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Article
Publication date: 15 May 2017

Shaho Karami, Seyed Mohammad Shobeiri, Hamidreza Jafari and Hamidreza Jafari

Teachers can be regarded as key figures in climate change education (CCE). Therefore, the purpose of this study is assessment of Iranian lower secondary teachers? level of…

Abstract

Purpose

Teachers can be regarded as key figures in climate change education (CCE). Therefore, the purpose of this study is assessment of Iranian lower secondary teachers? level of knowledge, attitudes and practices toward CCE in a less-touched-upon context.

Design/methodology/approach

The present study used a cross-sectional survey design, which used a specially designed questionnaire administered in ten high schools (five boys’ and five girls’ lower secondary schools). A sample of 108 lower secondary school teachers was selected through a multistage stratified random sampling technique. The gender structure of the sample was 48.1 per cent male and 51.9 per cent female subjects. To determine the status of teachers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices, the obtained quantitative data were classified into three categories on a scale of 100 per cent: good status (more than 75 per cent), moderate status (50-75 per cent) and weak status (less than 50 per cent).

Findings

The findings revealed that the involved teachers were equipped with an appropriate knowledge, i.e. 22.2 per cent good and 52.8 per cent moderate levels of knowledge. Furthermore, the subjects’ level of attitude was moderate (44.5 per cent); however, their level of practice was weak (52.8 per cent). In terms of gender, male subjects’ knowledge and attitude levels were higher than those of female subjects. However, female subjects reported higher levels of practice in comparison with male subjects. Overall, the results of this study highlighted the necessity of improving lower secondary teachers’ CCE in general and of the level of their attitudes and practices in particular.

Originality/value

The present study sheds more light on the change management and environmental education within the Iranian context. The results of this study accentuate the necessity of presenting more CCE programs for teachers. Furthermore, curriculum planners can take advantage of the obtained results to carry out curriculum reforms.

Details

International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, vol. 9 no. 03
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-8692

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 June 2018

Mohammadkarim Bahadori, Ehsan Teymourzadeh, Hamidreza Tajik, Ramin Ravangard, Mehdi Raadabadi and Seyed Mojtaba Hosseini

Strategic planning is the best tool for managers seeking an informed presence and participation in the market without surrendering to changes. Strategic planning enables managers…

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Abstract

Purpose

Strategic planning is the best tool for managers seeking an informed presence and participation in the market without surrendering to changes. Strategic planning enables managers to achieve their organizational goals and objectives. Hospital goals, such as improving service quality and increasing patient satisfaction cannot be achieved if agreed strategies are not implemented. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors affecting strategic plan implementation in one teaching hospital using interpretive structural modeling (ISM).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a descriptive study involving experts and senior managers; 16 were selected as the study sample using a purposive sampling method. Data were collected using a questionnaire designed and prepared based on previous studies. Data were analyzed using ISM.

Findings

Five main factors affected strategic plan implementation. Although all five variables and factors are top level, “senior manager awareness and participation in the strategic planning process” and “creating and maintaining team participation in the strategic planning process” had maximum drive power. “Organizational structure effects on the strategic planning process” and “Organizational culture effects on the strategic planning process” had maximum dependence power.

Practical implications

Identifying factors affecting strategic plan implementation is a basis for healthcare quality improvement by analyzing the relationship among factors and overcoming the barriers.

Originality/value

The authors used ISM to analyze the relationship between factors affecting strategic plan implementation.

Details

International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, vol. 31 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0952-6862

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 July 2018

A.G. Mohan Das Gandhi, K. Soorya Prakash and V. Kavimani

This paper aims to examine the investigations made on the corrosion behaviour of magnesium (Mg) substrate electrodeposited using different nano-materials.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the investigations made on the corrosion behaviour of magnesium (Mg) substrate electrodeposited using different nano-materials.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses nano-materials such as those of reduced graphene oxide (r-GO), titanium-di-oxide (TiO2) and also r-GO/TiO2 nano-composites (dispersed through ultra-sonication process) at 3-min time interval. Crystalline nature of synthesized TiO2 is studied through X-ray diffraction and its pore volume is measured to be approximately 0.1851ccg-1 by Brunauer Emmett Teller analysis.

