Future of Work and Digital Management Journal

Designing a Performance Evaluation Model for Knowledge Workers in the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran

Mehrdad Faraghat iD , Bahram Alishiri ^* iD , Seyed Ahmad Hosseini Golafshani iD

This study aimed to design and validate a comprehensive performance evaluation model for knowledge workers in the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. An exploratory sequential mixed-methods design was employed. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 academic and organizational experts selected purposively until theoretical saturation was reached. Interview data were analyzed through thematic analysis, thematic-network analysis, and the fuzzy Delphi technique using MAXQDA. In the quantitative phase, the statistical population consisted of 110 knowledge workers, managers, and supervisors, of whom 85 were selected through stratified simple random sampling based on Cochran’s formula. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire whose content validity was confirmed by 10 experts. A pilot study was conducted with 30 employees, and the questionnaire demonstrated high internal consistency. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS and partial least squares structural equation modeling. Qualitative coding generated 60 indicators classified into eight dimensions: perceived supervisory support, team empowerment, perceived support for innovation, psychological safety, social cohesion, information sharing, internal communication, and external communication. Inter-coder reliability was confirmed by a significant Cohen’s kappa coefficient of 0.758 (p < .001). All indicators were retained after two fuzzy Delphi rounds, with inter-round differences below 0.80. Exploratory factor analysis was supported by KMO = 0.914 and a significant Bartlett’s test, χ²(1770) = 11,876.408, p < .001. Eight factors with eigenvalues greater than one explained 57.585% of the variance. All first-order factor loadings exceeded 0.40 and were significant at p < .001. Second-order loadings ranged from 0.730 to 0.867. Cronbach’s alpha values ranged from 0.733 to 0.947, composite reliability ranged from 0.849 to 0.952, and all AVE values exceeded 0.50. Discriminant validity was confirmed through the Fornell–Larcker criterion, cross-loadings, and HTMT values below 0.90. Model fit was acceptable, with SRMR = 0.071 and NFI = 0.800. Expert validation also confirmed the model’s internal, external, and overall validity (p < .01). The validated model provides a reliable and multidimensional framework for evaluating knowledge-worker performance by integrating managerial, team-based, innovative, psychological, social, and communicational dimensions.

A Systematic Review of the Roles of Knowledge Management in the Public Sector: Synthesis and Future Directions

Shahram Begzadeh ^* iD , Raana Kazemi iD

The primary objective of this study was to examine and synthesize the role of knowledge management in the public sector. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework, this study evaluated the role of knowledge management in public-sector organizations by analyzing 33 selected articles published in journals indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection. The findings indicated that researchers employed diverse methodologies and applied a range of theoretical perspectives in this field. Furthermore, the publication trend during the period under review demonstrated a gradual and continuous increase in studies addressing knowledge management in the public sector, with researchers adopting a variety of research methodologies. This systematic review identified three principal themes in knowledge management research: first, knowledge management aimed at organizational improvement; second, knowledge management intended to enhance citizen satisfaction; and third, knowledge management directed toward the management of collaborative innovation. These three themes constitute the central focus of research conducted in this field.

Assessing the Role of Risk in Corporate Entrepreneurship: The Mediating Roles of Innovation and Research and Development

