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The purpose of this paper is to develop an Internet of Things (IoT)-based framework for supply chain (SC) performance measurement and real-time decision alignment. The aims of the proposed model are to optimize the performance indicator based on integrated supply chain operations reference metrics.

The SC multi-dimensional structure is modeled by multi-objective optimization methods. The operational presented model considers important SC features thoroughly such as multi-echelons, several suppliers, several manufacturers and several products during multiple periods. A multi-objective mathematical programming model is then developed to yield the operational decisions with Pareto efficient performance values and solved using a well-known meta-heuristic algorithm, i.e., non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II. Afterward, Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution method is used to determine the best operational solution based on the strategic decision maker’s idea.

This paper proposes a dynamic integrated solution for three main problems: strategic decisions in high level, operational decisions in low level and alignment of these two decision levels.

The authors propose a human intelligence-based process for high level decision and machine intelligence-based decision support systems for low level decision using a novel approach. High level and low level decisions are aligned by a machine intelligence model as well. The presented framework is based on change detection, event driven planning and real-time decision alignment.

This study aims to examine the role of organisational democracy (OD) in facilitating the knowledge sharing (KS) process within companies, thus considering the effect of different OD principles.

The authors used data collected through a questionnaire on a sample of 254 employees at private universities and colleges to test the relationship between OD and KS. Data were analysed using the structural equation modelling technique.

Overall, OD has a direct and significant effect on facilitating KS in organisations. Also, the results showed that there are different degrees and intensities among the individual principles (sub-concepts) of OD and KS.

The findings highlight the important role of democracy in an organisation to enhance the organisational climate and employees’ behaviours, thus leading to higher KS outcomes. Also, results, provide an opportunity for managers to consider enhancing democracy in an organisation for improving internal collaboration effectiveness in KS.

This paper sheds light and adds new knowledge to embryonic studies that are directed towards the integration of democracy within the main concept of knowledge management (KM). This emphasises the need to use and stimulate OD and its principles for improving the effectiveness of KM practices with specific attention to KS.

The purpose of this paper is to describe optical flow‐based navigation of a very light fixed‐wing aircraft in flight between obstacles.

The optical flow information of two cameras mounted on the aircraft is used to detect the obstacle. It is assumed that the image processing has been completed and the optical flow vectors have been obtained beforehand. The optical flow is used to detect the obstacles and make a rapid turn manoeuvre for the aircraft.

It is shown that using the optical flow feedback by itself is unable to give a rapid turn to the aircraft and its rate should be employed into the control law. Six degree‐of‐freedom flight simulation showed that the proposed navigation and control strategy give satisfactory results in different flight environments like corridors with parallel and non‐parallel walls and in the L junctions. Simulations also showed that the aircraft flight velocity has little effect on collision avoidance performance.

This paper provides a theoretical framework to study the different parameters affect the obstacle detection and avoidance of an aircraft.

An analytical equation has been developed to relate the obstacle detection distance to the aircraft manoeuvrability parameters. In addition, an optical flow‐based controller also has been designed to provide rapid turn manoeuvres using the aileron control surface.

The purpose of this study is to design, program and implement an intelligent robot for shelf-reading. an essential task in library maintenance is shelf-reading, which refers to the process of checking the disciplines of books based on their call numbers to ensure that they are correctly shelved. Shelf-reading is a routine yet challenging task for librarians, as it involves controlling call numbers on the scale of thousands of books promptly.

Leveraging the strength of autonomous robots in handling repetitive tasks, this paper introduces a novel vision-based shelf-reader robot, called \emph{Pars} and demonstrate its effectiveness in accomplishing shelf-reading tasks. Also, this paper proposes a novel supervised approach to power the vision system of \emph{Pars}, allowing it to handle motion blur on images captured while it moves. An approach based on Faster R-CNN is also incorporated into the vision system, allowing the robot to efficiently detect the region of interest for retrieving a book’s information.

This paper evaluated the robot’s performance in a library with $120,000 books and discovered problems such as missing and misplaced books. Besides, this paper introduces a new challenging data set of blurred barcodes free publicly available for similar research studies.

The robot is equipped with six parallel cameras, which enable it to check books and decide moving paths. Through its vision-based system, it is also capable of routing and tracking paths between bookcases in a library and it can also turn around bends. Moreover, \emph{Pars} addresses the blurred barcodes, which may appear because of its motion.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of earnings management (EM) on the reputation of family and non-family firms in companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange.

Data of variables under study are gathered from audited financial statements disclosed through official websites of firms Tehran Stock Exchange market using the multiple regression model for 156 firms during a five-year period (2012–2016). Two hypotheses are developed for achieving the objectives of the study. To analyze the data, a panel data model through Stata Software is applied. F-Limer and Hausman test are employed to modify the appropriate fitting regression model. Also, basic hypotheses of each model are implemented using the White and Hadri tests.

The obtained results suggest a negative and significant relationship between discretionary accrual (DA) management and the reputation of family firms. Furthermore, it is found that there is a significant and negative relationship between real accrual management and the reputation of family firms, and subsequently, there is a significant and negative relationship between DA management and non-family firms, and there is a significant and negative relationship between real EM and the reputation of non-family firms.

