Sharif Digital Repository

Despite the growth in Iran’s petrochemical production, most of the plants are concentrated upstream; although the government has made various interventions to promote industrial development. The literature review shows that government intervention is necessary to solve market failures, especially in developing countries; but it should be tailored to the specific context and especially the distribution of the power. Most experts believe that the cause of the above phenomenon is feedstock rent and the reason for its continuation is the political influence of petrochemical companies. While not rejecting this view, we try to provide policy recommendations by looking more closely at the issue and... 

In this study; technology transfer to the Farab and Butan fromabsorptive capacity perspective is under inquiry. First we have complete literature review until we can provide good understanding toward absorptive capacity concept in organizational level. George and Zahra model has been chosen as a base model. Farab and Butan have chosen because of their recent successes in knowledge transfer. Based on George and Zahra model we develop a semi-structured questionnair and run it in Farab and Butan. We have findings in how organization can transfer knowledge to their networks to increase their AC, also we have findings in different ways organizations transfer different kinds of knowledge  

Systems Thinking is a key to improve the quality of decision making in various situations such as social, political, economic and managerial ones. Systems Thinking is considered a foundation of Organizational Learning and currently has a crucial and cultivating role in the management literature. Therefore, it is now critical for organizations to have people within them who are able to think systematically. This need for possessing Systems Thinkers in organizations highlights the importance of the education of Systems Thinking. An evidence for this is the growing importance of Systems Thinking Education in the Systems Thinking Literature. On the other hand, one of the most important issues in... 

In this research we examine the effects of internal corporate governance mechanisms on shareholder value of 247 firms that were accepted in Tehran Stock Exchange. The main focus is on ownership structure and board composition. Owners with different identities affect shareholder value both directly and to some extent indirectly (through affecting board composition). We measured firm value using 2 different measures: relative growth of share price and market to book value of the firm. Controlling for industry effects, considering different levels of competitiveness, we find that private owners affect firm value more positively than governments and so do institutional investors more than... 

Study of "Strategic Renewal" by means of "Organizational Learning's processes" was the main intention of this research. At first, we reviewed strategic renewal and organizational learning literature to have better knowledge of relationships between them. 4i Model considered as a base for our research. Tehran Information Technology Organization (TITO) was selected as a case study environment because of many strategic changes, it had in recent years. We designed a qualitative research method for studying 4i model and relationships between strategic renewal and organizational learning, based on research method used previously for testing 4i model. Accordingly, some considerable outcomes... 

In this study, we seek to evaluate the three factors of knowledge level, the rate of use and attitude of exporting companies to the services provided by Iran Trade Promotion Organization. A questionnaire was used to collect information and data from 68 active companies in different industries of the country. Questions are about the 8 support packages officialy provided by the trade promotion organization to help exporters. In this research, we first studied the importance of the subject and the theories presented in this regard, and then we examined the similar studies conducted in other countries. Afterwards, we describe the tools used to collect information and present the results of the... 

Social learning approach in economic policymaking is introduced against conflict-based approach in the similar context. Helco, 1973 first studied the effects of such a learning in economic policymaking and said ”men collectively wondering what to do… Governments not only ‘power’… they also puzzle.” The important point in studying policymaking through social learning approach is paradigm shifts in peoples’ mental models. In this approach, policies are not only the result of conflict between different interests but also are the output of a learning process. In this research we first assume that social learning has not occurred in policymaking community and that individual learning has... 

Today the economical and technological success of a nation is based upon the amount of knowledge that is created within that nation. Thus universities, as the main engines for creating knowledge, are held responsible for this matter. Sharif University is one of the top universities in Iran; which is fortunate to have some of the very high quality faculties across nation and has been succesfull so far to attract the highest ranked students for both its undergraduate and graduate programs. Unfortunately, despite its potentials, Sharif University has not reached its desirable place in the world and nation’s ranking of universities according to their research index. This research has thus... 