Farrokh Zargarian iD , Tahmoures Sohrabi ^* iD , Ahmadreza Kasraei iD

Corporate entrepreneurship is an important managerial approach that has attracted considerable attention from researchers and managers over the past several decades. Corporate entrepreneurship concerns the development of ideas and opportunities within existing organizations. This concept reflects organizations’ ability to transform threats into opportunities, improve processes, and create new value within existing organizational structures. Risk, innovation, and research and development are among the factors that may influence corporate entrepreneurship. This study aimed to assess the role of risk in corporate entrepreneurship, with innovation and research and development serving as mediating variables. Accordingly, a research framework was initially developed through a review of the theoretical literature. Based on this framework, the conceptual model was formulated, and the research hypotheses were developed. To test the hypotheses, the statistical population consisted of 60 managers and experts employed by a knowledge-based company operating in the oil and gas industry. Because the entire population was included through a census approach, the questionnaire was distributed among all personnel. The questionnaire items were adopted from valid and relevant sources, and their validity and reliability were confirmed. Convergent and discriminant validity were used to assess validity, while composite reliability was employed to evaluate reliability. Because the data were not normally distributed, partial least squares structural equation modeling was performed using SmartPLS 2. Based on the significance values obtained for the hypothesized relationships, all hypotheses were supported. The effect of risk on research and development was 0.851, the effect of risk on corporate entrepreneurship was 0.583, the effect of risk on innovation was 0.764, the effect of research and development on corporate entrepreneurship was 0.877, and the effect of innovation on corporate entrepreneurship was 0.845. Finally, recommendations were proposed for improving corporate entrepreneurship.

A Systematic Review of Human Resource Management Strategies for Enhancing Employees’ Psychological Flexibility: A Case Study of Wasit Governorate

Falah Sultan Malih AL-Duraye iD , Hassan DanaeeFard ^* iD , Mahdi Mortazavi

This study aimed to identify, classify, and integrate human resource management strategies and influential factors that enhance employees’ psychological flexibility in public organizations, with particular emphasis on Wasit Governorate, Iraq. A systematic review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Studies addressing human resource management, psychological flexibility, employee resilience, and adaptive performance were retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science, supplemented by searches in Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, MDPI, Springer Open Access, and Emerald Open Access. Eligibility criteria were developed using the PICo framework and focused on public-sector employees, managerial strategies and mechanisms, and governmental or local administrative settings. Following a multistage screening procedure, 40 eligible articles were included in the final synthesis. Methodological quality was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist, and the evidence was extracted and synthesized through systematic content analysis. The integrated evidence indicated that strategic and high-involvement human resource management, supportive and adaptive leadership, continuous learning and development opportunities, flexible work arrangements, and training interventions involving mindfulness, self-regulation, and values clarification enhanced employees’ psychological flexibility. These effects were primarily explained by improvements in psychological capital, self-efficacy, emotional regulation, psychological safety, social support, mutual trust, and perceived organizational justice. The final conceptual model connected four interrelated levels: organizational strategies, psychological mechanisms, social and team resources, and individual and organizational outcomes. Enhancing employees’ psychological flexibility requires the coordinated implementation of supportive human resource practices and the development of employees’ psychological and social resources. Psychological capital and perceived organizational support emerged as the central mechanisms linking human resource strategies to adaptive and productive employee outcomes. The proposed framework can guide human resource managers and policymakers in Wasit Governorate in designing context-sensitive interventions that strengthen employee well-being, adaptability, and organizational performance.

A Systematic Review of Socially Responsible Banking and the Identification of Its Human Resource Requirements in the Iraqi Banking Sector

Haider Yousif Ibrahim Al-Zuhairi iD , Seyed Hosein Kazemi ^* iD , Mahdi Mortazavi iD

The present study aimed to identify, classify, and integrate the antecedents, components, consequences, and requirements of socially responsible banking, with particular emphasis on the role of human resources in the Iraqi banking sector. The study adopted a systematic review approach and was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. The study population comprised scholarly works related to socially responsible banking, sustainable banking, green banking, corporate social responsibility, environmental, social, and governance criteria, and the role of human resource management in the banking industry. A systematic search was conducted in the Scopus and Web of Science databases, supplemented by searches of open-access scholarly sources and the reference lists of relevant studies. After duplicate, irrelevant, and methodologically inadequate studies had been excluded, 23 articles—16 identified through the primary search pathway and seven through the supplementary pathway—were included in the final analysis. Study quality was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist, and the data were analyzed through systematic content analysis, conceptual categorization, narrative synthesis, and final model development. The results indicated that institutional pressures, stakeholder expectations, legal requirements, competitive pressures, and environmental crises were the most important antecedents of socially responsible banking. Green banking, corporate social responsibility, ESG criteria, human capital, transparency, accountability, and green finance were also identified as its principal components. The consequences were identified at the organizational, human, and societal levels and included risk reduction, improved sustainable performance, strengthened legitimacy and trust, increased employee commitment, and support for sustainable development. Furthermore, managerial commitment, systematic training, the development of green competencies, reform of performance appraisal systems, aligned incentive systems, organizational culture development, and employee empowerment were identified as the central human resource requirements. Human resources constitute the principal mechanism through which institutional pressures and sustainability policies are translated into responsible banking behaviors. Therefore, the institutionalization of socially responsible banking in Iraq requires the strategic alignment of human resource policies and practices with social, environmental, and governance objectives.

