Author = Yousef Namvar
Education Management

Developing a Managerial Competency Model with Consideration of the Generational Characteristics of Upper Secondary School Students

Volume 8, Issue 1, Spring 2026, Pages 185-216

https://doi.org/10.22034/jmep.2026.566695.1613

Mehdi Seifi JigarKandi, Yousef Namvar, Azam Rastgoo, Sadraddin Sattari

Abstract The overall objective of this research was to discover and present a framework for organizational capability in the context of strategic changes with an emphasis on the territory of the technical and vocational organization of the country. This research was a development with a qualitative approach and a case study research method in terms of its purpose. The research participants were 15 experts in leadership and change in educational systems, especially the technical and vocational education system, selected using a purposive sampling method of the criterion type, taking into account the theoretical saturation issue. Data collection was carried out through semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was carried out using the content analysis method and using MAXQDA 2020 software. The results of the research showed that the organizational capability framework consisted of four dimensions (coherence, effectiveness, responsiveness, and desirable external image), each of which includes related components. In order to validate the data, the opinions of some participants as well as experts in the field of educational management and higher education were used, and for the transferability of the findings, the test-retest method was used. Accordingly, the reliability coefficient was obtained as 0.87, which indicates that the research had high reliability. The results of the research can be used as a guide for the actions of educational system managers in the theoretical and operational fields.
Introduction
Complicated and rapid environmental changes force organizations to continuously redefine their internal capacities for survival, growth, and competition, or, in other words, to empower their pillars and structure in the face of strategic changes. Therefore, organizational capability is considered one of the key factors for success in complex and changing conditions of the strategic environment. These capabilities include a set of competencies, abilities, and resources that enable organizations to exploit opportunities arising from environmental changes, manage threats, and achieve sustainable competitive advantage (Martínez-Peláez et al., 2023). Organizational capabilities, based on a set of skills, resources, and processes, are considered to be the basis for developing strategic tools to adapt to environmental changes and exploit emerging opportunities (Rengkung, 2022). These capabilities help the organization not only manage changes, but also use them as a driver for innovation and an opportunity for growth (Barney et al., 2024). In fact, organizational capability, as one of the most important factors for the success of organizations in facing environmental challenges, refers to the ability of the organization to identify, maintain and exploit its resources and capabilities to achieve strategic goals (Teece et al., 2016). Therefore, organizations with high capability can quickly adapt to changes, produce high-quality products and create competitive advantages (Pratono, 2024). Research shows that organizational capabilities are becoming more important in the face of strategic changes. Organizations that have the ability to create coordination between human resources, new technologies and organizational strategies can better adapt to changing conditions and show higher performance (Zhang & Chen, 2024). Strategic changes within and outside the organization, as a necessity in today's business environment, require a deep understanding of the dimensions and components of organizational capability. These changes can include changes in organizational structure, culture, technology, or macro strategies (Henry, 2021). In this regard, identifying and strengthening the dimensions of organizational capability can help organizations successfully implement these changes. Organizational capability is a multidimensional and fruitful area that can be examined from various aspects, especially in educational and skill-based organizations. Paying attention to the topic of organizational capability in educational organizations is significant because, according to Badami, Jahanian & Mohammadi Nezhad Gangi (2025), paying attention to the quality of performance, excellence, and organizational capability in educational organizations is of particular importance due to their mission in training specialized human resources for society. Accordingly, the present study aims to identify the dimensions and components of organizational capability in the context of strategic changes and seeks to answer the question: what dimensions and components explain the organizational capability of the country's technical and vocational organization in the face of strategic changes?
Theoretical Framework
Organizational Capability
Organizational capability, as one of the key concepts in strategic management, has attracted the attention of many researchers and managers in recent decades. This concept refers to a set of capabilities, knowledge, skills, processes, and resources that enable organizations to sustainably achieve competitive advantage and adapt in the face of environmental changes (Rengkung, 2022). These capabilities include technical, human, and structural aspects and directly affect the performance of the organization (Abdurrahman et al., 2024). According to Barney et al. (1991), organizational capabilities include areas such as innovation, organizational learning, human resources, and leadership that can help organizations respond appropriately to environmental changes and enhance their strategic successes (Ferreira et al., 2021).
Various dimensions of organizational capability have been considered, such as the ability to learn, the ability to create and apply new knowledge in order to develop innovation in processes and products, flexibility, strategic agility based on the speed of response to changes, knowledge management, and the power of external cooperation (Gomes et al., 2022). In a general view, organizational capability can be assessed in the quantity and quality of three major assets in the organization; human capital, including the knowledge, skills, and abilities of employees, which are vital for increasing performance and advancing innovation in the organization (Liu et al., 2020).
Research Methodology
This research was a development with a qualitative approach and a case study in terms of purpose. The research participants (key informants) were 15 experts in leadership and change in educational systems, especially the technical and vocational education system, selected using a purposive sampling method of the criterion type, taking into account the theoretical saturation issue. Data collection was carried out through semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was carried out using thematic analysis method and MAXQDA 2020 software.
Research findings
