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The purpose of this paper is to assess the maturity of human resource management (HRM) processes of the Sazehgostar Co. based on human resource (HR) process survey tool (PST) and provide solutions for them.

The HR PST was adopted as the reference model. Data were collected through interviews with HR experts and reviewing organisational documents. A scoring system (based on RADAR logic) is introduced to score the interviews and documents.

Each element of HR PST consists of ten maturity levels. The results of the assessment showed that the overall average of the organisation’s HRM processes maturity is at level 2. The process of data management and HR systems with a score of five received the highest score, and the organisational capability development, talent management and rewards and recognition processes with a score of 1 received the lowest score.

These findings enable management and HR management to measure the quality of HR processes and help them to prioritise development actions.

The existing literature does not present empirical research in the field of the maturity of HRM. Also, the analysis method used in this study will help organisations to perform self-assessment and determine the maturity of their processes.

Competition is tremendously increasing in all business areas, among which the pharmaceutical sector is one of the most profitable fields. Accordingly, an important research effort is to examine whether competitiveness in pharmaceutical markets follows the same rules. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate competitive strategies in this industry and present a proper framework.

To this end, a conceptual model of competitive strategies including cost leadership, quality and differentiation was designed based on previously proposed models in the literature. More precisely, the framework was established with the consideration of the pharmaceutical’s specific requirements. For testing the practicality the model, a questionnaire was designed and 80 generic pharmaceutical companies in Iran were selected as the statistical sample and effects of each strategy on export performance was evaluated. The questionnaires were distributed to senior managers and filled through in-person interviews. The collected data were analyzed using binomial, partial least square, confirmatory factor analysis and Friedman tests.

Among the strategies under investigation, cost leadership strategy had the strongest effects, while quality ranked second. The proposed framework can also be used for the evaluation of pharmaceutical companies’ export readiness. The results demonstrated that export readiness of the pharmaceutical companies was not desirable.

The ideas in this paper, which have untold value for pharmaceutical industries, are unique to competitive strategies in export marketing.

The barriers to integrating sustainable practices into construction project management require extensive resource allocations to resolve. Within developing countries such as Iran (where resources are scarce), remedial strategies adopted must prioritise tackling those barriers that can be expected to yield maximum return on investment. The candidate barriers are many, and this paper aims to identify a hierarchy of barriers, providing a priority list of remedial targets.

A mixed philosophical stance of interpretivism and post-positivism is adopted within a deductive approach and survey strategy. A list of 30 known barriers are identified from extant literature and used to formulate a questionnaire data collection instrument administered within the Iranian construction industry. Data collected from 176 practitioners are analysed using the relative importance index and Mann–Whitney U test to compare groups based on the participants' demographic variables.

The findings challenge the common assumption that items related to market and workforce experience are major inhibitors of change. That is, economics and regulatory dependent barriers have a higher impact on the failure of a shift to sustainable practices in Iran. The most influential barriers to incorporating sustainability in construction projects are: (1) lack of understanding of the potential benefits; (2) insufficient cooperation among practitioners, research institutions and environmental organisations; and (3) a lack of a systematic approach to pursuing sustainability goals. No significant associations are detected between the affiliation of the respondents and their attitude towards the issue. Thus, a generalised approach can be applied to a broader range of organisations and construction projects in Iran.

While studies on sustainability impediments at the firm or project level are ubiquitous within literature, this research identifies that the most significant barriers to sustainable project management in Iran, as an underexplored context, are those experienced at the economic and institutional level. Moreover, this novel research presents important insights into the potential effects of participants' demographic profiles on their view of the importance of identified barriers.

This research aims to develop an automated and optimization algorithms (OAs)-integrated 4D building information modeling (BIM) approach and a prototype and enable construction managers and practitioners to estimate the time of compound elements in building projects using the resource specification technique.

A 4D BIM estimation process was first developed by applying the resource specification and geometric information from the BIM model. A suite of OA including particle swarm optimization, ant colony, differential evolution and genetic algorithm were developed and compared in order to facilitate and automate the estimation process. The developed processes and porotypes were linked and integrated.

The OA-based automated 4D BIM estimation prototype was developed and validated through a real-life construction project. Different OAs were applied and compared, and the genetic algorithm was found as the best performing one. The prototype was successfully linked with BIM timeliner application. By using this approach, the start and finish dates of all object-based activities are developed, and the project completion time is automatically estimated.

Unlike conventional construction estimation methods which need various tools and are error prone and time-consuming, the developed method bypasses the existing time estimation tools and provides the integrated and automated process with BIM and machine learning algorithms. Furthermore, this approach integrates 4D BIM applications into construction design procedures, connected with OA automation.

Insufficient physical activity leads to an increase in chronic diseases. Skills-based health education methods are supposed to be more successful than traditional methods to promote healthy behaviors. Skills-based health education is an approach to create healthy lifestyles and skills using participatory methods. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of skill-based education method on physical activities of female adolescents.

