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The purpose of this study is to identify and prioritize the critical success factors (CSFs) of knowledge management (KM) implementation through a novel hybrid model, namely, Fuzzy Delphi method (FDM), interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and revised Simos, which is one of group decision-making (GDM) approaches.

The CSFs of KM implementation were identified through a systematic literature review. FDM was adopted to determine the CSFs in the Iranian oil industry. Then, a novel hybrid model consisting of ISM and revised Simos techniques were used to classify and prioritize the CSFs.

The obtained results suggest that there are 13 CSFs of KM implementation. The result of ISM shows that the CSFs of KM implementation were classified into five levels. The result of revised Simos reveals that the “human resources management” obtained the highest priority and “leadership commitment and support” and “intellectual capital” ranked second and third, respectively.

As this research was performed in the Iranian oil industry, caution should be taken regarding the generalizability of the obtained results.

The top managers of the surveyed companies could get acquainted with CSFs of KM implementation in their organization and use a GDM technique that has various advantages to solve the relevant problems.

This paper provides a twofold contribution to expand KM and GDM literature and to the best knowledge of the authors, it is a novel hybrid GDM model of its kind.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a measurement instrument toward knowledge management (KM) implementation in the Iranian oil industry.

Based on an in-depth study of the relevant literature, the critical success factors (CSFs) related to the sub-factors were identified. Then, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the instrument. Finally, based on the developed instrument, the KM implementation was evaluated in the subsidiaries of the Iranian oil industry.

The obtained results reveal the 13 factors as follows: human resource management; KM processes; information technology; business strategy; intellectual capital; KM system; executive practices of KM; management information system; culture; partnership and cooperation with business partners; KM road map; leadership commitment and support; and organizational environment.

As this study was conducted in the Iranian oil industry, cautious should be taken regarding the generalizability of the results.

The proposed instrument can help policymakers and top managers of the subsidiaries of Iranian oil industry in successful implementation and measurement of their KM practices.

Identification and measurement of the CSFs of KM implementation through developing a comprehensive instrument in the context of the Iranian oil industry.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the barriers of knowledge management (KM) implementation in Alborz Province industrial Parks Corporation and prioritize them using fuzzy analytical network process (FANP).

Through an in-depth review of the literature on KM and researcher findings from observations and interviews with experts, the main barriers of KM implementation, namely, organizational culture, organizational structure, human resource, technology and miscellaneous factors along with their related factors in the surveyed organization were identified. Then, based on the information gathered, an expert questionnaire was developed. Finally, the priority of each main barrier and their sub-factors were determined using FANP.

The results show that human resource and organizational culture factors with the weights of 0.66 and 0.22, respectively, have the highest ranking and therefore are the most important barriers. The technology factor with the weight of 0.00002 is the least important barrier in implementing KM in the surveyed corporation.

One of the limitations of this study is the generalizability of the findings, which may be limited by the single case study method used.

There are fewer studies about KM barriers specifically with a focus on prioritizing them in organizations, especially in the context of Iran as a developing country. This study develops a comprehensive and solid mathematical technique to prioritize the identified barriers of KM implementation in the context of Iran.

The importance of e-literacy of staff in the digital life is fundamentally very crucial, to such an extent that it is considered as one of the primary conditions for successful utilization of knowledge management processes using social technologies within organizations. This study aims to explain and test a novel conceptual model to show the impact of applying social technologies on knowledge management (KM) processes in the context of Iranian organizations, considering the moderator role of e-literacy of employees.

Based on an in-depth study of the relevant literature, a questionnaire was designed. The sound questionnaires obtained from our sample size was 207 and respondents were experts in the field of information technology (IT) within the Central Office of Insurance companies in Tehran. The collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling and path analysis.

The results indicate that the use of social technologies with the factor loading of 0.57 has the highest impact on knowledge exchange and 0.61 on knowledge utilization. In addition, the results indicate that e-literacy with the factor loadings of 0.69 and 0.74 has the highest impact on knowledge exchange and knowledge utilization, respectively. In addition, the impact of social technologies with the factor loading of 0.82 has the highest impact on e-literacy.

One of the limitations of this study was the generalizability of the findings, which may be limited, as it is focused on one developing country. Also, the lack of full implementation of KM and the use of social technologies in the insurance industry may affect the obtained results.

To the best knowledge of the authors, this study is among the first of its kind which examines the impact of social technologies usage on the KM processes considering an important variable, i.e. e-literacy of employees.

The purpose of this paper is to identify factors affecting agile supply chain and evaluate the effect of these factors on profitability. To that end, after reviewing the theoretical foundations of this field, the authors identified the factors affecting supply chain agility and profitability and provided an appropriate conceptual model to measure and verify this relationship.

