Mojtaba Moradi, Ashkan Hafezalkotob and Vahidreza Ghezavati
This study considers a project scheduling model to assess the project risks and the impacts on project sustainability when subcontractors collaborate under uncertainty. Moreover…
Abstract
Purpose
This study considers a project scheduling model to assess the project risks and the impacts on project sustainability when subcontractors collaborate under uncertainty. Moreover, some allocation methods are applied for fair allocating utility of the project and supper-additivity, stability and satisfaction level of each coalition. Finally, sustainability concept is considered in risk assessment in all coalitions.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed mathematical programming model evaluates project risks when the subcontractors cooperate with each other by sharing their limited resources. Then, some cooperative game theory methods are applied for fair allocation of net present value, of the cooperation and finally sustainability aspects (economic, social and environmental) are investigated in risk assessment for each possible coalition.
Finding
The results of the proposed model indicate that the subcontractors can increase their profit by 10 per cent ($14,028,450 thousand) and save the equilibrium between sustainability aspects especially in grand coalition. It means that subcontractors do not have incentive to leave the coalition and the supper-additive property is feasible. Furthermore, risk assessment shows that project risks have less impact on subcontractor profits when they cooperate with each other.
Originality/value
Sustainability aspects may be investigated in project management in previous studies, but the authors study sustainability indicators when subcontractors form a coalition and share their resources in response to the risks of availability to resources and delay in completing the project under uncertainty.
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Ahmad Hajebrahimi, Khalil Alimohammadzadeh, Seyed Mojtaba Hosseini, Ali Maher and Mohammadkarim Bahadori
High quality health-care delivery is not only the governments’ responsibility but also every prisoner’s right. Health care in prison and, particularly, of Iranian prisoners is…
Abstract
Purpose
High quality health-care delivery is not only the governments’ responsibility but also every prisoner’s right. Health care in prison and, particularly, of Iranian prisoners is increasingly important topic because of the rising number of the prison population. This paper aims to explore health-care managers’ perspectives and experiences of prisons and the barriers to health-care delivery in Iranian prisons.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research design was conducted in Iran from October 2018 to August 2019. The participants consisted of 51 health-care managers (50 men and one woman) from Iranian prisons. A combination of face-to-face (N = 42) and telephonic (N = 9) semi-structured interviews were used because of the geographical distribution of the respondents. The first part of the interview guide consisted of demographic characteristics, and the second part consisted of three main open ended-questions. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, and thematic descriptive analysis was used to interpret the data.
Findings
The barriers to health-care delivery in Iranian prisons were categorized into four main topics: human resources, financing, facilities and barriers related to the health-care delivery process. Data synthesis identified the following themes for barriers to human resources: barriers to human resources planning (with eight sub-themes); barriers to education (with three sub-themes); and motivational barriers (with seven sub-themes). Moreover, barriers to financing consisted of five sub-themes. The barriers to facilities consisted of barriers related to physical infrastructures (with two sub-themes) and barriers related to equipment (with six sub-themes). Finally, barriers to the health-care delivery process included the following themes: communication barriers (with six sub-themes); legal barriers (with five sub-themes); and environmental-demographic factors (with seven sub-themes).
Originality/value
Identifying the barriers to health-care delivery in Iranian prisons plays a critical role in the improvement of planning, decision-making and the health-care delivery process.
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Mehran Ghasempour-Mouziraji, Daniel Afonso, Saman Hosseinzadeh, Constantinos Goulas, Mojtaba Najafizadeh, Morteza Hosseinzadeh, D.D. Ganji and Ricardo Alves de Sousa
The purpose of this paper is to assess the feasibility of analytical models, specifically the radial basis function method, Akbari–Ganji method and Gaussian method, in conjunction…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the feasibility of analytical models, specifically the radial basis function method, Akbari–Ganji method and Gaussian method, in conjunction with the finite element method. The aim is to examine the impact of processing parameters on temperature history.
Design/methodology/approach
Through analytical investigation and finite element simulation, this research examines the influence of processing parameters on temperature history. Simufact software with a thermomechanical approach was used for finite element simulation, while radial basis function, Akbari–Ganji and Gaussian methods were used for analytical modeling to solve the heat transfer differential equation.