This was an experimental study on 80 female public high school students aged 12-14 years old in Tehran. The participants were randomly divided into two groups: experimental group of 40 girls who were educated using “Skills-based education method,” and control group of 40 girls who were educated by lecture as a routine educational method for health promotion. Data were collected using a valid and reliable questionnaire to assess physical activity-related knowledge, attitudes and behavior. Data were gathered three times; before, immediately after (Phase 1) and two months after educational intervention (Phase 2). Data analysis was performed using SPSS 20.

Intra-group comparison demonstrated that both educational methods can increase knowledge, attitude and behavior of the students after intervention comparing to before intervention (RMANOVA; p<0.05). However, the comparison between groups demonstrated a significant higher increase of knowledge (t-test; p<0.01 and p<0.0; phase 1 and 2, respectively), and behavior (t-test; p<0.01 and p=0.002; phase 1 and 2, respectively) but not attitude (p=0.083 and p=0.125, phase 1 and 2, respectively) among the students participated in the experimental “skilled based health education” group rather than the control “lecture” group.

Skill-based health education comparing to routine lecture-based education creates deep and long lasting knowledge and behavior and is highly recommended for promoting physical activity and other health-related knowledge and among adolescents.

Herbal medicine has been used for the management of complications of diabetes. The purpose of this paper is to examine the anti-diabetic effects of Achillea millefolium extract on diabetic rats.

To this aim, 32 male Wistar rats were randomly assigned into four groups in which each group comprised eight rats. The four experimental groups were as follows: control group, diabetic control (DC) group (STZ; 50 mg/kg), diabetic rats, receiving 250 mg/kg hydro-alcoholic extract of the A. millefolium (DAM) and diabetic rats, receiving 5 mg/kg glibenclamide (DG). After 21 days of the treatment course, tissues of the kidney and blood samples were collected for histopathological, biochemical and molecular analysis.

The concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) and glucose serum were markedly reduced in the DC group while significantly increased in DG and DAM groups (1.11 ± 0.57 to 19.4 ± 3.5 and 17.8 ± 1.2 p = 0.002 and 325 ± 0.18 to 223 ± 0.11 and 211 ± 0.32 p = 0.02, respectively). Also, the activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were markedly reduced in the DC group while significantly increased in DAM and DG groups (9.1 ± 2.21 to 18.7 ± 3.81 and 14.9 ± 3.1 p = 0.03 and p = 0.02, respectively). The concentrations of creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and urea were substantially decreased in DAM and DG groups as compared with the DC group (0.49 ± 0.02 to 0.27 ± 0.01 and 0.25 ± 0.01 p = 0.01, 15.6 ± 2.1 to 7.2 ± 0.68 and 8.6 ± 1.2 p = 0.02 and 114 ± 9.4 to 59.8 ± 5.2 and 64 ± 5.2 p = 0.03, respectively). Also, Bcl-2-associated X protein (BAX) expression was significantly decreased in DAM and DG groups as compared with the DC group (1.3 ± 0.32 to 0.91 ± 0.03 and 0.93 ± 0.02 p = <0.01) and Bcl-2 expression were significantly increased in DAM and DG groups as compared with the DC group (0.42 ± 0.05 to 0.88 ± 0.07 and 0.85 ± 0.06 p = 0.01).

Diabetes led to degenerative damages in the kidney of rats and increased the mRNA level of Bax, while treatment with A. millefolium could protect the kidney tissue against diabetes complications and increased the mRNA expression of Bcl-2. This study indicated that A. millefolium extracts not only improves renal function as a result of anti-oxidant activity but also modulates some biochemical factors in diabetic rats.

Occupant behavior can lead to considerable uncertainties in thermal comfort and air quality within buildings. To tackle this challenge, the use of probabilistic controls to simulate occupant behavior has emerged as a potential solution. This study seeks to analyze the performance of free-running households by examining adaptive thermal comfort and CO2 concentration, both crucial variables in indoor air quality. The investigation of indoor environment dynamics caused by the occupants' behavior, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, became increasingly important. Specifically, it investigates 13 distinct window and shading control strategies in courtyard houses to identify the factors that prompt occupants to interact with shading and windows and determine which control approach effectively minimizes the performance gap.

This paper compares commonly used deterministic and probabilistic control functions and their effects on occupant comfort and indoor air quality in four zones surrounding a courtyard. The zones are differentiated by windows facing the courtyard. The study utilizes the energy management system (EMS) functionality of EnergyPlus within an algorithmic interface called Ladybug Tools. By modifying geometrical dimensions, orientation, window-to-wall ratio (WWR) and window operable fraction, a total of 465 cases are analyzed to identify effective control scenarios. According to the literature, these factors were selected because of their potential significant impact on occupants’ thermal comfort and indoor air quality, in addition to the natural ventilation flow rate. Additionally, the Random Forest algorithm is employed to estimate the individual impact of each control scenario on indoor thermal comfort and air quality metrics, including operative temperature and CO2 concentration.

