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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of job satisfaction on hostage employee loyalty in Isfahan Province Gas Company (IPGC).

The statistical population of this study included the formal recruited employees of IPGC out of which, 212 employees have been selected using a stratified random sampling method. A questionnaire has been developed and used for data collection regarding job satisfaction and employee loyalty. In this study along with the other studies of the authors, employees of IPGC were classified into four different categories on the basis of loyalty matrix, and the majority (78 percent) of them were located in the hostage category. Structural equation modeling has been used for data analysis.

The findings imply that job satisfaction does not have a significant influence on the loyalty of hostage employees.

Organizations are encouraged to identify the individual and organizational factors and obstacles, take necessary measures to increase job satisfaction and maintain the level of employee loyalty and gradually shift them from the hostage category to the apostle category, which results in an increased number of loyal and satisfied employees.

This study indicates how the application of the concepts of loyalty matrix, particularly its hostage category, can be expanded in the field of organizational behavior management.

The major aim of this investigation is to propose a novel approach for evaluating the implementation of the European Quality Award, i.e. the model of European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM).

The EFQM model includes both enablers and results, while in the service quality gaps model, only the gaps between the organization and customer are studied. In this paper, a new approach has been proposed to assess seven determined gaps in implementing the EFQM model based on the concepts of the service quality gaps model and the ServQual approach. The new approach to the EFQMQual has been examined in Isfahan Province Gas Company using different viewpoints of senior and middle managers and senior experts on four elements of determined gaps. These include perceptions of goals, expectations of goals, perceptions of assessment and expectations of assessment.

Findings indicate that leadership and key results criteria have the lowest and the highest gap values, respectively. In addition, the fifth gap, i.e. the difference between expectations of assessment and perceptions of assessment, has the lowest average, while the seventh gap, i.e. elements of the EFQM model, has the highest average. With regard to the correlation among the seven gaps, it became obvious that there is a significant correlation among the first, fifth and sixth gaps; and also between the fourth and fifth gaps. Finally, based on the Pareto rule, the priority of the criteria related to each of the gaps has also been determined.

One of the limitations of this study is the complexity of the concepts in the questionnaires, which makes it difficult for respondents to understand the items of the questionnaires. To overcome this, therefore, the researcher has attached a guideline to the distributed questionnaires.

As the literature review indicates, there has not been any research on integrating the concepts of the service quality gaps model, the ServQual approach, and the EFQM model, while also analyzing the weak and strong results obtained from implementing the EFQM model based on such an integrated approach. The significance of the study lies further in the fact that based on an approach similar to the proposed EFQMQual, such concepts can be applied for evaluating the implementation of other quality award systems.

The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrative approach for improving failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA).

An extensive literature review on FMEA has been performed. Then, an integrative approach has been proposed based on literature review. The proposed approach is an integration of FMEA and quality function deployment (QFD). The proposed approach includes a two-phase QFD. In the first phase, failure modes are prioritized based on failure effects and in the second phase, failure causes are prioritized based on failure modes. The proposed approach has been examined in a case example at the blast furnace operation of a steel-manufacturing company.

Results of the case example indicated that stove shell crack in hot blast blower, pump failure in cooling water supply pump and bleeder valves failed to operate are the first three important failure modes. In addition, fire and explosion are the most important failure effects. Also, improper maintenance, over pressure and excess temperature are the most important failure causes. Findings also indicated that the proposed approach with the consideration of interrelationships among failure effects, failure mode and failure causes can influence and adjust risk priority number (RPN) in FMEA.

As manufacturing departments are mostly dealing with failure effects and modes of machinery and maintenance departments are mostly dealing with causes of failures, the proposed model can support better coordination and integration between the two departments. Such support seems to be more important in firms with continuous production lines wherein line interruption influences response to customers more seriously. A wide range of future study opportunities indicates the attractiveness and contribution of the subject to the knowledge of FMEA.

Although the literature indicates that in most of studies the outcomes of QFD were entered into FMEA and in some studies the RPN of FMEA was entered into QFD as importance rating, the proposed approach is a true type of the so-called “integration of FMEA and QFD” because the three main elements of FMEA formed the structure of QFD. In other words, the proposed approach can be considered as an innovation in the FMEA structure, not as a data provider prior to it or a data receiver after it.

