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The purpose of this study is to empirically evaluate the potential of the blockchain technology in tourism. The blockchain technology (BCT) holds potential to contribute significantly to tourism policy and practice. Academic interest in the BCT is rapidly growing with studies looking at the opportunities and challenges of its application. The shortcoming of research on the BCT in tourism has however been in its conceptual nature. The lack of empirical investigations hinders an understanding of how the BCT can be more broadly adopted in tourism, especially from the viewpoint of minimizing its risks.

The initial screening of the opportunities, challenges and risks is undertaken via a systematic literature review. The Delphi study is subsequently applied to empirically confirm what opportunities, challenges and risks can be attributed to the BCT use in tourism. Twelve industry and academic experts have contributed to the Delphi study.

The risks identified have been categorized as societal, technical, financial and legal. Propositions have been made on how these risks can, at least partially, be overcome.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first known attempt to study the BCT from the perspective of academic and industry experts. This research is also one of the first to evaluate the risks of the BCT use in tourism. Most risks are identified as not critical and can be addressed as the BCT develops.

区块链技术（BCT）具有为旅游政策和实践做出重大贡献的潜力。随着研究着眼于其应用的机遇和挑战, 对 BCT 的学术兴趣正在迅速增长。然而, 旅游业中 BCT 研究的不足之处在于其概念性。缺乏实证研究阻碍了对如何在旅游业中更广泛地采用 BCT 的理解, 特别是从最小化其风险的角度来看。这项研究代表了第一次从学术和行业专家的角度实证评估 BCT 在旅游业中的潜力的已知尝试。

机会、挑战和风险的初步筛选是通过系统的文献回顾进行的。德尔菲研究法随后被应用于实证确认哪些机会、挑战和风险可归因于 BCT 在旅游业中的使用。 12 位行业和学术专家是德尔菲研究法的主要贡献人员。

已识别的风险分为社会、技术、财务和法律。研究就如何至少部分地克服这些风险提出了建议。

从学术和行业专家的角度研究BCT是已知的第一次尝试。该研究也是最早评估 BCT 在旅游中使用风险的研究之一。大多数风险被确定为不重要的, 可以随着 BCT 的发展而得到解决。

In recent years, rapid changes in the economic situation and high levels of competition have increased the need for innovation in order to gain success. In such circumstances, organizational strategists are considered as critical in determining the success or failure of organizations. Using innovation in various aspects of organizational operations is the most important factor to achieve sustainable competitive advantages in industry. As a result, analyzing the effective factors involved in promoting the efficiency of innovative activities in the organization and ways of achieving it are of utmost importance. Thus, this paper examines the relationship between communication and innovation performance with respect to the intermediary role of strategic decision-making process speed.

The present study has used quantitative methodology and questionnaire to collect data from 450 managers and members who are involved in the decision-making process in 150 companies operating in the food-industry sector. Data analysis was done by using structural equation modeling and AMOS software.

The results of the data analysis suggest that communication and strategic decision-making speed possess a significant positive impact on innovation performance. Also, strategic decision-making speed has sufficiently played the intermediary role between communication and innovation performance.

This survey specifies the effects of communication on the success of making fast strategic decision and innovation performance which aid Iranian food companies to tackle one of the managerial challenges: postponing strategic decisions due to lack of efficient communication to get information. In addition, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this essay is a first in Iran.

This study aims to investigate the possible negativity of job embeddedness in developing countries. Operationally, the study aimed to configure the relationship between job embeddedness and cyberloafing with respect to both contextual (job satisfaction) and individual (internet addiction) factors.

Incorporating the conservation of resources theory and reactance theory into the theory of job embeddedness, the present study adopted a resource-based approach to job embeddedness to examine its main and moderated effects on cyberloafing in a three-way interaction model. With the focus on public organizations, 500 administrative employees from an Iranian university were surveyed using self-reporting measures, and the collected data were analyzed using partial least squares–structural equation modeling and hierarchical moderated multiple regression.

As predicted, job embeddedness was positively associated with cyberloafing; however, in contrast with predictions, job satisfaction had no inverse impact on the job embeddedness–cyberloafing relationship, and its role was limited to neutralizing the increasing effect of internet addiction.

Consideration should be given to how job embeddedness interacts with contextual and individual moderators to affect cyberloafing. In particular, this study implicated some practical procedures to provide employees with on- and off-the-job resources and avoid fighting over the organization's resources. Additionally, this study provides insights into embeddedness-satisfaction interplay to provide employees with propitious work conditions in line with organizational productivity.

There is little research on the association between job embeddedness and counterproductive work behaviors, and the findings are inconsistent. A review of the literature revealed no study addressing cyberloafing implications of job embeddedness. This study expands the literature by theoretically and empirically correlating job embeddedness and cyberloafing in a non-western developing country. Accordingly, the significance of this study is its capability in mitigating cyberloafing behaviors by promoting the adverse job embeddedness.

This paper aims to examine diversity management (DM) practices in leading private-sector organizations in Iran.

The study draws on in-depth interviews with 23 human resource management (HRM) executives and supervisors in nine private sector companies in Iran, and presents the analysis conducted using MAXQDA software.

