Browsing by Author "Jafari-Sadeghi, Vahid"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Context-specific micro-foundations and successful SME internationalisation in emerging markets: A mixed-method analysis of managerial resources and dynamic capabilities
    (Elsevier, 2021-06-03) Jafari-Sadeghi, Vahid; Amoozad Mahdiraji, Hannan; Bresciani, Stefano; Claudia Palicelli, Anna
    Building on the resource-based view, this study aims to address the scant research on the context-specific micro-foundations that impact on internationalisation of SMEs in emerging markets. Therefore, the paper explores managerial resources and dynamic capabilities in three categories of international networking, vision, and experience and competence. In this regard, we employ a mixed-method analysis and focus on Iran as representative of a low supportive institutional context for SME internationalisation belongs to emerging markets. Hence, in qualitative analysis, we utilise multiple case study and conduct ten interviews, which led to the identification of fourteen important managerial resources and capabilities. This is followed by expert-based decision-making approaches, taking advantage of interpretive structural modelling (ISM) and Matrix-based Multiplication Applied to a Classification (MICMAC), which contributed to investigation the relative function of identified factors as well as proposing a conceptual framework for the inter- and cross-relationships among explored drivers in three targeted categories and provides theoretical and practical suggestions.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Identification, analysis and improvement of red meat supply chain strategies considering the impact of COVID-19 pandemic: a hybrid SWOT-QSPM approach in an emerging economy
    (Emerald, 2021-05-25) Riahi Dorcheh, Farshid; Razavi Hajiagha, Seyed Hossein; Rahbari, Misagh; Jafari-Sadeghi, Vahid; Amoozad Mahdiraji, Hannan
    Abstract Purpose – In recent years, and especially during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the significant role of agriculture, specifically red meat, in household consumption has been increased. On the other hand, the lack of proper policymaking in the production and pricing of red meat and the lack of a comprehensive study on the beef supply chain has led to a reduction in the role of this protein product in the household food basket. Thus, in this research, comprehensive strategic planning considering the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has been illustrated to overcome the aforementioned problems. Design/methodology/approach – To study the intended objectives, first, using qualitative methods, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) to the studied company’s supply chain in Iran were identified and then using the SWOT-Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) technique, the surrounding strategies have been analysed. Findings –The results indicate that the most important strength of the studied company is the “access to the red meat market of the retirement plan”; the most important weakness is the “lack of required and on-time funding, especially in the condition of the COVID-19 pandemic”; the highest-ranked opportunity is the “access to banking facilities” and the main threat to the company is the “COVID-19 pandemic limitations and health protocols”. In the same vein, by examining the attractiveness score of internal and external factors, it was observed that diversity and competitive strategies would have a higher priority. Finally, the QSPM illustrated that activating the full capacity of existing infrastructure has the highest priority. Originality/value – According to the red meat supply chain and the link amongst different market levels, identifying, analysing and improving the beef supply chain is of particular importance. One of the threats facing the international community is the emergence of events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which requires businesses to choose the right strategy to deal with the issue. Therefore, the main distinction of this study is to identify, analyse and improve the red meat supply chain of a real case due to the condition of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    International entrepreneurial startups' location under uncertainty through a heterogeneous multi-layer decision-making approach: evidence and application of an emerging economy
    (Emerald, 2021-11-01) Razavi Hajiagha, Seyed Hossein; Ahmadzadeh Kandi, `niloofar; Amoozad Mahdiraji, Hannan; Jafari-Sadeghi, Vahid; Hashemi, Shide Sadat
    Purpose – Science and technology parks (STPs) have a limited capacity, which can create challenging conditions for applicants. This makes the location selection a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem to find and apply for the most appropriate STP with the highest accordance with the startup’s requirements. This research aims to select the most appropriate STP to locate an international entrepreneurial pharmaceutical startup under uncertainty. Since drugs are generally produced domestically in developing countries such as Iran, the access of pharmaceutical startups to the resources provided by STPs can lead to overcoming competitors and improving the country’s health system. Design/methodology/approach – In this research, the factors or attributes effective on startup location were extracted through a two-round Delphi method, which was performed among 15 experts within three groups. Subsequently, the determining factors were used to select the location of a pharmaceutical startup among possible STPs. In this regard, decision-makers were allowed to use different types of numbers to transfer their opinion. Afterward, the heterogeneous weighted aggregated sum product assessment (HWASPAS) method was applied to calculate the score of each alternative and rank them to place the studied startup successfully. Findings – The results indicated that Tehran STP stands in the first place; however, if the decision was made based on single criterion like cost, some other STPs could be preferable, and many managers would lose this choice. Furthermore, the results of the proposed method were close to other popular heterogeneous MCDM approaches. Originality/value – A heterogeneous WASPAS is developed in this article for the first time to enable international entrepreneurs to imply their opinion with various values and linguistic variables to reduce the emphasis on accurate data in an uncertain environment.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Key indicators of ethical challenges in digital healthcare: A combined Delphi exploration and confirmative factor analysis approach with evidence from Khorasan province in Iran
    (Elsevier, 2021-03-10) Rezaei, M.,; Jafari-Sadeghi, Vahid; Cao, Dongmei; Amoozad Mahdiraji, Hannan