Industrial tourism not only strives to preserve industrial heritage, but can also be a strategy for being familiar with the history of industry and attracting tourists to new destinations. This paper examines the issue of promoting petroleum industrial tourism in the case of Khuzestan, Iran. The research aims at determining appropriate strategies for promoting petroleum industrial tourism.

The data were analysed through a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) model.

The results revealed the competitive strategy as the best. Lastly, strategies such as: concentric diversification, joint venture strategy, conglomerate diversification and horizontal diversification were proposed as key solutions. The results support the view that establishing an exploratory ecomuseum in the territory of Khuzestan Province can be a suitable concentric diversification strategy towards petroleum industrial sustainable tourism in the future.

The main originality of this paper includes linking tourism with the petroleum (oil and natural gas) industry and its natural landscapes for the first time in a case study. Therefore, the results of this research can extend the literature in this regards. Moreover, this paper attracts tourists to visit natural landscapes of petroleum heritage.

The purpose of this study is to present and explain a new customer segmentation approach inspired by failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) which can help classify customers into more accurate segments.

The present study offers a look at the three most commonly used approaches to assessing customer loyalty:net promoter score, loyalty ladder and loyalty matrix. A survey on the quality of restaurant services compares the results of categorizing customers according to these three most frequently used approaches.

A new way of categorizing customers through loyalty priority number (LPN) is proposed. LPN was designed as a major segmentation criterion consisting of customer loyalty rate, frequency of purchase of products or services and value of purchases. Using the proposed approach allows to categorize customers into four more comprehensive groups: random, bronze, silver and gold – according to their loyalty and value to the organization.

Survey will bring a more accurate way of categorizing customers even in those sectors where transaction data are not available. More accurate customer categorization will enable organizations to use targeting tools more effectively and improve product positioning.

The most commonly used categorization approaches such as net promoter score, loyalty ladder or loyalty matrix offer relatively general information about customer groups. The present study combines the benefits of these approaches with the principles of FMEA. The case study not only made it possible to offer a view of the real application of the proposed approach but also made it possible to make a uniform comparison of the accuracy of customer categorization.

The purpose of this research is to propose a new model for the integration of concurrent function deployment (CFD) and parameter (P) diagram in order to prioritize innovation factors.

Each of the approaches of CFD and P diagram and their features has been demonstrated and according to their common features, an integrated model has been designed in two phases. It has been examined in Sepahan Industrial Group, of which the major product is API gas pipeline network demanded by Isfahan Province Gas Organization. A questionnaire has been designed and delivered to four major units of Isfahan Province Gas Organization.

“Hydrostatic test” and “number of close end branch pipes” with the average values of 4.78 and 3.31 have been found as the first and last priorities of importance to customers, respectively. The output of the first phase includes “equipments” as the first priority of control factors, and “changing market or customers wants” as the first priority of noise factors. The results of the second phase show that “fault‐free product” and “successful innovation outcomes” are, respectively, recognized as first priorities of response factors. Finally, “successful innovation outcomes” has been determined as the first priority of response factors.

The matrixes of the two phases could become larger if the number of factors in the P diagram increases, and therefore, filling and analyzing the matrixes might become time consuming and difficult.

The proposed integrated model can be effective for almost all organizations that aim to meet the dynamic needs of markets and customers and intend to incorporate innovation in their products and services. By the new approach, determination and prioritization of innovation factors can be done based on customers' viewpoint, while in the traditional approaches this was done only from the viewpoint of engineers and designers.

Organizational democracy is the new model of organizational design for a Democratic Age, and out of this new model grows a freedom-centered and healthy climate. Democratic management is a key to greater organization success and a necessity to gain higher levels of performance and innovation. The purpose of this paper is to explore the antecedents and consequences of organizational democracy in an Iranian context.

Statistical population includes the employees of the Gas Company of Isfahan Province. For data analysis, 263 accurate completed questionnaires are used. Structural equation modeling is applied to investigate the relationship between the research variables.