In this study, due to focus on the effect of reputation and special methods of authorities on family and non-family firms and EM, a number of firms which contribute to the literature of the field are proposed.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the incremental difference between the actual level of cash from the optimal amount (excess and insufficient cash) to the abnormal amount of cash (abnormal positive and negative changes in cash) leads to an increase in audit fees.

To investigate the main purpose of this study, first, the authors, respectively, estimate the optimal cash flow and the normal (optimal) changes in cash by Oler and Picconi (2014) and Bates, Kahle and Stulz (2009) models for each period. In this regard, financial information of 116 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange is selected during the period 2011-2016.

The results of this investigation indicate that holding an excessive amount of cash than optimal size and audit fees are negatively associated. Moreover, it is documented that abnormal changes in cash flow and audit fees are not significantly associated.

The outcomes of the current study contribute to providing an accurate estimation to determine audit fees in emerging markets.

The present study aims to assess the effect of managerial entrenchment on firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and financial performance in Iran.

In this paper, the variable of managerial entrenchment, which includes board independence, management duality, management tenure, the board compensation, independence and ownership percentage, is initially analyzed using the exploratory factor analysis method, and its effect on performance and CSR is evaluated using the multivariable regression test. Given that a total of 103 listed companies on the Tehran Stock Exchange are selected during 2012–2017. In this paper, return on assets (ROA) and Tobin’s Q are the two variables to measure financial performance.

The results of hypotheses testing indicate that there is a positive and significant relationship between managerial entrenchment and financial performance based on the ROA and Tobin’s Q indices, separately. Moreover, the results of this study indicate that there is also a positive and significant relationship between managerial entrenchment and CSR activities.

The current study almost is the first study, conducted in a developing country similar to Iran, and the provided results might be beneficial to other developing countries.

Despite the undoubted role of knowledge in the small family business (FB) in the restaurant and fast-food industry, there are some main challenges in the knowledge-sharing (KS) orientation for promoting their business. This study tries to recognise and explore the drivers influencing these enterprises' KS processes.

The authors applied combined exploratory and confirmatory analysis in two studies. In the first study, by the Delphi method, the 22 experts consisting of managers, FB owners and academic professors explore and forecast significant items and drivers. The second study is a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for validating the first study's indicators using the survey collected amongst 218 restaurants and fast foods employees.

The findings indicate 23 indicators in three main drivers of individual, organisational and technological, are critical for KS in small FBs in the investigated industry.

This research supports the understanding of knowledge management and the FB and contributes to recognising the influential factors for KS amongst small and medium-sized family businesses in the food-related industry. Also, by identifying and ranking the most significant factors, this research will help entrepreneurs facilitate FB entrepreneurship. Finally, the results provide practical implications for current and future KM and FB decision-makers.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the relationship between the characteristics of the audit committee and the board and profitability among the companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) in Iran.

In this study, the companies listed on the TSE during the period from 2010 to 2015 are investigated. The Linear panel regression method is employed for this purpose. The independent variables of the study are composed of some corporate governance mechanisms including audit committee size, audit committee expertise, board size, board independence, chief executive officer (CEO) duality, and institutional ownership.

In spite of the fact that there does not exist any significant association between audit committee size and corporate financial performance, the results indicate that there is a positive and significant relationship between audit committee financial expertise and profitability. The authors found that the number of board members cannot affect corporate performance; moreover, duality of CEO role in Iranian companies does not affect company performance. However, the outcomes showed a positive and significant association between the proportion of outside directors on the board (board independence) and profitability at 99 percent confidence level. This implies that the role of non-executive directors in Iran is inconsistent with the stewardship theory. This is due to the fact that independent directors understand the status of business and market better than the board’s executive members. Finally, the results indicated that there is no significant association between institutional owners and Iranian companies’ performance.

The findings of this study will reveal more than ever the role of corporate governance mechanisms for society and users of financial statements because as tools on the CEO actions, they always have to pay attention to the implementation of corporate principles in the economic entity’ operation.

This is one of the most important studies that simultaneously examine the impacts of characteristics of the audit committee and the board on profitability in an emerging market, and the results of the study may give strength to Iranian as well other developing countries.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of product market competition and corporate governance on firm’s management performance in the Tehran Stock Exchange market. According to the research literature, the governance mechanisms used in this study consist of ownership structure, structure of the board of directors and capital structure. In addition, Herfindahl–Hirschman Index and market size were used to measure the product market competition.

This study used one selected sample among the firms in the capital market of Iran from 2004 to 2012.

The results of this study indicated that there is a significant relation among the major governance mechanisms (including ownership concentration, independence of the board of directors and debt ratio) and product market competition and management performance. The findings of this study also showed that product market competition is effective on the relation between corporate governance and the performance, and this is what has been ignored in most of the conducted studies.

In general, the results of this study supported the idea that product market competition is effective on implementation and efficiency of governance mechanisms.