In order to discover the framework of organizational capability in the context of strategic changes with an emphasis on the country's technical and vocational organization, interviews were conducted with experts and experienced in management, leadership and change in educational systems, especially skill organizations and people who, in addition to scientific abilities, had direct and indirect management experiences at the middle and senior levels of the country's technical and vocational education organization in the organization of the research area. While analyzing the interview text in detail, 20 related basic themes were identified and by categorizing similar basic themes in one category, 4 organizing themes were drawn, and finally a network of themes was drawn. The results of the study showed that the organizational capability framework in the context of strategic changes consisted of four dimensions: effectiveness, responsiveness, coherence, and desirable external image, each of which included related components. The effectiveness dimension included the components of internal effectiveness, external effectiveness, institutional effectiveness, effective activities, and correct performance of tasks. The responsiveness dimension included the components of responsiveness to the environment, responsiveness to internal conditions and needs, social responsibility, and attention to environmental conditions and needs. The coherence dimension included the components of conceptual coherence, operational coherence, social coherence, structural coherence, spiritual coherence, and emotional coherence. The desirable external image dimension included the components of environmental desirability, positive environmental evaluation, external acceptability, internal acceptability, and positive performance evaluation.
Conclusion
The results of the present study show that organizational capability in the field of technical and vocational education organization as a skill-oriented institution that trains specialized human resources and technology for society includes multiple dimensions of coherence, effectiveness, responsiveness, and a desirable external image. The dimensions affecting organizational capability are, in a way, the fulcrum of the technical and vocational organization as an open system so that it can achieve competitive advantage in dynamic and challenging environments in addition to maintaining meaningful survival. These dimensions jointly increase the organization's capacity to deal with strategic changes and achieve long-term goals. Various aspects of effectiveness, both internal in the sense of the quality of task performance and external in the sense of effective responsiveness to the environment, and then institutional effectiveness in the sense of realizing the organization's mission and desirability in the environment, are vital components of organizational capability. The findings of this study are in line with the results of studies by Brinia (2022); Zacharias (2021) confirms that organizational effectiveness is one of the key indicators of success in strategic change. Environmental responsiveness, which includes social responsibility and providing services that meet the needs of the environment, is another key theme identified in this study. This theme is consistent with El Idrissi et al.'s (2023) theories about latent capabilities, which show that an organization's responsiveness to the environment often results from latent capabilities that are activated in times of crisis. The various components of organizational cohesion resulting from the findings of the present study in the field of technical and vocational education show that desirable and optimal cohesion is achieved when the various elements of the organization, including human resources, physical resources, structure and processes, are compatible and coordinated with each other, and cohesion is objectively manifested both in conceptual and cognitive aspects and in operational aspects and professional relationships throughout the organization's structure. The final component of organizational capability, which is both a result of capability and an important factor in creating organizational capability, is the desired external image of the organization. Existing systems in the environment refer only to an organization that trusts it and has a suitable image of it. Therefore, the image that organizations leave in the environment with their health and output is very important and leads to organizational capability. However, the important point is that the coordination and alignment of the four main dimensions of organizational capability, namely coherence, effectiveness, responsiveness, and external image, requires attention to a key and important element called organizational leadership. Leadership, by creating a link between the system and its current and future environment and considering systemic requirements, can provide the correct arrangement of components together in a way that leads to improved coherence, effectiveness, and responsiveness of the system to the environment, and as a result, improved the external image of the organization in the environment, and taking advantage of the feedback effects of this important factor in strengthening and improving the level of the aforementioned three variables. Accordingly, it can be stated that effective leadership, by helping to improve the accountability, effectiveness, and coherence of the organization, along with the desired image they portray of the organization, provides the organization's capabilities inside and outside the organization.
The findings of the present study confirm that the country's technical and vocational education organization can achieve capabilities when it is able to develop indicators based on coherence, effectiveness, accountability, and external image, and gain the power to interact effectively with the strategic and changing environment more than other competitors. The organization's capabilities lead to an intelligent understanding of the needs and requirements of the present and future environment, and this awareness leads to the design of efficient strategies to respond appropriately and timely to these requirements. Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge all individuals, institutions, and organizations that provided scientific, technical, administrative, or advisory support throughout this research and the preparation of this manuscript. Conflicts of Interest The authors declare that they have no financial or non-financial, personal, professional, or institutional conflicts of interest relevant to this work. Data Availability Statement The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. AI Use Statement The authors declare that no generative artificial intelligence (AI) or AI-assisted technologies were used in the preparation, writing, or editing of this manuscript. Funding The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other financial support were received during the conduct of this research or the preparation of this manuscript. Ethics Approval All procedures performed in this study were conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible institutional and national research committee.