The results categorize DM practices into four subsystems of HRM, i.e. recruitment and selection, training, performance management, and reward management. These practices indicate the inclusion of diversity-sensitive criteria and consideration of equal opportunity in the HRM subsystems.

The findings advance a contextual understanding of DM in a developing country. Considering DM practices in HRM subsystems may provide an effective way to help managers address workforce diversity in organizations.

Internet of things (IoT) promises advantages in different sectors, especially the health-care sector. Due to its capabilities for chronic disease management, IoT has attracted the attention of researchers. Nowadays, there is research that focuses on the use of IoT for chronic disease management. However, the use of IoT in various contexts faces different barriers. This paper aims to explore Iranian experts’ conceptions of the barriers to using IoT in Iran regarding its application for chronic disease management.

This study follows a phenomenographic method to investigate Iranian experts’ conceptions of the barriers to using IoT in Iran regarding its application for chronic disease management.

The results show that there are four categories of description (governance, technical, economic and social barriers) that vary among experts’ conceptions.

The findings of the present work could provide valuable insights for managers and policymakers who want to address IoT barriers.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of job embeddedness in the relationship between perceived job security and perceived job flexibility and its impact on creative performance.

The statistical population of this study consisted of all employees at the Electricity Company of Mashhad, and a sample comprising 300 participants was finalized. In order to analyze the data, different statistical analysis methods were used, including Pearson’s correlation analysis and structural equation modeling.

The findings indicated that perceived job security has a positive impact on job embeddedness, while it has no significant impact on the employees’ creative performance. On the other hand, perceived job flexibility has a positive effect on both job embeddedness and creative performance. Moreover, the mediating role of job embeddedness was approved.

Since creative performance in this changeable environment becomes essential, identifying mechanisms which can embed employees to their company would bring about several positive consequences. Furthermore, little is known about the antecedents and potential consequences of job embeddedness, especially in developing countries.

Workforce planning must answer how many workforces, in which positions, and talents, and when each organization is needed. To find the requirements workforce, organizations need to know the organizational position and talents pools. Clarifying the number of workforces required in each pool requires attention to workforce flows, including hiring, promotion, degradation, horizontal movement, and exiting the organization. It is a dynamic issue and must be addressed over several periods over a specific duration, which adds to the complexity. According to the talent management presented in this research, all the above complex questions are answered by applying the optimal control (OC) model according to talent management presented in this research.

This research presents a dynamic model by using a linear-quadratic optimal control model, which was solved by Pontryagin's maximum principle, to achieve an optimal number of workforce requirements for each of the positions of nursing services manager, supervisor, head nurses and nurses in the health sector according to the required talents in each position.

The results have shown that the target value of workforce numbers has been achieved in the planning period, and the validation test and sensitivity analysis justified the model by reaching the workforce planning targets.

This study provides a dynamic model for achieving quantitative workforce planning targets; the model presented in this manuscript has included an important qualitative factor, namely workforce talents. According to the authors' review, there is no comprehensive research devoted to workforce planning through optimal control models by attention to workforces skills.

The purpose of the paper is to propose a quantitative approach for assessing the qualitative nature of organizational vision.

The paper uses grey systems method to rank and evaluate the vision of five top‐ranked universities.

It is shown in the literature that qualitative consideration of organizational vision can be quantified using a mathematical method. This method can be used as a decision‐making tool where the judgments of the decision maker are not exact.

This study expresses the qualitative nature of organizational vision into a quantified shape. It does it through a mathematical method called “grey systems theory”. Moreover, it seems that the application of grey systems theory to the business context has rarely been examined.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive framework for assessing impeders of strategy implementation in a higher education context through an in‐depth analysis of a higher education institution in Iran.

A semi‐structured interview is employed with senior academic staff and managers in a particular university.

The main impeders of strategy implementation within the university as the case organisation and are found to be grouped into five main areas: planning consequences, organisational, individual, managerial and environmental. The nature and reasons for the impeders are explained and finally an analytical framework is developed.

The paper, through the use of how and why questions during interviews, highlighted a framework which provides an in‐depth understanding of impeders. The paper's results have implications for other universities in Iran and indeed the Middle East. However, a limitation of this paper is that the results are exploratory only, given that the paper is carried out in only one Iranian university.

This paper provides a valuable basis for discussion on the impeders of strategy implementation. Moreover, the results of the research can be used as guidance for managers and academic staff at the strategy implementation stage in the higher education sector.

The findings of the paper highlight the relevant impeders of strategy implementation within a higher education environment that will be of interest to those in this field, particularly those working in Iranian universities.

Selecting the right supply chain (SC) strategy which is aligned with environmental uncertainty will definitely improve SC performance. Lee (2002) proposed a framework to consider the impact of alignment between SC strategy and environmental uncertainty and its impact on SC performance. The purpose of this paper is to apply this framework in Iran and extend it using balanced scorecard (BSC) approach.

A research survey was completed to consider the aim of this research. A total of 124 questionnaires were returned.

The alignment between SC strategy and environmental uncertainty and its positive impact on SC performance has been proven (except for risk-hedging strategy). Efficient strategy enhances all the four BSC perspectives, while agile strategy only improves learning and growth perspective.

This research extends the work of Lee (2002) and Sun et al. (2009) by emphasizing the impact of SC strategy on each of the four perspectives of BSC.