A 48-item questionnaire was prepared and distributed among 270 members of staff and managers of the company from which 240 questionnaire were completed and returned. The response rate was 88 percent. Using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), 37 indicators were selected and redundant questions were excluded. Results were analyzed using the structural equation modeling technique, and the relationships between factors were obtained and the impact of each supply chain agility factor on profitability was determined and prioritized.

Through EFA, the indicators related to each supply chain agility factor and profitability were extracted and using the literature, supply chain agility indicators were classified in four factors of speed, responsiveness, competency and flexibility and the indicators related to profitability in one factor, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted accordingly. The CFA results showed that all four factors are significantly associated with profitability, and flexibility has the greatest impact on profitability, and speed has minimal impact on profitability.

As this study has been done in the context of Iran, cautious should be taken to generalize the results.

Other studies have examined the effect of agility on business performance and the relationship between them but this study, by providing a comprehensive set of supply chain agility evaluation criteria and indicators and considering all its dimensions, intends to identify the factors affecting supply chain agility and evaluate and determine the effects of these factors on profitability and examine if supply chain agility affects profitability.

In the age of Industry 4.0 (I4.0), digital technologies (DTs) and the technologies' application in supply chain activities have become more important. On the other hand, global pressures for corporate social responsibility in the sustainable production of products are increasing. Accordingly, the purpose of this research is to develop and validate an instrument to measure the impact of digital supply chain (DSC) activities on the sustainable performance of manufacturing companies.

In the first step, through an in-depth study of the relevant literature, a conceptual model was developed and a questionnaire containing 51 indicators was designed. The questionnaire was distributed among 356 top managers and experts of the Iranian manufacturing companies, whereby finally 233 sound questionnaires were returned, yielding a response rate of about 64%. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to identify constructs and sub-constructs and the relationship between them was investigated using the partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) method.

Based on the obtained results, three constructs were identified, namely main activities (including sub-constructs: digital supplier, digital manufacturing, digital logistics and innovation and digital customer), support activities (with sub-constructs digital performance, DT and digital human resources) and sustainable performance (with sub-constructs of economic sustainability, environmental sustainability and social sustainability). The designed tool has excellent psychometric properties. The values of t-statistic = 11.07 and β = 0.602 indicate the positive impact of the DSC main activities on sustainable performance. Similarly, t = 2.42 and β = 0.149 prove that DSC support activities have a positive impact on sustainable performance. Also, based on the obtained values (t = 13.16 and β = 0.629), support activities have a significant impact on the main activities of the DSC. Finally, based on the calculated goodness-of-fit (GoF) index value (0.522), this paper concluded that the proposed model has high credibility.

Validation of the model is based on the answers received from the Iranian manufacturing companies. Therefore, caution should be taken regarding the generalizability of the results.

The proposed model presents a holistic view of the application of DTs in the supply chain and the DTs' impact on sustainable performance which might help manufacturing companies, particularly the Iranian companies to obtain a broader knowledge of the importance of DTs and DTs' usage toward responding to the challenges of today's complex business environment.

This study is among the first of the study's kind that attempts to develop and validate an instrument to measure the impact of DSC activities on the sustainable performance of manufacturing companies.

In the digital age, emerging technologies have affected every industry. Information and communications technology and digital technologies have transformed traditional supply chains into smart and more resilient ones, enabling effective management of challenges. Given the importance of the two topics, namely sustainable supply chain management and Industry 4.0 in supply chain management, on the one hand, and the dearth of theoretical research performed in this area on the other, this study aims to propose a conceptual model on a sustainable digital supply chain management in manufacturing companies.

This study utilized a qualitative approach. First, an in-depth review of the relevant literature was done. Then, following a multi-grounded theory methodology, relevant data were gathered by reviewing 92 papers and conducting nine semi-structured interviews with industry experts. These data were analyzed using the MAXQDA software.

A total of 41 concepts, ten sub-components and three main components (dimensions) were extracted, and the proposed conceptual model was presented. Finally, based on this conceptual model, three propositions were suggested.

Considering that the present study was performed in the context of Iranian manufacturing companies, caution should be exercised in relation to the generalizability of the obtained results. Also, due to the problems in the digital technology infrastructure and the limited use of these technologies by manufacturing companies (emphasized by the interviewees), this study focused on the theoretical dimension of using digital technologies by these companies.

The proposed comprehensive model can help academicians as well as practitioners to focus better and explore the variables and constructs of the model, paving the way toward successful implementation of digital technologies in the manufacturing supply chain.

To the best knowledge of the authors, this study is among the first of its kind which presents a holistic and comprehensive digital supply chain model aimed at guiding companies to consider sustainability from all the main dimensions and their relevant indicators.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of strategic collaboration (SC) on sustainable supply chain management (SSCM), considering the mediating role of internal knowledge sharing (IKS) and external knowledge sharing (EKS).