The findings showed that some types of organizational culture (i.e. self-criticism, team, and participatory culture) (β=0.33); and some dimensions of organizational structure (i.e. decentralization, flat hierarchy, and less formalization) (β=0.55) as antecedent variables have a significant direct effect on organizational democracy. Also, organizational democracy has a significant direct effect on human resources outcomes consist of organizational commitment, self-efficacy, and improving work relationships (β=0.64); and organizational outcomes consist of organizational learning and organizational agility (β=0.96).

Despite years of encouragement from consultants and theorists, managers have generally shown little interest toward democratic process as a system of decision making and management in organizations. This study proposes a comprehensive model for identifying the antecedents and consequences of organizational democracy. Most studies in this field are theoretical rather than empirical. But, in this research, the proposed relationships are examined empirically.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and analyze a model of factors influencing interpersonal conflicts.

This research was conducted using a mixed method approach. In the qualitative study, the conceptual model of the factors affecting interpersonal conflicts was extracted from semi-structured interviews with 17 relevant experts using a theme analysis technique. Then, three hypotheses were developed based on the model and relevant theoretical evidence. Using a researcher-made questionnaire which was developed earlier based on the qualitative results, a quantitative-based survey was performed to assess the interpersonal conflicts and also the standard scale of the level of interpersonal conflicts (Jehn, 1997). The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 160 employees of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province Gas Company (CBPGC).

The results of the qualitative study indicated that individual factors including personality dimensions and individual differences; organizational factors including five dimensions of organizational culture, organizational structure, management characteristics, intra-organization factors and human resource systems; and environmental factors influenced the creation of interpersonal conflicts. The results of the quantitative study indicated that organizational factors with an effect size of 0.502 were identified as the most important factor influencing interpersonal conflicts.

The findings of this study can provide a roadmap to managers of the CBPGC to be aware of the contributing factors to conflict within their organization.

The use of mixed method to identify the causes and factors of interpersonal conflict and analyzing a context different from previous studies can be considered as the innovations of this study.

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the effect of organizational culture (OC), that is, group, developmental, hierarchical and rational culture on organizational learning (OL) of employees in electricity distribution companies of Isfahan province. Further, the role of the high-performance work system (HPWS) as a mediator between OC and OL has also been explored.

Questionnaire survey method has been used for data collection, and data analysis was completed through a two-stage partial least squares structural equation modeling technique. At the first stage, the measurement model was examined for construct validity and reliability, whereas at the second stage, the structural model and by implication the research hypotheses were tested.

Results indicate that OC positively affects OL. Further, HPWS act as a mediating variable between OC and OL.

The findings contribute to the existing literature by demonstrating the mediating role of HPWS in the relationship between OC and learning.

The purpose of this study is to propose a model to evaluate the performance of organizational units considering intellectual capital (IC) and employee loyalty approach applying principal component analysis and data envelopment analysis (PCA-DEA) method.

Organization units are considered as decision-making units, IC components including human capital (HC), structural capital (SC) and customer capital are inputs and employee loyalty is output. The principal component analysis was used to converts inputs and outputs into the independent variables. As a return to scale is variable, a modified envelopment input-oriented BCC model applied to obtain the efficiency of organization units. Also, all units of organization are ranked. Eventually, sensitivity analysis performed to show how input variables influence on output variable.

Operation, design and construction, production planning, internal affairs, quality control and security were recognized as efficient units. Also, units of operation, internal affairs and quality control ranked first to third, and the human resource unit earned the last rank. In addition, results of sensitivity analysis on input variables showed that the order of impact intensity is: customer capital, HC and SC, respectively.

Existence a framework for the development of human resource strategies and prioritization in the allocation of organizational resources to improve the performance of the organization considering human resources is vital. Most of the previous studies, just have examined the impact of IC on different dimensions of organizational performance. Meanwhile, evaluating the performance of IC with employee loyalty approach, using PCA-DEA simultaneously can evaluate and measure the impact of IC on the performance of the organization and its units regarding employee loyalty, which has a significant impact on improving the organization’s level of IC and human resource management.