Designing an Organizational Agility Model Using the Quantum Management Paradigm in Quasi-Governmental Companies

Ayatollah Rashid Kershan iD , Mansoure Moradi Haghighi ^* iD , Farshad Hajalian iD , Mahmood Mahmoodzadeh iD

In today’s turbulent, complex, and unpredictable environment, quasi-governmental organizations, particularly the Civil Servants Pension Fund, need organizational agility capabilities to respond effectively to stakeholders’ needs, enhance productivity, and maintain organizational sustainability. Furthermore, the quantum management paradigm, through its emphasis on systems thinking, complexity management, flexibility, intuition, learning, and innovation, can provide an appropriate foundation for developing organizational agility. Accordingly, the present study aimed to design and explain a model of organizational agility based on the quantum management paradigm in the Civil Servants Pension Fund. In terms of purpose, this study was applied, and in terms of approach, it was qualitative and conducted using thematic analysis. The participants comprised academic experts and senior and middle managers familiar with management, organizational agility, and quantum management, who were selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using coding and thematic analysis procedures. The findings resulted in the identification of eight organizing themes and 16 basic themes. The organizing themes included quantum skills, quantum leadership, quantum-agile structure, quantum-agile culture, quantum-agile human resources, quantum-agile capabilities, quantum intelligent technology, and strategic agility. The basic themes consisted of quantum thinking and cognition; quantum feeling, trust, and action; interactive and participative leadership; quantum decision-making; agile and fluid structures; quantum communication; a culture of innovation and risk-taking; learning and knowledge management; human resource competency development; human empowerment and flexibility; agile processes; continuous improvement and dynamic quality; agile technological infrastructure; data-driven technologies; organizational innovation and transformation; and environmental interactions. Ultimately, 115 initial codes were classified under these themes, and the final research model was developed. The findings demonstrated that organizational agility in the Civil Servants Pension Fund is a multidimensional concept whose realization requires the simultaneous development of human, managerial, structural, cultural, technological, and strategic capabilities within the quantum management paradigm. Accordingly, quantum skills and quantum leadership, as the principal drivers of the model, provide the foundation for developing flexible structures, a learning-oriented culture, empowered human resources, intelligent technologies, and strategic capabilities. Implementing this model can enhance flexibility, responsiveness, innovation, service quality, and the sustainability of the Civil Servants Pension Fund in addressing environmental challenges.

Presenting a Media Governance Model with Emphasis on Fake News Management in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Mehdi Esmaeili Alamoti iD , Mohammadreza Karimi ^* iD , Morteza Hazrati iD

