discussed.
۸.
This research develops a two-level model based on hypotheses, which concern relationships among role ambiguity, role conflict, job involvement and salesperson performance at individual level and collective sale self efficacy, customer orientation and competitive climate at sale unit level in Iranian food industry. Data was drawn from 482 sales people in 30 companies , using a 51-item self-reported questionnaire. Research model was tested in disaggregation, aggregation and multilevel approaches. The results from three approaches were different. Multilevel modeling analysis revealed that role ambiguity and role conflict have negative effects, but collective sale self efficacy and job involvement have positive effects on sales person performance. Results also showed that collective sale self efficacy has positive moderation effect on the relationship between job involvement and sales person performance. Collective sale self efficacy indicated positive moderation effect on the relationship between job involvement and sales person performance and negative moderation effect on the relationship between role conflict and sales person performance.
