Ensiyeh Jenabi, Niloofar Rabiei, Mahdieh Seyedi, Mohammad Rezaei, Ali Reza Soltanian, Saeid Bashirian and Amir Mohammad Salehi
This study aims to investigate the psychometric properties of the social communication questionnaire (SCQ) in Iran by identifying children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the psychometric properties of the social communication questionnaire (SCQ) in Iran by identifying children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who had Persian-speaking parents.
Design/methodology/approach
A case–control study was performed from June to August 2021 in Hamadan, Iran. The case group consisted of children who were examined by clinicians who used a coding scheme based on the DSM-V criteria for ASD by a psychiatrist. The control group consisted of non-ASD children who were asked to participate in the study. This study conducted the reliability, content and face validity to evaluate the psychometric properties of the tool. In the first step, Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin and Bartlett’s test were used to determine sampling adequacy and appropriateness of correlation matrix. In the second step, the exploratory factor analysis approach was used. The method of extracting the factors is done by using the varimax rotation method and selecting the number of factors using an eigenvalue and scree plot. Statistical analysis was performed using Software Package for Social Sciences 21 with the statistical significance set at level less than 0.05.
Findings
The quantitative content validity analysis revealed that the mean of content validity ratio and content validity index were 0.92 and 0.91, respectively. Mean score ± standard deviation in the two groups of ASD and control were 14.23 ± 3.84 and 7.83 ± 4.80, respectively. With cut-off point >12.5, sensitivity, specificity and misclassification error values were 73.33%, 80.0% and 23%, respectively.
Research limitations/implications
The results showed that the internal consistency of the SCQ is desirable. Also, the internal consistency of its five subscales was obtained between 0.700 and 0.87. The findings showed that SCQ questionnaire is highly reliable in reciprocal social interaction (Factor 1) and the total score, while other factors were relatively reliable.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper on psychometric properties of SCQ in ASD children in Iran.
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Mohammad Rezaei, AliReza Moradi, Mehdi Tehrani-Doost, HamidReza Hassanabadi and Reza Khosrowabadi
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of combined risperidone (RIS) and pivotal response treatment (PRT) in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of combined risperidone (RIS) and pivotal response treatment (PRT) in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Design/methodology/approach
In all, 34 children diagnosed with ASD (mean age of 12.36 years) were randomly divided into two groups: an RIS treatment group (n=18) and an RIS plus PRT (n=16). Communication skills were evaluated with the child communication checklist (CCC).
Findings
Total score of the CCC was increased in both groups after three months compared with the score prior to treatment. The total score of the CCC was significantly higher in the combined treatment group than in the RIS group.
Originality/value
Treatment with RIS combined with PRT may result in a better outcome in communication skill for children with autism than RIS training alone.
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Amin Sarlak, Mehdi Khodakarami, Reza Hesarzadeh, Jamal A. Nazari and Fatemeh Taghimolla
Climate change has led to a rise in the frequency, intensity and scope of droughts, posing significant implications for businesses. This study examines the impact of local…
Abstract
Purpose
Climate change has led to a rise in the frequency, intensity and scope of droughts, posing significant implications for businesses. This study examines the impact of local community drought levels on audit pricing. Additionally, it explores the moderating effects of high-tech industries, auditor busyness and the level of local community concern regarding the drought crisis.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employs a mixed-methods approach to rigorously test the research hypotheses. The quantitative phase of the study utilizes a sample of 1,278 firm-year observations from Iran’s capital market. For the analysis of the quantitative data, ordinary least squares regression with clustered robust standard errors is used. Additionally, this research supplements its quantitative findings with qualitative evidence obtained through semi-structured interviews with 19 Iranian audit partners.
Findings
The results suggest that firms operating in provinces facing severe droughts experience notably higher audit fees. Furthermore, the positive relationship between drought and audit fees is weakened when auditors are busy, local community concern regarding the drought crisis is high or the firm operates within high-tech industries. These findings are supported by a range of robustness checks and qualitative evidence gathered from the field.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the growing literature on climate change by examining the influence of local community drought levels on audit pricing within an Iranian context. Additionally, our study sheds light on how high-tech industries, auditor workload and the level of local community concern regarding the drought crisis moderate the relationship between drought and audit fees. Importantly, our study pioneers in providing mixed-methods evidence of the association between drought severity and audit fees.