The study population consisted of experts associated with the supply chain in the automotive, food, clothing, pharmaceuticals and chemicals industries. After reviewing the literature, a conceptual framework was developed and applied using a structural equation modeling approach. In this study, samples with 271 observations were collected from manufacturing and servicing companies in Iran.

The results showed that SC in the supply chain has a positive impact on the IKS and EKS and SSCM. IKS and EKS have a positive impact on SSCM. Also, the results showed that IKS and EKS fully mediate in the relationship between SC and SSCM.

This study has been done in the context of Iran, so caution should be taken to generalize the results.

The findings of the study contribute to the knowledge of the managers and policy makers in achieving SSCM. The results provide the important environmental and social concepts regarding the sustainability of supply chain using SC and IKS and EKS.

Due to the important role of strategic human resources in fulfilling the main objectives of organizations on the one hand and the necessity of having suitable functional strategies in place to operationalize the developmental programs on the other hand, this study aims to identify the factors and sub-factors of developmental programs and their priorities as well as the relationship and interactions of the identified criteria in human capital developmental programs through a hybrid fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory –analytic network process approach. Also, the rank of functional strategies to achieve these human resource developmental programs is determined using fuzzy VIsekriterijumska Optimizacija I KOmpromisno Resenje (VIKOR) technique.

Through an in-depth review of the relevant literature, the most important criteria and sub-criteria were determined. Then, a questionnaire was designed and distributed among 20 top managers and experts of the surveyed bank. Using geometric mean, the criteria were screened. In the next step, the second pairwise questionnaire was designed and distributed among eight experts, to determine the relations and interrelations among these factors their relevant sub-factors and prioritize them. Finally, using the third designed questionnaire and fuzzy, VIKOR (FVIKOR) technique the ranks of functional strategies were determined.

Analysis of the results showed that “future wellness and retirement” is the most influential factor and the “retention” factor is the most permeable factor. Also, human capital planning is the most important factor of this department’s developmental programs in achieving its strategic objectives. Factors “recruiting and hiring,” “retention,” “empowerment” and “future wellness and retirement” were ranked second to fifth, respectively. Finally, the application of the FVIKOR technique revealed that “enhancement and improvement of incentive systems” is the best functional strategy to achieve the developmental plans of the human capital department.

One of the limitations of this study is the generalizability of the findings, which may be limited by the single case study method used.

This study presents a comprehensive and effective tool which could specifically help policymakers and top managers of the survey company and other managers of the banking sector in general, to use a quantitative approach toward identification and prioritizations of the determinants factors of the human capital developmental programs toward achieving functional strategic objectives to enhance the satisfaction of their internal customer as the most important asset of their organizations which might lead to the increased external customer satisfaction and, subsequently, increased competitive advantage.

To the best knowledge of the authors, this is one the first studies of its kind which attempts through a hybrid fuzzy analytical network process and fuzzy DEMATEL approach, presents a structural network model to examine the interrelationships among the human capital developmental programs and prioritizes them, also simultaneously rank the functional strategies toward achieving these programs using FVIKOR technique.

This paper aims to present a hierarchal and operational model of coding knowledge towards facilitating the transformation of knowledge in organizations.

The methodology used, is based on collaborative participation in knowledge coding that is widely used in large settings such as Wikipedia.

Knowledge coding means the transfer of knowledge into a model which can be stored and shared. According to this definition, Knowledge can be accepted as a set of facts and the relationships among them. Through the suggested hierarchical model, primarily facts and initial entities are determined and knowledge record begins with the start of recording routines. In general, each routine is made up of simpler routines and facts. Thus the final model, which is a set of compound and complicated routines, can encode different levels of knowledge with different complexities. The suggested model in the explained processes is a conceptual model and a descriptive model in explaining facts.

Due to high-level programming expertise, in this paper, only the method of implementation of the proposed operational model has been explained. The proposed method maintains various advantages such as applicability, comprehensibility by different people in an organization, the possibility of knowledge coding at different levels, supporting abstract concepts besides operational ones and finally the possibility of implementing it by existing tools.

The suggested model can be used for a variety of needs. For instance, in this paper, the first modelling example referred to a software concept, while the other referred to the implementation of an organizational process. Due to a hierarchy in describing knowledge, the suggested model can be used by any user with any level of knowledge (either user or registrar).

This method can create a change in social media and make it possible for anyone in any society with any level of information to share their knowledge at their own level and use the knowledge of others at the same level.

The strength of the proposed model stems from its hierarchical nature which is considered for knowledge coding at different levels and includes advantages such as comprehensibility for different people in an organization, the possibility of knowledge coding at different levels and supporting abstract concepts in addition to operational ones.