Findings

Surface morphology of the developed set of specimens inspected through scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy establishes a clean surface coating and further witnesses for only minimal defects. Electrochemical behaviour of the developed coating is studied exhaustively using Tafel polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in 0.1 M Na2SO4 solution.

Originality/value

Incremental corrosion resistance exhibited by developed composite coating owes to the factors viz. chemical stability and hydrophobic tendency of TiO2 and r-GO; these known engineering facts resist the flow of ions into the corrosive media and thereby reduce the rate of corrosion.

Details

Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, vol. 65 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0003-5599

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 June 2019

Ali Akbar Abbasian Arani, Ali Arefmanesh and Hamidreza Ehteram

The purpose of this paper is to recommend a validated numerical model for simulation the flue gases heat recovery recuperators. Due to fulfill of this demand, the influences of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to recommend a validated numerical model for simulation the flue gases heat recovery recuperators. Due to fulfill of this demand, the influences of ash fouling characteristics during the transient/steady-state simulation and optimization of a 3D complex heat exchanger equipped with inner plain fins and side plate fins are studied.

Design/methodology/approach

For the particle dispersion modeling, the discrete phase model is applied and the flow field has been solved using SIMPLE algorithm.

Findings

According to obtained results, for the recuperator equipped with combine inner plain and side plate fins, determination of ash fouling characteristics is really important, effective and determinative. It is clear that by underestimating the ash fouling characteristics, the achieved results are wrong and different with reality.

Originality/value

Finally, the configuration with inner plain fins with characteristics of: di =5 mm, do = 6 mm, dg = 2 mm, dk = 3 mm and NIPFT = 9 and side plate fins with characteristics of: TF = 3 mm, PF = 19 mm, NSPF = 17·2 = 34, WF = 10 mm, HF = 25 mm, LF = 24 mm and ß = 0° is introduced as the optimum model with the best performance among all studied configurations.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 30 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 December 2022

Fatemeh Mozaffari, Marzieh Rahimi, Hamidreza Yazdani and Babak Sohrabi

This research intends to develop a model for predicting employees at a high-risk attrition and identify the most important factors affecting them.

Abstract

Purpose

This research intends to develop a model for predicting employees at a high-risk attrition and identify the most important factors affecting them.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, using the triangulation technique of a mixed research method, the employee attrition problem is investigated by identifying its affecting factors. For that matter, data related to the human resources department of a pharmaceutical company in Iran are used. And to achieve the intended goal, advanced data mining algorithms and interviews with human resource managers are applied.

Findings

A model for predicting employees at a high-risk attrition is presented based on the gradient boosting machine algorithm with 89% accuracy. The use of the mixed research approach shows that qualitative and quantitative methods can be more effective in identifying the factors affecting employee churn or loss of staff. The results also contain a new situation arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic and remote working scenarios having impact on employee attrition. Finally, human resource policies are presented based on variables related to each of the identified factors.

Originality/value

The novel contributions of this study include real data related to a leading pharmaceutical company as well as a combination of two quantitative and qualitative methods. The hybrid approach can identify the reasons for attrition and, consequently, retention policies to benefit from the advantage of both approaches. Data mining can be useful to identify the factors, which are usually not mentioned in termination interviews, such as direct managers. On the other hand, the results obtained from termination interviews can also include features that the authors cannot identify through data mining, which are specifically related to the characteristics of the pharmaceutical industry such as building a more professional career path. From a practical perspective, since this company specializes in pharmaceutical marketing in a new way and is primarily comprised graduates, it is important to note that the churn of specialized people disperses organizational and technological know-how. On the other hand, the pharmacist community in Iran is small, and their attrition might adversely affect not only the reputation of an organization but the employer's brand as well. So, this research would help other similar firms in retaining their valuable human capital.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. 30 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing and Special Equipment, vol. 4 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2633-6596

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