External Factors

Introduction: around the world, the science system of many countries is being transformed and changed in response to increasing social and economic need for knowledge and technology. The theory of the entrepreneurial university is one of the models proposed for reflecting the new and transformed image of the university characterized by a broader interaction between the universities and the community. The universities in developed countries have shifted towards entrepreneurship. In knowledge-based economy, along with educational and research responsibilities, universities also have a third mission, which involves more extensive engagement in the process of innovation and development of technology. Accordingly, new university-based networks are being developed and considering their capabilities as the source for producing and distributing knowledge, universities are becoming more entrepreneurial in order to play their critical role in industrial innovation and technology development, leading to new jobs and increased well-being.

Purpose: This paper follows a two-fold objective: First it examines the relationship between the external factors of compensation, support, empowerment, boundaries and expectations, pre-service and in- service training and Iranian EFL teachers’ performance. Second, it searches for the moderating effect of self-regulation on the relationship between teachers’ external assets and their performance. Methodology: To achieve the above aims, a quantitative approach to research was employed. The samples included two hundred Iranian EFL teachers of universities and English institutes of Kerman, Iran. The data were collected by means of self-administered questionnaires and analyzed by AMOS software. The direct structural model was employed to determine the path relationships between the external factors and teachers’ performance. Findings: The result showed that external assets had a positive and significant effect on the Iranian EFL teachers' performance as dependent variable (β = .372, C. R= 6.211, P <.05). Moreover, self-regulation moderates the path relation between two of the variables: boundaries and expectation and the EFL teachers' performance. The path relation between the other four variables of the external assets including pre-service and in- service training, support, compensation and empowerment for low and high self-regulation was not found to be significant, i.e. self-regulation moderation effect for these relations was not supported. Discussion: Working conditions for teachers should be best promote effective learning and enable teachers to concentrate on their professional tasks.

The purpose of this study was to develop a strategic plan for Pahlevani and Zourkanei federation in Iran. The statistical population of this study included members of the federation's board of directors, chairmen of the federation committees, heads of provincial councils as well as sports and management elites. 50 experts participated in this study through total sampling approach. According to the results of the research, a total of 18 strengths, 30 weaknesses, 12 opportunities, and 17 threats for Pahlevani and Zourkanei federation were identified and based on the internal and external factors, the strategic position of the Pahlevani and Zourkanei Federation in the WT region was determined. A total of 19 strategies, including five SO strategies, five ST strategies, six WO strategies, and three WT strategies for the Pahlevani and Zourkanei federation, were developed. Therefore, according to the results of SWOT analysis matrix, it is necessary to use more than a defensive or stabilization strategy to manage the development of Pahlevani and Zourkanei federation.

This study was performed to identify factors affecting the entrepreneurial university. In order to achieve this goal, a sample of 173 faculty members (academic rank of associate professor or higher) in academic year of 2015-2016 was selected using the using relative stratified sampling and Cochran’s formula. In this study, given the purpose and nature of research, for analysis of the data, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used. The results of in-depth interviews and semi-structured and targeted interview with 14 qualified university professors led to the initial questionnaire developed by the researchers at 5-point Likert scale with 50 items; upon exploratory analysis, 9 items were excluded due to extraction value of commonality smaller than 0.5. Content validity of the questionnaire was approved by accredited academic experts. To assess the construct validity, convergent and divergent validity criteria were used. The results of factor loadings of each item showed that all items had factor loading of over 0.4 and average extracted variance of over 0.5, thus convergent validity of the variables was confirmed. In addition, the values ​​of the square root of the average variance extracted (AVE) was highest, indicating the validity of divergent validity of the variables. Composite reliability and validity of the questionnaire for all variables showed high levels of 0.7. Results showed that the size and components affecting establishment of entrepreneurial university included internal factors (capabilities, management and leadership, structure, prospects, financial resources and research, cultural and education policies) and external factors (interaction with environment and internationalization of the university). Finally, test of the model using t-test showed that the size and the identified factors had a positive and significant impact on the entrepreneurial university.