مطالب

Nowadays, the great benefits of cloud computing have dramatically increased the number of e-banking users. Hence, the competition in the banking industry has boosted and managers need to evaluate their branches on a regular basis. To this end, this study aims to evaluate cloud-based banking systems based on the Quality of Service (QoS) attributes using the Dynamic Network Data Envelopment Analysis (DNDEA) model. The main advantage of this research is that the efficiency of cloud-based bank branches can be estimated more realistically according to their internal structure over a specific time span. To conduct the experiment, 40 bank branches in Iran are analyzed by considering between-period and divisional interactions during 2018-2019. A cloud-based bank branch is conceptualized as a set of three inter-connected divisions including capabilities, intermediate process, and profitabilities. Some outputs of sub-DMUs 2 and 3 are treated as desirable and undesirable carry-overs between consecutive periods. In addition, the cost items and QoS attributes are considered as the inputs and outputs of divisions, respectively. The results indicate that 28 bank branches were efficient and all of the inefficiencies fall in divisions 1 and 3. Moreover, the number of efficient branches has been reduced from 2018 to 2019.

Based on IFRS laws, British companies have started providing their reporting systems according to International Standards Requirements regarding disclosing their financial derivatives since January 2005. In 2013, Iran revised its Accounting Standard No. 15 to include the derivative instruments. The present study aims at investigating the effect of this revision on financial derivatives and instruments, and the effect of earning management on the relationship between the level of financial derivatives and instruments and risk-adjusted discount rates. From generalized least squares regression panel data, it was found that based on the first hypothesis, the companies which disclose their financial instruments based on No. 15 internal standard have a lower risk- adjusted discount rate, implying an increase in profit and a price rise in the markets. The findings also confirmed the second hypothesis, attesting to the effect of earning management on the relation-ship between financial derivatives and instruments disclosure and excess return. Findings of the research third hypothesis represent that there is a direct meaningful relationship between disclosure level of financial instruments and company value. So, it can be concluded that instruments` disclosures and financial derivatives can decrease risk-adjusted discount rate and increase companies` values in terms of standard number 15.

Placing non-native speakers of English into appropriate classes involves mapping placement test scores onto proficiency levels based on predetermined cut scores. However, studies on how to set boundaries for different levels of proficiency have been lacking in the language testing literature. A top-down approach to standard setting in which a panel of experts set cut scores has dominated the typical standard setting procedure. A less utilized approach is to proceed bottom-up by clustering learners based on test scores. The purpose of this study was to fill this gap by examining Education Testing Services (ETS)’s mapping of TOEFL® iBT Test scores to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) levels. The study examined TOEFL® iBT score data from ICNALE (International Corpus Network of Asian Learners of English) and conducted optimal Kernel Density Estimation to find peaks in the distribution of test scores. In addition to the number of peaks, the local minima of the resulting distribution were chosen as boundaries of cut scores for delineating different ability groups. This method of separating scores, also known as contrasting groups, finds clusters of test takers based on maximum differences in scores. The results showed that ETS’ guide for cut scores linking to CEFR levels was comparable to Kernel Density Estimation with some exceptions, namely two out of three cut scores were found to be similar. Implications are discussed in terms of test-centered versus examinee-centered method of standard setting and the need to consider the demographics of the examinee population in determining cut scores.

Purpose : The aim of this study was to design and validate the model of effective skills training in scientific-applied centers. Methodology : The method of the present study was applied based on the purpose and mixed type based on the nature of the data. The statistical population in the qualitative part of the research included all experts in the field of effective skills training, and 30 experts were selected using targeted snowball sampling method. The second group of the statistical population of this study in the quantitative part included all the official teachers of applied science centers in Mazandaran province in the number of 3,000 people who were selected by random sampling and snowball method of 608 people as the sample size. In the qualitative part of the present study, semi-in-depth interviews were used and in the quantitative part, a researcher-made questionnaire was used. The validity and reliability of both instruments were evaluated and confirmed. The method of data analysis in the qualitative part of the theoretical coding was taken from the method of data theory of the foundation and in the quantitative part, confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the model and determine the relationship between the identified factors. Findings : The results showed that in a total of 6 dimensions of career goals, instructor, environment, student, content and management, 28 components and 252 indicators of the dimensions of the skill training model are effective. Conclusion : Based on the obtained coefficients, it can be said that all indicators have an important and significant role in measuring the dimensions and components of the model of effective skills training system for scientific-applied centers of Mazandaran province