One of the research areas less-addresses in the field of strategy – especially with a process approach – is strategic renewal. Strategic renewal is crucial for sustainable success of an organization. However, there are limited studies focused on strategic renewal, its implementation, and factors affecting its successive success. Process view is also less applied despite its importance both in understanding different steps of renewal and determining motivators and impediments. Therefore, this study tries to do a process-oriented research on strategic renewal, considering the gaps in extant process models on renewal. For this aim, an embedded single case study is applied and some successful... 

Neither state planning nor economic liberalization has been the answer for developing countries to escape from the middle-income trap, mainly due to presence of institutional voids and due to the governance of hindering institutions. Therefore, we need another explanation for how of the development, which must include how institutions change and how new institutions and new institutional fields emerge. Developing countries are full of institutional voids and the governance of hindering institutions. Therefore, the process of economic development in these countries, is beyond the power of market and state, and needs agency. Responding to the recent call by the literature for doing more... 

In this study, the concept of dynamic capabilities is extended to strategic management of public sector organizations. For this purpose, an extensive literature review is performed on strategic management of public and non-profit organizations to identify the main characteristics of them, and the essential differences of these organisations with private sector. Afterwards, the literature on dynamic capabilities is reviewed to distinguish their characteristics and operating process in private organizations. Following the results of the previous sections, i.e. “performance and characteristics of dynamic capabilities in private organizations” and “characteristics of public organizations”, some... 

In recent years, the application of data analysis in the field of management has grown significantly. One of the most important of these areas is operations. One of the key tasks of operations management is logistics management. Logistics means managing the flow of goods, information or any other source; Like energy or humans,it is between the place of production or the place of inventory to the place of consumption. Logistics is the art and science of acquiring production, distributing materials and products in the right amount and place. Logistics includes information integration, transportation, inventory, warehousing, handling and packaging.If the flow of goods is done properly; We will... 

A great rise in the number of projects undertaken simultaneously within organizations and consequently, a further increase in the complexity of managing them, has led to emerging innovative forms of organizational structures. There are new concepts developing in project management literature such as program management, portfolio management and project management offices (PMOs). PMOs have recently been used as a means for managing large projects, based on the need for an overall, coherent approach. Project offices are established to coordinate portfolios of projects and achieve project management oversight, control and support. Based on the structure and definition proposed by Hill (2004), it... 

The main goal of this thesis is the design and development of a rehabilitation device for helping patients “to improve blood circulation” & retain and recover their abilities if possible that were lost during the stroke or a accident like that (my research in karaj/iran shows that it is possible by just movement of the specific body part). The focus is on hand in this thesis because Injuries to the hand are common and can be very debilitating since our hands are our primary means for interacting with our world. For rehabilitation in case of human hand there are several practices that should be done for patients either in home or in a rehabilitation center, time and money that is supposed to... 

In the past few decades, shaking tables are widely used to evaluate system response of structures under seismic excitations. These devices are used without any fundamental research performed on a shaking table system as an entity model. In most of these studies for simplicity, it is assumed that there exist no considerable vibration and displacement around the shaking tables, and no attention is paid to the peripheral substances such as soil settled under the foundation.
In this thesis, result of ambient vibration test on shaking table system (solid deck, concrete foundation and soil layer) has been presented. Precise sensors known as low frequency and high accuracy accelerometers have... 

Out of several ground improvement techniques available, stone columns have been widely used. This technique has been successfully applied to increase the bearing capacity and to reduce the settlement for foundation of structures like liquid storage tanks, earthen embankments, raft foundations, etc., where a relatively large settlement is permissible. This technique has, generally, been proven successful in increasing the stiffness of weak soils, upgrading their safe bearing capacity, and reducing their total and differential settlements, as well as speeding up their consolidation process. The beneficial effects of stone column installation in weak deposits is manifested in the form of... 

In the present study, a new version of haptic devices is presented in which user’s hand is in contact with the device just while collision with virtual surface. In this system, the position of user’s finger can be traced by using a camera and the haptic device follows user’s finger at the distance of about two centimeters. While the haptic device approaches to the virtual surface, gradually reduces its speed and stops about two centimeters distant of virtual plane. Then user’s hand collides with the haptic device which is static. Greater fidelity, transparency, more stability and also no need to large actuators are of the advantages of this system. In this project, first we present a new...