management

Designing a financial literacy development model for Farhangian University students

Volume 6, Issue 1, Spring 2024, Pages 65-98

https://doi.org/10.22034/jmep.2023.409505.1225

Mohsen Molapanah, Yousef Namvar, Azam Rastgoo, Majid Ahmadlu, Toran Soleimani

Abstract Abstract
The aim of the current research was to design a model for the development of financial literacy of Farhangian University students. The research method was mixed (qualitative-quantitative), and the research community in the qualitative part included professors, specialists and experts in the financial field; and in the quantitative part, it included all students of Farhangian universities in Ardabil province. In the qualitative section, 21 experts were selected by purposeful selection; and in the quantitative section, 278 students were selected using statistical formulas as a non-random sampling method. Research tools included semi-structured interviews and researcher-made questionnaires. The analysis of the data collected in the qualitative part was done using the grounded theory method using Maxqda 11 software; in the quantitative part using two methods: descriptive and inferential, using Smart PLS and spss22 software. The results showed that based on the three categories of knowledge, behavior and attitude in the discussion of financial knowledge gender, place of residence; the indicators of parents' education and place of residence were effective in the discussion of financial attitude, and in the field of financial behavior; permanent place of residence and student's income were determined as more effective factors in the financial literacy of Farhangian University students. Based on the extracted model, the knowledge component ranks first in terms of the impact on students' financial literacy with a factor load of 0.751, followed by the behavior component with a factor load of 0.730 and attitude with a factor load of 0.667.
Extended abstract
Introduction
In this century, just reading and writing and even knowing a second language cannot indicate to be literate. According to the definition of Shirzadi (2018), a literate person is a person who has six types of literacy; educational, emotional, communication, media, computer, and financial; every person should have sufficient knowledge about financial affairs and take steps to strengthen their financial literacy (Rahmani & Mohammadi, 2019).
What is certain is that the role of educational and school systems in the creation, growth and development of financial and economic literacy in today's societies becomes more and more important (Taftian, Azdi, & Rejal, 2018). Researches show that those who have received financial training in high school or at work can save businesses (Bernheim & Garrett, 2003). To solve this deficiency, centers have been established to teach financial literacy and financial management styles, all of which are trying to improve the level of financial literacy in the country. The most common of these centers, as all students pass through it, are schools. On the other hand, the educational institution and especially the teachers as one of the pillars and components of the educational institution, along with the family, are among the most influential factors of citizenship education. Therefore, this basic question is raised: how much do future teachers know about financial literacy and do they use it in the process of life? Therefore, in this research, the financial literacy development model of Farhangian University students is examined.
methodology
The current research was a mixed method (qualitative-quantitative), and three stages were passed to achieve the research questions according to the nature of the goals and research questions. In the first stage; the qualitative part, two steps were taken to answer the first question of the research, that is, to determine the components of financial literacy; in the first step, the theoretical foundations and the background of the research were examined using the document analysis method, and then the components of financial literacy were extracted and formulated. In the second step, based on the components identified in the first step, a semi-structured interview was conducted with experts and experienced experts in the financial field, and the data obtained from the semi-structured interview using Maxqda11 software were determined in the form of ground theory method, units Semantic coding, analysis and components of financial literacy.
In the second stage of the qualitative part, the Delphi method was used to answer the second research question; therefore, the components determined in the first stage were provided to financial experts to determine the factors related to the financial literacy of Farhangian University students. After the agreement and approval of the experts, the indicators related to the financial literacy of Farhangian University students were selected to prepare the final questionnaire focusing on the components of financial knowledge, financial attitude and financial behavior. The qualitative research community was formed by professors, specialists and experts in the field of finance who had numerous articles and publications. The number of samples in the qualitative section, which were purposefully selected by the snowball method until reaching theoretical saturation, were 21 professors, specialists and experts in the field of finance.
In the third stage, i.e. the quantitative part, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to answer the third question of the research, i.e. the financial literacy model of Farhangian University students. The population of the quantitative part consisted of all the students of Farhangian universities in Ardabil province, and to determine the sample size, the structural equation modeling sampling formula (q ≤ n ≤ 15q5) was used, where q is the number of questions in the questionnaire and n is the desired sample size (Homan, 2013).. Based on the 29 questions of the questionnaire, a minimum of 145 and a maximum of 435 students were determined based on the sample size, and finally 278 questionnaires were collected using Cochran's formula. The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire that was prepared using the data extracted from the qualitative method. The analysis of the collected data was done in the quantitative part by two descriptive and inferential methods using Smart PLS and spss22 software. In order to collect data, a researcher-made questionnaire with 29 questions based on a five-point Likert spectrum was used. The content validity ratio for the whole has been obtained as 0.892; therefore, according to experts, the questionnaire components and the entire questionnaire have good content and form validity. Confirmatory factor analysis method has been used to check the validity of the measurement model.
