Purpose -The purpose of this study is to empirically study the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) components (human, structural, and physical capitals) with the traditional measures of performance of the firm (profitability, productivity and market valuation) within the pharmaceutical sector of Iran. Design/methodology/approach -The empirical data were drawn from pharma companies listed in the Iranian Stock Exchange (ISE), over the six-year period of 2004 to 2009. The analysis of correlation, simple linear multiple regression and artificial neural networks (ANNs) were applied for analyzing any existing relationship between variables in the present study. Findings -The analysis indicates that the relationships between the performance of a company's IC and conventional performance indicators are varied. The findings suggest that the performance of a company's IC can explain profitability but not productivity and market valuation in Iran. Also the empirical analysis found that physical capital (VACA) was the one which was seen to have the major impact on the profitability of the firms over the period of study, in addition the result of ANN method also confirmed findings of multiple regression. Practical implications -There is an immediate need for policy makers and corporate managers wake up to the need to start disclosure of the IC of firms. IC measurement is of primary interest for top executives of pharmaceutical firms in Iran. Originality/value -This is an initial and pioneering study to evaluate the IC and its relationship with the traditional measures of corporate performance in the Iranian pharmaceutical industry. The present study provides a new aspect of performance measurement for research-based industries in emerging economies and would be a good topic for further research.

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Purpose For organizations competing in volatile environments, strategic agility is the key for sustaining in the market. It is essential for such organizations to identify the main agility indicators that contribute to their strategic core. The purpose of this paper is to propose and test a systematic methodology that identifies key agility indicators through prioritization and establishing the intra- and inter-relationships among them. Design/methodology/approach The methodology consists of four phases. Phase I forms a pool of agility key performance indicators (KPIs). Phase II categorizes and ranks the KPIs based on their importance and the gap that exists between their current and desired level. Using interpretive structural modeling, phase III establishes the intra-relationships among the KPIs as well as agility attributes, agility enablers and improvement paths, collectively referred to as agility indicators. Finally, phase IV analyzes the inter-relationships among agility indicators using three consecutive houses of quality. Findings To demonstrate the capability of the proposed methodology, it was applied to a dairy food company operating in a competitive environment. The application could address the shortcomings of previous agility methodologies and helped the company to assign resources to the right agility indicators with the highest influence on strategic agility. Research limitations/implications The methodology was applied to a single organization only. The application does not include long-term post-implementation observations and measurement of strategic agility. Practical implications Practitioners can benefit from the methodology to identify the right agility indicators of their organization and assign organizational resources for the improvement of such indicators. The methodology ensures selecting indicators that contribute to organization’s strategic agility, although ostensibly seem unrelated. Originality/value The paper contributes to the literature of strategic and organizational agility by proposing a systematic methodology that considers both intra- and inter-relationships among agility indicators. The methodology also makes a decent contribution in addressing organizational ambidexterity by analyzing mutually exclusive indicators pertaining to current and future opportunities for the organization.

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the outsourcing process in the public sector, determine the effective factors involved in this process and their priorities. The aim is to develop a generic conceptual model for the outsourcing process in public sectors.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on the results of literature review and conducting binominal and Friedman tests. The model consists of the following steps and components: considering the organization's basic activities, evaluation of organizations' existing potentials and analyzing organizational processes, studying general outsourcing patterns, implementing and monitoring outsourcing process in terms of some critical success factors; and evaluation of outsourcing process of the organization and identifying feedbacks.FindingsThe paper determines the main components and influence factors involving in the process of outsourcing in public sectors. The generic model developed in this paper as a framework can be used to increase the efficiency and the effectiveness of the outsourcing process of organizations in public sector.Practical implicationsThe authors believe that the proposed model and results of this research can aid public sector managers to implement their outsourcing process in a more efficient and effective manner in their organizations.Originality/valueThis paper develops a new generic conceptual model based on literature review, field resaech and using binominal and Frideman test. This model is unique and can be considered as an aid in the outsourcing process of organizations.