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Seyed Abolfazl Aghili, Mostafa Khanzadi, Amin Haji Mohammad Rezaei and Morteza Rahbar
Hospital heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are essential to patient safety and wellness. System malfunctions, however, may result in energy waste and even…
Abstract
Purpose
Hospital heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are essential to patient safety and wellness. System malfunctions, however, may result in energy waste and even pose health dangers. This project aims to provide a fault detection and diagnostics framework designed primarily for HVAC systems in hospitals.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to identify problems in hospital air handling units, the study uses a data-driven methodology that makes use of Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and Gated Recurrent Units (GRU) models. To address the problem of uneven data, the dataset is balanced. Other machine learning classifiers, such as Logistic Regression, Multilayer Perceptron, Support Vector Machine, Random Forest, Gradient Boosting and eXtreme Gradient Boosting, are compared to see how well the LSTM and GRU models perform.
Findings
Regarding defect detection, the LSTM and GRU models outperform traditional classifiers in terms of both accuracy and computation speed, with high accuracy rates surpassing 90%. Due to its simpler design, GRU achieves higher accuracy and performs faster calculations than LSTM. These recurrent models work well to identify temporal relationships in time-series data, which is crucial for detecting HVAC system problems.
Originality/value
This study closes a research gap by concentrating on issue identification in hospital HVAC systems using actual data. It illustrates how deep learning may increase the precision of fault identification and computational efficiency in medical settings by utilizing LSTM and GRU models.
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Mahdi Salehi, Mahbubeh Mahmoudabadi, Mohammad Sadegh Adibian and Hossein Rezaei Ranjbar
The present study aims to assess the effect of managerial entrenchment on firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and financial performance in Iran.
Abstract
Purpose
The present study aims to assess the effect of managerial entrenchment on firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and financial performance in Iran.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the variable of managerial entrenchment, which includes board independence, management duality, management tenure, the board compensation, independence and ownership percentage, is initially analyzed using the exploratory factor analysis method, and its effect on performance and CSR is evaluated using the multivariable regression test. Given that a total of 103 listed companies on the Tehran Stock Exchange are selected during 2012–2017. In this paper, return on assets (ROA) and Tobin’s Q are the two variables to measure financial performance.
Findings
The results of hypotheses testing indicate that there is a positive and significant relationship between managerial entrenchment and financial performance based on the ROA and Tobin’s Q indices, separately. Moreover, the results of this study indicate that there is also a positive and significant relationship between managerial entrenchment and CSR activities.
Originality/value
The current study almost is the first study, conducted in a developing country similar to Iran, and the provided results might be beneficial to other developing countries.
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Mohammad Rezaei-Zadeh and Tamer K Darwish
The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrated framework to indicate which antecedents of absorptive capacity (AC) influence its learning processes, and to propose testing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrated framework to indicate which antecedents of absorptive capacity (AC) influence its learning processes, and to propose testing of this model in future work.
Design/methodology/approach
Relevant literature into the antecedents of AC was critically reviewed and analysed with the objective of categorising and explaining the influence of AC on learning processes, including exploratory, transformative and exploitative learning.
Findings
By considering the level of learning, the proposed model demonstrates that the antecedents of AC vary, comprising exploratory, transformative and exploitative learning processes. Moreover, this study reveals the complex interplay between the antecedents of AC.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed model was developed theoretically, thus pending further empirical validation according to environmental turbulence, knowledge characteristics and modes of governance. This study also urges researchers to explore whether or not the antecedents of AC differ based on organisational outcomes.
Practical implications
The model can be put into a testable template for use by researchers. It further guides managers in developing effective processes for learning to use external knowledge.
Originality/value
It is the first work to schematically bring together and discuss the antecedents of AC and its influence on learning processes, and further provides a framework capable of facilitating the empirical testing of this nexus.
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Reihaneh Alsadat Tabaeeian, Majid Mohammad Shafiee and Azarnoush Ansari
This paper aims to investigate the effect of gamified e-service quality (GE-SQ) on customer value co-creation, relationship quality and purchase intention in e-retailing.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the effect of gamified e-service quality (GE-SQ) on customer value co-creation, relationship quality and purchase intention in e-retailing.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 549 e-retailing customers who participated in a gamified online service process. A structural equation modeling approach was adopted to analyze the model.
