http://journal.iams.ir/ Iranian journal of management sciences en daily 1 Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0330 Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0330 http://journal.iams.ir/article_455.html Purpose:The purpose of this study is to design and validate a localized B2B marketing and sales model for knowledge-intensive service firms, with a particular focus on cybersecurity companies operating in Iran. Given the intangible, complex, and high-risk nature of cybersecurity services, traditional marketing frameworks fail to fully explain purchasing behavior in this sector. This research aims to develop an integrated structural model tailored to the specific characteristics of B2B cybersecurity markets.Design/Methodology/Approach:This study adopts a mixed-method research design. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews with industry experts were conducted to identify key constructs affecting marketing and sales effectiveness. The extracted themes were used to develop a conceptual model. In the quantitative phase, the model was empirically tested using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Data were collected from managers and experts in cybersecurity firms as well as organizational clients. Reliability and validity of constructs were confirmed through confirmatory factor analysis.Findings:The results indicate that organizational trust plays a central role in influencing service adoption and customer loyalty. Perceived risk negatively affects purchase intention, while service–need fit positively impacts customer satisfaction. Effective relationship management significantly enhances loyalty both directly and indirectly through trust and satisfaction. The proposed structural model demonstrated acceptable goodness-of-fit indices.Research Limitations/Implications:The study is limited to the Iranian cybersecurity industry, which may restrict generalizability to other service sectors. Future research may examine digital transformation capabilities and AI-driven marketing strategies in B2B service contexts.Practical Implications:. http://journal.iams.ir/article_471.html Purpose: In recent years, firms have faced increasing dynamism resulting from rapid technological development, digitalization, and sustainability requirements. This condition creates new opportunities for innovation within ecosystems. This issue is particularly evident in capital-intensive and network-based industries such as steel and highlights the importance of capabilities that can manage such dynamism and create sustainable value flows within the ecosystem. By adopting the perspectives of dynamic capabilities and innovation ecosystems, this study examines the pattern through which network-oriented dynamic capabilities contribute to value creation and value orchestration in the Iranian steel innovation ecosystem and seeks to provide an integrated understanding of these capabilities at the ecosystem level.Methodology: This applied study was conducted using a qualitative approach. The research population consisted of key actors in the Iranian steel innovation ecosystem. Using purposive and snowball sampling, ten participants, including managers, industry experts, academics, and representatives of technology-based firms, were selected until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis to identify and explain the mechanisms through which network-oriented dynamic capabilities contribute to the realization of value flows.Findings: The findings indicate that network-oriented dynamic capabilities contribute to value flows in the Iranian steel innovation ecosystem through a set of ecosystem mechanisms in a processual and continuous manner. The sensing capability guides value flows from the initial identification of opportunities to the formation of actual value creation pathways through exploratory activities, identification of actors’ potential capacities, creation and development of informational and knowledge linkages, and recognition of structural positions and interdependencies. The seizing capability transforms identified opportunities into sustainable value flows by relying on the adjustment and alignment of activities, adjustment and stabilization of actors’ roles, configuration of organizational positions and boundaries, and coordination of interorganizational linkages. Simultaneously, the reconfiguring capability contributes to strengthening and sustaining value flows under technological changes, market dynamics, and structural transformations in the Iranian steel industry through the rearrangement of activities, redefinition of actors’ roles, reconfiguration of linkages, and redefinition of positions.Conclusion: The results show that, in the Iranian steel innovation ecosystem, network-oriented dynamic capabilities do not operate as isolated firm-level capabilities but rather as network, interactive, and institutional mechanisms at the ecosystem level. Through the orchestration, exploitation, and regeneration of value flows, these capabilities enable coordination, joint learning, and continuous renewal in response to environmental changes. Accordingly, by extending the dynamic capabilities perspective from the firm level to the ecosystem level, this study demonstrates that value creation and value continuity in complex and capital-intensive industries depend less on the independent performance of individual actors and more on the organization and alignment of ecosystem mechanisms. Therefore, the proposed model can provide a basis for designing and orchestrating innovation ecosystems and for strengthening sustainable innovation, ecosystem resilience, and collaborative value creation, particularly in capital-intensive and network-based industries. http://journal.iams.ir/article_472.html Fatemeh LeilidoostHossein Damghanian**Seyed Abbas Ebrahimi***Purpose: Meritocratic organizational behavior, as a novel concept in human resource management, combines structural meritocracy with extra-role behaviors of employees, serving as an organizational remedy that can ensure performance and survival in today's complex conditions. Despite the critical importance of the electricity industry in Tehran province as one of Iran's most vital energy infrastructures, no systematic study has yet identified Determinants of meritocratic organizational behavior in this specific context. Therefore, this study aims to identify the determinants of meritocratic organizational behavior among employees in the electricity industry companies of Tehran province. Specifically, it investigates whether the antecedent factors of meritocratic organizational behavior can be identified and categorized in this industry and what role (causal or effect) each factor plays in shaping these behaviors.Methodology: This study employed a mixed-methods approach with a sequential exploratory design. For the qualitative phase, grounded theory with the systematic approach of Strauss and Corbin was utilized, and for the quantitative phase, a survey method using Fuzzy Dematel technique was applied to determine causal relationships among factors. The research population included all employees of the electricity industry in Tehran province. Participants in the qualitative phase consisted of 18 experts (managers and specialists familiar with the research topic) selected through purposive judgmental sampling, with interviews continuing until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data collection was conducted through and semi-structured interviews with three main questions and several generative questions during the interviews. Qualitative data analysis involved three stages of open, axial, and selective coding. To ensure the trustworthiness of the data collection tool and analysis process, the four criteria proposed by Guba and Lincoln credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability were employed. In the quantitative phase, after identifying the Determining factors, a questionnaire to measure the impact and influence of criteria on each other was designed and administered to 5 experts to determine the intensity of influence and susceptibility of each factor using the Fuzzy Dematel technique.Findings: The qualitative findings revealed that Determinants of meritocratic organizational behavior can be categorized into three main categories: 1) Individual factors including: individual motivation and orientation, organizational thinking and attitude, perception of role and individual impact, and individual and job competencies; 2) Managerial factors including: leadership support, change and innovation management, human resource management,and relationship and participation management; and 3) Organizational factors including: transparent structure and relationships, organizational order and regulations, justice-based motivational system, promotion and meritocracy system, and performance evaluation system. In the quantitative phase, based on the Fuzzy Dematel results, the most influential (causal) factors on meritocratic organizational behavior, in order are: Leadership support, human resource management, organizational discipline and rules, individual and job competencies, and the promotion and meritocracy system. Additionally, the justice-based motivational system, a performance evaluation system, individual motivation and orientation, etc were identified as susceptible (effect) factors, indicating that these factors are more influenced by others than being sources of influence.Conclusion and Implications: The results indicate that managers and authorities in the electricity industry can promote meritocratic behaviors among employees by focusing on the identified factors (particularly the causal ones), thereby improving organizational performance. Practically, it is recommended that managers create transparency in organizational relationships and facilitate employees' access to job-related information to strengthen trust and participation.