Findings
The accuracy of both finite element and analytical methods was validated with about 90%. The findings revealed direct relationships between thermal conductivity (from 100 to 200), laser power (from 400 to 800 W), heat source depth (from 0.35 to 0.75) and power absorption coefficient (from 0.4 to 0.8). Increasing the values of these parameters led to higher temperature history. On the other hand, density (from 7,600 to 8,200), emission coefficient (from 0.5 to 0.7) and convective heat transfer (from 35 to 90) exhibited an inverse relationship with temperature history.
Originality/value
The application of analytical modeling, particularly the utilization of the Akbari–Ganji, radial basis functions and Gaussian methods, showcases an innovative approach to studying directed energy deposition. This analytical investigation offers an alternative to relying solely on experimental procedures, potentially saving time and resources in the optimization of DED processes.
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Mojtaba Rezaei, Marco Pironti and Roberto Quaglia
This study aims to identify and assess the key ethical challenges associated with integrating artificial intelligence (AI) in knowledge-sharing (KS) practices and their…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify and assess the key ethical challenges associated with integrating artificial intelligence (AI) in knowledge-sharing (KS) practices and their implications for decision-making (DM) processes within organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs a mixed-methods approach, beginning with a comprehensive literature review to extract background information on AI and KS and to identify potential ethical challenges. Subsequently, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is conducted using data collected from individuals employed in business settings to validate the challenges identified in the literature and assess their impact on DM processes.
Findings
The findings reveal that challenges related to privacy and data protection, bias and fairness and transparency and explainability are particularly significant in DM. Moreover, challenges related to accountability and responsibility and the impact of AI on employment also show relatively high coefficients, highlighting their importance in the DM process. In contrast, challenges such as intellectual property and ownership, algorithmic manipulation and global governance and regulation are found to be less central to the DM process.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the ongoing discourse on the ethical challenges of AI in knowledge management (KM) and DM within organisations. By providing insights and recommendations for researchers, managers and policymakers, the study emphasises the need for a holistic and collaborative approach to harness the benefits of AI technologies whilst mitigating their associated risks.
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Mohammad Saadati, Mohammadkarim Bahadori, Ehsan Teymourzadeh, Ramin Ravangard, Khalil Alimohammadzadeh and Seyed Mojtaba Hosseini
Accreditation helps to ensure safe and high-quality services in hospitals. Different occupational groups have various hospital accreditation experiences. The purpose of this paper…
Abstract
Purpose
Accreditation helps to ensure safe and high-quality services in hospitals. Different occupational groups have various hospital accreditation experiences. The purpose of this paper is to investigate nurses’ accreditation experience and its effects on Iranian teaching hospital service quality.
Design/methodology/approach
This was a qualitative study involving a phenomenological approach to studying nurses’ hospital accreditation experience and understanding the effects on Iranian teaching hospital service quality. Data were collected using two focus groups in which nurses were selected using purposive sampling. Transcripts were analyzed using content analysis.
Findings
Nurses’ experiences showed that hospital administrators and nurses had greater role in implementing accreditation than other occupational groups. Accreditation improved patient-centeredness, patient safety, logistics and managerial processes and decision making. However, a weak incentive system, extra documentation and work stress were negative experiences.
Practical implications
Nurse experience, as the most important care team member, reveals accreditation’s strengths and weaknesses and its effects on service quality.
Originality/value
The author used a phenomenology approach to measure accreditation effects on service quality – a valuable tool for understanding a phenomenon among those that experience hospital accreditation processes.
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Milad Mousavi, Mehran Masdari and Mojtaba Tahani
Nowadays flaps and winglets are one of the main mechanisms to increase airfoil efficiency. This study aims to investigate the power performance of vertical axis wind turbines…
Abstract
Purpose
Nowadays flaps and winglets are one of the main mechanisms to increase airfoil efficiency. This study aims to investigate the power performance of vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) that are equipped with diverse gurney flaps. This study could play a crucial role in the design of the VAWT in the future.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulation is used. The second-order finite volume method is used for the discretization of the governing equations.
Findings
The results show that the gurney flap enhances the power coefficient at the low range of tip speed ratio (TSR). When an angled and standard gurney flap case has the same aerodynamic performance, an angled gurney flap case has a lower hinge moment on the junction of airfoil and gurney flap which shows the structural excellence of this case. In all gurney flap cases, the power coefficient increases by an average of 20% at the TSR range of 0.6 to 1.8. The gurney flap cases do not perform well at the high TSR range and the results show a lower amount of power coefficient compare to the clean airfoil.
