The Volatility Index (VIX) is a real-time index that has been used as the first measure to quantify market expectations for volatility, which affects the financial market as a main actor of the overall economy that is sensitive to the environmental and social aspects of investors and companies. The VIX is calculated using option prices for the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and is expressed as a percentage. Taking into account that VIX only shows the implicit volatility of the S&P 500 for the next 30 days, the authors develop a model for a near-optimal state trying to avoid uncertainty and insufficient accuracy. The researchers are trying to make a contribution to the theory of socially responsible portfolio management. The developed approach allows potential investments to make decisions regarding such important topics as ethical investing, performance analysis, as well as sustainable investment strategies. The approach of this research allows to use deep probabilistic convolutional neural networks based on conditional variance as a linear function of errors with the aim of estimating and predicting the VIX. For this purpose, the use of technical indicators and economic indexes such as Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) VIX and S&P 500 is considered. The results of estimating and predicting the VIX with the proposed method indicate high precision and create a certainty in modeling to achieve the goals.

The current study aims to examine how students’ intentions to use 4.5G mobile phones are affected by the social-economic factors of performance expectancy, cost, effort expectancy, and social influence. This study is based on the perspectives of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). The central assumption of this study is that when students use 4.5G mobile services to source information at university, their academic performance is likely to improve. From eight private and public universities in Malaysia, 2117 students were enrolled in this study. We investigated the effects of gender and awareness as moderators on the relationships among the variables of interest. The findings showed that social influence and performance expectancy positively affected university students’ intentions to use 4.5G mobile phones. The researchers conducted a multigroup analysis to confirm the moderating effect of gender among the underlying relationships in the model. Structural equation modeling analysis indicated that, unlike awareness, gender did not moderate social influence, effort expectancy, performance expectancy, or the cost of students’ intentions to use 4.5G mobile phones. The implications of the proposed approach, considering the digital transformation concept, could be a topic for future research.

Purpose—The aims of the current study were as follows: (1) to develop a framework of the job competence of employees to examine the recruitment of employees in their specialized fields, and (2) to answer the question of whether the development of that framework of the job competence of employees in attracting and employing people or their appointment and promotion was effective in achieving the goals of the organization. Design/methodology—Researchers examined the work environment of a branch of the Welfare Organization of Iran and the most important duties and responsibilities of the employees of the specialized spheres of the organization. Afterward, researchers listed the essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for the employees. Then, the authors asked 70 experts working in this organization to express their views on the importance of each of these items and the status of each of the proposed items in terms of their relevance, clarity, simplicity, and ambiguity. Accordingly, the competencies were categorized and titled. The identified competencies were classified into four main groups: needs assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation. The authors used the pairwise comparison method and the hierarchical analysis process approach to weighting. Findings—The authors set and presented critical competencies related to each specialized field of healthcare, social, educational, and cultural affairs in separate frameworks. The research results allowed theoretical and practical approaches to modeling to consider transversal and disciplinary competencies for a social, economic, or environmental commitment based on the sustainability concept. Value—Developing the employee competency frameworks of the health service is essential for sustainable development. The validated employee competency frameworks in the Welfare Organization can be applied in other provinces of Iran and other sectors of the healthcare system.

Since there is a lack of a strong CSR platform in the Iranian corporate environment, especially in the food and pharmaceutical industries, the proposed and existing strategies can be utilized to empower employees and the general public, improve executive processes, improve quality and customer satisfaction, and finally, organize financial and accounting reports. Hence, this study seeks to determine and evaluate strategies to improve the concepts and domain of corporate social responsibility (CSR) of food and pharmaceutical industries in Iran based on the requirements of sustainable development theory. This study analyzes the data of 22 companies active in the food and pharmaceutical industries listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) over a period of six years (2014–2019). Eighty-three indicators were used to evaluate the performance of social responsibility based on economic, social and environmental dimensions. The Pareto approach has been used to determine the most important unmet current requirements. Then, using the Delphi method and content validity, appropriate strategies were determined. Finally, a correlation matrix was used to determine the most important and comprehensive strategies. Findings showed that 14 requirements in the field of corporate social responsibility are of great importance and with six strategies, the necessary measures to meet those requirements can be covered.

The issue of integrated management system formation in the context of innovative management development has been considered. The concept of an integrated management system has been clarified and an integrated management system version, which is based on the integration of existing management standards and integrates their policies and strategies into a common basic management principle, has been proposed. A conceptual multiply connected model of an integrated management system and a model with managerial innovations as part of an integrated management system have been developed. The factors influencing the motivation for creating and improving an integrated management system have been presented. The problems of searching for integrative areas of interaction between management standards have been considered and a matrix of interaction between management standards has been proposed.

The article discusses the issues related to the training of professional personnel for the oil and gas complex (OGC) of Iran as a key factor in increasing its ego efficiency. The authors analyzed and identified factors for improving the management system and management mechanism in NGK organizations and training highly qualified personnel to increase the efficiency of NGKs, which include attracting foreign investment, optimizing existing resource management, creating an integrated mechanism for developing the potential of the oil and gas complex, determining the priority of the most effective monetization gas, improving global perception and customer base to achieve export goals. Each of the factors is considered from the point of view of its influence on the effectiveness of NGK. The authors of the article conducted a survey of an expert domestic community and identified a structure of factors related to improving the efficiency of planning and organizing management at all levels of management in the field of oil and gas industry. The key factors include professional training and advanced training of specialists, managers and workers in mass professions; formation of the organizational and economic mechanism for managing the oil and gas complex; import substitution of technologies in the oil and gas complex; international scientific and technical cooperation; optimization of NGC resource management; optimization of marketing in the OGC system. Next, a group of specialists and experts was formed related to the problems of oil business to assess the degree of significance of factors that increase the efficiency of oil and gas operations. The article shows the distribution of places of significance of these factors. It has been revealed that personnel issues, international scientific and technical cooperation and import substitution in terms of specific importance are the most important among the factors considered. The article will be of interest to specialists, managers, executives, as well as researchers in the oil and gas industry.