Evaluating Intelligent Research and Development Management Model in Petrochemical Industry: An Agility Approach
Subject Areas : Human resources management)Mahboubeh Darvishpour 1 , Saber Khandan Alamdari 2 , gholamreza hashemzadehkhooresgani 3
1 - Ph.D. Candidate of technology management department, Roudhen branch, Islamic Azad University, Roudhen branch, Iran.
2 - Assistant Professor, Department of Industrial Management, Roudhen Branch, Islamic Azad University, Roudhen, Iran
3 - Associate Professor, Department of Industrial Management, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
Keywords: agility, research and development management, intelligence,
Abstract :
The research and development department (R&D) is a necessary and vital organ for all organizations that intend to be active in domestic and foreign markets, and it is of undeniable importance for domestic and international competition as one of the most important factors for achieving the goals of organizations and industries in economic progress and access to commercial markets. Hence, in the present study, the intelligent R&D management model was evaluated with an agility approach, and to this end, the data was collected from 270 participants using a questionnaire, including managers, professors, senior experts, and experts of petrochemical companies. Then, the fitted data, obtained from the structural equation model, was analyzed with the help of partial least squares method using PLS statistical software. The results of the path coefficients showed that there is a significant relationship between the research variables and the evaluation indices of the model fit. Also, it was found that the relevant model has a good fit. Therefore, it can be stated that intelligent research and development management with an agility approach has improved processes, innovation, optimized communication, and also has financial and competitive consequences for the organization.
Key Words: agility, research and development management, intelligence
- Introduction
Today, with the technological advancements, we are witnessing rapid and innovative changes in the world, each of which can have a different effect on the field of business. Superior technologies are considered one of the main factors of a country's development and development, and in today's world, the development of technology will be associated with economic development in terms of the direct nature of knowledge and the creation of new skills. With the ever-increasing demand for knowledge in organizations and at the same time, the phenomenon of increasing information and irregular data, organizations are forced to try to benefit more from intelligence. On the other hand, it is expected that an organization not only reacts to external factors or departments, but also tries to lead and pay attention to strategic positioning in the proposal and implementation of creative programs. The survival of today's organizations depends on eliminating unnecessary processes and responding quickly to environmental conditions, paying attention to the needs of the markets, and focusing on meeting the requirements in the shortest time with the best quality. Since the petrochemical industry is considered one of the strategic industries in a country and the developments of this industry can have a great impact on the global economy and the countries that are prominent in this industry. On the other hand, the petrochemical industry constitutes a large part of the country's non-oil export and capital market, and the developments of this sector can have significant effects on the country's economy. Therefore, in order to benefit from global and regional markets, basic arrangements should be made and in this way, the role of research and development activities in this industry becomes significant. Therefore, in this research, the researcher evaluates the fit of the intelligent research and development management model with an agility approach in the petrochemical industry of Iran.
2.Literature Review
Based on the topic of the research, first, the definitions of the related concepts have been stated. Then, some of the studies related to the research variables are reviewed and the significance of the present study is stated. Research and Development: Research in the term refers to science and technology or a profession that, as a result of its application, scientific, economic or social unknown issues become clarified and revealed to such an extent that many of the results are effective in improving people’s well-being, comfort and standard of living, and the human society can benefit from such an effort for its benefit (Radfar & Khamse, 2015). Smart organization: Smartness is an adjective that describes the organization itself. Therefore, an organization becomes intelligent when in various fields such as trade, competition, business, culture, knowledge, and implementation, it is able to realize the mission, and goals of the organization through collecting information and making timely and effective decisions. It can be said that the intelligence of an organization is a multifaceted category, that is, an intelligent organization not only avoids partiality, but also puts a comprehensive perspective on the agenda (Tabarsa & Nazari Puri, 2013). In their study, Yildiran and others (2022), found that the environmental factor has a great impact on organizations. Organizational agility works better in organizational structures that have dynamics. Thanks to organizational agility, companies can operate more effectively in the organizational environment. Qalichkhani and Hakak (2016) related the business intelligence measurement tool to organizational agility and its empowerment. They argue that the effect of business on organizational agility is effective through the empowerment of intermediary variables. In this research, by relying on the related literature and the theoretical framework, the researchers investigated the existing gap in this field, and by fitting the intelligent research and development management model within an agility approach, they showed the relevance of the categories and the generalizability of the model.
3.Methodology
In terms of philosophical premise, with regard to ontology and epistemology, the present research is considered a positivistic model for itself, and naturally, from an analogical point of view and with a quantitative approach, it attempts to test a theoretical background in a different format in a new statistical population. Then, with a descriptive strategy as a road map that Bryant gave in 2017 for original research, the present study is considered non-experimental, in which the researchers use movements and tactics in order to test the theorems as the goals of this research. Since this research requires sampling from the target population and according to Professor Klein's opinion regarding the exploratory sample, stated in 2016, the minimum sample should be 200 to 400, the researchers for this exploratory research distributed 300 questionnaires, containing 110 items (the items are the result of the researcher's qualitative research which was obtained through interviews with experts with the help of Max QDA software) and finally managed to receive 270 completed and acceptable questionnaires, which were the basis of the research data.
4.Result
The validity of the data was ensured with the help of some professors and experts in the field, and eight specialists were consulted to check the content validity of the data. The amount of CVR index obtained from the opinions of the experts indicates that all indices are more than 0.75 which shows the high validity of the questionnaire. Moreover, the CVI of all questions is above 0.79, which confirms the content validity of the indicators (questionnaire). Also, the sample size statistic of 0.929, close to 1, generally shows that factor analysis may be very suitable for analyzing the data and since the significance level of sphericity of the Bartlett sample is 0.000, less than 0.05, as a result, the evaluated model of intelligent research and development management within an agility approach in the field of petrochemical industry has a suitable fit and shows the adequacy of the samples to perform factor analysis. After ensuring the adequacy of the research data to perform factor analysis, it is necessary to ensure the accuracy of the measurement models of the research variables. This analysis was done by structural equation modeling, using PLS statistical software. All the items are found to have a suitable factor load on their related variables, that is, the factor load of all questions is higher than 0.7. The factor loadings of the model in the standard estimation state show the impact of each of the variables or items in explaining the variance of the variable or main factor scores.
5.Discussion
The results of the research indicate the existence of the following positive meaningful relationships, including a positive meaningful relationship between the factors affecting the agility of research and development management and the organizational agility model, a positive significant relationship between organizational agility and agile intelligent research and development management in the petrochemical industry, a positive and significant relationship between the factors affecting intelligent R&D management and agile intelligent R&D management in the petrochemical industry, and finally, a positive and meaningful relationship between the management of intelligent research and development in the petrochemical industry and the consequences of management of intelligent research and development.
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