The findings of the study confirmed that both deterministic and probabilistic window control algorithms were effective in reducing thermal discomfort hours, with reductions of 56.7 and 41.1%, respectively. Deterministic shading controls resulted in a reduction of 18.5%. Implementing the window control strategies led to a significant decrease of 87.8% in indoor CO2 concentration. The sensitivity analysis revealed that outdoor temperature exhibited the strongest positive correlation with indoor operative temperature while showing a negative correlation with indoor CO2 concentration. Furthermore, zone orientation and length were identified as the most influential design variables in achieving the desired performance outcomes.

It’s important to acknowledge the limitations of this study. Firstly, the potential impact of air circulation through the central zone was not considered. Secondly, the investigated control scenarios may have different impacts on air-conditioned buildings, especially when considering energy consumption. Thirdly, the study heavily relied on simulation tools and algorithms, which may limit its real-world applicability. The accuracy of the simulations depends on the quality of the input data and the assumptions made in the models. Fourthly, the case study is hypothetical in nature to be able to compare different control scenarios and their implications. Lastly, the comparative analysis was limited to a specific climate, which may restrict the generalizability of the findings in different climates.

Occupant behavior represents a significant source of uncertainty, particularly during the early stages of design. This study aims to offer a comparative analysis of various deterministic and probabilistic control scenarios that are based on occupant behavior. The study evaluates the effectiveness and validity of these proposed control scenarios, providing valuable insights for design decision-making.

This study aims to assess the relationship between managerial entrenchment and the chance of fraud in financial statements, which are the only available source for shareholders’ decisions, so their accuracy and reliability are of great importance. Hence, the realization of contributing factors to preventing financial information distortion is vital. Moreover, managerial entrenchment on the chance of fraud in the company’s upcoming years has also been analyzed.

The factor analysis of five variables [chief executive officer (CEO) duality, managerial ownership, board independence, board compensation and CEO tenure] is used for management entrenchment. To examine the hypothesis testing, multivariate regressions, feasible general least squares regression and Logit model regression are used. The statistical sample under study in this paper includes 1,122 year-company observations during 2013–2018 and Beneish’s (1999) model is used for evaluating fraud.

The study results show a negative and significant relationship between management entrenchment and the chance of fraud in financial statements. That means managers with a higher degree of managerial entrenchment are more likely to create value and acquire wealth for the firm, and that causes them not to waste and waste the firm resources through enhancing the supervisory mechanisms. Moreover, the study results also show that improving and strengthening management entrenchment will lower the upcoming years’ fraud condition.

The current paper is the first time that the relationship between managerial entrenchment and financial statement fraud is assessed within a study. The results of the paper help the beneficiaries and shareholders realize different aspects of management entrenchment. That means managers’ power and authority can be used to make shareholders’ interests, but they can hinder misuse and fraud.

This paper investigates how global talent management processes are adopted and implemented in a virtual organization to successfully address the challenges of global work arrangements and the sustainable human and social outcomes that can be achieved.

Adopting a single, exploratory and critical case study methodology, this paper analyzes a global distributed company, Automattic Inc., to provide in-depth and rich insights on successful business process management in the human resources (HR) domain.

The findings offer some exemplary and valuable lessons in sustainable human resource management for firms in all sectors on how to embrace global talent management in a more creative and sustainable way – and the benefits in terms of efficiency and effectiveness that can be derived – by identifying talent through auditions, recruiting by inspiring others to apply, developing talent by sharing the value of learning and retaining talent by having fun.

The study contributes a more rounded understanding of successful business process management in the HR domain. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is particularly relevant and timely for all organizations (traditional or virtual) venturing into successful global work arrangements.

The purpose of this paper is to carry out a numerical study on the dynamic and thermal behavior of a fluid with a constant property and flowing turbulently through a two-dimensional horizontal rectangular channel. The upper surface was put in a constant temperature condition, while the lower one was thermally insulated. Two transverse, solid-type obstacles, having different shapes, i.e. flat rectangular and V-shaped, were inserted into the channel and fixed to the top and bottom walls of the channel, in a periodically staggered manner to force vortices to improve the mixing, and consequently the heat transfer. The flat rectangular obstacle was put in the first position and was placed on the hot top wall of the channel. However, the second V-shaped obstacle was placed on the insulated bottom wall, at an attack angle of 45°; its position was varied to find the optimum configuration for optimal heat transfer.

The fluid is considered Newtonian, incompressible with constant properties. The Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes equations, along with the standard k-epsilon turbulence model and the energy equation, are used to control the channel flow model. The finite volume method is used to integrate all the equations in two-dimensions; the commercial CFD software FLUENT along with the SIMPLE-algorithm is used for pressure-velocity coupling. Various values of the Reynolds number and obstacle spacing were selected to perform the numerical runs, using air as the working medium.

The channel containing the flat fin and the 45° V-shaped baffle with a large Reynolds number gave higher heat transfer and friction loss than the one with a smaller Reynolds number. Also, short separation distances between obstacles provided higher values of the ratios Nu/Nu₀ and f/f₀ and a larger thermal enhancement factor (TEF) than do larger distances.

This is an original work, as it uses a novel method for the improvement of heat transfer in completely new flow geometry.