Findings
The empirical evidence confirmed that GE-SQ encouraged customer value co-creation behavior and relationship quality. Customer value co-creation and relationship quality led to higher purchase intention. Also, value co-creation and relationship quality partially mediated the relationship between GE-SQ and purchase intention.
Originality/value
The findings increase our knowledge of GE-SQ and its behavioral consequences. Moreover, the study proposes and validates a theoretical framework based on GE-SQ, value co-creation and customer relationship quality. This study provides insight into using gamification as a practical tool in the e-retailing industry.
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Hojat Mohammadi, Mahdi Salehi, Meysam Arabzadeh and Hassan Ghodrati
This paper aims to assess auditor narcissism’s effect on audit market competition (auditor concentration, clients’ concentration and competitive pressure).
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to assess auditor narcissism’s effect on audit market competition (auditor concentration, clients’ concentration and competitive pressure).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper’s method is descriptive-correlational based on published information from listed firms on the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2012 to 2018 using a sample of 188 firms (1,310 observations). The method used for hypothesis testing is linear regression using panel data.
Findings
The results show a negative and significant relationship between auditor narcissism and audit market competition and its indices, including auditor concentration, clients’ concentration and competitive pressure. Moreover, a positive and significant relationship was observed between audit quality and audit market competition and its indices, including auditor concentration, client concentration and competitive pressure.
Originality/value
To analyzes competition indices in the audit market (auditor concentration, clients’ concentration and competitive pressure). The variable is assessed once more using the exploratory factor analysis of the so-called three variables single variable, named audit market competition. So the central question of the study is investigated within a broader sense. Moreover, as the present study is carried out in the emergent financial markets with extremely competitive audit markets to figure out the effect of auditors’ intrinsic characteristics on such markets’ competitiveness, it can provide useful information in this field.
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This study aims to examine the effects of agency cost on auditor choice. This paper also deals with the moderating role of the board’s financial expertise (Bfe) and the status of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the effects of agency cost on auditor choice. This paper also deals with the moderating role of the board’s financial expertise (Bfe) and the status of the internal control (Intecon) system on the relationship between agency cost and auditor selection.
Design/methodology/approach
This study’s sample consists of 1,040 firm-year observations of Iranian nonfinancial companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2012 to 2019. The information required for this research is mainly extracted from Comprehensive Database of All Listed Companies (in Iran Stock Exchange). Data from 130 companies were obtained during the research period. This study used logistic regression to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The findings indicate that companies with higher agency costs choose the auditor from lower classes. As the proportion of financial expert members on the board increases, the intensity of this relationship will be reduced. Companies with higher agency costs choose the auditor from the lower classes, but the higher the ratio of financial expert board members, the more these companies will choose high-quality auditors. However, findings showed that the status of the Intecon system has no moderating effect on the relationship between agency costs and auditor selection.
Originality/value
The results of this study can expand the existing literature on the relationship between auditor selection and agency costs and the factors affecting this relationship, especially the Bfe and Intecon. This research has significant suggestions for regulators, stakeholders, shareholders and analysts in emerging economies that may encounter similar contextual implications.
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This study aims to examine the association between institutional investors’ ownership (IOW), politically connected firms (POCF) and audit report lag (AUDRL).
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the association between institutional investors’ ownership (IOW), politically connected firms (POCF) and audit report lag (AUDRL).
Design/methodology/approach
This study employs a feasible generalised least squares (FGLS) model for panel data to examine the association between IOW, POCF and AUDRL for Malaysian publicly listed companies.
Findings
The findings reveal a statistically significant negative relationship between IOW and AUDRL, with this negative relationship being more pronounced amongst POCF. Additionally, the results demonstrate that the relationship between IOW and AUDRL varies depending on the domicile of IIs (local vs. foreign). Specifically, local institutional investors exhibit a negative and statistically significant relationship with AUDRL, whilst foreign institutional investors show a positive and statistically significant relationship with AUDRL.
Originality/value
The results of this study provide a new understanding of auditor responses to institutional investor monitoring and political connections (PCs) in an emerging economy.