Fake news management is regarded as an important dimension of sound media governance and, according to many media scholars, this dimension is considered the most important pillar of sound media governance. The aim of this study was to present a media governance model with emphasis on fake news management in the age of artificial intelligence. This study employed a mixed-methods design (qualitative–quantitative) and was basic in terms of purpose. In terms of data collection method, it was also considered a field study. The participants in the qualitative section included experts consisting of former managers of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), experts in the field of IRIB journalism, IRIB presenters, IRIB news editors and desk editors, experts in media and cyberspace in the Parliament, information technology managers, managers and experts working in the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, and directors general of public relations departments in various organizations. The number of participants was 16, who were selected through non-probability purposive sampling. The data collection instrument in the qualitative section was a semi-structured interview, and open, axial, and selective coding were used to analyze the data. Grounded theory was also used to design and test the model. All coding procedures were conducted using MAXQDA 2020 software. The results of axial and selective coding showed that public access to content production tools, the economic logic and platform algorithms, public trust and cognitive warfare, and geopolitical rivalries played roles as causal conditions in the model. The concepts related to the central phenomenon included technology and algorithms, flexibility and dynamism, legal and regulatory dimensions, education and media literacy, the behavior and interaction of members of society, and institutional and policymaking dimensions. Technological strategy, editorial and professional strategy, platform strategy, educational and social strategy, continuous review of models and policies, the creation of a culture of collective response, and legal and political strategy were identified as the strategies of the model. The concepts related to intervening conditions included governmental institutions, the behavior of members of society, social networks, and the knowledge and awareness of members of society. The concepts related to contextual conditions included social transformations, society’s immersion in technology, and the penetration of information technology. Finally, the individual level, social level, institutional and democratic level, and media level were identified as the outcomes of the model. The statistical population in the quantitative section consisted of media experts, and the sample size was considered to be 223 individuals, selected using Cohen’s method. The sampling method in this section was simple random sampling, and the data collection instrument was a questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data, and the obtained results indicated significant relationships among the components of the research paradigm model.

Explaining an Online Consumer Behavior Model in the Retail Industry: A Mixed-Methods Approach Based on Artificial Intelligence Tools

Arash Faridi , Morteza Mahmoudzadeh ^* iD , Hossein Budaghi Khajeh Nobar iD

This study aimed to explain a comprehensive model of online consumer behavior in Iran’s retail industry, with an emphasis on the role of artificial intelligence tools and local contextual considerations. The study was conducted using an exploratory mixed-methods design. In the qualitative phase, the main categories were extracted through grounded theory and semi-structured interviews with 15 experts in the retail industry. Subsequently, in the quantitative phase, a researcher-developed questionnaire was designed based on the qualitative findings and administered to 384 customers selected through convenience-based random sampling. The conceptual model was then tested. Quantitative data were analyzed using path analysis and structural equation modeling. The qualitative findings resulted in the identification of a paradigmatic model comprising causal conditions, including intelligent personalization and data-driven interaction; contextual conditions, including technological infrastructure, digital trust, and a culture of technology acceptance; and intervening conditions, including privacy concerns and economic constraints. In addition to confirming the significance of the proposed relationships, the quantitative findings demonstrated that “environmental readiness for e-commerce” played a key mediating role in transforming intelligent capabilities into an “intelligent purchasing process” and “perceived value.” The analyses indicated that artificial intelligence exerted direct and significant effects on customer satisfaction and loyalty by improving the quality of the customer experience and simplifying the decision-making journey. The proposed model demonstrates that artificial intelligence in Iran’s retail industry is not merely a technological tool but rather a strategic capability whose success depends on a dual approach integrating technology and ethics. Explaining consumer behavior in this complex environment requires strengthening trust-building infrastructure and algorithmic transparency alongside the development of data analytics capabilities. The findings provide retail managers with a roadmap for transitioning toward “knowledge-based intelligent retailing” to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.

Future of Work and Digital Management Journal

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Proposing a Framework to Strengthen Supply Chain Financing in Iran with a Focus on FinTech Capabilities

Design and Validation of a Self-Directed Learning Management Model in Organizational Training at Bank Sepah

Assessment of the Effectiveness of Iraq’s Futsal Development Model: A Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) Approach with Emphasis on Performance Indicators

The Relationship Between the Extent of Using Product and Service Images in Virtual Networks and the Dominant Atmosphere of Political Interactions with the Increase of Iran–Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Trade Exchanges

Providing the Consumer Behavior Model with a Green Marketing Approach

The Paradox of Early Retirement: Idealized Liberation or Real Constraint? An Analysis within the Dialectic of Agency and Structure

Designing a Conceptual Model of Place Branding for the Border Provinces of West Azerbaijan with a Communicative and Persuasive Approach

Designing a Model of Antecedents and Consequences of Employees’ Loneliness in Governmental Organizations: A Case Study of Ilam City

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