Originality/value
The angled gurney flap which has the structural advantage and is deployed to the pressure side of the airfoil improves the efficiency of VAWT at the low and medium range of TSR. This study recommends using a controllable gurney flap which could be deployed at a certain amount of TSR.
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Mojtaba Kaffashan Kakhki, Marzie Zarqi, Hadi Harati, Yaser Asemandoreh and Ehsan Namdar Joyame
The aim of this study is to examine the effect of organizational levers and information technology (IT) absorptive capacity on librarians' innovation.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to examine the effect of organizational levers and information technology (IT) absorptive capacity on librarians' innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
This survey-analytic study investigated the librarians who were working in the libraries of the medical sciences universities in Iran. The data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire distributed randomly among the members of the sample. The SEM and the LISREL software for data analysis were used.
Findings
It was found that the librarians' job autonomy and fairness of rewards had an effect on acquiring new knowledge and applying transformed knowledge. Although the results did not confirm the effect of the librarians' job autonomy on knowledge assimilation and transformation, they showed a direct and positive effect of fairness of rewards on knowledge assimilation and transformation. Furthermore, this study confirmed the effect of acquiring and applying new knowledge about the library IT on enhancing the librarians' innovation. The effect of knowledge assimilation and transformation, from the application of IT in libraries, on the librarians' innovation was not confirmed.
Practical implications
Learning about the effect of organizational levers on librarians' knowledge absorptive capacities, in terms of applying technologies, to create innovation is an important issue. This will elucidate the gaps of disregarding the effect of organizational levers and librarians' knowledge absorptive capacities on librarians' innovation, and will pave the way for better planning to achieve the libraries' innovative goals.
Originality/value
This is among the few articles that have helped to fill the existing theoretical and research gap in knowledge absorptive capacity in Library and Information Science (LIS). In addition, this article has made a valuable contribution to understanding the role of IT knowledge absorptive capacity as a mediator variable between the organizational levers and librarians' innovation.
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Samrad Jafarian-Namin, Alireza Goli, Mojtaba Qolipour, Ali Mostafaeipour and Amir-Mohammad Golmohammadi
The purpose of this paper is to forecast wind power generation in an area through different methods, and then, recommend the most suitable one using some performance criteria.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to forecast wind power generation in an area through different methods, and then, recommend the most suitable one using some performance criteria.
Design/methodology/approach
The Box–Jenkins modeling and the Neural network modeling approaches are applied to perform forecasting for the last 12 months.
Findings
The results indicated that among the tested artificial neural network (ANN) model and its improved model, artificial neural network-genetic algorithm (ANN-GA) with RMSE of 0.4213 and R2 of 0.9212 gains the best performance in prediction of wind power generation values. Finally, a comparison between ANN-GA and ARIMA method confirmed a far superior power generation prediction performance for ARIMA with RMSE of 0.3443 and R2 of 0.9480.
Originality/value
Performance of the ARIMA method is evaluated in comparison to several types of ANN models including ANN, and its improved model using GA as ANN-GA and particle swarm optimization (PSO) as ANN-PSO.
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Mohsen Pakdaman, Sara Geravandi, Ali Hejazi, Mobin Salehi and Mahboobeh Davoodifar
Currently, the health system is a treatment-oriented system focused on service providers. In this system, the main focus is on the health market, with little attention on insured…
Abstract
Purpose
Currently, the health system is a treatment-oriented system focused on service providers. In this system, the main focus is on the health market, with little attention on insured. One way to get out of existing conditions is to empower the insured in order to involve them actively in maintaining and improving health. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative study was done using the content analysis method. Based on the purposive sampling method and theoretical saturation criterion, 24 individuals including 12 health insurance experts and 12 insured participated in the study in 2018. The semi-structured interview method was used to collect data. Data were analyzed using MAXQDA10 software.
Findings
Having analyzed the interviews, 750 codes were obtained. These codes were categorized into two categories of “insurance experts” and “insured” and ten subcategories of “informing and educating, cost reduction, intersectional activities, expectations from the insured, services package, access to services, inability to pay costs, participation, and expectations from the insurance organization.”
Originality/value
This qualitative study was conducted to assess and determine the effective strategies for empowering the insured under health insurance. The results of this study are helpful to the health insurance organizations and health decision makers to detect the effective ways to develop the quality of insurance services, improve the status of insured, and increase access to health care goods and services.