Discussion and Results
The findings of the research regarding the first question of identifying the components of financial literacy revealed that various factors influence people's financial literacy, and other factors are involved and shifted according to the conditions of individuals from different angles. Coherent studies have not been conducted to identify the factors affecting people's financial literacy, and most of the researches have analyzed and investigated a specific axis of employment or positions. After expert review of articles and scientific sources and comparison of opinions and appeals' 13 factors (parents' education, family member's education in financial field, area of residence, family's financial knowledge, social class, individual's income, housing situation, individual's level of education, individual's family background, marital status, number of dependents, age) were identified as the most important factors affecting the financial literacy of Farhangian University students. By examining the theoretical foundations, empirical studies regarding the second question of the research based on the factors that are most related to the financial literacy of student teachers have been taken into consideration. Research shows that the most effective criteria are family financial awareness, individual financial awareness, parents' education, family member's financial education, individual's education level, individual's income, and social class in the field of financial literacy of Farhangian University students, among which, by Delphi method implementation, 7 agents were confirmed. The findings of the research regarding the third research question about the financial literacy model of Farhangian University students showed that in the conceptual model of the research, all three components of knowledge, attitude and behavior were effective on the financial literacy of Farhangian University students and based on the extracted model, the knowledge component in terms of amount influence on students' financial literacy is in the first rank, and the behavior and attitude component are in the next ranks. Confirmatory factor analysis shows that the model has good reliability. The study is based on the observed criterion of the goodness index of the appropriate power of the model in the prediction of the appropriate endogenous variable. According to the coefficient of determination, the structural model under investigation is of appropriate quality. The findings of this research are in agreement with the findings of Ojand & Mahmoudpour (2023), Jana, Sinha, & Gupta (2024), Kazempour Dizji et al., (2020), Moeinfar et al., (2023), Purwidianti et al., (2022), Novitasari et al., (2021), Baker et al., (2018), and Taftian & Tajamlian (2020).
Conclusion
According to the results obtained for improving the level of financial literacy in the society, which definitely has many effects on the level of welfare of the society and increasing production, regarding the knowledge level of the development of public education and providing reasons for increasing the level of financial literacy in the field of basic concepts such as the government's guarantee for deposits in banks, the current value of investments and specific financial knowledge questions such as credit card, interest compounding, time value of money, the effect of inflation on the price level and investment must be provided, which in addition to responding to cultural and social needs, can be the basis for the growth and progress of the society that seeks development. At this level, depending on the necessity of financial literacy education and its impact on the country's economy, it is necessary to develop a curriculum for different educational levels and also design financial literacy education courses for different sections of the society. In this context, the awareness of the society can be increased by holding educational workshops and seminars, holding medium-term and long-term training courses.
Using magazines, brochures and books, extensive culture building through the national media is worthy of attention to improve the attitude level of the society. This important issue in Iran and especially in the capital market has been pursued by various institutions, including the stock Exchange Organization, Tehran Stock Exchange, Exchange Information and Services Company and other public and private institutions; but measures should be taken in such a way that the individual's reaction to factors such as inflation, exchange rate, risk and financial planning is reasonable and correct. At the level of financial behavior, by providing the conditions for the use and implementation of the knowledge and mindsets of the people of the society through the transfer of shares and the permission to buy and sell, etc., which will reduce the risk-taking of people, so that before making a decision on investment, all financial products should carefully and thoughtfully evaluated, save instead of borrowing, do his own assessment of the affordability of products and services, and plan for retirement.
Curriculum planners, who are the main custodians of curriculum development, using the results of this research and using the issues and general principles of financial literacy education; by developing a curriculum specific to financial literacy, should present the goals, content, method and evaluation in the form of two units of study in Farhangian University.
In the current research, some limitations were effective; in the discussion of attitude measurement structure; that definite measurement is not possible. Another case is related to demographic asymmetry in Ardabil cultural universities, where the population of boys is more than girls; therefore, caution should be taken in generalizing the research and it is suggested to conduct a parallel research. The presented model is specific to Farhangian University with its own characteristics; Therefore, it is possible to generalize with other societies.