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Studies in the field of learning and organization have changed through formation of the concept of a learning organization. As a result various models have been developed and customized for project based organizations. Still, they have not yet been customized for Project Based Organizations, as a very important category of organizations with growing importance. The special requirements of project based organizations in learning demands the development of a special model for project based learning organizations (PBLOs). This is routed in the temporary nature of projects. This study aims to develop a paradigmatic model for PBLOs based on case studies in two project based organizations of oil and gas industries. The strategy of the study is structured grounded theory and the data are acquired from interviewing 20 participants in the field of project and knowledge management. As a result of the interviews and by analysis and coding of 715 obtained phrases, 25 basic concepts were identified which have been placed in the paradigmatic model. Since a qualitative approach towards organizational learning has been very limited up till now, and in addition no studies have yet addressed PBLOs in particular, this work could be treated as a pioneering study in the field.

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Strategic planning is presently considered as a key managerial process. Despite the abundance of literature on strategic planning, few research projects have focused on the measuring of strategic planning. This paper offers a diagnostic toll and twenty key features for measuring strategic planning effectiveness based on Hoshin Kanri. The model was tested in a large sample of state-owned company in Iran and the results are put to the fore by the author.

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In this study, we aimed to use the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) to explain farmers’ pro-environmental behavior, and we subsequently applied our conceptualization of the PTM to explain the effects of pro-environmental behavior as well as some alternatives to achieve a sustainable livelihood in the Borkhar Region, Isfahan Province, Iran. The population of this study comprised rural smallholder farmers who produced agricultural and horticultural crops under drought in 2017-2019. The study sample consisted of 293 smallholder farmers selected through stratified random sampling. A questionnaire was utilized for data collection, and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The findings suggest that self-efficacy, perceived vulnerability, and response efficacy have a positive relationship with farmers’ pro-environmental behavior. In addition, the perceived severity and response costs are negatively related to farmers’ pro-environmental behavior. The findings further show that alternative crops and alternative income sources are the main predictors of achieving a sustainable alternative livelihood. Moreover, saffron cultivation and rural handicrafts were found to be highly important indicators that enhance sustainable alternative livelihood under drought. Therefore, concentrating efforts and shifting the focus to these alternatives leads to increased farmers’ livelihood resilience in the long run.

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In the banking industry, a variety of activities have been introduced as social banking. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of social banking and identify the various approaches used in the area. The banking value chain model has been used to describe different approaches to social banking. This paper starts with a literature studying the various trends that have led to the formation of the concept of social banking, in the literature review section. In continue, social banking approaches are identified. Triangulation is used to ensure the validity of the research method; therefore, two different methods have been used to identify social banking approaches. In the first method, the grounded theory research method was used. In this process, the data obtained from the literature used, as well as conducting semi-structured interviews with subject matter experts in four different Iranian banks. In the second method, the clustering method was used and 49 global social banking experiences were clustered in terms of the type of impact on the value chain. The results of both methods led to the identification of four different approaches to social banking. Finally, these four approaches are described and it is specified how each of them affects each part of the bank’s value chain.