    Despite the undoubted benefits of digital healthcare, ethical challenges have become one of the biggest concerns amongst academic scholars and digital healthcare experts. Despite the extant literature on some of these challenges, knowledge gaps still exist in revealing which indicators are more important than others. This research, joining in the ongoing investigation, aims to explore and empirically validate the key indicators of ethical challenges in digital healthcare. We conduct two studies using a combined exploratory and confirmatory approach. We apply the Delphi method for exploring and forecasting the key indicators in the first study. The key indicators are validated in the second study employing confirmatory factor analysis of survey data. The Delphi experts are 26 medical professionals and academic professors in Iran. A sample of 210 survey observations was collected from general hospital staff in Iran. Our results suggest that there are six key indicators of ethical challenges in digital healthcare: procedure values, responsibility, privacy, autonomy, security, justice. This research contributes to the knowledge of ethical concerns in applying digital technologies in healthcare, particularly identifying and validating the key indicators of the ethical challenges. The results provide practical implications for decision-makers in the current and future digital healthcare sector.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    A novel time, cost, quality and risk tradeoff model with a knowledge-based hesitant fuzzy information: An R&D project application
    (Elsevier, 2021-08-01) Amoozad Mahdiraji, Hannan; Sedigh, Maryam; Razavi Hajiagha, Seyed Hossein; Garza-Reyes, Jose Arturo; Jafari-Sadeghi, Vahid; Dana, Leo-Paul
    This paper proposes a novel approach for identifying the best implementation situation for each activity in a project by optimizing and balancing time, cost, quality, and risk criteria under uncertain circumstances. A hesitant fuzzy linguistic term set (HFLTS) approach is proposed to determine the status of project activities in the presence of quality and risk criteria alongside time and cost. Afterwards, a multi-objective linear programming (MOLP) model is formulated for time, cost, quality, and risk trade-off (TCQRT). To validate the model, a research and development project in the food industry is investigated. The results indicate that the project's time compared to the deterministic approach was reduced by 20%. Completing the R&D project earlier than other competitors brings a higher profit for the company than trade-off expenses, even without considering the quality and risk trade-off benefits of the proposed approach. Considering uncertainty in the risk and quality of activities in a project via HFLTSs and optimizing all four elements of time, cost, quality, and risk simultaneously are the main values of this research. The proposed approach can be employed by managers to adopt and optimize project planning and scheduling while optimizing the trade-offs among TCQR factors in uncertain circumstances.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Somebody is hiding something: Disentangling interpersonal level drivers and consequences of knowledge hiding in international entrepreneurial firms
    (Elsevier, 2021-10-11) Jafari-Sadeghi, Vahid; Amoozad Mahdiraji, Hannan; Devalle, Alain; Claudia Palicelli, Anna
    This research is set to address the scant research on the relationship between the key drivers and consequences of knowledge hiding within international entrepreneurial organisations at the interpersonal level. It further aims to compare knowledge hiding behaviour among international entrepreneurs in two diverse contexts of emerging countries versus advanced economies. Therefore, this research employs a total number of ten international entrepreneurs in Iran and Italy and takes advantage of the Multi-Criterion Decision-Making (MCDM) approach. In this regard, DEcision-MAking Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method is applied to disentangle the cause-effect relationship between knowledge hiding components and present conceptual frameworks for the interrelationship of knowledge hiding factors in each context. Furthermore, in order to assess the importance and ranking of factors in Italy and Iran Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) is performed. As such, this research provides different contributions to the knowledge hiding literature as well as key implications for practitioners.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Towards agility in international high-tech SMEs: Exploring key drivers and main outcomes of dynamic capabilities
    (Elsevier, 2021-10-13) Jafari-Sadeghi, Vahid; Amoozad Mahdiraji, Hannan; Busso, Donattela; Yahiaoui, Dorra
    In the era of digitalisation, agility is considered a crucial factor for the successful operations of small and medium businesses in the intricate international markets. That is, this research aims to explore and evaluate the drivers that foster agility in international high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In this regard, building on dynamic capabilities, a total of nine capabilities have been identified that assist high-tech SMEs to become agile in their cross-border activities. Taking advantage of an expert-based method, we relied on Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) approach to synthesise the opinion of six Italian international entrepreneurs (experts). In doing so, Grey DEcision-MAking Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (G-DEMATEL) method has been employed to investigate the cause-effect relationship between capabilities and propose conceptual frameworks for agility in international high-tech SMEs. This is followed by the DEMATEL based Analytical Network Process (DANP) to assess the importance and ranking of explored factors. Consequently, the research proposes several theoretical and practical contributions.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    What drives inter-organisational knowledge management? The cause and effect analysis using a multi-layer multi-criteria decision-making framework
    (Emerald, 2021-11-24) Amoozad Mahdiraji, Hannan; Beheshti, Moein; Jafari-Sadeghi, Vahid; Garcia-Perez, Alexeis
    Purpose Knowledge management seeks collaborative practices among organisations to generate technical, adapt and share knowledge to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage in cross-border business activities. This paper aims to disentangle the crucial determinants of knowledge management in inter-organisational arrangements settings. Design/methodology/approach In the first stage, after an in-depth literature review, the main knowledge management drivers are identified. In the second stage, based on the identified drivers, the importance and relationship between the drivers are evaluated by expert opinions from academic and executive activists. Eventually, in the last stage, a multi-layer decision-making approach has been proposed and used to determine the relationship and the importance of the drivers. Findings The findings of this paper assess the ranking of the different elements from experts’ opinions and discuss important theoretical and managerial implications. The influential factors were identified through an extensive literature review, which combined with the views of experts from academia and industry (international firms). Furthermore, the ranking of factors based on the experts’ overall opinion was used to discuss theoretical and managerial contributions. Originality/value This research provides a better understanding of the interrelationships between the key drivers of knowledge management, which helps management draw more effective strategies to address the cultural differences between firms. Moreover, understanding of the importance of the systems and structures that define the nature of the collaboration in inter-organisational settings, as well as the risks related to those are presented in this research.